Glenn Beck in a rare moment of lucidity.

[wilbur]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy77gj3-Lco

Well said sir.

[jinxmchue]

A rare moment of lucidity is more than you could ever hope for, willy.

[Goldwater]

Beck has been one of the sane people on TV regarding the economy for about a year.

[wilbur]

Beck has been one of the sane people on TV regarding the economy for about a year.

Yes, he has... In spite of myself, I begrudgingly respect him for it ;)

[OwlMBA]

This belongs in the econ forum....

But Glenn is right. You have to let companies fail. Even when it means a whole lot of short term pain. We are now officially a country that will not let big companies fail. Its a Ponzai scheme and it can't last.

We should have let the banks fail and we should let AIG fail and we should let fannie and freddie fail. We should also let GM and Ford fail.

But we won't.

We are a nation that refuses to let anyone suffer the results of their bad decisions - bet it an individual or a business. Our government feels it is the responsibility of everyone to bail out the bad decisions of a few. So rather than letting a few suffer, we will all suffer.

[PoliCon]

Beck is brilliant. He's the one who turned me on to Palin months ago. :)

[AlmostThere]

Beck laments that we're up to our eyeballs in debt and we go out and buy half the mortgages in the country. Are there any economists here? What would have happened to half the mortgages in the country if Freddie and Fannie had collapsed? Mine is a serious question because I have no idea. From what I've heard, lending literally came to a halt or damn close to it last week. How can this country function in that environment? It kills me to see government bailing out businesses the way they are but isn't the alternative far worse?

[lacarnut]

Beck laments that we're up to our eyeballs in debt and we go out and buy half the mortgages in the country. Are there any economists here? What would have happened to half the mortgages in the country if Freddie and Fannie had collapsed? Mine is a serious question because I have no idea. From what I've heard, lending literally came to a halt or damn close to it last week. How can this country function in that environment? It kills me to see government bailing out businesses the way they are but isn't the alternative far worse?

As much as it pains me to say so, I don't think we had any choice. I had heard that these two outfits held 3/4 of the mortgages in the country. The overwelming majority of the mortgages that they hold are in good shape and regular payments are being paid on them. Only a small percentage are in bad shape or foreclosure.

[Odysseus]

As much as it pains me to say so, I don't think we had any choice. I had heard that these two outfits held 3/4 of the mortgages in the country. The overwelming majority of the mortgages that they hold are in good shape and regular payments are being paid on them. Only a small percentage are in bad shape or foreclosure.

True, but that small percentage would have destabilized Fannie and Freddy, and AIG's collapse would have had catastrophic repercussions, as they are the major insurer of the loans. The real fix is to repeal the Community Reinvestment Act so that banks aren't forced to make loans to bad credit risks and enforce the fraud statutes against the executives who hid billions of dollars in losses from bad loans so that they would qualify for bonuses. Franklin Raines needs to do some serious jail time. He's more of a crook than anyone at Enron.

[lacarnut]

True, but that small percentage would have destabilized Fannie and Freddy, and AIG's collapse would have had catastrophic repercussions, as they are the major insurer of the loans. The real fix is to repeal the Community Reinvestment Act so that banks aren't forced to make loans to bad credit risks and enforce the fraud statutes against the executives who hid billions of dollars in losses from bad loans so that they would qualify for bonuses. Franklin Raines needs to do some serious jail time. He's more of a crook than anyone at Enron.

Alan Greenspan deserves a great deal of the credit for the deregulation of commercial banks which allowed them to get into the mortgage business. Paul Volker was against it but was outvoted. Greenspan testified before Congress and said flat out that there was no need for new regulations or oversight. Either he was stupid or in the pocket of the Democrats or the banking institutions. Looks like Cox, Dodd, Obama and others had blinders on also. There were warning signs but no one wanted to listen including the Prez. Bush's mantra of pushing ownership for everone is bull shit. There are many people that can not afford a house, so they should rent plus they can afford the repairs.