Commentary: Why we need an obesity tax

[stephanie]

remember those cigarette taxes??

By David Paterson
Special to CNN

Editor's note: David Paterson, a Democrat, is governor of New York.


New York Gov. David Paterson says taxing soft drinks could help combat obesity.

ALBANY, New York (CNN) -- Like many New Yorkers, I remember a time when nearly everyone smoked. In 1950, Collier's reported that more than three-quarters of adult men smoked. This epidemic had a devastating and long-lasting impact on public health.

Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a new public health epidemic: childhood obesity.

What smoking was to my parents' generation, obesity is to my children's generation. Nearly one out of every four New Yorkers under the age of 18 is obese. In many high-poverty areas, the rate is closer to one out of three.

That is why, in the state budget I presented last Tuesday, I proposed a tax on sugared beverages like soda. Research has demonstrated that soft-drink consumption is one of the main drivers of childhood obesity.

For example, a study by Harvard researchers found that each additional 12-ounce soft drink consumed per day increases the risk of a child becoming obese by 60 percent. For adults, the association is similar.

If we are to succeed in reducing childhood obesity, we must reduce consumption of sugared beverages. That is the purpose of our proposed tax. We estimate that an 18 percent tax will reduce consumption by five percent.

Our tax would apply only to sugared drinks -- including fruit drinks that are less than 70 percent juice -- that are nondiet. The $404 million this tax would raise next year will go toward funding public health programs, including obesity prevention programs, across New York state.

read it all here..
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/18/paterson.obesity/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[Binky]

What the hell next? Tax, tax, tax..... Peeves me off. If parents would grow the hell up and act responsibily and stop buying that stuff for their kids to drink instead of letting them poke crap food and pop down their pie holes, it would help us not have a high obesity rate. And showing a good example as well by not eating and drinking unhealthy crapola all the time would be a giant plus also. Maybe parents should make their kids go outside and run around and play like we used to do, rather than letting them sit in front of the idiot box or computer for hours on end, getting fatter. Kids need sunlight and exercise and any damn fool should know that. They don't need a candy bar, a bag of chips or an eight pack of pop. What they need are parents that are going to stand up to the plate and make sure their kids get healthy.

[Psychoblues]

I would very much be interested in beginning a national movement that could achieve those goals that you've clearly laid out there, binky.



What the hell next? Tax, tax, tax..... Peeves me off. If parents would grow the hell up and act responsibily and stop buying that stuff for their kids to drink instead of letting them poke crap food and pop down their pie holes, it would help us not have a high obesity rate. And showing a good example as well by not eating and drinking unhealthy crapola all the time would be a giant plus also. Maybe parents should make their kids go outside and run around and play like we used to do, rather than letting them sit in front of the idiot box or computer for hours on end, getting fatter. Kids need sunlight and exercise and any damn fool should know that. They don't need a candy bar, a bag of chips or an eight pack of pop. What they need are parents that are going to stand up to the plate and make sure their kids get healthy.

I'm going to write to former Senator Daschle right now and give him your suggestions and maybe even a few of my own!!!!!!!!!!! It's damned well time this issue becomes a national priority!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I offer you low cal cervasa?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues

[Binky]

Write until your fingers fall off. Until parents, "manup", so to speak and do what they should've been doing rather than feeling guilty because they have to work and aren't home, nothing will get done. As long as parents keep bringing that crapola into their homes and kids get to have at it as much as they can, the obesity rate is going to keep growing. Less movement and more crapola shoved down their holes is what it's become. Helps to ease the consciences of the parents. Comfort foods. Well, putting on the excessive weight sure ain't all the comfy.

[stephanie]

it's no one's business if I smoke, overeat, drink too much..

I never had a friggin Nanny, and I damn sure don't need one now..Especially one that is going to make me pay for eating what I feel like.

when will people say, enough..when they start taxing the air you breath??

[Psychoblues]

Don't you think a national health program could identify and help promote some of that, binky?!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!



Write until your fingers fall off. Until parents, "manup", so to speak and do what they should've been doing rather than feeling guilty because they have to work and aren't home, nothing will get done. As long as parents keep bringing that crapola into their homes and kids get to have at it as much as they can, the obesity rate is going to keep growing. Less movement and more crapola shoved down their holes is what it's become. Helps to ease the consciences of the parents. Comfort foods. Well, putting on the excessive weight sure ain't all the comfy.

Although I am not overweight, at my age I feel like I have a right to be. Do you have any national standards that might dispute that simple feeling of entitlement??!?!?!??!??!??!

Seriously, Binky, you make a lot of sense to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you know, I don't do "doobies" but I would be happy to offer you something to cool your dry throat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues

[Psychoblues]

You're right, stevie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



it's no one's business if I smoke, overeat, drink too much..

I never had a friggin Nanny, and I damn sure don't need one now..Especially one that is going to make me pay for eating what I feel like.

when will people say, enough..when they start taxing the air you breath??

Eat your fat ass up till it fills up your shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Cods for stevie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even the cranberries are causing her ass to grow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues

[Binky]

Don't you think a national health program could identify and help promote some of that, binky?!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!




Although I am not overweight, at my age I feel like I have a right to be. Do you have any national standards that might dispute that simple feeling of entitlement??!?!?!??!??!??!

Seriously, Binky, you make a lot of sense to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you know, I don't do "doobies" but I would be happy to offer you something to cool your dry throat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues



I'm sure having a national program wouldn't hurt. But at some point in time, don't you think it would behoove people to get off their backsides and take control of their weight and lives without having the government intervene? My God, whatever happened to making one accountable for themselves? Now it seems as tho' all we do is cry and whine to Uncle Sam about helping us, as tho' the government is our nurse maid. It's very amazing how lazy we have become over the decades.

[stephanie]

If we want to be lazy, that's our business..as long as you don't expect the taxpayers to pay for your lazy ass...such as sucking off the GOVERMENT TIT..

we are still a FREE COUNTRY, for the time being anyway..

[avatar4321]

Why cant people be free to be fat if they choose?

[bullypulpit]

Sounds like a plan to me. I'm getting really tired of rolling these 400lb and up folks around because they've turned their hearts into meat-loaf and think medicine can fix it for them. All because they didn't take responsibility for their own lives and health. Granted, there are valid medical reasons for people becoming morbidly obese, but that's the minority. But sitting in a recliner in your mom's basement and stuffing yourself with Big Mac's until you're 600lbs and have to have a wall cut out of the house and heavy lift equipment to get you into the hospital doesn't qualify.

[stephanie]

Sounds like a plan to me. I'm getting really tired of rolling these 400lb and up folks around because they've turned their hearts into meat-loaf and think medicine can fix it for them. All because they didn't take responsibility for their own lives and health. Granted, there are valid medical reasons for people becoming morbidly obese, but that's the minority. But sitting in a recliner in your mom's basement and stuffing yourself with Big Mac's until you're 600lbs and have to have a wall cut out of the house and heavy lift equipment to get you into the hospital doesn't qualify.

sounds like you are in the wrong field..look for another job if you hate people so much..

[LiberalNation]

I love soda, I'm not obese, it's expensive enough already.

[Nukeman]

Sounds like a plan to me. I'm getting really tired of rolling these 400lb and up folks around because they've turned their hearts into meat-loaf and think medicine can fix it for them. All because they didn't take responsibility for their own lives and health. Granted, there are valid medical reasons for people becoming morbidly obese, but that's the minority. But sitting in a recliner in your mom's basement and stuffing yourself with Big Mac's until you're 600lbs and have to have a wall cut out of the house and heavy lift equipment to get you into the hospital doesn't qualify.

Bully I couldn't agree with you more. Some people have NO respect for themselves and EXPECT others to do everything for them.... I am quickly developing a bad back due to the size of our patients...


sounds like you are in the wrong field..look for another job if you hate people so much.. Stephanie, you obviously have not been to a hospital lately!! Why should personal working in health fields have to put their health in danger for someone with no other condition than hand-to-mouth disease. It is VERY difficult to move, image, transport, treat, or hell just exam an LARGE patient. It used to be the rare patient like this but it has evolved to be a daily thing. Please I beg you to go spend some time with the people that have to work on these patients daily..

[LiberalNation]

Stephanie, you obviously have not been to a hospital lately!! Why should personal working in health fields have to put their health in danger for someone with no other condition than hand-to-mouth disease. It is VERY difficult to move, image, transport, treat, or hell just exam an LARGE patient. It used to be the rare patient like this but it has evolved to be a daily thing. Please I beg you to go spend some time with the people that have to work on these patients daily..

bingo, the nursing home I worked for had to spend thousands on a special mechanical lift for one lady who was to heavy for the others, plenty who couldn't fit thru the shower room door, it was crazy, they were in the home simply because of how fat they were. tffb, to fucken fat to breathe.

[namvet]

Eat your fat ass up till it fills up your shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Cods for stevie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even the cranberries are causing her ass to grow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Psychoblues http://s3.amazonaws.com/images.nachofoto.com/b-world-fattest-earth-41999839a369.jpeg

should have know your 150k fat fucking blubber ass would be here.

[stephanie]

Bully I couldn't agree with you more. Some people have NO respect for themselves and EXPECT others to do everything for them.... I am quickly developing a bad back due to the size of our patients...

Stephanie, you obviously have not been to a hospital lately!! Why should personal working in health fields have to put their health in danger for someone with no other condition than hand-to-mouth disease. It is VERY difficult to move, image, transport, treat, or hell just exam an LARGE patient. It used to be the rare patient like this but it has evolved to be a daily thing. Please I beg you to go spend some time with the people that have to work on these patients daily..

I was talking to Bully..and I guess working with fat people today is like an occupational hazard..that doesnt mean we need the GOVERMENT to come in and tell us we need to lose weight, how much we can eat, what we should eat..but with the way people seem to think that's what we need, and once the little Marxist and the Democrats shove us all into Socialize healthcare, they will be telling us how much toilet paper we can use to wipe our ass..

I know I can't wait..

[LiberalNation]

I think if the government is paying ur nursing home bill they should have the right to put you on a diet. Medicaid and medicare are already socialized healthcare and save untold numbers of lives.

[red states rule]

I see people who are overweight and/or smoke being atacked for being a burden of the health care industry

How would libs determine who muct pay more? Will they inspect thier homes to make sure they are eating only approved foods, and drinking onyl approved drinks?

What about those who have AIDS through their lifestyle? How about a tax on them?

[red states rule]

I would very much be interested in beginning a national movement that could achieve those goals that you've clearly laid out there, binky.




I'm going to write to former Senator Daschle right now and give him your suggestions and maybe even a few of my own!!!!!!!!!!! It's damned well time this issue becomes a national priority!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I offer you low cal cervasa?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues

Perhaps you could tell Puff Daschel to order a Federal porgram that requires kids to be outside for a minimum number of hours,

If they do not comply, the parents are taxed more

Federal inspectors will be out watching to make sure the kids comply

Also weekly weighins at their local Obama Youth Offices will be required

[namvet]

for a lot its hereditary - look at Psycotic - if you can:dance:

[red states rule]

for a lot its hereditary - look at Psycotic - if you can:dance:

or Virgil. He would pay a very hefty tax if this went through :lol:

[namvet]

or Virgil. He would pay a very hefty tax if this went through :lol:

an excellent place to start. whale blubber by the ton............:laugh2:

[red states rule]

an excellent place to start. whale blubber by the ton............:laugh2:

I have seen a recent pic of him. His shirt size matches his age

[namvet]

I have seen a recent pic of him. His shirt size matches his age

the post is a total joke. should be in the humor forum. really

what about the fatso's in gov. they gone??? and those fatso's that write the HIPAA laws. how does GOV get around this???

some meds, including those taken by GOV employees, cause obesity.

its hereditary. and in GOV employess.

so their gonna cut off their own nuts off to spite their fat guts???? come on jez............ wonder how much David Paterson weighs???? can he guarentee us he himself won't turn into a blubber ass???? and if he does???? right !!!! a skinny tax !!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol::laugh2: :beer:

[bullypulpit]

sounds like you are in the wrong field..look for another job if you hate people so much..

If I hated people, I wouldn't be doing what I do. It's the ones who don't give a shit about themselves that make it tough on those of us in health care. Allow doctors and hospitals to deny services to Medicare and Medicaid benefits to patients who refuse to comply with treatment regimens and see what happens.

Being a liberal, I believe in providing quality medical care for all...a single payor system. But if one isn't willing to accept the responsibility of following their prescribed treatment regimen, we shouldn't be expected to accept the responsibility and burden of caring for their dumb asses.

[stephanie]

If I hated people, I wouldn't be doing what I do. It's the ones who don't give a shit about themselves that make it tough on those of us in health care. Allow doctors and hospitals to deny services to Medicare and Medicaid benefits to patients who refuse to comply with treatment regimens and see what happens.

Being a liberal, I believe in providing quality medical care for all...a single payer system. But if one isn't willing to accept the responsibility of following their prescribed treatment regimen, we shouldn't be expected to accept the responsibility and burden of caring for their dumb asses.

so you believe you and the Government should decide HOW A PERSON should live, or they shouldn't receive medical care...does that make you feel all warm and fuzzy, or does it make you feel like God?

[red states rule]

so you believe you and the Government should decide HOW A PERSON should live, or they shouldn't receive medical care...does that make you feel all warm and fuzzy, or does it make you feel like God?

Why not? Liberals think they have the right to tell people what kind of car they should drive, how much energy their homes uses, and how much water their toilet can use for each flush (to name a few)

[bullypulpit]

so you believe you and the Government should decide HOW A PERSON should live, or they shouldn't receive medical care...does that make you feel all warm and fuzzy, or does it make you feel like God?

No, not at all. Just pointing out the failure of the health-care system as it now stands. Call it what you will, when the uninsured get sick, we all pay for it. And when they fail to adhere to the advice of their physicians, and other health-care providers we ALL pay for it in terms of longer, more complex hospital stays which results in higher insurance premiums, higher deductibles, lower benefits...all of which is a vicious cycle, throwing more people into the ranks of the uninsured and further raising costs and reducing benefits to those of us who are insured.

[bullypulpit]

Why not? Liberals think they have the right to tell people what kind of car they should drive, how much energy their homes uses, and how much water their toilet can use for each flush (to name a few)

You are operating under the false assumption that a society is simply a collection of individuals with no relation to one another where the consequences of one's actions to others is irrelevant. That might be the case if one lived as a hermit, in a cave separated from the nearest human by many miles.

It is equally false to assert that the society may impose its will on the individual without restriction.

[red states rule]

You are operating under the false assumption that a society is simply a collection of individuals with no relation to one another where the consequences of one's actions to others is irrelevant. That might be the case if one lived as a hermit, in a cave separated from the nearest human by many miles.

It is equally false to assert that the society may impose its will on the individual without restriction.

I am operating under the correct assumption liberals want to control every aspect of our lives

Name me one thing that is not either taxed, licensed, or regulated under the government

If you found someone who lived in a cave separated from the nearest human by many miles. who would complain that person was not paying his fair share of taxes

[bullypulpit]

I am operating under the correct assumption liberals want to control every aspect of our lives

Name me one thing that is not either taxed, licensed, or regulated under the government

If you found someone who lived in a cave separated from the nearest human by many miles. who would complain that person was not paying his fair share of taxes

Gosh, let's see, the securities and banking industries were deregulated...see where that's gotten us?

[bullypulpit]

I was talking to Bully..and I guess working with fat people today is like an occupational hazard..that doesnt mean we need the GOVERMENT to come in and tell us we need to lose weight, how much we can eat, what we should eat..but with the way people seem to think that's what we need, and once the little Marxist and the Democrats shove us all into Socialize healthcare, they will be telling us how much toilet paper we can use to wipe our ass..

I know I can't wait..

If I ever needed ANY proof that you and your fellow travelers have absolutely NO sense of irony...this is it.

You prattle on about how the government has no business telling us how to lead our lives, yet you proclaim that the government has EVERY right to prevent a woman from terminating an unplanned pregnancy or seeking the "morning after" pill. The more extreme of your fellow travelers going so far as to hold that birth control should be banned. Oh, and let's not forget your willingness to have the government interfere in the lives of same gender couples who are seeking to enjoy the same rights, responsibilities and privileges enjoyed by their straight married counter parts...whether it's called "marriage" or "civil union". And I won't even delve in your willingness to sacrifice the freedoms our ancestors fought, bled and died for...the ones you are willing to toss aside for some small measure of security.

You completely gloss over the logical inconsistencies in your views, hoping that no one will notice your hypocrisy.

Merry Christmas!

[red states rule]

Gosh, let's see, the securities and banking industries were deregulated...see where that's gotten us?

BP, it was government regulation (Community Reinvestm,ent Act) that started us down the path to where we are now

Libs thought home ownership wasd a right - not something that is earned with hard work

Now after so many sub prime loans were rewritten, liberals are shocked that most of them are in default again.

[stephanie]

If I ever needed ANY proof that you and your fellow travelers have absolutely NO sense of irony...this is it.

You prattle on about how the government has no business telling us how to lead our lives, yet you proclaim that the government has EVERY right to prevent a woman from terminating an unplanned pregnancy or seeking the "morning after" pill. The more extreme of your fellow travelers going so far as to hold that birth control should be banned. Oh, and let's not forget your willingness to have the government interfere in the lives of same gender couples who are seeking to enjoy the same rights, responsibilities and privileges enjoyed by their straight married counter parts...whether it's called "marriage" or "civil union". And I won't even delve in your willingness to sacrifice the freedoms our ancestors fought, bled and died for...the ones you are willing to toss aside for some small measure of security.

You completely gloss over the logical inconsistencies in your views, hoping that no one will notice your hypocrisy.

Merry Christmas!

not to worry..your beloved abortions will stay legal and will become free of charge under your party, and your homosexual marriages, plural marriges, hell probably even if you want to marry your goat, will be right around the corner....

We use to be free in this country.....not any more.
Merry Christmas.

[red states rule]

not to worry..your beloved abortions will stay legal and will become free of charge under your party, and your homosexual marriages, plural marriges, hell probably even if you want to marry your goat, will be right around the corner....

We use to be free in this country.....not any more.
Merry Christmas.

We are in the Obamanation

Where the live of the unborn means nothing, but the rights of terrorists are a top priority

[bullypulpit]

not to worry..your beloved abortions will stay legal and will become free of charge under your party, and your homosexual marriages, plural marriges, hell probably even if you want to marry your goat, will be right around the corner....

We use to be free in this country.....not any more.
Merry Christmas.



Gotcha! :laugh2:

[bullypulpit]

BP, it was government regulation (Community Reinvestm,ent Act) that started us down the path to where we are now

Libs thought home ownership wasd a right - not something that is earned with hard work

Now after so many sub prime loans were rewritten, liberals are shocked that most of them are in default again.

Uh, no it didn't.

<blockquote>The Community Reinvestment Act, passed in 1977, requires banks to lend in the low-income neighborhoods where they take deposits. Just the idea that a lending crisis created from 2004 to 2007 was caused by a 1977 law is silly. But it’s even more ridiculous when you consider that most subprime loans were made by firms that aren’t subject to the CRA. University of Michigan law professor Michael Barr testified back in February before the House Committee on Financial Services that <b>50% of subprime loans were made by mortgage service companies not subject comprehensive federal supervision and another 30% were made by affiliates of banks or thrifts which are not subject to routine supervision or examinations</b>. - <a href=http://www.businessweek.com/investing/insights/blog/archives/2008/09/community_reinv.html>Businessweek</a></blockquote>

Red, I know it's kinda late in life, but when are you gonna start thinking for yourself?

[red states rule]

Is this the same Mr Barr who is a member of American Progress and was written how the "poor" needs special programs in the banking industry?

http://www.americanprogress.org/experts/BarrMichael.html


I am not surprised he would deny and try to shift the blame from liberal policies that foirced banks to lend the poor money so they could own a home

The facts are BP, Carter started us down this road. The Clinton administration expanded the policy

In 2004, when Pres Bush and John McCain tied to fix Fannie and Freddie the same Dems who are in charge now - said there was no problem. They said Republicans were racists and did not want poor people to own homes

[Classact]

I don't think tax is the answer, my son's mom and dad are rich fat assed lawyers, so big they have to drive to another town to go see a movie where they have wider seats... that should be a friggin clue when you can't fit in a "normal" person's chair ... stop eating and get moving. My sister was born to be fat, totally natural, no super fat foods or any bad eating or drinking habbits, just fucked by nature.

I think a nationwide school fitness program would help and bring back home economics and teach kids how to prepare a well balanced meal at home... Here in Puerto Rico my son says most of his friends eat at home at the same frequency we eat out at pizza or burger joints, or one to three times a month. Portions are so large here I saw two women with plates being filled at the lunch counter and I thought they were office workers preparing a couple plates to take back to the office to share with a half dozen coworkers but they sit down with "all that food" for only two people... god I don't eat that much in five days.... the dumbasses had the nerve to buy a diet soda.

[Psychoblues]

rsr negged me for this. He is more weak that his nomenclature indicates.


You're right, stevie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eat your fat ass up till it fills up your shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Cods for stevie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even the cranberries are causing her ass to grow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Psychoblues

:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues

[red states rule]

rsr negged me for this. He is more weak that his nomenclature indicates.



:beer::cheers2::beer:

Psychoblues

Want a pity party? :lol:

[bullypulpit]

Is this the same Mr Barr who is a member of American Progress and was written how the "poor" needs special programs in the banking industry?

http://www.americanprogress.org/experts/BarrMichael.html


I am not surprised he would deny and try to shift the blame from liberal policies that foirced banks to lend the poor money so they could own a home

The facts are BP, Carter started us down this road. The Clinton administration expanded the policy

In 2004, when Pres Bush and John McCain tied to fix Fannie and Freddie the same Dems who are in charge now - said there was no problem. They said Republicans were racists and did not want poor people to own homes

From the same article, which you didn't read...

<blockquote>Not surprisingly given the higher degree of supervision, <b>loans made under the CRA program were made in a more responsible way than other subprime loans</b>. CRA loans carried lower rates than other subprime loans and were less likely to end up securitized into the mortgage-backed securities that have caused so many losses, according to a recent study by the law firm Traiger & Hinckley (PDF file here).

Finally, keep in mind that the Bush administration has been weakening CRA enforcement and the law’s reach since the day it took office. The CRA was at its strongest in the 1990s, under the Clinton administration, a period when subprime loans performed quite well. <b>It was only after the Bush administration cut back on CRA enforcement that problems arose</b>, a timing issue which should stop those blaming the law dead in their tracks. The Federal Reserve, too, did nothing but encourage the wild west of lending in recent years. It wasn’t until the middle of 2007 that the Fed decided it was time to crack down on abusive pratices in the subprime lending market. Oops. - Businessweek</blockquote>

"Oops..." indeed.

You been pwned..again, monkey-boy.

[Classact]

I don't think tax is the answer, my son's mom and dad are rich fat assed lawyers, so big they have to drive to another town to go see a movie where they have wider seats... that should be a friggin clue when you can't fit in a "normal" person's chair ... stop eating and get moving. My sister was born to be fat, totally natural, no super fat foods or any bad eating or drinking habbits, just fucked by nature.

I think a nationwide school fitness program would help and bring back home economics and teach kids how to prepare a well balanced meal at home... Here in Puerto Rico my son says most of his friends eat at home at the same frequency we eat out at pizza or burger joints, or one to three times a month. Portions are so large here I saw two women with plates being filled at the lunch counter and I thought they were office workers preparing a couple plates to take back to the office to share with a half dozen coworkers but they sit down with "all that food" for only two people... god I don't eat that much in five days.... the dumbasses had the nerve to buy a diet soda.Guess I need to lay off the rum and coke? I meant to say my son's girlfriend mom and dad...

[KitchenKitten99]

This society sounds like it is moving towards what life was like in the future in the movie "Demolition Man".

[red states rule]

From the same article, which you didn't read...

<blockquote>Not surprisingly given the higher degree of supervision, <b>loans made under the CRA program were made in a more responsible way than other subprime loans</b>. CRA loans carried lower rates than other subprime loans and were less likely to end up securitized into the mortgage-backed securities that have caused so many losses, according to a recent study by the law firm Traiger & Hinckley (PDF file here).

Finally, keep in mind that the Bush administration has been weakening CRA enforcement and the law’s reach since the day it took office. The CRA was at its strongest in the 1990s, under the Clinton administration, a period when subprime loans performed quite well. <b>It was only after the Bush administration cut back on CRA enforcement that problems arose</b>, a timing issue which should stop those blaming the law dead in their tracks. The Federal Reserve, too, did nothing but encourage the wild west of lending in recent years. It wasn’t until the middle of 2007 that the Fed decided it was time to crack down on abusive pratices in the subprime lending market. Oops. - Businessweek</blockquote>

"Oops..." indeed.

You been pwned..again, monkey-boy.

Pwned? Hardly

Here are the facts of Dems saying there was no problem only a few years ago

First from the New York Times: Note the date!

September 11, 2003– The Bush Administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry,

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

From the Congressional Record: Again, Note the Date!

FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATOR REFORM ACT OF 2005
The United States Senate, May 25, 2006

Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]: Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac. …

For Years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs— and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

Democrats blocked both attempts to reform Fannie Mae.

Thanks to Sweetness &Light which has printed these two articles in full.

Barack Obama is out trying to blame this all on the Bush Administration, as usual, and scare people as much as he can, — so that he can promise to “rescue” them. But his solutions are the worst possible, and his speeches are irresponsible.

First Trust economists note that:

The most important thing to remember is that the emphasis belongs on the word financial. These financial market problems are not a result of general market weakness, otherwise known as a recession. In fact, real GDP has grown 2.2% in the past year and accelerated to a 3.3% annualized growth rate in the second quarter.

The economy is not taking down investment banks; lousy lending standards and the excessive use of leverage are taking down investment banks.

This whole thing had its’ beginnings in a well-intentioned law during the Carter Administration, The Community Redevelopment Act, which was designed to encourage minority homeownership. President Clinton, influenced by multiculturalism, encouraged it further by dictating where mortgage lenders could lend. Tough new regulations required that lenders increase their lending in high-risk areas where they had no choice but to lower lending standards to make loans that sound business practices had previously rejected. Clinton cronies Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick became multimillionaires through their supervision of the quasi-governmental agencies that came to manage the real estate market in America.

Low interest rates in the marketplace persuaded Investment banks to purchase packages of sub-prime loans, and risky decisions and a little greed, of course, let them use too much leverage.

This is not the first time that Investment Banks have failed and disappeared. E.F. Hutton, Goodbody & Company, and Kidder Peabody are three of the vanished. Today’s Investment Banks did not do anything against the law, they just exercised bad business judgment.

Unemployment in the economy is largely confined to the housing crisis with home builders and related trades suffering, as well as the auto industry and related trades and now there will be some investment bankers on the unemployment line.

They are in trouble because they are affected by unfortunate laws made by a Congress that does not always understand what they do. Remember that most congressmen never read the bills that they sign. Congress has long been inclined to well-intentioned regulation to help the poor and save the planet. They fall in love with the goals, and never consider or learn about the consequences of what they do.

It seems kind to help a poor family get into a house larger than they can really afford, with less of a down payment, but it isn’t really kind. Kindness would be helping them to learn how to work hard and save their money, and how to move up to better jobs. Government can make it easier for private industry to build smaller, more affordable houses, without telling them what kind of houses to build, where to build them and under what qualifications to sell them.

The great problem with Socialism is their pursuit of “social justice”. They believe that they can make the poor — not poor — by taking money from the well-to-do and giving it to the poor. Never works. Though there is extraordinary mobility in our society, those who are induced into dependency on government are inclined to lose that mobility.

Barack Obama, in all his economic plans, is extraordinarily invested in the pursuit of “social justice”. That should be a serious warning.


http://americanelephant.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/bush-and-mccain-each-tried-to-reform-fannie-mae-democrats-blocked-them-both-times/