tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post7326505406215910263..comments2023-10-18T02:03:42.145-07:00Comments on LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: Two Responses to Greed-American StyleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-8664972296762710012008-09-23T08:59:00.000-07:002008-09-23T08:59:00.000-07:00Here is the "Text of the Draft Proposal for B...Here is the "Text of the Draft Proposal for Bailout Plan" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21draftcnd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin<br>(wish I could figure out the HTML to post links).<br><br>Anyway, here's an excerpt:<br><br>Sec. 8. Review. <br>Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.<br><br>Yikes!Norahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16601605468299470951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-3149452123061500692008-09-23T09:26:00.000-07:002008-09-23T09:26:00.000-07:00The bailout and greed and government policy and ot...The bailout and greed and government policy and other things. <br><br>It has been public policy for decades in the US to encourage home ownership and this has served us well. We do this with a wide variety of laws in the tax and lending arenas. Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and the 1040 are examples of this. More particularly the last two administrations have been actively involved in trying to expand this policy to include more and more people in the lower socio-economic scale. By backing these lending organizations, millions of loans have been packaged and sold with implicit, if not explicit public backing… all condoned by both political parties in an effort to expand this policy. There has been a reluctance to reign in these organizations for several reasons… it has been felt that to curb their practices would slow down opportunity and in addition FM&FM, being partially private, have poured campaign and lobbying money to candidates from both parties. <br><br>Now the issue of greed… The public has been greedy in the expansion of a policy to those who couldn’t pay their loans without government backing… we could say greedy in their collective compassion. The politicians have been greedy in their willingness to take money from the very agencies that they were duty bound to regulate. The companies have been greedy in their willingness to drop standards to write more loans knowing that the public was willing to back them. Individual borrowers have been greedy because they signed on to loans without a care about their ability to pay in the future.<br><br>This bailout is made necessary because we are bailing ourselves out of foolish public policy in that a reasonable goal… expanding home ownership… has been extended beyond the threshold of prudence. A classic case of too much government.Styluxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02838216931189725490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-41697974874925489282008-09-23T10:52:00.000-07:002008-09-23T10:52:00.000-07:00As for the issue of greed, greed is a human attrib...As for the issue of greed, greed is a human attribute that is widespread. We all have some of it, and it's in the eye of the beholder. Greed is not a problem in itself, at least from a societal perspective. Because greed exists, it is necessary to have mechanisms to channel and control it. These mechanisms are what has been lacking. That almost sums up the entire moral problem, such as it is. This is not rocket science.<br>But, moving forward toward action in the moral sphere, there are a couple of questions that can be asked. One is: whose suffering should be alleviated? I think this is the correct question and should guide us in devising a practical solution to the problems we face. The second question is: Who should be punished? I have read a good number of blog posts in the last few days from people who think this situation is primarily the fault of the people who got into mortgages they didn't understand and shouldn't have signed up for, and these bloggers are angry at these misguided people. This anger is an error. Perhaps these people were foolish; certainly they look that way in hindsight. I am intimately familiar with the temptation to say that everybody is corrupt or that everybody except this group or that group is corrupt. But having said that, except where crimes have been committed, it doesn't get you anywhere. So let's think of solutions that will benefit us as a whole. I don't much fancy writing a blank check on behalf of my children to Hank Paulson for $700 billion to do with as he likes.OvenMittnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-49299996280885451822008-09-23T11:29:00.000-07:002008-09-23T11:29:00.000-07:00Norah, now Paulsen is saying (despite the clear pa...Norah, now Paulsen is saying (despite the clear passage in his proposal that you quoted above) that he was for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BunFyotMxi0" rel="nofollow">oversight all along.</a> This has to win the prize for Bald-Faced B.S.<br><br>As Rep. McDermott said yesterday, Paulsen is throwing himself a pass that in four months, he can catch himself, an extremely wealthy man.<br><br>Foul.Free2bmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-88136641524897520452008-09-23T12:49:00.000-07:002008-09-23T12:49:00.000-07:00It seems as though this 'blank check' will...It seems as though this 'blank check' will open up all this money without clear definition of how it will be spent. That does a couple of things - it allows any business to come forward for a government bailout, even businesses that should fail, and including businesses who are not even in trouble yet. It allows these corporations to fulfill their contracts to the CEO's who are earning millions in bonuses even though their companies are going bankrupt. It allows the government to seize control of business like has never been done before in the US.<br><br>Hopefully the pressure for oversight is working. Maybe scare tactics are being used to get people to agree to a quick solution?<br><br>There's a lot I don't understand, but will keep watching!Norahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16601605468299470951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-37997012430707407172008-09-23T21:28:00.000-07:002008-09-23T21:28:00.000-07:00You and me both, Norah.Readers, you may have notic...You and me both, Norah.<br><br>Readers, you may have noticed I opened up comments to everyone again. However, I am asking you to choose and use a pen-name (see note in Welcome section in sidebar). Anonymous posts are likely to be deleted.Free2bmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-75627649075316894862008-09-24T10:15:00.000-07:002008-09-24T10:15:00.000-07:00Still following this and wondering what's the ...Still following this and wondering what's the right path. Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh are among the people on the right who are against this. Here's a link to Ron Paul's website, which has some good reading: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/.Norahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16601605468299470951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-8546924029203079902008-09-27T19:51:00.000-07:002008-09-27T19:51:00.000-07:00Norah, Basic HTML for messagesNorah, <br><a href="http://www.boardhost.com/help/tutorials/html.html" rel="nofollow">Basic HTML for messages </a>helenanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-32681399201529040232008-09-29T11:37:00.000-07:002008-09-29T11:37:00.000-07:00Thank you, Helena!Thank you, Helena!Norahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16601605468299470951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-51701780500854479722008-10-02T07:03:00.000-07:002008-10-02T07:03:00.000-07:00Good morning, all. Is there a link somewhere to th...Good morning, all. Is there a link somewhere to the other blog by the person who left the oalc as well?<br><br>And is oldapsotoliclutheran.com gone for good :(<br><br>Thanks for any assistance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-60738229388671172612008-10-02T09:41:00.000-07:002008-10-02T09:41:00.000-07:00The blog is still therewww.lefttheoalc.blogspot.co...The blog is still there<br><br>www.lefttheoalc.blogspot.compretzelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-48079046757578138792008-10-04T19:12:00.000-07:002008-10-04T19:12:00.000-07:00Here is a article from New York Times from many ye...Here is a article from New York Times from many years ago. They predicted this financial crises years ago. Some of the predictions by the experts are spot on.<br><br>http://tinyurl.com/3fpk37Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com