Economic Crisis Roll Call

The President while covering some key points in his speech tonight, blew it when he attempted to lay out the history of the problem and the role played by Fannie and Freddie. This is clearly a Democratic mess and it has Barack Obamas's fingerprints all over it. The Democrats used Fannie and Freddie as their own personal piggy bank while forcing lending institutions to make loans to people who couldn't pay them back. This of course was done under the guise of compassion. Let the record reflect that John McCain spoke out about this problem in 2005 as did President Bush who proposed regulatory legislation in 2003 which was shut down by who - our friends across the aisle, that's who. Why the President didn't lay out these facts is perplexing.

I like President Bush and voted for him twice , and I do believe that history will treat him kindly. However, I am frustrated by his continuing reluctance to call out his political enemies when they are wrong. He should have named names in his speech tonight. Because he didn't, I will. The following is a roll call (though clearly not inclusive) of the major culprits:

Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Christoper Dodd
Barney Frank
Hillary Clinton
Franklin Raines

Note any similarities. Here's a hint, Democrats all. You might think it's funny that there haven't been any Congressional hearings on the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, to paraphrase Barack Obama. After all, this Congress has held hearings on everything. Remember the Roger Clemens steroid fiasco? Clearly if they had time to hold hearings on steroids in baseball, surely this Democratic Congress could find the time to hold hearings on this financial crisis. Here's the problem. They can't find any Republicans to pin this one on! You don't think San Fran Nan or Dingy Harry would put any of the transgressors on the above list under oath, do you?

The answer is a resounding no, escpecially in a Presidential election year. Yet if there was even one Republican that could possibly be blamed for this crisis; that person would have been subpoenaed to testify and the dinosuar media would have been salivating to cover it, all the while insinuating (declaring) that the trail led all the way back to the Administration and of course John McCain.

Failing to address the cause of the problem wasn't the President's only failing either. This bill in its current form is terrible. It is pure Socialism, and it is a case of the cure being worse than the disease. This bailout will only encourage more reckless behavior in the future. Besides since it was government which caused the problem in the first place with its "compassionate lending" edict, why would anyone in their right mind think that government could ever solve the problem? The answer is, it won't. The fact is, that even more government will only exacerbate the problem.

I think Newt has the right idea. The plan should call for a government loan to be paid back, and not a bail out. Then we should zero out the capital gains tax and drill here and now, and stop sending $500 billion overseas. That would allow free markets to work and provide a long term solution.

It was a good move for Johnny Mac to suspend his campaign while Obama travels around the country and lets Congress know that he's available by phone if needed. After all he can't be disturbed by trifling events such as this, while he's preparing for a foreign policy debate. It is now clear which candidate truly puts country first.

It is now vital for McCain to go to Washington and work out a compromise solution. He needs to challenge the Adminstration and put some Coonservative checks and balances in the existing bill. This will put Obama in the awkward position of siding with the Administration on the total bail out and against McCain. The political fall out will be dramatic and will show the public that McCain does indeed have a grasp on economic issues. This coupled with his recent reaching out to Mitt Romney will seal the deal and enable him to beat Obama on the issue of the economy.

If McCain is able to pull this off he will again surge into the lead. But he too must name names and I'm not talking Cox and Cuomo either. If he is able to pull it off by Friday and make it to the debate on foreign policy, the election could well be over by the time the candidates leave Oxford,MS.