.jpg)
Slate magazine is just one of the countless media outlets convulsing with St. Vitus' Dance over that demonic succubus Sarah Palin.
Respecting the rights of all means that I respect your right not to eat meat or to eat meat from a supermarket and not to hunt. I expect the same respect.
More Columns >>>
- > The Constitution has no coercion clause (26)
- > Charles M. Arlinghaus: The new health care bureaucracy (18)
- > Kathy Sulivan: Don't read too much into recent election results (18)
- > Joe McQuaid: Not to be outdone, the Granite State must have a fossil to call its own (8)
- > Two stories for the book on hunting (7)
- > Fergus Cullen: Is Lamontagne too good for politics? (6)
- > Garth Corriveau: Time to deliver better government for Manchester (19)
- > Douglas J. Wenners: Congress' proposed reforms will raise health insurance rates (35)
- > Charles M. Arlinghaus: City's revenue sharing loss was inevitable (12)
- > Deroy Murdock: Pelosi's health care bill is the nanny state run amok (31)
- > Joe McQuaid: Contemplating a misplaced grandkid, Kathleen Parker's visit
- > John Clayton: Dad takes on 'Naked Baby Syndrome' (14)
- > John Harrigan: We can't let this go without a challenge (21)
- > Greg Moore: Tuesday's message from voters: Butt out, party bosses (8)
- > Kathleen Parker: Saving the news (11)
Andrew Cline has been editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader since October of 2001. His writing has appeared in more than 100 newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Review.Pat Buchanan: Day of reckoning will follow
Print
Email
Mobile
Reader commentsHow did the United States of America, the richest nation on earth, whose economy represents 30 percent of the global economy, arrive at the precipice of a financial panic and collapse?
The answer lies in the abject failure of both America's financial elite and the political elite of both parties -- the same elites now working together to determine how much of our wealth will be needed to bail the nation out of the crisis of their own creation.
Big Government is riding to the rescue -- saddlebags full of our tax dollars -- to save us from the consequences of the stupidity and folly of Big Government. New York and Washington, the twin cities responsible for the crisis, are now being hailed by the media as the 7th Cavalry, coming to rescue a beleaguered nation.
Had there not been a steady and constant infusion of easy money and credit into the U.S. economy by the Fed for years on end, a housing bubble of the magnitude of the one that has just exploded could never have been created.
Had the politicians of both parties not coerced and pressured banks, S&Ls, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make all those sub-prime mortgages, then to tie this rotten paper to good paper, convert it into securities and sell it to banks all over the world, there would have been no global financial crisis.
Had they seen this coming and acted sooner, the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury would not today, like Henny Penny, be crying, "The sky is falling!" and the end times are at hand, unless we give them 5 percent of our gross domestic product to buy up suspect securities backed by sub-prime mortgages.
Consider what the Paulson Plan of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, against which Sen. Richard Shelby and the House Republicans initially rebelled, entailed.
Since Americans save nothing and have to borrow from abroad to finance our trade and budget deficits, wars and foreign aid, what the secretary proposed was this: that Congress authorize the Treasury to spend $700 billion to buy up the toxic paper on the books not only of U.S. banks, but of foreign banks operating in the United States. According to The Washington Times, the treasury would also be authorized to buy up securities backed by rotten auto loans, student loans and credit card debts.
Thus does America borrow from China, Japan and the Middle East to tidy up the balance sheets of the banks of China, Japan and the Middle East. And all the rotten paper will be offloaded onto U.S. taxpayers who hopefully will be able to recoup some of their losses because some of the paper will be good.
Why do this? Because otherwise there will be a financial panic, followed by a market collapse, wiping out pensions, 401ks, portfolios and defined benefit plans of Middle America, forcing millions into bankruptcy and millions more to put off retirement and continue working until they drop.
In a democracy, it is said, you get the kind of government you deserve. But what did the American people do to deserve this? What did they do to deserve the quality of financial, corporate and political leadership that marched them into this mess -- and that today postures as their rescuers?
Consider what this mess has already cost taxpayers: $29 billion to buy the rotten paper of Bear Stearns so J.P. Morgan would buy the investment bank; $85 billion for 80 percent of AIG to nationalize it; $150 billion in a stimulus package to flood the nation with cash; perhaps $300 billion to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then they proposed $700 billion to begin taking the toxic paper off the hands of America's big banks.
And, said Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, there was no guarantee this would have resolved the crisis. If the $700 billion is not provided and the toxic paper is not pulled off the books of the world's banks by U.S. taxpayers, however, we face an almost certain collapse, surging bankruptcies, rising unemployment, a shrinkage of GDP and a recession, if not worse.
Yet, the fellows who tell us we face a financial mushroom cloud over every American city if we do not act at once to provide the $700 billion did not see this coming and can make no guarantee that this will succeed and end the crisis.
Nevertheless, it must be done, and done now, as collapse is imminent.
Looking at all the money being ladled out by the U.S. government to prevent a collapse, and the diminished revenue coming in, it is hard to see how America avoids future deficits that reach $1 trillion a year. These will imperil both the dollar itself and the ability of the United States, which saves nothing, to borrow from the rest of the world. The downsizing of America is at hand.
Yes, indeed, we have arrived at the Day of Reckoning for Uncle Sam.
Pat Buchanan is a former Republican and Reform Party candidate for President, adviser to two Presidents and a syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. © 1997-2009.
YOUR COMMENTS
Wow Pat! The 7TH Cavalry reference was fantastic! Crazy Horse would be proud.
The voting classes are upset about the Washington political class and how they are undressing the tax paying class. How novel. we have the red team blaming the blue team and vice versa while the cheerleaders on the sidelines shout encouraging chants to their golden choices. Both teams use conspiracy and intrigue to keep us all in the dark.
When will the common folk open their eyes to this tragedy?
We have until Nov 4th 2008 to vote for Dumb and Dumber...
- Kyle, Bedford
Rick the easiest way to avoid this happening again is to toss out of power the party that has been trying to dismantle our government (and the essential oversight it provides) for the last 60 years. Yes Rick, that would be the Republican party. Republicans have controlled the White House for the last 8 years, both chambers of congress for 6 of the last 8 years, and the courts. The results have been disastrous. Yet they consistently blame everyone but themselves.
When you vote for people who believe government is the problem this is the government you get.
- Mike Lane, Manchester
Mike Lane from Manchester, you need to not only spit out the cool aid, (whatever that means) and start checking your facts. I doubt that any blame at all can be placed on Republicans for this mess. If you go back to Jimmy the Nitwit Carter you'll find the foundation for this mess in the Community Redevelopment Act (I think that's close to the name), then follow up with Bill Clinton who strengthened the mess and threw the final touches on with legislation that forced banks to loan to minorities and others who could not afford loans. The regulations about down payments, and verifiable income were also dropped as well as credit checks, all for the purpose of getting votes, I suspect.
Then add the Clinton appointees Jim Johnson, Frank Raines and Jamie Garelick to be the CEO's of the FM and FM entities and you have the mess. Check the 2004 video of the hearings during which a regulator tried to warn of this mess, and he was attacked by none other than the likes of Maxine Waters (D), Barney Frank (D), and the Democrat from Arkansas. It was only Republicans who listened to him. Not much on that in the main stream media, a source of information for most of the far left.
The only responsibility Republicans might have in this mess is that they allowed the Dems to take over Congress and get away with this hijacking of our economy through their own greed and incompetence. Now we're going to pay, iin the bail out and probably in the next election because the truth is not getting out.
Mike, take a chill pill and check some facts, for the sake of your country.
God help US all.
- Pete, Swanzey
Hey, good suggestion, Mike -- all the Republicans should spit out the KoolAid and agree that the Dems are in no way at fault, and then we can all hold hands and work together. The plain truth is that the Dems repeatedly blocked attempts to regulate Fannie and Freddie (yes, Republicans want to regulate where it makes sense) so that their lending standards and reserves would meet basic guidelines for sound banking. The Dems ignored the warning signs and shut down attempts at common-sense regulation, Fannie and Freddie cooked their books, and that is what precipitated the current mess. Them's the facts; ignore them and we easily could see the same scenario play out again down the road.
- Rick M., Portsmouth
I can answer the question.
We got this way by not only letting people get credit beyond their means but encouraging it as well.
Let's not forget the welfare scammers in all this who because they can't be denied credit because they are on welfare, got TONS of credit and defaulted. (Big surprise there.) SO, not only did the American people have to pay once for these dirtbags, but twice! And by the looks of things, it will be 3 times!
Face it people, the politicians could care less about us and are just jockeying for position in the elections. The American people are doing just what the politicians hoped you'd do- spend time arguing with each other and pointing fingers instead of picking up the phone and getting them to actually do their jobs- represent us.
Most of you seem to be forgetting that it wasn't just one party or another that got us here. They BOTH had a hand in it.
Wouldn't be a hoot if this November the American people did just what they did on that Richard Pryor movie- Brewsters Millions and voted " NONE OF THE ABOVE" !
- Pauline, Franklin
Bill Howard you need to spit out the kool aid. Bill Clinton, Janet Reno, and Barney Frank did not force Wall Street investment bankers to cook their books for the last eight years. The last eight years are a prime example of why you should not vote for Republicans. When you vote for people who believe government is the problem this is the government you get. They have a vested interest in making government to appear to be incompetent.
It's clear that no matter how dismal the Republican party is at governance the "party of personal responsibility" will never hold themselves accountable for their mistakes. Republicans always blame the previous Democratic administration when things go wrong.
John McCain and his party of de-regulators are directly responsible for this fiasco no matter how much you would like to deny it Bill. Turn off Rush Limbaugh, Faux News, and spit out the kool aid. Then we can get to work fixing this mess.
- Mike Lane, Manchester
For those who do not know, the 7th cav Pat referred to was Custers outfit at Little Bighorn. That worked out well didn't it?
- jeff, goffstown
David, Alton. Well said Dave, well said. When it is you, I, or any other individual the Bankers and Pols always say, you must take responsibility for your actions. That is the old do as I say not as I do.
Leno, Raymond
- Leno Hebert, Raymond
"Most everyone will be fine. It will be harder for the deadbeats to get a house, car, laptop computer, credit card, or any other item they never intended to pay for anyway."
I pray you are right. But if you were in NH during the period from 87 to 92, you will remember that everyone suffered when the credit markets suffered a long, slow squeeze like the one developing now. Many, many performing loans were called.
Going businesses starved for lack of routine credit. Tenants evacuated properties in prime locations. Some regions of New England saw substantial population declines. Even some government workers lost jobs and pay (astounding when you consider how the government takes care of its own). Those were very dark times to be an honest, hard-working person in the private sector.
The deadbeats, meanwhile, suffered relatively little. They were free to pick up and move to find work in regions of the country that were growing. The trail of debts they left behind were buried along with the businesses that went to the grave.
I pray we're not going down that road again, but I suspect we will soon see another long line of honest, hard-working people suffering and struggling while the deadbeats go on their merry way.
I'd suggest a better course of action is making mortgages subject to bankruptcy laws. Let the banks take the hit for the bad loans one by one. And make the borrowers stick to their commitment, even if they are paying off only a percentage of what they agreed to. Turn a 30 year ARM into a 40 year fixed, and make them pay it through to the end. At least they don't walk away leaving everyone else buried.
- David, Alton
Pat has always such a doom and gloom machine.
- Chris, Merrimack
Mr. Buchanan. You are sounding like a Doom & Gloom Democrat.
Most everyone will be fine. It will be harder for the deadbeats to get a house, car, laptop computer, credit card, or any other item they never intended to pay for anyway.
People like Bill Clinton, the Janet Reno Justice Department and Barney Frank are responsible for this mess. The believe that everyone is entitled to own a home and people were allowed to finance places they could never pay for.
Nothing was lost by the buyers because they put no money down. They just walked away. Now Barney and Pelosi are first on board to grab $700. billion from folks who work and pay taxes.
- Bill Howard, Exeter
NOTE: If you have visited this page before, newer comments may be hidden. Press F5, or hold down the Ctrl key while reloading or refreshing the page. (Another option for Firefox users is the Clear Cache add-on.)