Truth, facts, and The Bailout…

According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, the financial crisis is all due to the Bush Administration’s “failed economic policies” and the “right wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no oversight, no regulation.”

In his opening comments during the first debate, Barack Obama responding to a question about the economic situation of the United States, and specifically the bailout bill said,

“Now, we also have to recognize that this is a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain, a theory that basically says that we can shred regulations and consumer protections and give more and more to the most, and somehow prosperity will trickle down.”

While I understand that the Bush Administration is not perfect, but this idea that is being promoted by the Democrats such as Pelosi and Obama is completely false.

This for numerous reasons:

First, the White House posted a list of the various times in which the Bush Adminstration pushed Congress to put more regulation on government sponsored leading agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080919-15.html

Second, there is a youtube video from a congressional hearing back in 2004, with Republicans repeatedly calling for more regulation on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae, and democrats emphatically denying any need for this. The irony in this video is deafening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

Third, in 1977, Jimmy Carter signed in to legislation the the Community Reinvestment Act.  The purpose of the law is to require lending agencies to not discriminate in their lending practices. That is, they must not only offer credit to those in wealthy neighborhoods.  Critics of this law have said, it would “distort credit markets, create unnecessary regulatory burden, lead to unsound lending, and cause the governmental agencies charged with implementing the law to allocate credit.”

The Act has been changed several times, most notably during the Clinton Administration, in which it was made more stringent for banks to attain a passing score.

Under this Act, far left non-profit organizations such as ACORN, are allowed to file motions in court that halt banks from merging due to their failure to have met the CRV Act.  In order to meet this act, banks must use bad business practices by giving loans to those who do not have good credit.  ACORN has also had numerous workers thrown in jail for Voter Registeration Fraud recently.  Barack Obama is actually very closely associated with this group.  He actually worked for them!  He helped them in the efforts to force banks to basically practice bad business!
http://m.nypost.com/ms/p/nyp/nyp/view.m?pid=23772&storyid=131216

Fourth, this article from the NY times in 1999, shows how much the Clinton Administration pressured banks to loan to low-income people, mainly minorities.  The article actually gives warnings as to the possible consequences of such loaning practices.  I’ll give you a hint about the consequences: It has something to do with a lot of money coming from the government in a type of bailout package.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

In order to avoid a similar economic meltdown, one must wisely consider who they are to vote for in this years upcoming election.  This post is to argue that voting for Barack Obama is a vote for those policies that have put us into this economic situation.  The blame game is not fun, but the blame game is necessary if we are to put the United State back on the path of economic prosperity.