Congressman Barney Frank's Honorable, Tough Stand Against GOP Propaganda

Good Morning Papamoka Bloggers - I've been blogging a lot about the causes of the credit crisis, and although I hate to beat the proverbial dead horse, I simply have to post another article about how the Republicans are using race to explain away their own mistakes related to predatory lending and the credit crisis.

One of my favorite Congressman, Barney Frank, the man who recently suffered the obnoxious slings and arrows of that Fox "News" moron, Bill O'Reilly, supported my assertions yesterday that Republican criticism of Democrats over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that is racially motivated.

According to the AP's Glen Johnson reporting from Boston yesterday, the Massachusetts Democrat and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the GOP is "appealing to its base by blaming the country's mortgage foreclosure problem on efforts to expand affordable housing through the Community Reinvestment Act."

He said the blame "is misplaced, because those loans are issued by regulated institutions, while far more foreclosures were triggered by high-cost loans made by unregulated entities." As my regular bloggers know that is a point that I've been banging away at for over a month now.

The Republicans refuse to acknowledge that regulatory protections were in place to insure against fraud and credit problems. They act like the Community Reinvestment Act and other legislation left lenders unprotected and vulnerable like sheep ready for a slaughter. To anybody who has read the legislation and the accompanying regulations (see my earlier posts) the assertions are wrong - or lies if you will.

Do you Republicans even listen to yourselves? The whole idea is crazy. It was caused primarily by a lack of oversight by the Bush Administration over the past eight years. Other causes involved Republican-led deregulation signed by Clinton in 1999 (he was wrong too), a housing bubble (caused by the lack of oversight and subsequent, over-confident market forces), and ultimate mismanagement and greed.

After a lot of homework, including a review of recent congressional testimonies, I would say the causes are pretty much in that order. The poor people who took the loans are the least guilty, unless they lied - also the fault of the predatory lenders in my opinion. Aren't there ways to find out if people are lying?

Frank said Republicans controlled Congress for 12 years and passed no regulation, while Democrats passed a Bush administration Fannie and Freddie regulation package since gaining control of the House and Senate in January 1997. Frank is rightly accusing the Republicans of race baiting their constituents. "They get to take things out on poor people," Frank said at a mortgage foreclosure symposium in Boston. "Let's be honest: The fact that some of the poor people are black doesn't hurt them either, from their standpoint. This is an effort, I believe, to appeal to a kind of anger in people."

Frank dismissed charges the Democrats failed on their own or blocked Republican efforts to rein in the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I agree with him. I researched and discovered that both parties attempted Fannie and Freddie reform legislation from their own party perspectives, and both failed over the years due to a lack of compromise. Much of it was caused by the Bush Administration and its demands for massive structural changes designed to help Wall Street, and less industry regulation that Democrats felt threatened a system that has worked well for decades. Despite the congressional conflict, the crisis still grew out of a lack of Bush oversight.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio called Frank's remarks "a lame, desperate attempt to divert Americans' attention away from the Democratic party's obstruction of reforms that would have reined in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and helped our nation avoid this economic crisis."

Mr. Boehner, the only lame and desperate things here are you and your party. You guys are willing to lie, cheat and steal to get your way. You are lying to the American people about the cause of this crisis, and you are attacking an honest man like Barney Frank to beat him in November and back up your absurd, deceitful, conspiracy theory that poor people brought down Wall Street.

Barney Frank did not cause this crisis. More than twelve horrible years of Republican "leadership" caused this crisis. The same leadership that brought us war, tragedy, and corruption on a massive scale. It is time the Republicans stop blaming others for what they caused, and take responsibility for their failures.

Rovian tactics like "muddying the waters" to make everybody look bad in this situation will not work. It was Bush and the Republicans. I hope you take the time to learn what I've learned, and vote them out of power in November.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's West Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

Is the Bush Conspiracy Proven at the Pump?

Given the fact that raising the minimum wage to a decent level could break the economy of America according to President Bush I think that the prices at the pump are going to pretty much bury the American people for the good graces of our President. I was talking to a good friend of mine this evening and he brought this comparison up.

When Exxon/Mobile posts a $30 Billion dollar profit for one three month span is that going to wake people up to know that our President is corrupt and sacrificing his people for his few oil Barron friends? What does it take to make the people wake up and know that the fix is in and Bush is sitting there in the Oval office chucking the bird at the American people because we know that he is an idiot? From where he sits it looks like we are all the idiots. From where his friends in the oil industry sit the sky is green with cash, yours, mine and anyone driving a car in America.

Over at the Boston Herald they have this to say about this issue…

Gas prices soar above $3 a gallon and toward $4 in some areas
By Associated Press
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
- Updated: 04:05 PM ESTNEW YORK -

For all their complaining as they pay $3 a gallon or more to fill up their cars, few American drivers have yet to reach the point of cutting back.

That’s the message from government statistics showing that demand for gasoline is only just starting to level off even as refinery outages and tight supplies have sent pump prices soaring by 43 percent since the end of January.

And brace yourself: experts say with gas already closing in on $4 a gallon in Chicago and San Francisco ahead of the peak summer driving season, higher prices could be in the cards.

"I drive 55 miles each way to work every day," said Sandy Colden, of Medford, N.J., one recent morning while loading groceries into her Honda Pilot SUV. "So I really don’t have a choice, unfortunately." – Boston Herald

President Bush and his crew of thieves are stealing from all Americans by punishing us for simply being Americans and not agreeing to his political ideology. That ideology is summed up with your seeing things his way or taking the highway. Pick an article in any paper and the corruption and boldness of the deception in his administration is printed every single day! What better way to put the knife to your people’s throat than at the good old gas pump?

What really boggles my mind is that he isn’t just screwing Democrats and Liberals over with his lack of concern for the cost of gasoline at the pump is the simple fact that he is screwing over all Americans regardless of political affiliation.

This man is not the President of America as much as he is the protector of big oil and turning the other way as they rape Americans on a daily basis. Democrat or Republican, Bush is pissed and we will pay through the nose till he is gone. Only till he leaves office will this situation be corrected and even then the Robber Barron’s of today will walk away with pockets full of cash. Your cash, my cash, our senior’s cash, our grocery money, our kids college money, our retirement money, our new born babies’ money for formula and the list goes on and on. How much have you as a person or as a family had to cut back to afford the raping at the pump courtesy of this administration? How much more are you willing to give up and still defend this man that dares to call himself the leader of the free world?

There are emails out there suggesting a boycott of certain gas stations and I for one participated today. Moving forward in my life I will never purchase gas from the gas stations listed in them and if you want a voice in this fight then you should do so as well. I’m boycotting Exxon Mobile for the rest of my life. If they are going to screw me over at the pump anyway with a guy or gal making minimum wage manning the pumps then I am telling you that we should tell them to screw! I’ll spend my fifty dollars to fill my tank at another gas station just down the street. I’m fed up and I am sure that you are too. Be proactive in your disgust and send the message to the corporations bending you over the barrel at the gas pump.

Moving on and according to the Bush mentality and political thought process, the minimum wage hike will kill the economy? Small businesses will collapse; death and destruction to mid sized companies will lend a hand at bringing on a recession. Think again! Mr. President, you and your lack of defending the people and the supper table at home are killing the American economy. Wake the hell up will you! You sir, and your friends in big oil have taken far too much away from my families supper table and we can not afford you or them anymore. This President should be shown the exit post haste.

Let the investigations begin and if Nancy Pelosi doesn’t have the guts to do it then she too should step aside. America is crying for help and all of Washington is looking the other way. Enough is enough! I can't afford politicians that look the other way while my family suffers for their ignorance of what the people at home need.

I'm asking my readers to boycott Exxon Mobil not for just me but for yourself. Send a loud and clear message from your own wallet!

Papamoka

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