Hey, there! Log in / Register
Frank defends bailout to hometown audience
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Not buying it
I still don't buy it. If banks deny risky loans, well, that's their choice.
The 'crisis' is a reversion to reality-based definitions of 'risk' since lenders fucked up.
I really see no problem with letting them pay for their failures. The notion that banks will stop lending to people with solid credit in less-risky ventures is ludicrous, and I have seen no evidence to support this. Certainly none was offered by Congress.
Construction workers? Do I need to pull out housing inventory charts? If they lose jobs because we don't need to build more houses, should that trigger a federal government subsidy? Of course not.
Cars? Are you kidding me?
Small Businesses? Okay, maybe this has some valid concern. Small businesses are inherently risky, but this is not a new matter. And if small businesses are at risk, because lending pulls back some willingness to be risky, that's because it's tough times and it's not a good economic status quo to start a new business. It should go without saying that some small businesses can start without consideration of the economic status quo and the ability to obtain a loan. It's based on your collateral. Did the legislation specifically target small businesses? Perhaps. Does the Fed need more power to do this? Not a bit.
Sorry Barney, I'm not buying it. Let dead dogs lie.
It's too bad I wasn't aware of this meeting, or I would have gone, since I live in his district and was going to protest his office on Friday.
Frank said Republicans
Frank said Republicans controlled Congress for 12 years and passed no regulation, while Democrats passed a Bush administration Fannie and Freddie regulation package since gaining control of the House and Senate in January 1997.
"If I could have stopped a Republican bill during the Bush years, I would have started with the war in Iraq. Then I would have gone to the Patriot Act. Then I would have gone on to the hundreds of millions in tax cuts," said Frank, to applause from the audience.
The longtime congressman is being challenged this fall by both Republican and independent candidates. He has been criticized in his liberal district, which wends its way from Newton to New Bedford, for being one of the leaders of congressional efforts last week to win approval of a $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan.
He was greeted at the Colonnade Hotel by a group of protesters who argued the money would be better spent on community problems. They chanted, "Money for the people, not for the banks."
link
Stupid people
Well, if the protesters had paid the fee to get inside (only $40 for not-for-profits) they would have learned that the Foreclosures seminar focused mostly on community-based housing initiatives, including details from the Commonwealth's Director of Community Development about how the state will distribute over $44 million in funds to fight the effects of foreclosures and subprime lending on a local level.
It's easy to whine, not so easy to achieve something.
Thank you, Congressman Frank, for helping Americans.