Okay...It's official...the economy has hit the tank. No matter which political party you choose to support, there's plenty of blame to go around. Most of the blame is being thrown squarely into the lap of George Bush. I guess the imaginary "Bush Doctrine" will no doubt be held responsible by the history books. But, who is really to blame? Does it truly begin and end with the man that occupies the White House? Is it me or wasn't our Constitution fashioned to prevent the Office of President from spending money all willy nilly without Congress's consent? I think the key words there are CONGRESS'S CONSENT.
So where exactly does the blame lie? How did we get here? What has happened exactly? And who in the hell is
Fannie Mae and
Freddie whats-his-name? And who are these damned Lehman brothers? What did they do and how come it effects me, anyway? And, if the the price of oil has dropped, how come the cost of gas hasn't come back down? Whew....okay....one at a time.
Fannie and
Freddie -
As banks began to recover in the midst of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to restore home ownership in America. There weren't any banks that were providing loans to first time home buyers. Roosevelt’s administration's answer to this problem was creating
Fannie Mae in 1938.
Fannie Mae became a company that would guarantee mortgage loans by private banks.Thirty years later, the government turned loose
Fannie Mae from its control and privatized the company.
Fannie Mae then became just like any other bank, but instead of making money by offering mortgages directly to the public,
Fannie Mae made it's money from buying mortgages from private banks.
Because of economic growth and rising incomes, home ownership skyrocketed in the late 60s. To keep
Fannie Mae from becoming too big of a company, the government replicated
Fannie Mae with a company called
Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac were both private companies up until Sept. 7, when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the government’s plan to take over both companies.
Because
Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac own or guarantee more than $5 trillion in mortgages, almost half of those in the United States, many of the mortgages they own will never be repaid. As a result of holding onto so much bad debt, they are, in effect, bankrupt. Even rumors of them fallin on their asses could be enough to trigger a panic in the financial markets in the U.S. and overseas. "
Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac are so large and so interwoven in our financial system that a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil in our financial markets here at home and around the globe," Paulson said.
Now, who bailed them out? The Government. Does the "Government" mean George Bush? No. It means The House, The Senate AND the President.
Who the hell are the Leman Brothers?
According to Wikipedia,
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) (pronounced IPA: /ˈliːmən/), founded in 1850, is a global financial-services firm. The firm does business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales, research and trading, investment management, private equity, and private banking. It is a primary dealer in the U.S. Treasury securities market. Its primary subsidiaries include Lehman Brothers Inc., Neuberger Berman Inc., Aurora Loan Services, Inc., SIB Mortgage Corporation, Lehman Brothers Bank, FSB, and the Crossroads Group. The firm's worldwide headquarters are in New York City, with regional headquarters in London and Tokyo, as well as offices located throughout the world.
On September 15, 2008, it filed for bankruptcy protection; the filing marks the largest bankruptcy in US history. [2]
What caused all of this?
The question can be answered with one word....OIL You can say whatever you want but I truly feel that all of this stems from the huge increase in the price of a barrel of fucking oil. On Sept. 11, 2001, the lives of every American citizen were changed forever. That day, events were set in motion that can only be stopped by the United States becoming INDEPENDENT from foreign oil. Do you remember what the price of gas was prior to that date? I do. In my own particular region of the country, one gallon of unleaded gasoline was 99 cents. When it jumped over 100% overnight, every person in America felt the crunch. Every business, every government facility, everyone and everything that depended on transportation in any way was affected by it. Fuel surcharges started popping up everywhere from grocery stores to drug dealers. Because of the rising cost of fuel, companies had to lay off, without jobs, people couldn't afford to make their mortgage payments much less BUILD houses. With no new homes being built, more jobs (contractors) were lost. Since folks were having such a hard time paying their mortgages and property taxes, the idea of vacationing and travel are a distant memory. There goes the "tourist dollar".
You see? Our dependence on foreign oil has more or less collapsed our economy. We've let countries that want to witness our demise control one of the main elements of our economy. Does the blame for that lie solely in the lap of the President? Not hardly. It's our own fault for being content and not exploring new technologies. We've allowed our Congressmen and Senators to be bought and sold by people who clearly, do not represent our interests.
It's time to focus, people. It's not just about McCain and Obama. It's much more local than that. The Democrats and Republicans that make up our government come from our own home towns. It's time they know they're being watched.
The Office of the President is very important but not as important as our own representatives from our own states and districts. If we force them to do their jobs, the President will have no choice but to fall in line. It's called checks and balances but it only works when we, as a people get involved.
