Monday, September 22, 2008

Who's gonna hold the purse-strings?

Angry Bear points out that if the bailout goes through, and McCain wins the election, the likelihood is that the $700 billion dollars will be in the unfettered hands of likely Secretary of the Treasury Phil "Nation of Whiners" Gramm.

Oh, and just for kicks, here's a quote from McCain that's been making the rounds:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

13 comments:

Mary said...

Do you have any context for the quote? Also--no fan of L. Graham here either. Much to liberal to be holding purse strings. ;)

rebmoti said...

The quote is in the current edition Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. http://www.contingencies.org/

Phil Gramm, not Lindsay Graham. And remember, it was conservatives, fulfilling conservative free market ideology, who got us into this mess.

Mary said...

My understanding is the Particular deregulation of banking bill that McCain was involved in with Phil Graham was a bipartisan effort. Are you saying liberals had nothing to do with it? Clinton signed it.

I feel the heart of this entire mess is greed and covetousness-- a national sin--and it is as much on the part of individuals who have been living on credit as it is of businesses that have been giving it.

I'm so sick of gotcha nonsense I just wish they'd get together and fix the problems. At least one thing you can say for McCain which I don't know if it makes me a fan is that he certainly has worked with liberals on quite a few things. When he says 'we' he usually means everyone not just Republicans.

I believe we all need to take our own share of the blame in this whole ugly thing and reform ourselves as individuals as well as the system.

rebmoti said...

I didn't say "Republican" I said "conservative." Deregulation is a conservative philosophy. Clinton signed it but who said Clinton was a liberal? He signed welfare reform too.

If the human heart is corrupt, then we need strong government oversight to make sure that people play by the rules and don't succumb to "sin." What we're dealing with now is the result of 30 years (from Reagan on) of removing those oversights, and of vilifying government. And this is the result we get.

ModernMommy said...

Moti--I could agree with that to a point--but its hard when it comes from folks who are commited to always giving other peoples money away. I don't mind a very limited amount of government help for the poor--but what happens is its never enough and then the poor never learn to do for themselves. Also--another side of the regulation coin is when someone with less than a huge amount of money wants to get themselves a leg up by starting a business they cannot possibly jump through all the hoops that have been put in their way legally.

Its self defeating and goes on and on.

ModernMommy said...

you know something I also don't see McCain as a conservative-I'm willing to go that far--but Obama--that's all the way left.

ModernMommy said...

sorry looks like my daughter used my pc. 'sarah'

Mary said...

You know something? I actually think what I am more concerned with individuals taking control of themselves than this whole mess.

There's no way this is all the fault of one group--no matter which one it is. I think its the fault of the entire society-- going after 'mo stuff' on such a crazy crazy level. I bought into it in alot of ways myself--not as much as some--but enough to make me realize I'm wrong too. It doesn't make sense to me for us all to keep on saying--its them, its them.. Its US.

I guess where I'm at now is I want to find the least expensive way I can be comfortable and then build on that for the future. I honestly think it may end up good for the whole country to get shook up this way because we're all living like fools financially.

my opinion--which probably is not all the way liberal or conservative--just common sense I think.

rebmoti said...

"Obama is all the way left" is a dittohead talking point, not an independent thought. Save it for Glenn Beck.

rebmoti said...

Mary - I agree. Underlying all the symptoms is the disease - affluenza.

Mary said...

Well... I'm sticking with greed and covetousness--I'm not going to use the term affluenza because i don't think that accurately describes my view.

rebmoti said...

You know, Mary, you should let me have the last word one of these times. It is my blog, after all!

Mary said...

:)I'm sorry.