Obama: financial crisis a major threat to economy

[UpInArms]

Source: Reuters

CHICAGO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday the crisis sweeping Lehman Brothers (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other Wall Street firms posed a major threat to the U.S. economy and underscored the need to modernize the financial system.

"The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that are generating enormous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets," Obama said in a statement.

"This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments," he added.

<snip>

Obama has long called for an overhaul of Wall Street regulations, saying the subprime housing crisis and other problems stemmed in part from lack of transparency and accountability in the financial system.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1513206920080915

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McLame making a stand would definitely be a new twist, seeing as he was a member of the Cheating Keating Five and that's his total economic background - a loser if there ever was one.

[Demeter]

1. Sorry, Mr. President-Elect, There IS No US Economy

other than the Underground, which is where most the real America lives or will live shortly.


We are going back to barter, appropriation of abandoned property, and asset stripping the guilty.
When all the crooks are in jail or fled to other countries (as if other countries would take them in--good thing Dubai built all those condos!), then we can start to build an economy based on reality, work and the fair payment for labor.

[Waiting For Everyman]

2. It's good, but...

it's not worded nearly strongly enough, or directly enough. I'm saying that, thinking about hearing it as a voter. If it's a serious threat, you don't use language like that. This isn't "turmoil" it's a f-ing collapse! 3 out of 5 investment banks went under this year, plus Fannie and Freddie, and it's the Repubs' doing and the Repubs' policies all the way. This kind of thing is why people (including Dems) are frustrated with Dems and don't trust them. What color on the "alert scale" is this? Is it yellow, orange, red, or "oh, sh*t"? Get it across to people that they're doomed if they don't get it together NOW!

Tell them we're going to "put FDR's regulations BACK" (the icon of our party, remind them maybe?) just for starters. Tell them we're going to fix trade and stop outsourcing jobs, and put a moratorium on foreclosures, and fix the friggin' borders. And do it then even if you don't want to, there's no time to play free trade right now. Tell them on Jan. 20, 2009 we're going to call a "time out" on all of this stuff and fix the damage before the Titanic hits the iceberg up ahead. And btw, tie Bush/McC to it every step of the way in every sentence. Say who the bad guys are and sound like you'll go after them and hold them accountable for this.

And for God's sake, just tell 'em our oil goes on the world market. End of that argument. On to renewable energy.

Just my reaction.

[Waiting For Everyman]

3. (dupe)

[happygoluckytoyou]

4. "Obama is LYING... The economy is doing a heck of a job!" McCain/Bush and i approve this message

[greyghost]

5. LOL!

[Phillycat]

6. In other news, water is wet.

[DallasNE]

7. McCain: "Ineffective Regulation"

I could not agree more. The only problem for McCain is that he has been front and center in gutting regulation and in effect making them ineffective. In other words, McCain is part of the problem not part of the solution. Can he get away with this lie too?

[Nambe]

8. Obama blames Wall St. crisis on Republican policy

Source: The Associated Press

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Monday the upheaval on Wall Street was "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression" and blamed it on policies that he said Republican rival John McCain supports.

"This country can't afford another four years of this failed philosophy," Obama said after the shock-wave announcements that financial giant Lehman Brothers was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while titan Merrill Lynch was being bought by Bank of America for about $50 billion.

Obama's statement, issued as he prepared to fly to Colorado to begin a swing through contested Western states, was intended to serve two purposes: to link McCain with the unpopular presidency of George W. Bush and to express sympathy with the anxiety of most Americans who say the economy is issue No. 1 in the election. ...

Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/sep/15/obama-blames-wall-st-crisis-on-republican-policy/

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. Correction: "...another 30 years of this failed philosophy..."

[rurallib]

10. Honestly, there is little else that deserves the blame or credit for

this meltdown. Lack of regulation.

[Lasher]

11. Deregulation, thy name is Phil Gramm n/t

[8 track mind]

12. but........

i thought the free market was a good thing! It was supposed to solve all of our problems!

:eyes:

[Lasher]

15. Right. So much for the Invisible Hand fairy tale.

File that one right along with the trickle-down theory.

[cyndensco]

13. It seems like such a no-brainer.

Republicans call for free markets, small government. If we had continued to regulate areas of the baking industry, we would not be in this mess.

[fascisthunter]

14. Republicans Have Been Retooling this Economy for almost 30 Years...

they deserve to wear a sign around their necks that says, criminals for the wealthy right wing. This party also was responsible for the Great Depression... will Republican voters ever get the obvious????

[Dover]

16. The current banking consolidation began some time ago...

I don't like anything about Bush et al. But the bigger picture is that the current consolidation (mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies) has to do with continuing movement toward globalization and privatization which is apparently a bi-partisan agenda. Not everyone agrees with this global centralization (a bigger pond requires a bigger fish - who gets bigger by eating smaller, weaker fish), but that at least is the reality of what's happening. And what we're experiencing is the final stages of that process.
That's why Bush keeps saying things are basically 'okay'. Of course that doesn't take into account the effect on all those 'smaller fish'. He's referring to the end result of this shift and the ultimate goal.

If there is an opposing view of globalization/privatization, I'd like for Obama to name those policies specifically that he disagrees with so we can know what he'd change about them. Is globalization/privatization something he disagrees with on general principal, or is it only the
method of getting there?

[central scrutinizer]

17. privatize the profits, pay no taxes on them, but socialize the losses

It's a win-win-win

[amborin]

18. the current banking crisis

has causes that span two decades or more, both parties

including the 'modernization' act passes about 10 yrs ago...blurring lines between commercial and investment

[Dover]

20. Yes, it does seem to be a bi-partisan goal in a movement toward globalization

Bigger fish for a bigger pond. The big fish eat the smaller fish in order
to centralize and consolidate their global position.

There are other theories and economists who disagree with this means of globalization, but currently they don't seem to have a voice in ANY party.

[YvonneCa]

19. YES !!!! ....

More, more, more....:patriot:

[MadMaddie]

21. We have to start manufacturing goods in America again

mostly everything that we are doing is on paper. Meanwhile 3rd world countries are producing more than we are.

A country cannot exist on IT alone. This was * big thing when he talked about moving to a new economy. Not farming, not manufacturing but IT and the markets.

[nebenaube]

22. uh.. IT went to India years ago... n/t

[MadMaddie]

24. Yea, but some of it is coming back. Apparantly US companies

can't control scope creep when it's not on our own shores. Who could have seen that coming?

[nebenaube]

25. hell

they can't control scope creep here... they are scope creep.. more from less, more from less and faster with no rework... and build it in languages that can't handle a simple things like:

variableX = false
do{

variableX = (variableX != variableX)
if( variableX ) then{ variableX = dosomething() ;never executes }...

}while(!variableX)

[unkachuck]

23. yes sir, Senator Obama....

"This turmoil is a major threat to our economy..."

....please point out that our Constitution and country are being PERMANENTLY destroyed by Republican Party rule....and this massive economic failure is a creation of the Private-Sector....and remind people, that our Public-Sector, under Democratic control, does it's job very well....

....don't let them tell us that this is some sort of a '100 year phenomena' or that this is an unforeseen and uncontrollable 'cyclical event'....

....this isn't like the earth going around the sun or a giant meteor crashing in from the cosmos, these are MAN-MADE events....these treacherous events were created by greedy evil capitalists solely for their gain, pure and simple....