Friday, September 26, 2008

The Credit Market Is Freezing Up Our Posts

Sorry dear readers that we have tailed off towards the end of this week with our posting. It's just that this whole credit market fiasco has tied up our post liquidity. Once we get the weekend bailout (read: sleep and booze) and Lingering Bursitis returns from his exile things should thaw out.


We've spent the better part of the morning discussing the bailout and financial crisis. The Cliff's Notes version of the conversation seems to be, man this seems like a bad idea but the alternative seems even worse.

Feel free to add your thoughts, inane or irrelevant, about the financial crisis in the comments below.

23 comments:

Sarah said...

I'm all about the position that America is in and that we have to look at a $700 billion bailout. And as Sen. McCain has said unless this nearly trillion dollar bailout is what it may end up to be, unless there are amendments in Paulson's proposal, really I don't believe that Americans are going to support this and we will not support this. The interesting thing in the last couple of days that I have seen is that Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal. They're not waiting to see what Barack Obama is going to do. Is he going to do this and see what way the political wind's blowing? They're waiting to see if John McCain will be able to see these amendments implemented in Paulson's proposal.

Eladio said...

Hey Sarah, find some examples and bring 'em to me.

cjdomer04 said...

The problem, as I see it, is that no one was prepared to sort this mess out. They all figured it would take care of itself and left it alone. Now, we are being told it must be sorted out immediately, but no details are in place, and those details will determine how will it works. Who sets the price on the debt purchases? How much control does the government get over these firms? Do firms have to disclose how many tier-3 investments they have? If firms don't make use of the money right away, are they allowed to come back later? Hard line stances by the government would be great, but everyone knows they won't actually follow through with the threats. Clearly, the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac coverage needs to go back to where it was about 20 years ago, but even that will get fought. There are just so many potential problems that could arise if this is done poorly.

As a reminder that government is 90% about getting elected and 10% making the country better, congress quickly pushed through a $25B loan to the auto companies. It is truly amazing how fast stuff gets done for battle ground states, isn't it?

Sarah said...

Will do, Eladio.

cjdomer04 said...

Eladio,

He did set the record for most present votes while in the Illinois senate.

BackBergtt said...

"The interesting thing in the last couple of days that I have seen is that Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal. They're not waiting to see what Barack Obama is going to do."

gonna go out on a limb and say thats because only one of them made an absurd spectacle about it and 'suspended' their campaign. maybe he can get that nasty cunt palin to carry around a cross with him at all times.

any greg kinnear is coaching newcastle now? what the fuck is going on

cjdomer04 said...

Wow, we have already resorted to McCain bashing. That seems quite fast to me, especially seeing as this problem has little to do with either of them directly.

For those of you who are bashing him, can you give me one reason, preferably more, why I should vote for Obama? Please don't say because McCain would be the same as Bush and he sucks. I am looking for pro-Obama reasons.

The Fan's Attic said...

now, now Georger. no need to call names.

BackBergtt said...

the reason i am voting democrat is that they will appoint federal judges who actually give a shit about the constitution and will hopefully restore the justice department to something other than an orwellian nightmare.

i care very little about what the president does, i am more interested in the other two branches. and without either a veto proof congress or a democrat in the whitehouse a democratic congress is absolutely useless; so i want to see what they can do too.

i dont trust either of these guys to fix the economy, and frankly dont believe anything either of them say about it. why? because neither of them know about it. most congressmen will be the first to admit they dont understand the economy, theyre not economists. the fast majority of them were attorneys, business men, and the occasional pro athlete. not the foremost experts. congress just needs to offer buffet a blank check to run the economy

and im pretty sure it says cunt on her birth certificate, so im in the clear on that one

EbullientFatalist said...

This ain't sackah!!!


/will now retire joke.


Anyways, it's good to see the small government Republicans emerge after 8 years. And by "good" I mean, "fuck." Where were they before during the Bush Administration?

EbullientFatalist said...

@ Georger: lawyers aren't experts? Fuck me. I like to think I'm an expert. At using LexisNexis and AmJur.

BackBergtt said...

westlaw is where its at baby. and by westlaw, i mean wikipedia because i can never remember my absurd westlaw logon.

BackBergtt said...

and i guess i should clarify on 'give a shit about the constitution'

judges who

- believe in a right to privacy
- believe in habeus corpus
- believe the fourth amendment isnt a mere suggestion
- dont believe in minimum sentencing guidelines
- dont believe in the death penalty for anything other than murder (i think obama is dead wrong on this one, but you cant appear soft of kiddie rapists i guess)

personally i supported biden in the primaries, i think he is the most qualified person in the congress to run the country, but apparently talking without a brain to mouth filter isnt good anymore. but i trust him to run the judges, as he was the head of the judiciary committee and knows his shit. i just cant fathom another four or eight years when at least one of the justices is going to die and tip the balance if a republican is in the whitehouse. this country cannot afford another clarence thomas.

Ian said...

People, People, lets talk about things relevant to our beloved EPL. Like what a moron Gordon Brown is...

cjdomer04 said...

Georger, why are you so sure Obama will be any better at that than McCain? Also, am I the only one who sees a lot of parallels between Obama and Brown? (See, Ian, I brought it back to EPL... ish)

The Fan's Attic said...

@domer: I see a lot of parallels with Obama and GWB. Youngish guy, not much experience, charismatic, riding on the wave of "anybody but" campaign.

As far as Georger's position on justices:

- the right to privacy is not in the constitution...it's a derivative of other rights
- sentencing guidelines are legislative acts, not judicial acts.
- i'm pretty sure habeas corpus is still protected by the US Supreme Court.

Clearly, I disagree with Georger on a number of things. I would argue that the people he wants to be on the court would do more damage to the constitution than the people he would seem to oppose.

The NY Kid said...

As someone who has recently spent a significant amount of time working on data from the United States Sentencing Commission, I can tell you without a doubt that minimum sentencing guidelines are nothing more than suggestions, and judges ignore them consistently on the "flimsiest" of reasons.

BackBergtt said...

"why are you so sure Obama will be any better at that than McCain"

well for one mccain has said he wants to overrturn roe. and having read all of biden's judiciary committee reports on the SC appointments he has overseen, i am much more confident in him.

"sentencing guidelines are legislative acts, not judicial acts."

obviously, i suppose i could have worded that differently, but they have been contested in the courts multiple times and have been partially struck down (booker, etc) and now judges have more discretion, i would prefer ones that do not follow them at all as far as minimums concerned. and if they could get enough votes to completely ban them that would be great.

yes the right to privacy is not in the constitution's words, but i would refer you to my good friend who says "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people"

cjdomer04 said...

C'mon Georger, McCain doesn't want to overturn Roe. He said that when the GOP brass was saying he wasn't conservative enough. He has spoken many times about not wanting to touch that ruling with a ten foot pole.

And your reasoning for Obama picking better judges, based on your requirements, is that you liked Biden's SC committee reports? What about his question and answer period with Alito? I know most senators use it as free air time, but his was fairly ridiculous, was it not?

The Fan's Attic said...

it's too bad that's not what any claimed right to privacy is based upon.

BackBergtt said...

im a huge fan of goldbergs opinion in griswold using the 9th, personally i think its a much better theory than the penumbras crap, i can understand why people hate that. but there is definitely an argument that it is what was used along with the 14th in roe.

and i dont care what mccain said in the past, what he said now is that 'I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned', i dont think hes going to bail on the people that may get him elected. hes a shell of the man he was in 2000, which is a shame, because i actually liked him back then.

the alito hearings were a sham (granted he was no longer the head at that point), the issue of those things being aired is a whole separate topic; but his hearings on thomas and bork were great. i mean i have other opinions on why but a democrat isnt going to appoint a bible thumping originalist to the court; if thats what you want, vote republican. the question was asked of why someone should vote democrat, and i dont really think theres much of a debate that the things i listed tend to be things democrats support mores

cjdomer04 said...

Most importantly, why must they play the Liverpool derbies so early? These 4.45 am matches are just cruel.

Kopper said...

Well here's a basic pro-Obama argument. And it actually has nothing to do with policy, either his own or McCain's--- the rest of the free world will one again respect the American electoral system.
We've made a right mess of things the past 2 elections, from hanging chads to swift boat s. Obama might be a drooling idiot, but I'd rather get along with the rest of the world as opposed to constant battling.