Nationalized Risk of Wall Street done by Congress not Wall Street

Recently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was heckled by members of ADAPT, a disability rights group, as she addressed a progressive audience this past Tuesday. According to the Politico ADAPT, and other groups, heckled Pelosi for about 20 minutes. As Pelosi wrapped up her speech she, again, accused the ills of the United States economy on the Bush administration. When does the blaming of a prior administration end? Did Pelosi forget that in Bush's final two years the Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress? I understand the blame game is part of politics and is an attempt to keep Americans polarized too.

The most troubling part of her speech was the words she had for Wall Street. "No longer will recklessness on Wall Street be able to cause joblessness on Main Street. No longer will those on Wall Street be able to privatize the gain and nationalize the risk" (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38249.html). WHAT?!?!?! How can Wall Street nationalize the risk? It is Congress that passed the bailouts and not Wall Street. One can make an argument that lobbyist for Wall Street influenced the process but the lobbyist nor Wall Street actually cast a vote or sign on the dotted line. Granted TARP was signed by Bush but it was passed by Pelosi/Reed led Congress. Our current politicians failed America by nationalizing the risk that Wall Street takes.

The dotcom bubble was not nationalized yet Congress chooses to nationalize the housing bubble; why is that? Did the dotcom's not give enough money to Congress? There is nothing wrong with Wall Street in privatizing gains. Remember the increased profits and stock appreciation of Wall Street fuels our 401K's, IRA's and our nest eggs. I do agree with Speaker Pelosi that we cannot nationalize the risk but be honest as to who is nationalizing the risk. It is Congress that is nationalizing risk and the President rubber stamps it.

Iacocca's words still applicable to Obama's adminstration.

In his book, Where Have all the Leaders Gone? Lee Iacocca writes :

“Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course.”

Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I’ll give you a sound bit: Throw the bums out!

You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking the hard questions. That’s not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean. I’ve had enough. How about you?”

Lee Iacocca was writing about the Bush administration. The interesting point by the excerpt above is that much of what Mr. Iacocca writes is applicable to Obama administration as well. Media is still waving their pom-poms, President Obama is taking deficits to new heights (just hit $1T this morning), we have move our focus from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and we are still leading corporate crooks off in handcuffs.

A wave of nationalization is flowing across the United States. It started with our financial industry where regulations put in place prior to the meltdown were not enforced; rather Congress asked, begged, and strong armed the financial markets to offer mortgages to those who could not afford them. Now those same “leaders” in Congress are crying foul. Leadership, as Iacocca mentions, is failing us.

President Obama nationalized the auto industry by taking controlling interest in GM. The “Leadership” forced GM in to bankruptcy while Michigan is experiencing unemployment rate at 14.1% and expected to go higher as GM and Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy. Now the Auto Czar, Steven Rattner, is stepping down amid a kickback scandal; yet the Obama administration gives Rattner a “vote of confidence”. I agree with Iacocca in his question and outrage at the lack of “leadership” in both public and private sectors.

America has been a country of innovators. That aspect of America is being threatened by Obama administration. No business is too big to fail!!! Markets still exist for the products of companies that are labeled “too big to fail” and smaller companies will pick up the pieces once the larger ones fail. The nationalization of the financial and automotive markets will hamper growth in both industries. The next move is for Obama to nationalize the Health Care industry through offering a public option.

A public option is not leadership in action. It’s an enabling program. To bring leadership into the Health Care system, do it through regulation to guide the course. Many options are on the board, some of which I have stated in a previous blog, but Obama is sticking to the public option as the savior for the Health Care industry. The public option will not advance the Health Care industry; rather it will stagnate it. The public option is not one that will spur innovation that Iacocca said lacked back in 2007.

Now I did not agree with all of actions taken under the Bush administration and the “Change” candidate is not doing much more than Bush that excites me either. Yes, the Bush administration stripped away freedoms through the guise of protecting America post 9-11 but Obama is going to bankrupt America before he can nationalize it. Either aspect, bankruptcy or nationalization, are not an America I want to see take place.

Transparency: Really?

As the CIA memo debate continues on and Attorney General Eric Holder is comtemplating legal action against those involved, the Obama administration has promised transparency. Really? If what former Vice President Cheney is saying is true, why is it taking so long for the Obama administration to declassify CIA memo’s that showed technique’s used saved Los Angeles from an airline attack. Throughout the run for office and since, President Obama repeated the claim that his administration would be the most transparent in history.

I ask again; really? Why hasn’t the President Obama produced a birth certificate? President Obama has done everything possible to block the true nature of his birth certificate. Many will say that Hawaii has it on record. A certificate of live birth, which Hawaii has on record, is not the same as a birth certificate. The certificate of live birth is something that you or I can get in any state since it simply acknowledges a live birth took place regardless of location.

So why doesn’t President Obama produce his original birth certificate? President Obama speaks of transparency but fails to be transparent on a vital piece of information. American’s, in hindsight, are seeing how President Obama has no plans of honoring the U.S. Constitution. Other evidence is the nationalization of banks, firing a CEO, and now forcing an automaker into Chapter 11.

Everyone on the left feels that former Vice President Cheney is out of line when speaking out against the CIA memos. Never in our history have we looked at the previous regime to punish. FDR administration didn’t get looked into for the Japanese internment camps, Wilson’s Sedition Act, or Clinton’s administration in their three missed opportunity to capture Osama Bin Laden. The continue attack on the CIA, Bush Administration, and the U.S. Constitution by the Obama Administration only weakens the United States.

Liberals wants blood; America wants Jobs

“I acted primarily because of the exceptional circumstances that surrounded these memos, particularly the fact that so much of the information was public,” President Obama said to CIA on Monday April 20th. President Obama went on to assure CIA operatives that, “You need to know you’ve got my full support.” Robert Gibbs, during his press conference on Monday, responded to the prospect of legal action against Bush administration officials that approved “torture” methods by saying that President Obama was looking forward and not going to hold those involved in the new “torture” methods will not be prosecuted. Rohm Emanuel said on Sunday when asked about retribution and accountability of the Bush Administration officials; Mr. Emanuel defended the position of the Obama administration of looking forward and not going after those that approved the “torture” techniques.

All of this rhetoric upset the liberal base of the Democrat party that had elected Sen. Obama to end the use of water boarding and other “torture” techniques while prosecuting those responsible for their approval. Less than 24 hours after Robert Gibbs saying President Obama is not looking backwards or establishing a review board on “torture” techniques used on Al-Qaeda operatives, President Obama has come out saying he is approving a “blue-ribbon” panel to investigate those involved.

When President Clinton was in office, I told many of my peers that if one wanted to do well in politics they need to study Clinton for success. Now that President Obama waffles on the investigating Bush administration approval of the CIA “torture” methods has President Obama read the Clinton playbook? President Obama is leaving the legal aspect of prosecuting Bush administration officials to the Attorney General and did not want to pre-judge and leave it to the legal experts. Didn’t President Obama go to Harvard Law School?

If President Obama did read the Clinton playbook in handling tough situations, along with mass media in his back pocket, the damage done will be minimal to Barak Obama but how will this investigation assist the image of the United States? Liberals want blood even if it weakens the country. President Obama took the proper steps by stopping further use of the technique of water boarding, which, according to proponents, assisted in discovering a plan to attack Los Angeles in the same manner done in New York.

The releasing of the CIA memos was done under the guise of verifying common knowledge; fine. To take the issue further will not be good for America nor will it assist in our improving image around the world. Other Intelligence Agencies around the world will not want to participate in sharing of information with the United States out of fear their techniques or methods may be exposed. The CIA operatives are put in a dangerous way since their abilities will be handcuffed.

It is time to move forward and not look to the past. President Obama needs to learn from Gerald Ford and his handling of President Nixon during the mid-1970’s. The CIA memos were released and the techniques have been ended. The money and time spent into further investigation will not benefit Americans nor will it help our Economy.