BLAME FANNIE AND CONGRESS FOR THE CREDIT MESS

The vast accumulation of toxic mortgage debt that poisoned the global financial system was driven by the aggressive buying of subprime and Alt-A mortgages, and mortgage-backed securities, by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The poor choices of these two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) -- and their sponsors in Washington -- are largely to blame for our current mess, says the Wall Street Journal. [snip]

Moreover, Fannie and Freddie were viewed in the capital market as government-backed buyers; thus, they were able to borrow as much as they wanted for the purpose of buying mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, says the Journal.

Their strategy of presenting themselves to Congress as the champions of affordable housing appears to have worked. They retained the support of many in Congress, particularly Democrats, and were allowed to continue unrestrained. In fact, Congress basically told them that if they concentrate on affordable housing, despite their problems, congressional support is secure.

But Democrats are now criticizing the risk-tolerant regulatory regime, blaming the current crisis on deregulation.

However, deregulation in the financial world in the last 30 years has permitted banks to diversify their risks geographically and across different products, which is one of the things that has kept banks relatively stable.

It's the concentration of risk in Fannie and Freddie - brought about by their governmental backing - which has led us to where we are today with institutions 'too big to fail'...

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How A Rule Rewrite Made Subprime Crisis Inevitable

One of the most frequently asked questions about the subprime market meltdown and housing crisis is: How did the government get so deeply involved in the housing market?

The answer is: President Clinton wanted it that way.

While President Carter in 1977 signed the Community Reinvestment Act, which pushed Fannie and Freddie to aggressively lend to minority communities, it was Clinton who supercharged the process.

In so doing, he turned the two quasi-private, mortgage-funding firms into a semi-nationalized monopoly that dispensed cash to markets, made loans to large Democratic voting blocs and handed favors, jobs and money to political allies.

This potent mix led inevitably to corruption and the Fannie-Freddie collapse...

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They Gave Your Mortgage to a Less Qualified Minority

[meanwhile, in the media... {well, MSNBC}]

On MSNBC this week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter tried to connect John McCain to the current financial disaster, saying: "If you remember the Keating Five scandal that (McCain) was a part of. ... He's really getting a free ride on the fact that he was in the middle of the last great financial scandal in our country."

McCain was "in the middle of" the Keating Five case in the sense that he was exonerated.

The lawyer for the Senate Ethics Committee wanted McCain removed from the investigation altogether, but, as The New York Times reported: "Sen. McCain was the only Republican embroiled in the affair, and Democrats on the panel would not release him."

So John McCain has been held hostage by both the Viet Cong and the Democrats.

[the rest of the piece details the rule changes Clinton's Federal Reserve forced lenders to follow under threat of law suits - which I've cover previously, but this piece is more specific if you're unfamiliar - Recommended > ]

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EU warns Iran close to nuclear arms capacity

VIENNA, Austria - Iran is nearing the ability to arm a nuclear warhead even if it insists its atomic activities are peaceful, the European Union warned Wednesday. In comments prepared for delivery to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35 board members, the EU also asserted that Iran appeared to have had a past nuclear arms program despite its denials.

While the evidence "remains to be verified, the IAEA's exhaustive and detailed" information, "leads one to think that the Iran has methodically pursued a program aimed at acquiring the nuclear bomb," the statement said.

The statement included no action plan should Iran continue in its activities.

[Unbelievable: the place is populated by suicidal idiots. I'm not crazy about Iran, either.]

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Putin says ties with Latin America a top priority

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to make relations with Latin America a top foreign policy priority, a pledge backed by the first Russian naval deployment to the Caribbean since the Cold War.


Putin greeted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on his second trip to Russia in just over two months, with offers to discuss further arms sales to Venezuela and possibly helping it to develop nuclear energy.

[since the cold war? correction: as part of ...]

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Chavez: Latin States Should Partner With Russia Against U.S.

MOSCOW — President Chavez of Venezuela said in an interview broadcast today that Latin America needs strong friendship with Russia to help reduce American influence and keep peace in the region. The interview aired as a Russian Navy squadron prepared to sail to Venezuela.

Venezuela recently hosted a pair of Russian strategic bombers and is preparing to conduct a joint naval exercise with Russia.

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U.S. Officials: North Korea Reassembling Nuclear Facility

Washington - North Korea, after halting the disassembly of a key nuclear center, is now putting the facility back together in violation of the United States' conditions for improved diplomatic relations between the countries, U.S. officials told Fox News on Tuesday.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News agency also reported Wednesday North Korea has begun putting its Yongbyon facility back together, days after it halted disablement work.

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Family barred from burying stepfather on a Saturday ... because he isn't a Muslim

The family of a 75-year-old man have been refused permission to bury him on a Saturday because he is not a Muslim.

Harold Lemaire died last week and his family wanted the service to be held this Saturday to make it easier for far-flung relatives to attend.

But their plans were scuppered after the council said only Muslim and Jewish funerals are allowed on weekends and bank holidays.

But as Jews cannot bury their dead on the Sabbath – from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday – it means that effectively only Muslims can use the service...

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Police Stop Anti-Islam Rally in Cologne After Violence Erupts

German police Saturday canceled an anti-Islam congress organized by a far-right group on safety grounds in Cologne after the venue was blocked by opponents. Radical leftists also fought riot police on the streets...

[catch that? The pro-Islam leftists blocked the organized rally and then became violent, so naturally the government response was to disband the peaceful marchers. brilliant]

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Sharia Law: Coming to a Western Nation Near You?

Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMSU) will be hosting a conference on October 23 that asks the loaded question: “Is There a Role for Shari'ah in Modern States?”

The Saudi-funded ACMSU and its founding director, John Esposito, one of the foremost apologists for radical Islam in the academic field of Middle East studies, have certainly been doing their bit to make the idea more palatable...

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It's not easy being green...

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UK SEEKING CO2 TRADING INCREASE
The United Kingdom wants the rights to buy its way out of half its CO2 reduction targets, and they are not alone. Other European Union (EU) nations believe they should be allowed to trade away 50 percent of their emissions reductions -- up from the 30 percent currently allowed, says the BBC News. [snip]

The dispute centers on the credibility of the system used for trading international carbon permits -- the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) -- arranged under the Kyoto Protocol, which allows rich countries to offset some of their emissions reductions by purchasing carbon credits which backer claim help developing countries get clean technology.

However, CDM is under fire because some investors are obtaining credits for projects in countries where they would have been built anyway, meaning that no CO2 is saved. Various reports suggest that up to 60 percent of CDM projects do not save additional CO2.

[so if it's not saving on dreaded CO2, why do it? A: the (huge, huge sums of) money. This thing is a scam from back to front - and coming to a United State near you soon...]

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BRITAIN FACES POWER CUTS THREAT
The United Kingdom faces an energy gap in five years but continues spending on renewable energy...

The United Kingdom will experience prolonged power cuts in about five years unless urgent action is taken now, says a new report. A third generation capacity was due to be decommissioned by 2020, but is not being replaced fast enough. Since the new reactors will not be ready in time, many question continued spending on renewable energy, says BBC News.

Researchers identified a number of factors that would combine to create the energy gap, including a European Union directive that requires the most coal- and oil-fired power station to close would result in the likely loss of a further 12GW generation capacity.

They also question whether government subsidies for renewable energy are the best way to spend public money. Government figures show that subsidies for renewable last year amount to one billion pounds; by 2020, that figure will be between 20 and 30 billion pounds...

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Meahwhile, in America...

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Harry Reid Sneaks in Oil Shale Ban
Leave it to Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid to crash the Energy Freedom party. Not only is he crashing the party, he’s doing so through the side door where he thinks no one can see him.

Just when it appeared that we could celebrate Congress lifting the ban on oil shale, Senator Reid “has decided to sneak an extension of the oil shale ban through as Congress fights over the financial bailout”...

[how much of this do we endure before we can label it the national sabotage it is? Brace yourself for 24/7 media coverage of his maleficence...]

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Gore urges civil disobedience to stop coal plants
Environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.

"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration,"

The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.

[prevent the construction. Pity we don't have a political process for such disagreements where folks get together, debate their ideas, and decide - by majority vote if necessary - how to proceed... {i.e., this 'energy-insurgence' from a former Presidential candidate - just makes you proud all over]

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And the People's Republic of California...

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Calif. lawmakers get free gasoline
SACRAMENTO, Calif.- California lawmakers enjoy a perk not available to their colleagues in any other state: unchecked use of gasoline charge cards that stick taxpayers with the bill.

Through the first seven months of the year, California taxpayers have spent $220,000 to pay for lawmakers' gasoline, according to a review of records requested by The Associated Press...
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T. Boone Pickens backs Proposition 10, from which he would profit
SACRAMENTO -- Perhaps you've seen oilman T. Boone Pickens on television advertising the "Pickens Plan" for alternative energy, urging Americans to wean themselves from foreign fuel by adopting natural gas and wind power.

Pickens has another plan he isn't advertising and from which he also stands to profit. He wants Californians to borrow $5 billion to invest in natural gas and alternative energy by voting yes on Proposition 10 on the November ballot....

[are we learning anything from the current credit crisis? Like maybe bright ideas that don't attract private market capital aren't that bright? Another boondoggle in the making - will we be duped again? {if we base our votes on 30-second TV spots we will}]
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The neutral media...

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Media Covering For OBama
Washington Times, by Tony Blankley

The mainstream media have gone over the line and are now straight out propagandists for the Obama campaign. While they have been liberal and blinkered in their worldview for decades, in 2007-08 for the first time, the major media are consciously covering for one candidate for president and consciously knifing the other.

This is no longer journalism — it is simply propaganda. (The American left-wing version of the Volkischer Beobachter cannot be far behind.) And as a result, we are less than seven weeks away from possibly electing a president who has not been thoroughly and even half way honestly presented to the country by our watchdogs — the press.

The public will be voting based on the idealized image of a man who never was. If he wins, however, we will be governed by the sunken, cynical man Mr. Obama really is. One can only hope that the senior journalists will be judged as harshly for their professional misconduct as Wall Street's leaders currently are for their failings.

[Tony's the past editor of the W-T and worth listening to - Recommended > ]
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Barack Obama, John McCain, the Polls, and the Electoral College
The economic crisis hasn't been bad for every single American: Sen. Barack Obama (and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden) seem to have benefited from it.

Not financially, of course, but in the polling data that continues to improve for the Democratic ticket, despite or perhaps because of economic declines.

Even better for Obama/Biden, the gains are not just in the national polls but in the all-important Electoral College and battleground states...

[object lesson: could this be possible if the media weren't generally ignoring the fact that the overwhelming majority of blame for our current situation rests with a succession of Democrats?

Think the lack of 'investigative reporting' would be different if the fingerprints on this debacle were predominantly Republican?

The most prevalent spin: omission.]

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Democrats give Ahmadinejad reason to smile

Some friendly advice to our Obama-supporting friends: When your interests are aligned with those of Iran's President and Hitler-wannabe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it's time for some re-assessment of priorities.

Democrat activists this week gave Ahmadinejad a huge gift by sabotaging a major bipartisan anti-Iran rally. More important to them than Iran, apparently, was the opportunity to marginalize popular Republican vice-presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin... [snip]

Democrats and Obama-supporters, please ask yourselves: was it really so important to begrudge any forum to Palin that you'd sacrifice a golden opportunity to raise the profile of Iran's increasingly imminent threat to world security?

What, exactly, are your priorities?

[A: party before country {or, evidently, world}]

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Pentagon Hails Passage of Iraqi Provincial Election Law

A senior Pentagon spokesman hailed today’s passage of a new Iraqi provincial election law, which opens the way to holding local elections within the next few months.

The law’s passage “is another hugely encouraging sign of progress in Iraq,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today.

“This is exactly what we have been looking for,” Morrell said. U.S. officials have said that passage of the law is integral to Iraq’s reconciliation efforts.

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Biden's Latest Iraq Gaffe Timely; Disproved Same Day

Since the media are so eager to report the “lies” and gaffes by Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin, will they cover the mistake Democrat Joe Biden, the man known as a “Gaffe Machine," made on Wednesday, September 24?

Biden's tough-talking Cincinatti, Ohio foreign policy speech was designed to boost Obama's credibility on the War on Terror and foster confidence in the Illinois Senator's ability to handle international issues.

In the process, Biden laid the bluster on thick and appeared to either be dishonest or unable to keep up with the news--or both--by claiming

“... the surge is over, and the political reconciliation it was supposed to produce has not materialized." (transcript)

Unfortunately for Biden, news broke that same day about Iraq's “major step toward national reconciliation"...

[Biden: the gift that keeps on giving]

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me first - no, me...