'Lynching' Franklin Raines and How Fannie Mae Isn't 'Broke'
Classical Valuespublishedthis incredible video showing how the Republicans in Congress desperately attempted to increase regulation on Fannie Mae and how the Democrats fought even any suggestion that there was a problem with the agency, even using the race-card by referring to criticism of foremer chairman Raines as a "lynching".
The video is about 9 minutes. If you would like more details on how we got into this mortgage meltdown mess may I suggest The Best Congress Fannie Could Buy. This is a stunning explanation of the "money trail" linking the Democrat politicians - including Sen. Obama, and their fund raisers, to the Mafia-like racket that has ravaged the world's financial markets.
Last night's debate presented an opportunity for a clear insight into both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama.
At one point Sen. McCain elevated his wrist and said:
"I had a town hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and a woman stood up and she said, "Senator McCain, I want you to do me the honor of wearing a bracelet with my son's name on it."
He was 22 years old and he was killed in combat outside of Baghdad, Matthew Stanley, before Christmas last year. This was last August, a year ago. And I said, "I will -- I will wear his bracelet with honor."
And this was August, a year ago. And then she said, "But, Senator McCain, I want you to do everything -- promise me one thing, that you'll do everything in your power to make sure that my son's death was not in vain."
He didn't have to look at the bracelet to read the name. It flowed as if he's said it countless times, and sounded as if he thought of Mathew Stanley often.
Sen. Obama interjected shortly after with:
"Jim, let me just make a point. I've got a bracelet, too, from Sergeant - from the mother of Sergeant Ryan David Jopeck, sure another mother is not going through what I'm going through."
It seemed as if he had been outfitted with a prop. He seemed uncomfortable with the statement, stumbled in attempting to remember the name, and appeared to look at the bracelet in order to read it. A poseur. A moment that may follow him as did Bush's 'watch' moment in his debate with Clinton.
Charles Hunt from the NY Post noticed that exchange as well. Here's what he read into it:
"One of last night's most telling moments came when McCain revealed a wristband that had belonged to a soldier killed in Iraq given to him by the soldier's mother. Do everything in your power, the mother told McCain, to make sure "my son's death was not in vain."
"I've got a bracelet, too," Obama said - given to him by the mother of a dead soldier who asked Obama to "make sure that another mother's not going through what I'm going through."
Here lies the difference between these two men:
Obama will accept defeat if continuing on hurts too much. For McCain, any mission where defeat is an option is a mission not worth fighting in the first place."
Last night, Barack Obama said that he never opposed funding for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that his vote in opposition only intended to force a timetable for withdrawal in Iraq. Today, the McCain campaign responds with a new ad, “Promise”, that they will run nationally:
ANNCR: In the midst of war, Senator Obama voted to cut off funding for our troops. What did Biden say?
JOE BIDEN: “They said they voted against the money to make a political point.”
ANNCR: He added…
JOE BIDEN: “This is cutting off support that will save the lives of thousands of American troops.”
ANNCR: Barack Obama. Playing politics. Risking lives. Not ready to lead.
OBAMA: Jim, there are a whole bunch of things we have got to answer. First of all, let’s talk about this troop funding issue because John always brings this up. Senator McCain cut — Senator McCain opposed funding for troops in legislation that had a timetable, because he didn’t believe in a timetable.
I opposed funding a mission that had no timetable, and was open- ended, giving a blank check to George Bush. We had a difference on the timetable. We didn’t have a difference on whether or not we were going to be funding troops.
Not according to his running mate. According to Joe Biden, the move to defund the troops was deliberate — an attempt to interfere with the surge strategy that wound up winning the war. Biden, Obama, and the rest of the Democrats who voted against the funding wanted to force the administration into a precipitous withdrawal that would have left Iraq a failed state. And it also would have defunded Afghanistan, which Obama has called the central front on the war on terror.
Not really.
Compared to any other country, we're a marvel at response and action.
The boulevards of Paris are a pretty reliable place to troll for anti-American sentiment. And sure enough, self-described anarchist Bernard Barbry is happy to weigh in with his opinion of the U.S. financial system. "The banks have brought this on themselves, and they deserve what they get," says Barbry, out for a stroll on a busy street in southwestern Paris. Surprisingly, though, the retired journalist isn't predicting America's downfall. The U.S., he believes, will remain powerful, and the crisis on Wall Street won't affect Washington's influence on world affairs. "I like Americans," he says.
In some areas, Wall Street's comeuppance is a plus: It vindicates Europe's less profitable—but less risky—banking practices. Either because they were more prudent or because regulators tied their hands, the likes of Germany's Deutsche Bank and Spain's Banco Santander look strong. But Deutsche CEO Josef Ackermann isn't writing off his American rivals. "I wouldn't bet against U.S. banks," he says in an e-mail. "It's still unclear who the winners of this crisis will be."....
It's important to remember that in much of the world, crises are met with parliamentary dithering at best, or at worst opaque decision-making by an unaccountable elite. So among foreign bankers and citizens alike there is admiration for the way Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tossed out decades of Republican free-market dogma and pledged hundreds of billions of dollars to rescue the banking system. "The speed with which America has moved over the past 8 to 10 days is truly phenomenal," says Uday Kotak, vice-chairman at Mumbai's Kotak Mahindra Bank. "I don't think any other country could have done that." MORE....
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