Who are you voting for, for President?

[quiktaco]

So is anyone (who was pro-Obama) seeing Obama's true side now?  Pretty much what I've been saying all along, huh?

[jserio]

I personally don't think that things would have really been different under McCain either. 

[quiktaco]

Yes and no.  McCain is a VERY liberal Republican.  Would he done many horrible liberal things while he was in office - probably.  Would he have been nearly as bad as Obama - no way.

I did vote for McCain, but only because I was voting against Obama.  I will always vote for the most conservative person that has a chance of winning.

[jserio]

i think alot of the main problems we are experiencing have actually been waiting to happen for a long, long, long time. these "bubbles" didn't appear overnight.

[quiktaco]

Oh, yeah.  Of course.  All the banks being forced to loan to people that shouldn't be qualifying is pretty much where everything came from.  Just another great idea from the dems.

Everyone in Washington is just way too liberal.  We need to elect conservative constitutionalists, so that the country can be free like our founding father's meant for it to be, and so the country can start to heal from the wounds of the resent dictators.

[jserio]

Sad thing is, as much as things suck right now, only us "little guys" seem to have learned anything from it. We as a society are spending less and wanting to save money more. But the banks, credit card companies etc, seem to still be living on the gravy train, with no apparent concern. their mantra almost seems to be, "well, that was close, almost had a crash there. but, since no crash actually occured, there is no need to change anything, business as usual"

[quiktaco]

Yeah, really.  I think a lot of it is still from government intervention, and not allowing a lot of these businesses to act appropriately.  I think if they didn't have the governments support, then they'd be forced to do business in a realistic way - or they'd crumble.

[jserio]

The problem being that apparently most of our elected officials had some sort of stock or other personal interest invested in the bailed out companies.

[quiktaco]

Yep.  They all have their hidden personal interests.  That's part of the problem.  I wonder how that could be resolved.  Should elected officials be free to have investments in companies?

Maybe the better question is, why is the government touching private companies at all.  It didn't matter before these bailouts if people had investments in them, because the government didn't have anything to do with those companies (to this extent at least)

Everything's just so screwed up.

[jserio]

I feel that something of this magnitude(like the bailouts) should have been presented to the individual voters. It was a gamble and I'm not really sure that it completely accomplished it's goals and I can't say for sure if it failed. There may not have been a right or wrong answer in this case.  Putting Americans back to work is going to be an very hard task. I think that is our most important issue right now. Many of the 8 million jobs or so that were lost have just vanished, not coming back anytime soon, if ever. Now, we have to find something for those people to do. Small business drives this country I feel. Small businesses need to be nurtured and helped along because every big business with thousands of employees, started off as a small business at one time.

[quiktaco]

Definitely about the small businesses.

The reason why it wasn't put to the voters, is because we voted for congress to represent us in things like this.  Unfortunately they seem to always make poor decisions, and often times vote against what the people really want and need.

[trumpetguy]

All the banks being forced to loan to people that shouldn't be qualifying is pretty much where everything came from.  Just another great idea from the dems.

Dude, you can rant all you want since you didn't get your way in the election, but keep the fiction out of it.  This is just silly.  And false to boot.

Here's some real statistics about the Community Reinvestment Act and it's affect on the crash:
click here

Interesting link for all of you who are concerned about the federal debt:
http://www.reaganbushdebt.org/
Where were you tea-partiers when the REAL big spenders were signing bills?

Or are facts just inconvenient?

[yamahonkawazuki]

Well TG ill be fair and fault EVERY administration. from those who started it, to those who kept it going, to those who arent doing anythign about it. carter, reagan, bush 1, clinton ( 2 admins), bush 2 ( 2 admins ) and now our current president. none of which are faultless

[trumpetguy]

Well TG ill be fair and fault EVERY administration. from those who started it, to those who kept it going, to those who arent doing anythign about it. carter, reagan, bush 1, clinton ( 2 admins), bush 2 ( 2 admins ) and now our current president. none of which are faultless

Be "fair"  all you want.  But when the last three Republican presidents are responsible for over 90% of our nation's debt, please don't ask me to vote Republican in order to block out-of-control spending.  Every soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan represents one MILLION in spending every year.  I'd prefer to spend tax money on Americans who need help (and I know that there are some who do).

AND, to be "fair," don't post or believe lies about the Community Reinvestment Act because that's what Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh said (they both lied about it, and the echo chamber repeated it over and over and over).

[dubwise]

Should elected officials be free to have investments in companies?

No. Unfortunately, only rich people can afford to get elected, so that's not going to fly.

Maybe the better question is, why is the government touching private companies at all.  It didn't matter before these bailouts if people had investments in them, because the government didn't have anything to do with those companies (to this extent at least)

Not real big on history, are you?
The states used to put corporations to death, up until the 1890s,
when a court reporter mis-reported a ruling, which resulted in corporations becoming persons.

this from Thom Hartmann:

Jefferson and Madison proposed an 11th Amendment to the Constitution that would "ban monopolies in commerce," making it illegal for corporations to own other corporations, banning them from giving money to politicians or trying to influence elections in any way, restricting corporations to a single business purpose, limiting the lifetime of a corporation to something roughly similar to that of productive humans (20 to 40 years back then), and requiring that the first purpose for which all corporations were created be "to serve the public good."

The amendment didn't pass because many argued it was unnecessary: Virtually all states already had such laws on the books from the founding of this nation until the Age of the Robber Barons.

None of what you're all complaining about has anything to do with the government.
All of it has everything to do with the corporations, who are playing us all for fools.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Well TG ill be fair and fault EVERY administration. from those who started it, to those who kept it going, to those who arent doing anythign about it. carter, reagan, bush 1, clinton ( 2 admins), bush 2 ( 2 admins ) and now our current president. none of which are faultless

Be "fair"  all you want.  But when the last three Republican presidents are responsible for over 90% of our nation's debt, please don't ask me to vote Republican in order to block out-of-control spending.  Every soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan represents one MILLION in spending every year.  I'd prefer to spend tax money on Americans who need help (and I know that there are some who do).

AND, to be "fair," don't post or believe lies about the Community Reinvestment Act because that's what Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh said (they both lied about it, and the echo chamber repeated it over and over and over).

TG i wouldnt ask you to vote for anyone. just to have an open mind. whihc you do it seems. obama as commander in chief has hte power to end BOTH wars now. tbh i wish he would. but teh community reinvestment act ive been around long enough to experience both the good, and the bad sides of it

[yamahonkawazuki]

TBH i do NOT know what to think of obama.... yet, im willing to give him a chance. im willing to give all of tem a chance. regardless of political affiliations. i dont write a person off because they are a liberal/conservative/repub./dem. as youve known earlier ( pre- election) i look at those running for office, i am interviewing tem for a job. i vote for the one i think will do best regardless of who they are or affiliations