Ground Zero (And the Willfully Blind)

Outraged over AIG bonus money? Come on. Get a life and get off the couch, turn off the TV and peer below the surface. This AIG business is peanuts. Read on.

The history of politics offers few opportunities for observers to say - "Yes, that was the trigger," or in this case, for the Democrats to say, "Yes, I am afraid we as a party are responsible." Aside from 1) a courageous congressman from Alabama and 2) ex-President Bill Clinton, Democrats have yet come to own their culpability in this mess. There was not, "plenty of blame to go around," as one friend from the left asserted the other day in his attempt at a defense.

It is ironic that the Republicans, saddled by the left with the mantra of "never regulate," tried repeatedly to regulate the twins (Fannie / Freddie) and every single time the Democrats blocked the legislation. We highlighted this early on; now it is common knowledge. Naturally from the viewpoint of the left, the sooner forgotten the better. And that we can understand. Witness the viewing below, Democrats in the flesh, cheering for (now disgraced) Raines, assuring Americans the twins are healthy. Two of these blithering idiots - Maxine Waters and Greg Meeks - are enough to stir any self respecting Democrat to wonder. The committee is the Financial Service Committee, or, subcommittees of that body: At the conclusion of the video, Bill Clinton joins us in putting this crisis right at his party’s doorstep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

Throughout the video, one can witness Democratic members of Congress defending 1) the management of the twins and 2) the business practices of the twins. We know now that management cooked the books; we know that the twins dumbed down their underwriting standards and increased their leverage to hazardous levels, levels which several Republican officials (House & Senate) warned would prove disastrous.

I sat before this committee. I can attest that neither side, Rep nor Dem, are well posted in economics. But one need not be an economist to observe the obvious; it was the willfully blind, and the politically correct that put us in this mess. When the only qualification for a mortgage was a good jump shot, one would have thought most would have seen the warning signs. Why just the Republicans?

Robert Craven