Comments on: Obama’s Economic Regulation Speech

By: ACitizen

ACitizen — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:45:38 +0000

Whoa! Les not be introducing no reality into the ‘Magic Man’s’ lil’ scam here pal. See Ian Welsh at 187 and realize that the Obama behavior he describes, quite accurately, is…..

NOT A FUCKIN’ ACCIDENT FOLKS!

By now many have figured out just who is tryin’ ta bamboozle whom…

Ya dig?

By: ACitizen

ACitizen — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:42:32 +0000

He sounds good here, but then he’s good at that, I wonder if he has the balls to take the next step and start talking about how what’s happening, what’s happened and what’s planned are not….

‘….distortions of the market.’

but the way markets as currently constructed are intended to work. Derivatives, company’s bottom lines (no accounting for using the commons or allowing for the true costs of production and energy), financialization…..etc.

None of these are accidents!

Put that together with the real problems with Pareto, Smith and their modern acolytes and you have the perfect market.

Designed to make the SuperClass richer and richer while it grinds you and me into the dirt.

Enjoy the fallacy of the ‘free market’ while you can.

By: glennmcgahee

glennmcgahee — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:48:08 +0000

Forgot to leave out the part when Obama finished his speech and proceeded to a fundraiser with Credit Swisse, 1 of 8 of the top ten subprime lending companies fundraising for Sen Obama.

By: ekunin

ekunin — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:28:29 +0000

No one mentions the role of the individual states in this mess. It is state courts who do the foreclosing and it is individual cities who will be decimated if foreclosures are permitted to go through on the original terms. I don’t know if state court judges can think that far outside the box, but difficult times create unusual responses. In Ohio a federal judge dismissed several foreclosures (without prejudice) because the plaintiff’s did not prove standing, that is who owned the mortgages. It may be this stuff has been sliced and diced so much the underlying mortgages may be unforecloseable. Serve those SOBs right.

By: Ian Welsh

Ian Welsh — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:26:57 +0000

She has the government buying up mortgages and resetting them. Done right (and there’s no guarantee she would, but at least she’s heading in the right direction) that could set a floor. Obama’s plan for mortgage relief is voluntary. Not sure the details of her plan, but just buying mortgages is a big step in the right direction. Of course, details matter and she could do it the wrong way.

What I always see with Obama is that he diagnoses the problem well, explains it well, and then comes up with a solution that won’t fix the problem.

Although, actually, I thought what he said about regulation made sense, though I’m not entirely sure I agree with his solution (mostly because I’m unclear on the details of his solution).

Mind you Clinton’s laughable idea of putting together a panel with Greenspan is pretty awful too - the man who, more than anyone, caused this mess? Yeah…

By: Scarecrow

Scarecrow — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:53:12 +0000

Ian, thanks for stopping by. I thought a key part of the Welsh plan is to have the government establish a market to define a clearing price for all these underwater products (and set a floor price), allowing the mortgage market to start functioning, sort of. I didn’t see that in the Clinton plan, but maybe it’s called something else. She does have the govt stepping up to take over some mortgages. What am i missing.

By: Ian Welsh

Ian Welsh — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:35:16 +0000

Yeah, I always used to use that line when I trained new folks at the insurance company I used to work for.

Along with “when the insurance company tells you it’s so sorry your loved one dies. It means it to the bottom of its cold hard heart”.

By: Ian Welsh

Ian Welsh — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:34:01 +0000

As usual, Obama gave a better speech, but Clinton’s actual concrete policy suggestions were better. Also as usual, I’m afraid I agree with Krugman.

I’ll also note that Clinton’s bailout plan is very similiar to the one I suggested last Saturday.

By: mui1

mui1 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:30:20 +0000

Yes the Kissinger/Nixon legacy. That man Kissinger should be in jail already!

By: mui1

mui1 — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:27:39 +0000

Oh please, ill-informed? Or is that your opinion? It is not “ill-informed” to ask specific questions of *both* candidates. Neither are holy cows. “ties” aside–& both candidates have tons of “ties”– Clinton has made something of a statement (see Naomi Klein link). Waiting to hear from Obama, legislative grandstanding aside. I have heard two different positions from the man. Both candidates need to be more specific, less equivocal.