Sunday, December 21, 2008
American Dream/Nightmare
Reader advisement: Sit Down, I am coming to the defense of President Bush. [ Well, sort of.:) ]
In today's New York Times (Sunday 12/21/08) the blame for the mortgage melt down was put at President Bush's feet. The blame was placed Bush's philosophy that homeownership
was the way out of poverty “We can put light where there’s darkness, and hope where there’s despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home.” — President Bush, Oct. 15, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
Are you sitting down?
President Bush's philosophy of home ownership is not to blame. It is an articulation of is the American Dream, of our founders' concept of vested citizenship. Property ownership gives people ownership in more than just their home, but in their community --they are less likely to litter, and more likely to participate.
Okay, you may relax now. . .
Where he needs to take responsibility and blame is in his free market anti-regulation arrogant philosophy and his old boy network of yes men.
". . .From his earliest days in office, Mr. Bush paired his belief that Americans do best when they own their own home with his conviction that markets do best when let alone. . .But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.
Mr. Bush did foresee the danger posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants. The president spent years pushing a recalcitrant Congress to toughen regulation of the companies, but was unwilling to compromise when his former Treasury secretary wanted to cut a deal. And the regulator Mr. Bush chose to oversee them — an old prep school buddy — pronounced the companies sound even as they headed toward insolvency. . ."
Here is the White House's response http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/21/white-house-accuses-ny-ti_n_152713.html to the NYT article...which says in short that the NYT has been against the president,and this NYT article is "gross negligence" with cherry picked quotes to suit the writers. The real reason for the housing meltdown is, according to the President, the cheap money flowing into the US: "For example, the President highlighted a factor that economists agree on: that the most significant factor leading to the housing crisis was cheap money flowing into the U.S. from the rest of the world, so that there was no natural restraint on flush lenders to push loans on Americans in risky ways."
In today's New York Times (Sunday 12/21/08) the blame for the mortgage melt down was put at President Bush's feet. The blame was placed Bush's philosophy that homeownership
was the way out of poverty “We can put light where there’s darkness, and hope where there’s despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home.” — President Bush, Oct. 15, 2002
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print
Are you sitting down?
President Bush's philosophy of home ownership is not to blame. It is an articulation of is the American Dream, of our founders' concept of vested citizenship. Property ownership gives people ownership in more than just their home, but in their community --they are less likely to litter, and more likely to participate.
Okay, you may relax now. . .
Where he needs to take responsibility and blame is in his free market anti-regulation arrogant philosophy and his old boy network of yes men.
". . .From his earliest days in office, Mr. Bush paired his belief that Americans do best when they own their own home with his conviction that markets do best when let alone. . .But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.
Mr. Bush did foresee the danger posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants. The president spent years pushing a recalcitrant Congress to toughen regulation of the companies, but was unwilling to compromise when his former Treasury secretary wanted to cut a deal. And the regulator Mr. Bush chose to oversee them — an old prep school buddy — pronounced the companies sound even as they headed toward insolvency. . ."
Here is the White House's response http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/21/white-house-accuses-ny-ti_n_152713.html to the NYT article...which says in short that the NYT has been against the president,and this NYT article is "gross negligence" with cherry picked quotes to suit the writers. The real reason for the housing meltdown is, according to the President, the cheap money flowing into the US: "For example, the President highlighted a factor that economists agree on: that the most significant factor leading to the housing crisis was cheap money flowing into the U.S. from the rest of the world, so that there was no natural restraint on flush lenders to push loans on Americans in risky ways."
Labels: housing crisis, W
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Very Well Written Article! I can say that I, by no means, have agreed with several of the policies and procedures by the Bush Admin. However, I do believe that a great deal of the recent "Bush Bashing" is unjustified. Thought alot of the Bashing is justified, a large amount can be attributed to the "Bandwagon" effect- people with little knowledge of the "Workings" of our Government, joining in to voice their opinion--targeting the "figurehead", not the body as a whole.
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