Wall St. Meltdown – There Are People To Blame
No, “WE” didn’t cause this Wall Street mess – Richard Miniter – PajamasMedia
(and yes, this is the whole column printed below)
You must be as tired of hearing it as I am. Somehow, we are all at fault for Wall Street’s meltdown. We demanded cheap loans for houses we couldn’t afford and voted in corrupt dolts, who took from Fannie Mae and told us what we wanted to hear. Now, we are getting what we deserve.
Take Rod Dreher’s otherwise excellent column in the Dallas Morning News:
After all, these scoundrels did not elect themselves, nor was there an outcry heard in the land against Wall Street rapacity and recklessness when our 401(k)s were rising, and all but the lowliest plebeian was moving into his very own McMansion.
Along those lines, there’s one proverb that we will all become painfully acquainted with in the years to come: You reap what you sow.
There are two essential problems with this analysis: it is factually false and morally unwise.
Rep. Barney Frank was elected by a majority of the people of his district in Massachusetts. Senator Chris Dodd is brought to us by many but not all of the voters of Connecticut. And so on. Most of us never had the chance to vote for or against these solons. So why should we be blamed?
The regulatory changes that led us to this point were the work of lobbyists, bureaucrats and lawmakers including Dodd and Frank and corrupt executives, like Raines and Johnson. We know or can know their names.
The idea of blaming “all of us†is a way to avoid blaming those who did the deeds and reaped their ill-gotten gains.
What about cheap mortgages?  Sure, some of us took them when they were offered.  But who offered them and why?  Yes, it is the Clinton-era changes to the Community Reinvestment Act that forced banks to lend more for “affordable housing.†Law firms, including ones connected to Obama, sued banks that failed to meet their low-income quotas for mortgages. Bankers were not driven by greed, as everyone says, but by fear. Fear of the baying hounds of regulators and lawyers would call them racist and ruin their careers. But who unleashed the hounds on the bankers?
Particular policies and people made this mess. The public’s only role will be to pay the tab, a cruel addition that will equal more than $2,500 per person. Can’t the talking class at least have the decency to stop blaming the one group generous enough to pay for the party they didn’t attend?
Amen, brother.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
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Nope, it’s not my fault.
I didn’t “short” bank stocks. I didn’t buy a home I can’t afford. I didn’t vote for Barney F.
Comment by Julie the Jarhead — September 29, 2008 @ 2:26 pm - September 29, 2008
[...] Wall St. Meltdown – There Are People To Blame [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » Barney Frank’s Fire — September 29, 2008 @ 5:16 pm - September 29, 2008
If this were any other country, Pelosi would’ve been forced out of office after today’s debacle. It wasn’t even close. Four members of her own San Francisco area delegation voted against her. Barbara Lee of Oakland, Pete Stark of Fremont, Mike Thompson of Napa, and Lynn Woolsey of Marin. If Pelosi wanted to undermine her own authority, she has succeeded spectacularly. First rule of being Speaker of the House: You don’t send legislation to a floor vote if you know it’ll be defeated (not to mention humiliate you personally).
Comment by John — September 29, 2008 @ 11:56 pm - September 29, 2008
Nancy Pelosi should burn in Islamic Hell
Muslim:B1N142 “‘O womenfolk, you should ask for forgiveness for I saw you in bulk amongst the dwellers of Hell.’ A wise lady said: Why is it, Allah’s Apostle, that women comprise the bulk of the inhabitants of Hell? The Prophet observed: ‘You curse too much and are ungrateful to your spouses. You lack common sense, fail in religion and rob the wisdom of the wise.’ Upon this the woman remarked: What is wrong with our common sense? The Prophet replied, ‘Your lack of common sense can be determined from the fact that the evidence of two women is equal to one man. That is a proof.’”
Comment by Vince P — September 30, 2008 @ 2:38 am - September 30, 2008
There ARE people to blame! so obviously responsible. Yet when are McCain and Republicans going to do anything about it?
Comment by American Elephant — September 30, 2008 @ 2:50 am - September 30, 2008
AE: They never will. Republicans are chumps.
Comment by Vince P — September 30, 2008 @ 3:45 am - September 30, 2008
I think David Burge put ihis finger on the root causes in “Please Don’t Destroy My American Dream”
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2007/12/please-dont-des.html
Comment by Mark Hanna — September 30, 2008 @ 8:27 am - September 30, 2008
While I surely don’t blame EVERYONE for where we are today – I’m afraid I’m someone who blames far more than “just” Washington, Wall Street and some fraudulent lenders. More than just a few of us got caught up in the real estate bubble. Too many thought it would go on forever; they bought more house than they could afford, they paid no attention to the details of their mortgages. Many of those who purchased homes long ago used the equity in their home as a “super Visa” card: vacations, cars, and more were financed with years of appreciation.
“Everyone” didn’t cause where we were. But we should not lose sight that a lot of “regular folks” contributed to where we are today.
Comment by Peg — September 30, 2008 @ 9:29 pm - September 30, 2008