Oh Snap! Colbert on "Palin Fatigue"

[BJJ-Blue]

Hahaha... this is great, again look at the source;-)

Those numbers are accurate, even if you despise who posted them.

See for yourself:
http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp
http://www.dol.gov/

[pateticorecords]

Those numbers are accurate, even if you despise who posted them.

See for yourself:
http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp
http://www.dol.gov/

I do not despise you, nor have I ever said anything of sorts... it's fun to have debates regardless of what we think on a subject matter personally. I have friends and family members who are republicans and who are democrat, we have debates and conversations and we don't always meet eye to eye but because someone's political views or beliefs do not align with mine doesn't me that I would shun them

[pateticorecords]

http://my.barackobama.com/page/conte...Kept?source=fb
http://www.whatthe****hasobamadonesofar.com


■Reversed restrictions on stem cell research
■Appointed an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
■Created a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners
■Expanded loan programs for small businesses
■Extended and indexed the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
■Expanded eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
■Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
■Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq
■Sent two additional brigades to Afghanistan
■As promised gave a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
■Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
■Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
■Released presidential records
■Now requires new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions
■Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
■Created a White House Office on Urban Policy
■Supported increased funding for the NEA
■Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps
■Worked to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
■Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees
■Pledged to weatherize 1 million homes per year
■Invested in all types of alternative energy
■Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
■Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
■As promised appointed at least one Republican to the cabinet
■Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspended taxes on these benefits.

[Syn7]

Ask, and ye shall receive.

ok now post one that goes back 60 or 70 years and we're talkin... throwing one up that only shows the last 15 years is pretty useless for what we're talking about... one could easilly argue that it went up because of the republican houses actions... these decisions have consequences and they dont all come up right away, some take a few years for them to come crashing down... you need to post a graph that shows more... more time esspecially...

[Syn7]

It wasn't Bush OR Obama. We sunk ourselves as a nation because we were rolling in money and low interest loans, and nobody stopped to ask why things were going so good.

I do feel that the public at large should bear a great deal of the burden when it comes to the housing market crash, and even the bailouts. Think about it... the stupidly high pensions at GMC, the poor management across the board in the financial sector (millions of bad managers playing along with hundreds of bad executives), the inability to understand a mortgage that you were signing, and acknowledging that you understood, the employees who happily breezed through mortgage defaults, most of the time not even reading them, the lower class refusing to educate themselves, KNOWING that globalization was threatening the uneducated labor market, DESPITE the whole issue with robotics getting people laid off in the 80s (not learning a lesson, here?), and demanding lower taxes and all the while complaining about our declining education system.

Bush/Obama's fault? No, I don't think so.

word... its nice to see that im not alone on that one... theres enough blame for everyone on this one... now im not saying bush or obama havent done anything wrong, but given the scope of what has been happening, its just not possible to put all this on one guy...


all that right left partisan finger pointing is so annoying...

[BJJ-Blue]

ok now post one that goes back 60 or 70 years and we're talkin... throwing one up that only shows the last 15 years is pretty useless for what we're talking about...

Why not go back to 1776 then?

You haver to use recent history for many reasons. We didn't have welfare like we do now until the 60s. Blacks couldn't vote until the 60s. Too many things were different, including the Parties themselves. Look at JFK, Democrats now would renounce him. He was anti-communist, for a strong defense, and for tax cuts. I truly feel he would be a Republican if he were alive today. Does 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country' sound like the Democrat Party today? No friggin way.

[BJJ-Blue]

And I'm still waiting on MK (or anyone else) to show how legislation enacted by Bush caused the mess we are in...

So far no one has produced anything.

[MasterKiller]

So let me get this straight, you guys support welfare but blast Bush for helping "a qualified low-income buyer make a downpayment" and with their closing costs??

You honestly don't think pushing aggressive home-ownership policies which encourage people to buy house they could not initially afford without taxpayer handouts has no correlation to the housing collapse?

"....consumers with poor credit will be able to get a mortgage with an interest rate that automatically goes down after a period of consistent payments."--Bush (2002).

Also, you need to show the correlation between the American Dream Downpayment Assistance Act and the subprime mess. What percentage of home buyers using this program defaulted on their mortgages vs those who defaulted on sub-prime mortgages?

"The government-sponsored corporations created to increase the liquidity of mortgage markets, so more capital would be available for mortgage loans, are supposed to lead the market in reaching underserved populations. While these corporations have increased their commitments to these efforts, they lag behind private lenders in this regard, according to government studies. The Administration will revisit the regulatory goals for these corporations' purchases of affordable housing loans, which are set to expire in 2003. The federal government should demand more and should hold such publicly-chartered corporations accountable for better performance."--Bush (2002)

In this instance, "better performance" is seen as an increase in capital available for mortgage loans to underserved populations. That's the opposite of what should have been happening if Republicans were concerned about the fragility of the industry.

"In 2002, the President issued America's Homeownership Challenge to increase first-time minority homeowners by 5.5 million through 2010. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage program is an important tool for reaching that goal. In 2006, 31 percent of those using FHA mortgages were minorities purchasing their first home. The 2008 Budget continues Administration efforts to modernize FHA by improving its ability to reach traditionally underserved homebuyers aka those who do not normally qualify for loans (such as low- and moderate-income families, individuals with blemished credit, and families who have little savings for a down payment)"--Bush Administration's White House Press Release

It's a bit of a problem to claim that the Democrats were responsible for pushing risky loans and relaxed underwriting, when the Republican President, with the complicity of his party, demanded loans be extended to individuals with blemished credit, or who could not afford down payments.

[BJJ-Blue]

You honestly don't think pushing aggressive home-ownership policies which encourage people to buy house they could not initially afford without taxpayer handouts has no correlation to the housing collapse?

"....consumers with poor credit will be able to get a mortgage with an interest rate that automatically goes down after a period of consistent payments."--Bush (2002).

And Bush's legislation WORKED:

"The initial proposed scope for the study focused on homeowners who received assistance through the American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI), which was implemented by Congress in 2003. Due to the limited history of the ADDI program when the study was initiated, the scope was expanded to include homebuyers who participated in the HOME program, a similar federal program established in 1990 to assist low-income homebuyers.

The HOME/ADDI program did not experience an increase in foreclosure risk in the first part of this decade, unlike the rest of the mortgage market.

Results of the HOME/ADDI and FHA loan foreclosure comparison include the following:

* Foreclosure rates in the HOME/ADDI programs were generally lower than in the FHA loan program.
* Foreclosure rates for FHA-insured loans with HOME/ADDI assistance were 40 percent lower than FHA-insured loans with seller-funded downpayment assistance.
* Among HOME/ADDI-assisted homebuyers, those with FHA-insured loans had a higher probability of foreclosure."

Complete article:
http://www.abtassociates.com/Page.cfm?PageID=40945

So please show any legislation signed by Bush that caused the housing collapse. You've so far only mentioned the American Dream Downpayment Assistance Act, and as I've shown it was a success, not a contributing factor to the collapse. And it helped thousands of poor families achieve (and keep) home ownership.

[MasterKiller]

Due to the limited history of the ADDI program when the study was initiated, the scope was expanded to include homebuyers who participated in the HOME program, a similar federal program established in 1990 to assist low-income homebuyers.

Uuuh...yeah.

And it helped thousands of poor families achieve (and keep) home ownership.

Since when is it the government's role to help people "achieve their dreams"? The government is supposed to stay out of your way so YOU can make your dreams come true. Right?