YOUR COMMENTS

Guy Plante - Yes, I know you were being sarcastic. I mistakenly read the fire-side quote as being taken from the author's article and was directing my post against him, not you.
- Mike Duggins, Londonderry

Joe Mobley, so, Greenspan is a Republican. Big deal.
I guess you missed the point of my comment, which is, there is more than enough blame to go around.

"Blam(sic)...Clinton" ???
No, I'm not even trying to blame him.
As my last paragraqph so abley pointed out, Joe, either the Democrats were complicit in this fiasco, or they are so incompetent that they let the Republicans run circles around them, while not uttering a peep.
I think most reasonable people know that it is the system that is corrupt, not one party, or the other.
- Michael Paradis, Manchester

Michael Paradis, Manchester:

Yeah sure, Clinton appointed Greenspan, he did a lot of bipartisan things. So does that make Greenspan a Democrat? No. Greenspan IS A REPUBLICAN! Blam it on Clinton, of all the gall!

You were doing so well until then!
- Joe Mobley, Henniker

Most, if not all of you Bush haters have it completely wrong. Before you blame the President and Republicans in general, do some serious research. First of all, over consumption is not the problem. This is a capitalist society and consumer purchases keep it running.

Look back all the way to Jimmy Carter when he signed a law that forced banks to loan to minorities in poor areas so they could have their homes also. Then throw in Bill Clinton who expanded that law around 1995 to make sure this was done by eliminating the down payments for these loans, then not requiring income verification etc. The mold was formed. Then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bundled all those bad loans and did some fancy accounting that listed those loans as assets, thereby making their books look fatter than they were, and the top dogs in those 2 government sponsored organizations were run by loyal Clinton cronies, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Raines. They got their bonuses on those asset increases. And don't forget Jamie Garelick of the Clinton clan, as she was involved also.

Bush and some Republicans, although not enough tried to get legislation passed to stem this crisis back in 2003. No deal. One of the biggest roadblocks at the time was Barney Frank, a Democrat.

It's the entire federal government that is responsible for this mess as Democrats and Republicans together collected millions of dollars and failed to monitor this mess as it developed over the last 5 years. It started under a Democrat, Nitwit Jimmy Carter, was strengthened under another Democrat, Bill Clinton and attempts were made to correct it under Bush, not enough, but he tried.

And now, Comrade Obama and his loyal stooges, Dodd, Shumer, and Barney Frank, are trying to tell all of us that Wall Street executives did this. Our Congress and the Federal reserve did this. And we're being told that the taxpayers will need to fork over 1 trillion dollars and let the government control and monitor a major portion of our economy! Get real folks. The government under the guise of Congress is attempting to nationalize the most significant part of our economy and you are all blaming it on Bush!

Do some research...check your facts.
- Pete, Swanzey

Mike Duggins - "But what is your solution ? A presidential fire-side chat with the public. Yeah, that'll work. Seriously, that has to be one of the most silly ideas on the issue to date - a fire-side chat."
It appears my sarcasm was lost on you. Reread my post. Next time I'll label it as such.
- Guy Plante, Manchester

Mr. Labrie, "But it all starts with the interest rate, and the GOP has controlled that for years."

And you were doing so well, up to that point.
IIRC,the man who controlled interest rates (for far too long, IMO), Alan Greenspan, was reappointed Fed chairman by Bill Clinton.
I believe that occured twice (it may have only been once) during the Clinton administration.
Now,Clinton may have been alot of things, but a member of the GOP was not one of them.

I find it interesting that the Democrats are trying to lay all the blame for this outrage at the feet of Bush and the Republicans.
Where were they while this crisis was brewing?
Oh, that's right, they were feeding at the big trough, with the rest of the corrupt fat-cats.
- Michael Paradis, Manchester

remember the name alan greenspan. He is the problem.
- ben, north wilkesboro nc

He was there 5 years ago trying to stave off the impending doom. Others have been there over the past 5 years or so trying to do the same thing. Where were you ? All attempts to fix the system before it was doomed were thwarted. Did you have a problem with that ? We already know what caused the problems: Fraud, poor credit loans, NINJA loans, and a bunch of greedy former and current polititions. But what is your solution ? A presidential fire-side chat with the public. Yeah, that'll work. Seriously, that has to be one of the most silly ideas on the issue to date - a fire-side chat.
- Mike Duggins, Londonderry

The loans made by these investment companies were poor risk loans that people and companies have a strong chance of defaulting on.

So what the heck makes these any less of a risk if bought up by the government? We the tax payers get double trouble. First losing our investments, and then being saddled with the worst debt since the country was founded.

While the ones who caused this mess get off with a drop in assets that they'll never notice from the millions they already have?

By the way, Judd Gregg has a net worth of $2.9M to $9.9M, 61% of which are in Finance and Insurance. http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/CIDsummary.php?CID=N00000444&year=2006

Small wonder he pushed for these bail outs, he wants all of us to pay the bill for his bad investments. Who's side is he really on?
- Michael D. Houst, Barrington, NH

Tom Labrie makes many good points.

I would like to know how candidates for elective office plan on regulating better and reducing the probability of a future mortgage mess. Elected leaders and others should have learned from the Savings and Loans Crisis.

I would also like to know how candidates plan on encouraging savings and investments.
- Ken Stremsky, Manchester, NH

Tom Labrie of Manchester is correct. The emphasis on over consumption is to blame. The American public has not been saving. It has been spending. We have had a negative savings rate for a number of years. Ever higher consumer credit card debt. And during the housing bubble people were able to "trade up" in housing because rates were artificially low. Variable rate mortgages with low starting rates were a come on to consumers used to spending without the income to support it.

The government, however, encouraged these things. Reports emphasized that increased holiday sales were a "good thing" for the economy. Actually, saving would have been better. The lack of regulation of the mortgage industry and the trading of mortgage bundles so that bad loans were passed off to someone else made it less likely anyone would be held responsible.

The government's own spending is wildly out of control in comparison to its own income. So it is going to be the great example here? We are paying for a war by borrowing from the Chinese!

Investors are now rushing to treasury bonds? Watch out folks, the US itself may be the next big failed borrower!
- Doug, Chichester

And it's not the first time he's been AWOL. His so-called military service comes to mind.
- Bill, Tuftonboro

Quite frankly, anyone who continues to vote for Republicans deserves to lose their life savings. The one common denominator in all financial crises throughout the nation's history is that Republicans have been in charge. Check the facts. It is the truth.
- Jim, Manchester

It's fairly simple. Greenspan kept lowering interest rates, this caused hopeful borrowing by folks who wanted to own a roof over their heads instead of rent. Their hope was that house values would always rise.

The financiers unloaded the mortgages as securities in packages, skimming a good profit in the process, as they understood house values could indeed fall and they had better things to do with the money. This became an unethical spiral: lenders who do not hold the loan don't care as much about how they lend & borrowers tend to take the loan because it means housing for their families. Neither lenders or borrowers were stringent enough under these circumstances.

When house values stopped rising the mortgages became bad investments and whoever held them was screwed. All along the process ordinary people, again given too much borrowed money, (this time credit cards,) spent instead of saving. With little in savings to backup bad loans, the banks failure rate jumped.

Who's to blame? American consumptive society is to blame. Responding to advertising, always consuming more, spending on what you don't need, too much credit card spending and not enough savings. But it all starts with the interest rate, and the GOP has controlled that for years.
- Tom Labrie, Rochester

Good. The government is the cause of the all the financial problems that are occurring. "Doing something" will only exacerbate the problems.
- Neil, Grantham

"Bully Pulpit" sounds about right. Even "A Fireside Chat".
Never happen. And no wonder many Republicans, like myself, believe that President Bush single-handedly fed the Republican Party feetfirst into the shredder.
- Guy Plante, Manchester