Letters to the Editor
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What a tool
Sure, it's not government responsibility to bail out speculators now that the banking speculators have been bailed out.
And really, the bankers involved were simply providing a service, filling a need to help out the little people who then ruthlessly took advantage of their good nature.
And ss far as "temporary" assistance goes I await the details of the repayment schedule McCain is proposing for Bear Sterns. Can we expect a 30% per year return on our taxpayer dollars like the banks get on their credit card loans?
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One thing that makes me so happy about this election
All of the candidates are smart cookies. I just wish McCain was more for the environment. I'd cross party lines and throw the swtich for him if he can green up.
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@herself
John McCain graduated in the bottom 5 from the Naval Academy. Not the bottom 5 percent, but bottom 5 graduates.
He is not a bright man.
If you are comparing the candidates to Bush in terms of intellect, you might as well compare them to pocket lint.
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I have an English degree
and I already know more about the economic issues inherent in the housing crisis than Bottom Five John. His ignorance is breathtaking, exceeded on by the ignorance evidence in Herself's breathless, Chris Mathews-esque embrace of another Republican sans academic credentials.
Banks didn't care about who they gave money to because banks quickly sold the mortgages and repayment became someone else's problem. So banks didn't need no stinking underwriting. They didn't care about the loans.
Buyers, especially those walking the razor's edge of affordability bought the notion they could afford a mortgage because the banks made the instruments so attractive - no down payment, closing cost assistance, and interest only repayments. The problem was that the slightest hiccup in personal finances could throw the delicate balance out of whack. But who cared about the hiccups when the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was advising people to go out and buy as much house as they could, even if they had to resort to adjustable rate mortgages, the same mortgages that are now swirling into default.
Transparency and accountability? - the worst part of MacCain's approach is that he might really believe three words constitute a response.
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@ Herself
You can't be serious.
The differences among the candidates lie not only in their relative intelligence, but also in their policies. McCain will have to do a hell of a lot more than "go green" for true progressives to vote for him.
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@generalDisdain
Bottom 5 of his Annapolis class? Maybe. I'm not going to bother checking.
That doesn't make him dumb. Most people aren't smart enough to get through the door to that place. It's easier to get into Yale and Stanford. I personally know lots of academy grads and have met a lot more. Lots of them are arrogant pricks. Many are not well versed in literature or abstract mathematics. I don't consider any of them as stupid. That gives them too big an advantage - and they play to win.
Meanwhile, GW took the SAT before 1974 and scored 1206. That puts his IQ back then at 125 or slightly higher. Please recall the the SAT has been "adjusted" over the years with the result that we now have many more higher scores.
So, saying bush is dumb is, well, stupid. He may be evil, intellectually lazy, myopic, misdirected, and/or psychopathic. He is also, surprisingly, intelligent. Maybe it isn't such a mystery that he's out maneuvered the democrats for so long.
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Tyler Mason's letter brings to mind another question I have about presidents:
Interesting point, Tyler - Whatzizname Horsey, the cartoonist for the Seattle Times, said something along those lines, that Bush wasn't so much dumb as just incurious and lazy. After all, daddy was always going to bail him out. I've heard the same thing too about Dan Quayle, that he wasn't so much dumb as just somebody who never had to work at being smart because his family connections got him what he wanted.
(My SATs from the same time period were 1240, but I always thought of myself as kinda dumb because there so many other kids at my high school getting better grades and going off to prestigious colleges. I guess I just march to a different accordion)
But my question: I wonder what would happen if you could give an IQ test to a president upon talking office, and upon leaving office. Why? Well, I wonder if the person becomes sharper from all of the learning that goes with the job, or, does the person get slower from being surrounded by sycophants who cut them off from the real world, and from the exhaustion that goes with being in the White House?
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It's not a brain question
It's an overlord question. Dumb, smart, no difference, the lord of the manor is the lord of the manor until someone puts his head on a pike as a warning to the others.
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Compare this speech to Obama's
I read this speech immediately after reading Obama's speech (Thank you Salon for posting all three speeches!). The difference between the two is astounding. I have to say that everytime I hear Obama speak, I have more and more respect for him!
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No bailouts.
There should be no bailouts for the banking industry or for individuals. More regulation is needed. We can't trust greed.
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GOP Lock-Step Politics
When you elect a Republican you are electing much more than the candidate. You are electing Karl Rove, Ronald Reagan, and a bunch of neocons holding the puppet strings that are attached to the candidate.
Any Republican in the White House will be following the GOP script hook, line, and sinker.
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McCain and Money Management
Maybe McCain can get Charlie Keating or some of the good old boys from Lincoln S&L and pitch in. The hundreds of billions of dollars (real-time) must be somewhere and surely John McCain sure get his share - I'm actually hoping he just gets "his". This guy sold his Hanoi Hilton creds for votes & money.
/s/
A Viet Vet who kept the faith.