Posted:
#1
Barack and John McCain have both waffled, equivocated and flip-flopped on economic issues over the past week as the market imploded, and the feds moved in to salvage things.
Since the summer of 2007, however, both men have been broadly consistent in their responses to market troubles. McCain has chastised corporate leaders before coming around to supporting government interventions while calling for their scope to be limited. Obama has tended to support the interventions while calling for broader government action that would include both regulatory reform and aid to homeowners.
Aug. 31, 2007: President Bush announces that, in response to mounting home foreclosures and concerns about the credit market, he will launch a Federal Housing Administration refinancing program and suspend certain taxes to help American homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Obama responds by saying the proposal “does not go far enough” and calls for “a plan that will help far more struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure, crack down on unscrupulous lenders with new penalties and disclosure requirements, and reduce the influence of lobbyists so that we will not face a crisis like this ever again."
Sept. 17: Speaking on Wall Street, Obama warns that the credit crunch could see “the markets … ravished by a crisis in confidence” and calls for a thorough investigation into credit lending practices.
Jan. 28, 2008: H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, is introduced in the House as a measure to inject money into a flagging economy.
Jan. 30: At a Republican primary debate in Simi Valley, Calif., McCain says “you could argue” that the economy has improved during the Bush years. But he adds: “Things are tough right now. ... We’ve got to address the housing subprime — housing problem. We need to obviously have this package go through the Congress as quickly as possible."
Feb. 7: McCain votes in favor of H.R. 5140. Obama does not vote on the bill.
March 10: CNBC reports that Bear Stearns may be in trouble.
March 11: In a statement, McCain takes a stern line on possible credit bailouts. “While it is the government’s role to help the honest, hardworking homeowner in this time of distress,” McCain says, “it is not the government’s role to bail out investors who should understand that markets are about both return and risk, or lending institutions who didn’t do their job. It’s important that managers and investors are held accountable for their own decisions.”
March 14: In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Obama warns that an inadequate response to Bear Stearns’s problems, and the credit crunch more generally, could lead to “a cascading decline in credit markets across the board with the companies that were sound, and the credits that were sound, being punished as well.”
March 16: J.P. Morgan moves to buy Bear Stearns at a cut-rate price of $2 per share. That price later goes up to $10 a share.
March 17: Obama releases a statement criticizing Bush administration economic policies and recommending that Congress pass “legislation I put forward with my colleague, Chris Dodd, to create meaningful incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages so that Americans facing foreclosure can keep their homes. This is not a bailout for lenders or investors who gambled recklessly, and it is not a windfall for borrowers. It is a fair and responsible way to help stem the foreclosure crisis.”
Since the summer of 2007, however, both men have been broadly consistent in their responses to market troubles. McCain has chastised corporate leaders before coming around to supporting government interventions while calling for their scope to be limited. Obama has tended to support the interventions while calling for broader government action that would include both regulatory reform and aid to homeowners.
Aug. 31, 2007: President Bush announces that, in response to mounting home foreclosures and concerns about the credit market, he will launch a Federal Housing Administration refinancing program and suspend certain taxes to help American homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Obama responds by saying the proposal “does not go far enough” and calls for “a plan that will help far more struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure, crack down on unscrupulous lenders with new penalties and disclosure requirements, and reduce the influence of lobbyists so that we will not face a crisis like this ever again."
Sept. 17: Speaking on Wall Street, Obama warns that the credit crunch could see “the markets … ravished by a crisis in confidence” and calls for a thorough investigation into credit lending practices.
Jan. 28, 2008: H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, is introduced in the House as a measure to inject money into a flagging economy.
Jan. 30: At a Republican primary debate in Simi Valley, Calif., McCain says “you could argue” that the economy has improved during the Bush years. But he adds: “Things are tough right now. ... We’ve got to address the housing subprime — housing problem. We need to obviously have this package go through the Congress as quickly as possible."
Feb. 7: McCain votes in favor of H.R. 5140. Obama does not vote on the bill.
March 10: CNBC reports that Bear Stearns may be in trouble.
March 11: In a statement, McCain takes a stern line on possible credit bailouts. “While it is the government’s role to help the honest, hardworking homeowner in this time of distress,” McCain says, “it is not the government’s role to bail out investors who should understand that markets are about both return and risk, or lending institutions who didn’t do their job. It’s important that managers and investors are held accountable for their own decisions.”
March 14: In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Obama warns that an inadequate response to Bear Stearns’s problems, and the credit crunch more generally, could lead to “a cascading decline in credit markets across the board with the companies that were sound, and the credits that were sound, being punished as well.”
March 16: J.P. Morgan moves to buy Bear Stearns at a cut-rate price of $2 per share. That price later goes up to $10 a share.
March 17: Obama releases a statement criticizing Bush administration economic policies and recommending that Congress pass “legislation I put forward with my colleague, Chris Dodd, to create meaningful incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages so that Americans facing foreclosure can keep their homes. This is not a bailout for lenders or investors who gambled recklessly, and it is not a windfall for borrowers. It is a fair and responsible way to help stem the foreclosure crisis.”
0
bob, caught out again 
Good night Shiela, it was fun kicking your ass again....Please let KU know it is safe to come out of hiding now 
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