The Sky is Falling; The Sky is Not Falling
Well, which is it?
Yesterday, we saw the Dow melt down and America lost over a Trillion dollars on paper. That’s “T,” for Trillion. As famously said, but paraphrased for our ‘interesting’ times, ‘a trillion here, a trillion there . . . pretty soon you’re talking about real money!’
The talking heads of cable media are tongue-wagging us into the panic that we are regularly being promised if this or that bailout does not pass. And, panic is usually what it’s all about. Markets move on emotion. Not the kind of comment you hear daily: ‘the market today slumped on news of . . . this or that.’ And, you wonder, how exactly do all those huge computers trading for giant investment houses really know enough to connect their trades to that day’s news, all neatly packaged with a big red bow for the six o’clock sound bites?
Republicans blame Democrats. Democrats blame Republicans. Lots more sound bytes.
21 reasons to vote yes on Prop 6–the Safe Neighborhoods Act
The goal of Proposition 6-The Safe Neighborhoods Act is to curb gang violence in California. This is not an easy task, or one that can be accomplished by simply locking up the bad guys with hopes that they will somehow rehabilitate in prison.
As an author of the measure, I believe the gang solution lies in a comprehensive approach.
That’s why I sat down with law enforcement groups, victims’ advocates and policy experts from all over the state to craft a measure that would benefit and sustain programs to deter and to suppress gang activity and violence in our communities. Sheriffs, police, district attorneys and probation officers offered their professional insight, culled from many years of first-hand dealings with street gangs.
What follows are provisions of Proposition 6 that law enforcement believes will help fight gangs in California:
Is McCain too brash and indecisive?
Considering that Sen. McCain had not officially decided on whether to attend the first presidential debate until the night before, I guess he expected Sen. Obama and others to commend him for his courage in leaving a Congressional debate on the Wall Street bailout that he had no role in, and probably not much knowledge about either.
Again and again, Sen. McCain labeled his rival as naïve and inexperienced. Each time he suggested Sen. Obama didn’t understand how the political world works, I could not help but think of his own naive and inexperienced running mate.
Just last week, conservative columnist David Brooks wrote that Gov. Palin "has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.”
Why not bring back Fannie Mae?
According to the Fannie Mae webpage, the Federal National Mortgage Association was chartered in 1938 “at a time when millions of families could not become homeowners, or risked losing their homes, for lack of a consistent supply of mortgage funds across America.” Sounds like today, huh? And it is.
Creditworthy borrowers, both in the mortgage and small business markets, are not able to obtain credit today due to a “lack of liquidity.” Specifically, banks are hoarding what reserves they have in anticipation of having to realize billions of dollars of losses associated with mortgage-related assets.
The resulting credit crisis has seen banks collapse, mortgage banks collapse and consolidate, insurance companies go under and the overall global credit market and interbank loan market evaporate. So what is the best approach to addressing the credit crisis? Why not restore liquidity to the markets directly?
Since the current bailout bill has failed in the House of Representatives, leading to a very scary market day today, why not look at another model. The bailout approach planned to buy the worthless and risky mortgage-backed securities held by investors and banks. This in turn is hoped to (1) provide the now almost worthless securities with a positive value and (2) make banks would feel better about the world and thus cause them to start lending again.
Let the Light Shine In
Since the founding of our republic there has been tension between
citizens who want to know about the conduct of their
representatives, and those in government who would prefer to do
their business in secret.
Secrecy is not always bad policy. Few would argue that Franklin
Roosevelt should have revealed the invasion plans for Normandy prior
to D-Day.
However, the responsibilities of most politicians are mundane and it
is hard to argue that the public should be denied knowledge of how
efficiently they are managing and spending taxpayers’ dollars.