I think President Obama MUST act (through the Treasury and the FDIC) to put a plan in place that provides details of how toxic mortgages will be handled to be fair to mortgagees and make the banks (the upper management, the boards and the stockholders) pay the majority of the costs. The "stress tests" should be made tougher than has been indicated in the press, and banks failing it should be taken over, the upper management stripped of their pensions as well as their salaries, and the bank broken apart and sold as pieces. The apparent "fear of using the word Nationalization" can be overcome when the results of that takeover become clear. A large number of economists and even Republicans (though not those in office) support measures that are similar if not identical.
I think the obstructionist Republicans should be challenged as to what they would do and their approaches shown to not be workable.
But the biggest thing is that some positive steps need to be taken quickly. Many times things are rushed when a more measured approach would work, but with the economy accelerating in its downward path, time is of the essence in this situation. Even if the action is not perfect, bold steps MUST be taken soon.
BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
The Republican Party–a Threat to America
One of the Republican Party's most enduring talking points is that the Bush administration has kept America safe since 9-11, but what evidence do we have of that? Even as the Bush administration bragged about their security efforts, they left both our front and back doors wide open. The two primary entry points into the United States are all but short of a welcome sign.
In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on September 27, 2007, Greg Kutz of the Government Accountability Office testified that GAO investigators were able to cross into the United States from Canada with a duffle bag filled with contents resembling radioactive material on three different occasions during the fall of 2006. He went on to testify that they did so without encountering even one law enforcement official. And as everyone knows, our Southern border is an absolute sieve. If Jose Garcia can simply walk across the Mexican border into the United States, what's to prevent Osama Abdul from doing exactly the same?
It’s the end of the year and a good time to take stock of what we’ve accomplished over the last year. What were you hoping the Democratically-controlled Senate would have accomplished in 2007?
Addressing global warming and energy independence?
Universal healthcare?
Closing the income gap?
If you had your heart set on any of these priorities, you must feel mightily disappointed. You might wonder why Congress didn’t do more. Well, the answer can be found in a simple set of numbers - 49, 51, 60, 62, 110, 134, 1973, and 2008.
