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Archive for March, 2009

Maybe It’s Conservatives Who Are The RINO’s

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under Politics, Republicans

Brian Kirwin makes an excellent point at Bearing Drift:
If the arch-conservatives consistently lose Republican nominations, who are the RINOS and who aren’t? If conservatives can’t win a majority of the Republican Party, how can they claim to decide who is a RINO and who isn’t? Doesn’t a claim of a “true Republican” require that you [...]

The Roots Of The Financial Crisis: The Community Reinvestment Act

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under Business, Credit Crisis, Economics, Real Estate, Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis

Slowly but surely, we’re learning more about the factors that helped create the real estate asset bubble that led to our current problems. Earlier this month, I pointed to a 1999 article in The New York Times about pressure that was put on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to relax lending standards.
Today, Mark Perry points [...]

A 2008 Election What-If

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under 2008 Election, Barack Obama, History, John McCain, Politics

As I’ve said in the past, I am generally in favor of reforming the Electoral College system so that states allocate their voters based on what’s come to be called the District Method.
Under this method, candidates get one Electoral Vote for each Congressional District that they win in a particular state and the candidate who [...]

John Galt And The Tea Party Of Hypocrisy

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under Barack Obama, Credit Crisis, Economics, Politics

Alex Knapp hits a home-run at Outside the Beltway with this post regarding the absurdity of the whole tea party and “Going Galt” movement:
Let’s call the “tea party” and “going Galt” nonsense what it is: unprincipled partisan hackery. If these were truly principled protests, they’d have been around all through the Bush and Republican-controlled Congress [...]

Is The Texas School Board About To Let Creationism Into Science Class

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under Dumbasses, Education, Evolution vs. ID, Religion, Science

Today’s Wall Street Journal notes that there’s a very important vote on the agenda down in the Lone Star State:
The Texas Board of Education will vote this week on a new science curriculum designed to challenge the guiding principle of evolution, a step that could influence what is taught in biology classes across the nation.
The [...]

Geithner Unveils Bank Bailout 2.0

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under Barack Obama, Credit Crisis, Economics, Politics

Washington tried to bailout the financial sector back in October and it didn’t work out so well.
Now, as expected on Saturday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has unveiled his new idea:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration formally presented the latest step in its financial rescue package on Monday, an attempt to draw private investors into partnership with [...]

Our Punch Drunk President

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under Barack Obama, Politics

Barack Obama sat down with Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes last night:
President Barack Obama said he believes the global financial system remains at risk of implosion with the failure of Citigroup or AIG, which could touch off “an even more destructive recession and potentially depression.”
His remarks came in a“60 Minutes” interview in which he was [...]

Forget The Bonuses, Guess Where The Real Money Is Going ?

by Doug Mataconis @ Monday, March 23rd, 2009. Filed under Credit Crisis, Economics, Politics

Newsweek discovers that the bailout cash seems to be taking a circular route, right into the pockets of the politicians who voted for it:
There was plenty of outrage on Capitol Hill last week over the executive bonuses paid out by AIG after getting federal bailout money. But another money trail could make voters just as [...]

Barack Herbert Hoover Obama

by Doug Mataconis @ Sunday, March 22nd, 2009. Filed under Barack Obama, Credit Crisis, Economics, Politics

Some disturbing parallels:
In the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover raised marginal tax rates to 63%, and went on a deficit spending binge. He also signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff, which helped turn a recession into the Great Depression by triggering a trade war with other countries.
Obama is on the same path. His deficit-exploding $800 [...]

Is This The Beginning Of The End Of The Dollar ?

by Doug Mataconis @ Sunday, March 22nd, 2009. Filed under Credit Crisis, Economics, Politics

In the wake of Wednesday’s announcement by the Federal Reserve Board that it would create another $ 1 trillion out of thin air in an effort to stimulate the economy, the foreign exchange markets have reacted, and the verdict is resoundingly negative:
>March 21 (Bloomberg) — The dollar dropped the most against the currencies of six [...]

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