Obama, McCain see new battlefield as Wall Street news hits home all over
Dante Chinni
Posted: 09.18.2008 / 8:08 AM PDT
Even in a place as big and complicated as the United States in the 21st century, there are on occasion stories and issues that almost everyone tunes into. This week’s Wall Street tumult is one of them.
The 11 community types that make up Patchwork Nation represent very different places, but nearly all say they’ve been paying attention to the financial shake-up in New York. In short, just about everyone agrees that the primary lens through which this election is being viewed has changed – for now. But the implications for the electorate are less certain.
Some look at the headlines and see personal trouble ahead. Some have broader concerns about what’s coming next. But the effects are far-reaching. And in terms of the campaign, most want to hear more from both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain before they make any decision. The early indications are that Senator McCain may be taking more of a hit, but there are opportunities for both candidates.
“Yes, it will definitely affect the election,” wrote one Patchwork correspondent in Clermont, Fla., who owns a business and asked that her name not be used due to local sensitivities. “As a company our employees are seriously considering dropping out of the company retirement plan…. We no longer believe that these investment firms know what they are doing because they could not even keep themselves in business. They certainly do not know more than us. This is our retirement that they destroyed.
“If both of these candidates continue to operate and run their election in a vacuum, they might be very surprised if there is a write-in candidate.”
Clermont, as our aging “Emptying Nests” community, has special concerns about retirement funds. That note came from someone who had been a McCain supporter.
Far away from Clermont and Wall Street, in Sioux Center, Iowa (our agricultural “Tractor Country” community), the concerns center on the uncertainty about what all the news means, writes John Hansen, the grain manager at the local Farmers Cooperative Society. “The people I talk to are very concerned about it. How it will affect the 401ks, grain prices, land prices etc.” But it’s “too soon to call” the impact that the news will have on the presidential race there, he says.
In Ann Arbor, Mich., our “Campus and Careers” community, two big groups are affected: those who work for the University of Michigan and those who study there. Both groups see trouble.
“In a college community … so many citizens rely on TIAA-CREF and Fidelity for all or most of their retirement nest egg,” Cynthia Wilbanks, University of Michigan’s vice president for government relations, wrote in an e-mail. “[T]here are concerns by at least those affiliated with the University about what the recent Wall Street news means for their portfolios and financial planning.”
For Michael O’Brien, a newly minted Michigan grad in journalism and Patchwork Nation blogger, the issues are more immediate. The trouble on Wall Street “translates to the economic environment for young professionals, more broadly,” he wrote in an e-mail. “If this thing drags us into a recession, we’re arguably some of the first cuts being made. Better prep that Columbia j-school application, after all.”
In our wealthier communities – Eagle, Colo. (our growing “Boom Town”), and Los Alamos, N.M. (our well-off “Monied ’Burb”) – conversations with Pacthwork contacts suggest there is less concern about the finance troubles and more concern about the possible secondary effects: a broader economic slowdown. These places, full of people who are still generally making out OK in the current economic downturn, aren’t happy, but they also aren’t worried about their lives being turned upside down.
Up in Lincoln City, Ore. (our less-wealthy “Service Worker Center”), there is concern but not panic because “the people I know are not invested in the stock market,” writes Libby Durbin, a retired writer. Still, another Patchwork correspondent there, Ann Murdock, writes that whether people are invested or not, “it will hit all of us in the long run.”
If that kind of sentiment prevails in our communities, then an election that was already mostly about the economy – but full of many complicating factors from race to gender – may be on its way to becoming a simple single-issue campaign.
The phrase “game-changer” has been thrown around a lot this year, but we may have witnessed a real one this week. And what has happened up to now – from the primaries and the rise of Senator Obama to the conventions and the ascendance of Sarah Palin – may end up meaning a lot less than what’s still to come in the next 6-1/2 weeks.
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
September 18th, 2008 at 9:13 am PDT
You are all missing the point on ecomomy, it’s not the dems or reps running things in ground but the very thing IKE warned us about the military industrial complex.
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
September 18th, 2008 at 9:48 am PDT
Give credit where credit is due folks. The Republicans have owned the White House the last 8 years. They’ve owned the Congress for 6 out of the last eight years. We started out with a budget surplus in 2000 and now have debt as far as the eye can see. Republicans use to be conservative. Not any more. They’ve far outspent the Democrats. The Republicans use to be reticent about fighting wars with other countries. Not any more. We invaded Iraq and created a complete mess.
When you have such a total failure the last resort is to blame it on someone else. It’s so typical. McCain supported 90% of the policies set forth by Bush. If you like what’s happened over the last 8 years, do vote for McCain and Palin. I’m ready for a change.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:02 am PDT
Lets look at some simple facts:
Republicans have been in power (with Bush) for 8 years. What has happened in that time:
Worst Terrorist attack ever
Worst aftermath after a nature disaster (Katrina)
Worst financial crisis since the great depession
Worst and potentially the most costly war ever
Worst world image of Americans ever
I hope the republicans get in again. let them fix their mess. I bet you after another four years of republican’s in power you will never see a republican in power again. But then again there might not be a country left.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:06 am PDT
Quick question for EVERYONE:
If we have a buoyant economy and budget surplus right now, who will take the credit for it ?
Please,the buck STOPS at some definite point. The repubs have driven this economy into the dumps….Tax cuts,irresponsible spending,corruption,war spending with no sacrifice of spending cuts, the list goes on. C’mon, the repubs are responsible. We need a different approach because we are not ALL INSANE…doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result !. PERIOD.
[Admin: Readers don't think this comment adds to the discussion.]
September 18th, 2008 at 10:42 am PDT
It is always difficult to stay calm when reading these notes. Public servants have morphed from just that: servants of the public to politicians.
We the people must remember that it is our responsibility to stand up for ourselves. Not rely upon politicians to do what they think is best for us….because they will alway fail us. No matter what party they are affiliated with.
The White House is OUR house. We pay the taxes on that propterty as well as the one we sleep in each night.
Do not let pollsters divide us into pigeon holes: white male, single female, formerly married person….WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
With that said, make sure to choose your poison and VOTE on election day. Because here in the United States of America, We the People are allowed to choose our candidate.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:44 am PDT
D. Gold says: “Why are you reporting what the men think. What does Sarah think?”
Good gravy. I believe she’s missing her tanning bed, or perhaps lying about something completely unrelated.
Vote well, America.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am PDT
The Bush administration has been trying to rein in Fannie and Freddie for 5 years but Barney Frank, head of the banking committee, has blocked them at every turn. Top dems have been getting huge campaign donations from Fannie and Freddie for years (Barak is #2). Investigate congress their job is to regulate. Bush can’t do anything if they won’t pass the laws.
Comment from Boston Globe:
“This is not an issue the Democrats will want to engage. Which candidate foresaw the credit crisis and tried to do something about it? As it turns out, John McCain did — and partnered with three other Senate Republicans to reform the government’s involvement in lending three years ago, after an attempt by the Bush administration died in Congress two years earlier. McCain spoke forcefully on May 25, 2006, on behalf of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005.
Even before that… BARNEY FRANK, NYT 9/11/03: “These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.” FRANK WAS RESPONDING TO: The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios. The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.
by rumpswab September 18, 8:59 AM
September 18th, 2008 at 10:54 am PDT
Please enough of McSame and Caribou Barbie. Yesterday McSame said the econony was strong…later in the day the economy was in crisis, which is it? What planet does he live on? Listen folks, we’re in a depression and who gets hurt, the regular people, not the fat cats that have been running the gov. Wake up American before it’s too late. Vote your pocket book and your kids future. Vote for Barack.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am PDT
Obama’s chief adviser on the economy and finance is the guy who brought down Fannie Mae and arranged for Fannie Mae to contributed $85,000 to Obama’s camapign. Obama has surrounded himself with old Democratic cronies who are in it for the money and would help him do nothing but further degrade the economy.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:26 am PDT
NEW BATTLEFIELD??
WOW, they really in that much denial?
September 18th, 2008 at 11:28 am PDT
TWO POINTS
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” ….Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802) 3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)
Who was involved in setting up the Federal Reserve in 1913: (Private Banks)
- Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin (Rothschild and world economy)
- Lazard Brothers Bank of Paris - Israel Moses Sieff Banks of Italy
- Warburg Bank of Hamburg, Germany and Amsterdam
- Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York
>> Lehman Brothers Bank of New York <<
- Goldman Sachs Bank of New York
- Chase Manhattan Bank of New York (Controlled By the Rockefeller Family Tree)
September 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am PDT
It is extraordinary to see how the democratic left thinks. It does not matter if they are European, Canadian or American (USA); they all have one mind and one way of thinking. Fascinating!
I follow some of the European and American politics and I see similarity between the Democratic Party and their failing policies with the failure of theEuropean leftist governments of yesterday and today. Look at England which has a big economic crises at hand. Look at Spain, with is leftist government of Zappatero which pursued is economic policies taken from the previous rightist government, but with its social leftist program has pushed Spain in an economic troubled spot. Look at France which came out (not completely), from its political and economic troubles of the previous leftist socialist government. Look at Italy that after they elected a leftist government which promised everything, the people had to go back and elect the center right government of Berlusconi. Germany looks fine, with a center right government, even if economically is suffering a little less that they European counterparts.
Looking at the preposition of the American democratic left, I see only similarity of the
preposition of the European left.
In these turbulent times, the only person that can help the American people
Is McCain. The democratic candidate Obama, will bring only more problems
e a great depression to the people of USA.
Joe
September 18th, 2008 at 11:37 am PDT
What is a shame is that there are only TWO parties in Washington. Don’t kid yourself that they do not talk to each other while they are there and actually working.
Our country did not get into this mess by just the Dems. or just the Repubs. It takes two to tango.
We can watch and read each others comments to see who comes up with the next political reference, dates and all, ***-for-tat. There is always one to mirror the other.
Don’t forget to start buying gold!
September 18th, 2008 at 11:48 am PDT
“Before this incident occured, what did you do to prevent it?” This is the last line on an Army incident report. If the answer is nothing then usually the commanding officer becomes a civilian.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:23 pm PDT
Remember “trickle down” economics? It wasn’t a joke, republicans actually believe it. The present administration (no other) is solely responsible for failing to regulate the unchecked expansion of credit beyond the safe capitalization of our financial institutions.
So Paulson played chicken with the market place and lost. He confirmed our worst fears that there are really two standards - one for the democrats and ordinary business entities and the other for republicans and close business associates of those in power. I guess the message is: you better vote republican or we will bankrupt you and yours. In short, Paulson flushed 85 billion straight down the toilet. By next week it will gone and forgotten, but the fundamental problem (woeful under capitalization) will remain.
Gosh, with 85 billion in tax dollars, Leyman might still be here, ordinary folks might still own shares worth something, AND, we might not have to worry too much whether OUR retired and very vulnerable parents (Mom & Dad) will eat next month.
Insurance company Secretary Paulson? Oh, do tell! I didn’t know that Congress established the Fed for the convenience of private insurance companies. Worse, I didn’t know WE (read suckers) had to pay for their lavish lifestyles. Any republicans against social security? Oh well, THAT is insurance for the poor! Now let’s see, does AIG insure the poor? No? Well, we can’t possibly let your wealthy republican friends go bankrupt, can we Mr. Paulson? So you will simply tax our children into utter destitution (bad children) to keep your fat cat friends profitable, right? Of course, how silly of us doubt the double standard!
And the financial press has completely forgotten what hard questions mean. The press has even forgotten where they put hard questions. I guess like the republicans the press will leave that task to the poor. Maybe the right answers will just trickle down. Now, do ya all get it?
September 18th, 2008 at 12:25 pm PDT
Seriously,
Look at how everything is unfolding this is not the time for our country to sperate and take sides. It’s the time to unite and stand tall and do what needs to be done. No more excuses, yes alot of events occured that made our country the way it is today. But that does not mean that it can’t be fixed. Either way who ever ends up in the white house change will happen not because they neccisarily want to but more because they have to the PEOPLE (US) demand it. So once I again I plead you all to look deep into yourselves and stop placing blame and judgment on others. Change will come whether a republican or a democrat gets in office, so why demand that your view is right when in reality all views are right. This is how the balance is kept.
Thank You
September 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pm PDT
Check out Obama’s heavy involvement with ACORN, which not only actively seeks to commit voter fraud, but which was also a major contributor to the housing collapse. Google both the web and the news articles. It’s eye opening.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:43 pm PDT
OBAMA or McCain have any solution? Can they explain in black and white for common people what their plans are to recover rather than engaging in mutual accusation rhetoric?
Why should an average American worker suffer for stupid policies of Washington establishment, selfish and greedy acts of corporate thieves, irresponsible men and women who took more than what they can repay and the sub prime inventors and marketers who cheated the ignorant public?
1. Will they ban sub prime?
2.Will they ban short selling?
3.Will they jail corporate cheaters?
4. Will they cut the cheating CEOs pensions and confisticate their properties?
5. Will they require professional licensing of major management personnel
and CEOs of financial industry to make sure that only qualified and honest persons with integrity handle public’s money?
6. Why not consider providing equity support directly to those who defaulted, especially if the reasons for their inability to pay is genuine
7. Why not the defaulters be given relief from paying Real estate tax for some time? Why not provide employment to the defaulter if she/he gas lost job.
8. Why not create special projects using Federal funds in the infrastructure development areas that would employ the 6.1% unemployed
9. While Billions are being thrown in to air to bail out the inefficient (and corrupt?) executives in corporate sector nothing is done to help the real victims!
September 18th, 2008 at 12:59 pm PDT
Ralph, Ron, & Cynthia:
Now they’re planning the crime of the century
Well what will it be?
Read all about their schemes & adventuring
It’s well worth the fee
So roll up and see
How they rape the universe
How they’ve gone from bad to worse
Who are these men* of lust, greed, & glory?
Rip off the masks & let’s see
But that’s not right, oh no, what’s the story?
There’s you & there’s me
That can’t be right
September 18th, 2008 at 4:39 pm PDT
The comments from edeldoug and barneysfault are truly saddening. That McCain led the charge on this one is indisputable. But, as was so often the case, his was a “maverick” position that too many entrenched politicians of both parties rejected. After all, Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank opposed the measure, but they were in minority positions for much of the time in question and couldn’t have prevented floor votes or open debate, nor did Democrats alone have enough votes to prevent passage. No, Republicans had to help stop the bill, and they share the blame. In Congress — and this is the sad part to which I refer — both parties work hard to block significant reform, either through cooperation or its opposite, and they do so as a matter of course. Reform means change, and change means work. It’s so much easier to return to the re-election trough and tell the constituents, “Well, I tried, and I tried really hard, but I was blocked in my efforts by [insert derogatory label here]. But if you re-elect me, I’ll keep fighting for you.” This is why our incumbents get re-elected year after year while Congress itself is widely reviled.
That the maverick has now resorted to adopting (or more accurately, co-opting) his party’s beliefs, even down to choosing one of their own as his running mate, speaks volumes about the power of that system of power both candidate claims to be able to reform.
Steve Hight
September 18th, 2008 at 6:26 pm PDT
In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
This time the stakes are much higher then most people could imagine
I would like to point out some things you may already know in a new way.
I follow an economist named Bob Proctor who has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown, and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
is terrifying. He thinks it could get worse then the great depression.
Banks in the US are going under one after the other. Country wide the largest mortgage bank in the world, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top five Wall Street firms, and now Fanny and Freddy which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.
If they didn’t the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash and we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before
The future of these companies will fall into the hands of our next president and all of our economic future depends on them reorganizing these companies right.
Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and Bear Sterns have survived for over 150 years and survived even the great depression they are important because they’re the biggest engines of growth in America and connected to everything, not to mention AIG the largest insurance company in the world
Never in our lives have so many vital companies gone under in a 4 week period.
Already one out of 10 Americans is somewhere in the foreclosure process.
During the last 8 years the average person saw there salary drop instead
Of increase. These are all facts no one will argue with.
The truth is we are only in the start of the worst economy we have seen in our generation and a very real possibility of another depression.
Bush just like McCain doesn’t understand the economy, that’s not just my opinion those are his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it He does not understand exactly what is broken. It’s no surprise that he doesn’t. The people that make up these securities use complex math models very few people understand.
Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
Banks took huge risks and now we have spent 800 billion to bail them out that’s about 2000 to 3000 for every family in the US. We are the ones that are suffering and we have every right to hold the administration and Wall Street accountable because we are paying for it.
It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. The same things Bush and McCain have done for the last 8 years created this mess and can only make it much worse.
If you do what you have always done then you will do get what always have, 90 percent of the time they have voted the same. So why are the polls even close?
The chairman of McCain’s campaign recently said that people don’t vote on issues they vote on a personality composite which means. He is trying to sell personality instead of results. He believes you can be sold into voting against your own best interest with personality. McCain admits in the year 2008 he cannot use a computer even for something easy like email which any 10 year old can do.
In this mess that should pretty much disqualify him right there. We are not bulletproof America it’s time to wake up and hold these people accountable. Lets stand up and fight for our country now while it will still make a difference, Lets elect Obama Biden 08.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:30 am PDT
Some have a “real” track record of service such as McCain and Palin, others have hot air.
Some have a track record of taking on very powerful self-interested politicians even in their own parties for public interest, others have hot air.
Some have a track record of having actually won after starting as underdogs, such as McCain who had the least funds from corporate interests. Others have accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars from corporate interests from the beginning and yet whine that they are underdogs.
Some have a track record of long term service, honor, and valor and have literally staked their lives for this country and its citizens. Others have have a track record of grand B.S.: political speeches i.e. ‘rhetoric’ typical of what most lawyers do.
Those deceptive politicians who try to claim McCain is same as Bush assume that listeners and readers are idiots… idiots who don’t know about the battle between McCain and Bush in the last presidential election. Those purveyors of deceptive and misleading information must recognize that it is more truthful to claim that Obama is same as Hillary: they both fought tooth and nail and are now in cahoots together after having accumulated some of the largest moneys from corporate interests.
I don’t care about any politician or political party, but I love this country and its men and women. Have always been and independent and always will be.
Let the truth stand up and win for a change for the best interests of the USA. Let us as the citizens of the USA not take any more **** that is doled out by Ivy League trained lawyers whose interests and track records as presidents most of us know about. Let us not have “more of the same” as it has been in many previous administrations ruled by lawyers. Let us ask for real change. Let those who have a solid track record of serving this country and its citizens be the real representatives for real change and real service because in fact they have been doing so. God bless the USA and the few good men and women who really care for this country and would love to serve it more than anything else.
Posted by: Anonymous Unbiased Observer
September 19th, 2008 at 7:27 am PDT
A lot of finger pointing has been going on between the parties; however, Senator Obama in one of his ads has pointed the finger at McCain advisors as being tied to Wall Street. I purpose that Senator Obama disclose his advisors to the public and we will all be shocked to see who his advisors are and how much money they have raked in from the publics pocketbook thanks to their Democrat friends in Congress - Chris Dodd, Barack Obama, Joe Biden.
The public at large needs to know the truth about who is advising who. However, the Obama campaign refuses to disclose these facts.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:17 am PDT
BAILOUTS TO FAILOUTS: A NEWS AND VERSE EXTRA
A guide to contemporary use
BAILOUT=Rescue, by government, of important economic entity
AILOUT=Rescue of healthcare industry
ALEOUT=Rescue of Bennigan’s
BALEOUT=Rescue of Columbian or Jamaican economy (see also: cotton, hay)
BRAILLEOUT=Rescue you can’t see coming
DALEOUT=Rescue of NASCAR (see also: Roy Rogers)
FLAILOUT=Rescue by FEMA
FRAILOUT=Rescue of an elderly presidential candidate
GALEOUT=Rescue of Jim Cantore (see also: HAILOUT)
GRAILOUT=Rescue of Michael Palin (see also: Monty Python, Indiana Jones)
NAILOUT=Rescue of construction firm (see also: Asian salon, Press-on)
MALEOUT=Rescue of sexist political candidate
MAILOUT=Rescue by white, powdery substance (see also: FBI)
EMAILOUT=Rescue of Gov. Palin’s Yahoo! account
BLACKMAILOUT=Rescue by extortion
BLACKMALEOUT=Rescue by Dem. Presidential candidate
PAILOUT=Rescue by trickle-down economics
PALEOUT=Rescue by goth
QUAYLEOUT=Rescue of any unqualified Vice-presidential candidate
SALEOUT=Rescue of pandering political campaign
SCALEOUT=Rescue of Weight Watchers (see also: America’s Biggest Loser)
SHALEOUT=Rescue of oil company (see also: Gulf of Mexico, ANWR)
SNAILOUT=Any rescue involving US Postal Service
STALEOUT=Rescue of lipstick jokes (see also: Pigs, Pit Bulls, Estee Lauder)
VEILOUT=Rescue at the altar
VAILOUT=Rescue of anyone who pays $100+ to fall down a mountain
SURVEILOUT=###REDACTED BY HOMELAND SECURITY###
ZALEOUT=Rescue of cheap wedding rings
FAILOUT=Destiny of most bailouts
www.newsandverse.com
…ripped from the headlines
September 19th, 2008 at 10:34 am PDT
I have never seen before men/women that refuse to take responsibility for the poor decisions they have made… It is immoral to blame someone else for there inactivity… John McCain can’t hide the fact his party has been in control for 12 years now he wants 4 more.. I am a registered republican and i will be voting for a change this year..It goes w/o saying you can’t regulate your friends… Who would have thunk the GOP would be the ones to socialize the country…
January 14th, 2009 at 3:11 pm PST
Hey :> It’s funny but I have observed the same on http://yourhowto.com kisses.___Many people will walk in & out of my life…But only true friends leave footprints in my life…and that what my friends did…