In article ,
"Robert Green" wrote:


When I see the "CRA caused the meltdown" accusations crop up repeatedly with
almost no factual backing, I realize that many people either aren't very
interested in finding out what went wrong or they *know* exactly what went
wrong and it doesn't serve their interests to publicize it.
Nobody in this mess WANTS anybody to know what really happened
because (1) all parties involved have their own things to hide and (2)
it is much easier to pick out one or two things that others did wrong
than it is to bring out the 100s of bad judgements, laws, and policies
(as well as a certain amount of bad timing) that brought this about.


Capitalism has flaws, and the boom/bust cycle fallout is perhaps the most
serious. If it weren't for Social Security and Medicare, there would have
been rioting in the streets a long time ago. And yet some wish to destroy
those important safety nets. Good luck. Government, as Warren Buffet said,
is an important counter-balance to the problems of business. Those who seek
to "starve it to death" are pretty off-kilter because they really wouldn't
want to live in the government-free Xanadu they so often go on and on about.
They just don't know it.

You aren't serious? You think SS and MCare is keeping the streets
safe? Yeah, all of the protesters tearing things up in Europe have been
old people. It was all those walkers that filled the streets of Athens.
Under this sceanario, SS and MCare are likely to BE the catalysts if the
youngsters ever decide they are bearing the brunt of the costs.

Here's the unvarnished truth. Business has no conscience. BP assured us
that they could drill and stop any blowouts. They lied. Big time. That
*earned* them a moratorium while the Feds (stewards of oil that belongs to
all Americans) try to figure out what else they were lying about. Obama
didn't capriciously stop drilling (the fairytale that HeyBub tries to sell
from time to time). BP and co-polluters gave him virtually no other choice.
The problem I have with the O in this case is that he had
announced the decision to open them back up (apparently happy with the
changes) and then put it back in when his peeps went all balistic.

And that's why we need government - among a million other reasons. People
forget about the Equity Fundings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_Funding

and the Enrons of this world too soon. There has been serious fraud and
corruption on Wall St. since I bought my first stock in the '70's. I doubt
it's EVER going to go away. I, for one, want strong, honest regulators to
make sure that the interactions between people and businesses are legitimate
and not predatory. Business is by nature predatory, and has to be
constantly steered away from those impulses. As Chris Rock said, if
employers could pay workers in popsicle sticks, they would.

The main problem with regulations is that everybody either sees
them as a panacea for all that bad, or the embodiment for all that is
bad. There is little being done to actually look at what regulations
work, what doesn't, and most importantly the costs. (Or when costs are
involved, only the costs of the one side are viewed as important.
The melt down was multifactorial. And,I would note,EVERY law that
was changed to help make it possible, was done by large bipartisan
majorities. Glass-Stegal repeal was passed by a VOICE vote in the Senate
for God's sake.


--
Bobby G.

--
People thought cybersex was a safe alternative,
until patients started presenting with sexually
acquired carpal tunnel syndrome.-Howard Berkowitz