Corrente

If you have "no place to go," come here!

Guess who?

lambert's picture
Submitted by lambert on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 6:05pm
Tags: 
hillary clinton
HOLC

Nice metaphor for Wall Street's Clusterfuck:

This situation reminds me of that old fable, where people are standing by the side of a river and they keep seeing babies being rushed down the river in the current and they desperately reach out trying to save as many babies as possible. Day after day they're reaching out. They get new tools, they build a bridge, they get a ladder, they're constantly trying to get to those babies. They're hoping that they can save as many, until finally somebody walks up and says, “Who's throwing them in? Go upriver, find out what the real problem is and stop that!”

That would be leadership:

This is the greatest market upheaval since the Great Depression. We are, indeed, in a crisis, and in times of crisis there are opportunities for leadership. Congress could show the American people that leadership working with the President by embracing this bold proposal.

And a concrete policy proposal, at least for homeowners:

Now, I personally believe and was among the very first to suggest that a HOLC, a Homeowners Loan Corporation, could be a preferable way of unfreezing and beginning to fix our struggling mortgage market.

Just yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, Paul Volker, and Eugene Ludwig and Nicholas Brady made such a proposal. They said a HOLC, an RTC, we’ve got to come up with an entity that will assume these debts and burdens and begin to work our way out.

A new government entity like the HOLC with a focus on attacking the source of the problem can serve the purpose of clearing a lot of those toxic mortgage securities from the market. We know there will not be any semblance of a normal or orderly marketplace until we have found a way to resolve these mortgage securities that are metastasizing in the bottom of our markets. By taking this paper out of the market and quarantining it in this new entity we will be able to give the market breathing room to recover.

Why not do what's worked in the past?

ast spring when I called for a modern version of the HOLC, that’s the Depression-era entity that bought up old mortgages and issued new, more affordable ones in their stead, most people did not pay much attention. But I think it's important to note that by the time the HOLC closed its books, that agency had turned a small profit and helped over a million people keep their homes. And this was 70 years ago. Our population has grown dramatically. So, obviously, if we did it right, we would be able to save a lot of homes. And I think if it is administered correctly it could be actually a net expenditure or even winner for the federal government.

Well, by now, I suppose you've guessed that's from Hillary, today.

So, I checked Obama's website (haw), and the economy section isn't a complete disaster, but there's nothing current and nothing like Hillary's plan at all-- though I'm open to correction by Obama supporters who know his oeuvre better than I do. And I checked Obama's Speech on the economy, which, and the closest I can come to what Hillary's saying is this:

I worked with leaders in Congress to create a new FHA Housing Security Program, which will help stabilize the housing market and allow Americans facing foreclosure to keep their homes at rates they can afford. Going forward, we need to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as we know them with a structure that is focused on helping people buy homes not engaging in market speculation.

But where Hillary out-policy's Obama is that she attacks both people losing their homes and the toxic financials. Obama doesn't integrate like that. Sigh.

Just on the off chance, I went over to Jeralyn's place to see if Hillary was following Obama's lead, or something, and it was all Palin Palin Palin. Ditto The Obama 527 That Used To be Daily Kos. Nada. WKJM was all Palin Spain Palin Spain.

The vapidity and irrelevance of BS 1.0 -- modulo some individuals within te decaying structure -- has never been more clear.

NOTE And that goes double for Harry Reid.

UPDATE And back in March...

0
No votes yet

Comments

vastleft's picture
Submitted by vastleft on

Palin egg sausage and Palin. That's not got much Palin in it.

Submitted by gob on

Palin Palin Palin Palin ...

Somehow it doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

I don't think we'll be calling them Palin filters any time soon.

PS: Lambert, that was great. Except it makes me cry to think of what might have been.

Policy not party!

caseyOR's picture
Submitted by caseyOR on

have Hillary now?

I must say, Hill's speechmaking skill has grown considerably over the last couple of years. The way she delivers a speech reminds of Bobby Kennedy during his run in 1968. The obvious similarity is the ability to explain complex ideas and concepts in a way that is easily understood and not condescending. The second one that strikes me is the tone. She is talking to people, engaging them, not "speechifying" at them. If you go back and listen to Bobby during that campaign, he doesn't raise his voice; he is pretty measured; and he explains things to people. I am not saying Hillary is exactly like RFK. I am saying that the way she delivers a speech brings him to mind. And she fucking cares about us. How refreshing in a politician these days.

Imelda Blahnik's picture
Submitted by Imelda Blahnik on

Don't you know Obama is all things Kennedy?!!!

caseyOR's picture
Submitted by caseyOR on

Full disclosure-- i was raised in a very Irish-Catholic Democratic family and was in Catholic grade school when JFK ran. So, I am actually quite well-versed in all things Kennedy. I can still name all of the Kennedy cousins and tell you which of the Kennedy siblings is the parent.

Having established my Kennedyphile creds, let me just say that Obama has never reminded of any Kennedy. Even before I realized what a terrible choice he was, I did not see the Kennedy-esqueness of Barack. To this day I cannot understand Teddy's big endorsement and the whole "passing of the torch" nonsense.

Hillary, if you look at her personality, her reputation, her core issues and her growth and trajectory as a candidate and a politician, is the closest to RFK we've ever had. I wonder if that figured into the support she got from Kathleen, Bobby jr and Kerry Kennedy?

And, seriously, Obama as JFK? I remember JFK. The only similarities I see are Obama is a 40 something Democrat with an atttractive family, and so was JFK.

pie's picture
Submitted by pie on

But where Hillary out-policy’s Obama is that she attacks both people losing their homes and the toxic financials.

Chuck Schumer is trying to look out for the homeowner, too:

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would not comment on reports that Paulson was considering creating an RTC-like entity, but he said: “Everyone realizes this ad hoc situation can’t last and we need a comprehensive plan. ... I think the administration knows that.”

Schumer presented his own proposal for federal intervention, in which the government would lend struggling banks money in exchange for an equity stake. He said it would be conditioned on the banks agreeing to legislation that would let homeowners who have declared bankruptcy renegotiate their mortgages so they could keep their homes.

Well, Obama?

vastleft's picture
Submitted by vastleft on

You are so right, it hurts.

And it's not just any vote, it's veto (Vito?) power.

pie's picture
Submitted by pie on

But it seems to me that the banks aren't the ones negotiating from a position of power here.

"Do this or no bailout for you."

a little night musing's picture
Submitted by a little night ... on

There's leadership!

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said on Friday he supported efforts by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to shore up confidence in the financial markets and said he would hold off from presenting his own economic recovery plan.

We are so fkd.

pie's picture
Submitted by pie on

Thursday, Republican nominee Sen. John McCain sought a broad expansion of government regulation over financial institutions, including the formation of a body to both assume distressed mortgages and help failing investment banks.

Saying the government cannot "wait until the system fails," Sen. McCain called for the creation of an entity that would essentially help companies sell off bad loans and other impaired assets. It is unclear how the body, dubbed the Mortgage and Financial Institutions trust, would operate, including whether or not institutions would seek help or whether the government would intervene on its own behalf.

His rival, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was less specific about what steps he would take, offering broader outlines of policy proposals that included a "Homeowner and Financial Support Act." The measure, which would inject capital and liquidity in the financial system, is designed to provide a more coordinated response than "the daily improvisations that have characterized policy-making over the last year."

IOW, trust me.

vastleft's picture
Submitted by vastleft on

http://www.startribune.com/politics/nati...

"In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path.

"Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration," he said. "Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you."

I can't help but wonder if he followed it up with "And those stinkin' liberals, caused it, too!" Since when doesn't he?

lambert's picture
Submitted by lambert on

... was over the line, because negotiating with other nations really is a Presidential prerogative. But that doesn't apply here.

I mean, it's amazing. Call for "bold and decisive action" and then not do anything? What kind of sense does that make? Anyone? Because it just feels like more meta-leadership to me. Leaders lead, as Atrios used to be fond of pointing out.

Let me check the progs to see the party line on Obama's exercise of meta-leadership... The Obama 527 That Used to be Daily Kos: Nothing. The Obama 527 That Used To Be Talking Points Memo: Nothing. TL: Nothing. Quelle surprise...

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Turlock