From what I've read, he majority of the items Renos cited are a result of the burst of the housing bubble, which was related to the credit crisis. " Big banks bought up a lot of sub-prime mortgages, then bundled them into portfolios that could be sold downstream as reliably income-producing assets. Thus mortgage debt was “securitized,” made into something hedge funds and private equity firms, and even mutual funds, could buy into as an investment, not as a side bet. When the housing market flattened out, that is, when prices and construction began to fall and when foreclosure rates began to rise —even with interest rates relatively steady—this mortgage debt suddenly looked dubious. " The article I read asks "why did the investment in sub-prime mortgages take place, with such ill effects on the housing market??" The answer is, Bush's tax cuts. http://hnn.us/articles/41985.html

Of course, once the housing bubble burst, all the associated industries came down with it which resulted in the rise of unemployment. When people aren't fixing up homes and selling them, the people that put in granite countertops, do landscaping, put in new wood floors, and all the other myriad of home building trades lose their jobs. Stores that sell the home building products sell less; truckers are moving less goods. Its a domino effect. Contributing to all this was the rise in oil prices. In the case of oil there are several reasons for higher prices, including the high level of demand from Asia, the geopolitical risks of dependence on Iran and the physical loss of production in Iraq.

This all happened over the course of years. To try to blame it on a 2006 Democratic congress is ludicrous. The big question, is how are we going to get the country out of this mess? What we should be discussing are the plans McCain, Clinton and Obama are proposing.

Lil Dancer

Good post Lil Dancer.

Originally Posted by Lil Dancer

...

This all happened over the course of years. To try to blame it on a 2006 Democratic congress is ludicrous. The big question, is how are we going to get the country out of this mess? What we should be discussing are the plans McCain, Clinton and Obama are proposing.

Agreed! So far the only comments to come out of any are, "I'm better than the other person because the other person is [pick one or more) too far left, too far right, too old, too young, etc.]. They are all in sound-bite world and betting that the American voter has a very short attention span and doesn't want to be bothered with details.

Many people laughed at Ross Perot's use of flip charts and graphs to systematically describe cause-and-effect followed by engineered solutions versus emotional ones. He still was the only one who thought the American voter actually cared about the substance of an issue and had the intellectual capacity to follow a thought, and found out that population was in the minority.

American politics is almost like professional wrestling - you need a hero and a villain, lots of lights and music, an announcer who can whip up the crowd, a little blood, reactive TV coverage, and next week you do it again (always reversing who's the hero and villain). That act has worked for decades in professional wrestling, week-after-week with no change in this superhyped morality play. Since the Kennedy-Nixon campaign, it's been the norm in the Presidential election as well.

All of the candidates say they have plans, but I have yet to see one handed out. Why should they, when sound bites and accusations work well. Oh well, - - - are you ready to rumble???

I didn't laugh at Ross Perot. I voted for him. :bigthumbsup:

Originally Posted by chelsea24

Sorry renos, but this has been a building for the last 8 years with this adminstration, not just the vote in 2006.*

Originally Posted by renos

1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) the cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value
evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by
$1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

These things go well beyond eight years.* They transcend any political party and any presidential term.* These things are a result of the our nation's greed and resultant speculative tendencies, the "quick buck" mentality and* excessive self-gratification.* They are a consequence of "free trade at any price" and open borders that sold off the soul of our nation's economic engine.* We started with an "agrarian economy", blossomed into a "manufacturing economy", and now have slouched into an "information economy."* How much economic growth can an "information economy" truly sustain?* I think we were sold a bill of goods on this concept.* To think we can maintain prosperity without a robust manufacturing economy, which we have almost totally outsourced, is ludicrous.* Both parties are responsible.

Soon we will be headed into a food price-driven inflationary spiral because our crops have been diverted to fuel to help overcome our oil dependency. This problem has been brewing for decades due to the inertia of the automobile and oil industries, and the politicians who are controlled by those interests. There is a point when we need to recognize that the wishes of the marketplace (lust for gas powered/guzzling vehicles) need to give way to the greater national interest of conversion to alternative energy consuming technologies.

Sorry I butted into this "Democratic thread", but that's my take on it.

Originally Posted by SteveZ

Agreed! So far the only comments to come out of any are, "I'm better than the other person because the other person is [pick one or more) too far left, too far right, too old, too young, etc.]. They are all in sound-bite world and betting that the American voter has a very short attention span and doesn't want to be bothered with details.
All of the candidates say they have plans, but I have yet to see one handed out. Why should they, when sound bites and accusations work well. Oh well, - - - are you ready to rumble???

I agree. Its hard to find specfics. I did read recently, however, that McCain is in favor of extending Bush's tax cuts. I thought thecuts did more harm than good, and personally don't see this as a plus.

Lil dancer,
I totally agree.
It is so nice to have you take the time to speak the truth. I don't think this country can take 4 more years of this.
I hope at election time people will think and not just just listen to party spin or shock jocks or campaign ads. People need to vote with real knowledge.