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Choices in the 6th Congressional District Race - Cloud or 'other.' While Doug Cloud and Paul Richmond disagree on several things, they share a mutual respect for each other's honesty, integrity, thoughtfulness and principled stances on the issues. Each is committed to bringing new leadership to Washington's 6th district, leadership which actually responds to the needs and wishes of the people. Both are appalled that an overwhelming majority of Washingtonians opposed the billionaire bail-out, yet the incumbent put his Wall Street friends first and voted for it. |
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Every time either Secretary of Treasury Paulson, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks publicly, what remains of the financial markets shudder in horror and promptly crash. Thursday's market meltdown occurred as soon as Secretary Paulson appeared on the news channels that morning.
Doug Cloud says, "enough already, the government cannot make the economy better by manipulating people into believing it is better than it is. In fact, the constant attempts to 'rescue' the economy via federal government control reinforces the negative psychology that is paralyzing the markets."
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I oppose any more federal government bailouts of financial institutions.
Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson is making a desperate attempt to bail out the money center banks and investment houses that recklessly gambled their businesses on risky bets on mortgage related assets backed by houses which are worth less than the debts owed. Thus, he is essentially taking the far riskier path of gambling what is left of the United States credit rating upon assets that the banks cannot sell to anyone (except the U.S. Treasury). These "assets" are essentially worthless as nobody in the know in the banking or financial industries will pay a nickel for them.
Secretary Paulson is requesting essentially dictatorial power over the proposed bailout. He is asking for a blanket prohibition on judicial review of his actions. He is asking for a blank check on taxpayer funds for at least $700 million dollars in order to prop up the prices of homes and to save otherwise insolvent banks. This is lunacy of the highest order. See section 8 of the proposed bail-out plan: "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."
I strongly object to this "trust me, I'm with the government" approach. Secretary Paulson is not a prophet. He does |
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The current financial crisis is not really an economic crisis. It is a political crisis. The long evolution of this situation is rooted in the tendency of our political leaders to avoid the truth. Repeatedly, our Congress has granted economic benefits to special interests which have benefited the few at the great expense of the many.
A recent case in point is the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts. The ostensible purpose was to prevent a “financial meltdown.” But financial assets will only lower in price if the perception in the public’s eye is that prices will continue to fall. That perception can only be correct if the financial system is built upon false values which cannot be sustained by economic reality; the proverbial “house of cards” then comes crashing down. The process is exacerbated by the tendency of people to adapt a herd like mentality and to think alike. Thus, if everyone is first convinced that home values (or dot com stocks etc.) will never drop then like a mad crowd the public goes on a housing feeding frenzy and prices go crazy. The opposite effect, rapidly deflating home values, occurs when prices get so high that people can no longer afford to pay the prices posted on new homes. The prices start to crack and then the whole house of cards falls as the crowd now runs the other direction.
Congress is responsible for this debacle because its constant subsidies to encourage home ownership pushed the market for homes far past its natural price point. They created a bubble. In this area home prices are still too high for |
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The Boeing Company has been the most important single industry in Western Washington for decades. Yet, there is a dearth of true leadership among our state and federal officials to protect this glorious gift to our economy. The current strike by the International Association of Machinists reiterates the lack of intellectual depth on this issue. Although as a Republican I am inclined to support the Company’s position during the strike my main concern is that no one has talked about what truly ails Boeing.
Boeing is hobbled by its labor strife. Boeing is hobbled by an arrogance which treats its customers to several year long delays before delivery of ordered goods. Between management and the Boeing unions someone should point out a better way. That better way is to allow Boeing management the flexibility to pay its employees what the free market determines is the correct wage. I believe if that were to happen Boeing would have twice the economic footprint in this area as it does now. Boeing would by necessity to meet its orders pay its worker well and the economy and this area would thrive. Boeing has a 900 plane backlog |
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