Pat Oliphant for November 10, 2011

Times they are a changin’ Thanks to our elected clown Obama.

If you people would just give more tax cuts to the rich then the job creators could get everyone back to work. It’ll happen this time, trust me.

Re: the quote: These words are regularly attributed to Voltaire, they were first used by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writing under the pseudonym of Stephen G Tallentyre in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), as a summation of Voltaire’s beliefs on freedom of thought and expression.

Google the words ‘Record number of filibusters’ and get back to me.

And please don’t give us that lie about he Dems having had a supermajority. That was never the case,

Come on, every true blue (or is it red?) conservative knows that it was Mitt Romney who said "I may not like what you say b8ut I will defend to the death your right to say it” Har, har, har!

i was in the nam too. that was 40 years ago. get over it. before slammin’ obama, just think what fun it would have been to have whats-his-name in office with what we now know about the gop’s skill in choosing candidates…ick. another reason why i vote libertarian.

As an independent that usually leans Republican, I see that BOTH parties are to blame. The Dems were more concerned with Health Care Reform during Obama’s first years in the White House, and the Repubs are simply holding the economy back because their “number one priority is retaking the White House” (a repub said that, but I don’t remember who).

See my reply to jack, Howdy

For thoes of you who do not remember your grade school history (which they do not seam to teach anymore) Patrick Henry has a large number of quotes credited to him, but the most famous is:“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

The truly failed economic theory took over in ‘81, period. “W” came in an unswerving devotee of the failure, and the economy totally crashed, in 2008, with jobs having been exported for over a decade by that time given the “theory” of “Reaganomics”. When the job market was in free fall after “W”, the “devoted Republicans” stole the parachute, and have refused to hand it over to the next administration, at EVERY TURN! The toon has it absolutely right, decades of abusing the American “working man” have created the unemployment problem, and with corporations and the right-wing obstructing every effort to strike any balance, there isn’t much “politics” can do. Manipulation by regulation of even efforts in law have been implemented to negate those efforts to effect positive change in the economy, if it involved ANY “sacrifice” from that top “5%” controlling wealth and productivity. period.

thisisretarded was being facetious. That’s the point of “It’ll happen this time, trust me.”

Those pushing for further tax cuts for the wealthy (forget about actually raising their taxes) do so by calling themselves “job creators.”

Thanks to Reid, Pelosi, and Obama!America received what it voted for!Hope and Change, or Hope foe Change?

The economy was like an 18 wheeler going 100mph down a mountain when Obama took office. Only an idiot would think we were bouncing back in a 2 or 3 years.

Obama did make a mistake in not pushing for a more effective stimulus program right away, as well as not using TARP to make the banks give up their addiction to gambling on Wall Street. I shudder to think what President McCain would have done.

Churchie, it was Bush backers that CAUSED that bubble, just like the same economics from Republican’s deregulation that CAUSED the crash in Oct 1929, and the Depression that followed, it was called “margin call”.

“you better study the history…the Mormons” SORRY…That line is getting old. It is bigoted and irrelevant. BO was raised a Muslim as a child and attended ‘Hate’ Church as an adult.

“disgust to go around for the ineptness of the Democrats and the venality of the Republicans” …WELL SAID!

“Housing Bubble burst” …To me, Church and Trout are both right. It is too bad that the banks were also in one of their ‘destroy themselves and customers’ cycles. Hopefully, they will leave US alone for about 25 years, until they do it again. They do have a track record going back about 200 years.

Didn’t learn much did you if you are a Democrat.

“BUSH warned the Democrats? " SORRY, Eryz. There was a dust-up between Democrats and President Bush about early signs of Home Mortgages ‘bubbling’. Bush was Forced to stay away from Frank & Dodds’ little ‘experiment’(quote from Frank) that they wanted to run a little longer. So Democrats protected Fannie Mae from Oversight for a while.

Fuzzy Thinker (1): Further note: Not only did Bush not say anything to the Democrats he, Bush, had been warned of the impending crisis in 07 by top officials of the Hong Kong Singapore Bank (HSB) and, in short, told them to mind their own business. HSB pulled out of the derivities market and was one of the few banks not to be impacted by the crash as were so many others. Source, an employee/friend that works for HSB.

(As a side let me note: It is very disappointing when people do not do their homework, post derogatory remarks about those who have a differing point of view, and who have not researched or documented, as needed, their remarks. Some of you (above) are behaving, in my opinion, like modern day Joseph P. McCarthy’s “…Have you no shame.” Please, you can be more constructive and contribute to a better debate.)GW Bush., according to the article below that was researched and published by New York Times reporters, was well intended person that simply not up to the job. BUSH DRIVE FOR HOME OWNERSHIP FUELED HOUSING BUBBLE, By Jo Becker, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Stephen Labaton Published: Sunday, December 21, 2008(Excerpts from Article and Comment follow)WASHINGTON — “We can put light where there’s darkness, and hope where there’s despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home.” – President George W. Bush, Oct. 15, 2002 [His goals and dreams were good, his abilities, methods and social and political ideals, used by him and his ilk to achieve his goals, have been a disaster for the world].There are plenty of culprits, like lenders who peddled easy credit, consumers who took on mortgages they could not afford and Wall Street chieftains who loaded up on mortgage-backed securities without regard to the risk.But the story of how the United States got here is partly one of Bush’s own making, according to a review of his tenure that included interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials. [The Bush] housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.Bush did foresee the danger posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…[however]the regulator Bush chose to oversee them – an old school buddy – pronounced the companies sound even as they headed toward insolvency.As early as 2006, top advisers to Bush dismissed warnings from people inside and outside [HSB for one] the White House that housing prices were inflated and that a foreclosure crisis was looming…when the economy deteriorated, Bush and his team misdiagnosed the reasons and scope of the downturn. As recently as February 2008, for example, Bush was still calling it a “rough patch.”Lawrence Lindsay, Bush’s first chief economic adviser, said there was little impetus to raise alarms about the proliferation of easy credit that was helping Bush meet housing goals.“No one wanted to stop that bubble,” Lindsay said. “It would have conflicted with the president’s own policies”…for much of Bush’s tenure, government statistics show, incomes for most families remained relatively stagnant while housing prices skyrocketed…So Bush had to, in his words, “use the mighty muscle of the federal government” to meet his goal. He insisted that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac meet ambitious new goals for low-income lending. Bush persuaded Congress to spend…$200 million a year to help [unqualified] first-time buyers…And corporate America, eyeing a lucrative market, delivered in ways Bush might not have expected, with a proliferation of too-good-to-be-true teaser rates and interest-only loans that were sold to investors in a loosely regulated environment…[while] Bush populated the financial system’s alphabet soup of oversight agencies with people who, like him, wanted fewer rules, not more… The president’s…Securities and Exchange Commission…failed to police the catastrophic decisions that toppled the investment bank Bear Stearns and contributed to the…crisis, according to a recent inspector general’s report… [Note] In the 2004 election cycle, mortgage bankers and brokers poured nearly $847,000 into Bush’s re-election campaign; more than triple their contributions in 2000, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.It is clear from this article that despite Bush’s good intentions, avarice and politics took precedence over the welfare of this Nation and its people. Thank You GW

Lewelectric, good post, simply stated facts we’ve known for a long time, that will sadly, be ignored by those dedicated to myth.

Fuzzy Thinker (1): As noted above in the New York Times exposé on the Housing Bubble, it was President Bush and his lassez-faire capitalist appointed ideologues that actually protected, or more correctly stated, ignored what was being reported to them in order to not hinder Bush’s plans…not the Democrats

sonny1:Sir, I served 13 years’ time and grade in the military. Your use of your alleged military service coupled with your biased, prejudicial, shallow and derogatory remarks are a dis-service to the military and all of us who served or are serving. If you, or anyone, are going to boast of your right to comment while deriding others in this County because they may not have served in the military, you are denying them the very right’s for which you allegedly served to defend; the right for all of us to have freedom of speech, beliefs, ideas and points of view! You obviously, as demonstrated by and through your prose, would do yourself a great service and those you post commentary too by endeavoring to improve your civility, factual knowledge (Just Google It, I Do), and prose. Further and more importantly, if you are going to speak in the name of or use the U.S. Military as your right to speak, for God Sakes man do it with civility and Honor and not as a ‘Back Alley Wineo’.

W. Churchill was right in much that he did while you, “churchillwasright,” to my knowledge, are not. Further, if you are going to continue your rants you are an insult to his name. In respect and decency to Prime Minister Churchill, you should stop using his good name as a moniker. Further, it is not what you have said in substance, but rather the vindictive way in which you choose to slander your message and those to whom you are addressing it, that is the issue. You are, in your present guise, no more than one of the rift-raft followers that tag along the outside of any “Group,” regardless of the groups agenda (In this case social/political blogs), and give it a bad name. Sadly, in today’s world, you are part of a fringe group of anarchist, or just one of the many angry, disturbed people attempting to find your way in life. I wish you luck and can only hope that you can find peace and civility for yourself.As far as the information that you have so ingenuously provided, I will study it.

churchillwasright: By count you are correct, for on review your only words/lines where: “…isn’t fit to line my birdcage,” and “…some liberal hack”. Though those comments are no more endearing…I shall try and stay on subject and do better. Like Harry S. Truman’s famous sign on his desk, " The Buck Stops Here," so it does for my postings. Best lrl

The modern version is, “I disagreewith what yu say, and I shall defend to your death my right to silence you.”

Don’t know from whom it originated.

Thanks, Richard S. Russell! Truth and reality without polemics.

Thanks for the support. I have listened to the U Tube postings that Churchill…(CWR) posted. They are of interest and of concern, however I have not had/taken the time (yet) to research further. It is clear that all sides have enough blame to share. Further, and as I am sure we would all ideally agree, that the real issue is not to place blame (and I am guilty here as perhaps is the NYT article) but to identify the problem(s), find an answer/solution to it/them, implement the solution(s) which should also contain the means to prevent disasters like this from occurring again.

But, as much as it is difficult to tell the truth form the spin today let me leave you with a JFK quote on this from his time (Mine to): The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth — persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. – John F. Kennedy

Fuzzy Thinker, haven’t previewed Morgenson and Rosner’s Reckless Endangerment yet, but as I read the data B. Frank and G.W. were, considering housing only, trying to keep or further open up all means of financing housing so that more American’s could own a home. As the NYT article clearly points out GW’s intent was noble. As to B. Frank in the 90’s I need to research that but certainly leaving F.M. & F.M. w/o closer supervision is the same direction GW and appointee’s went in…Is it not?

Sonny, there are lots of Vietnam vets out there and most of them think differently from you, myself included. Being a Vietnam vet and having a buck will get you a cup of coffee. don’t expect it to get better.

The first thing republicans did when they took over the house, was destroy our credit rating and the reputation of our country.

Remember, only two types of people hate Obama, terrorists and republicans. And to be honest republicans can do greater damage to our country than terrorists can…

wing, yes, much better off. We now have competent leadership…..

“Are you as well off as when the Opposite Party was in the White House?” … This is a DIFFICULT Question!…

Policies of the previous administration ALWAYS take a while to diminish in impact. Laws passed by congress USUALLY take at least 6 months to show a difference in the momentum of bureaucratic activities. Lots of things are still in-play even if one says STOP. The daily decisions of the economy have an inertia- even with important changes in rules.…For me, it is sometimes hard to tell if the’ Law of Unintended Consequences’ is muddying things up. And, of course, the tide of Good/Bad Forces can overwhelm our sandcastles.…Lots of people take credit or get blame for an economic environment that is NOT of their making, yet.