Thursday, January 21, 2010

Mass. Public Opinion


A Massachusetts blogger's view of a poll which may show why people turned against the Democratic party candidate:
 
 
Thanks to patrick.net for the link
-Lionel Emde
Posted by at

18 comments:

Jeffrey W Simons said...

interesting commentary, thanks Lionel. Following the election (since I hold Ted Kennedy in very high esteem, despite his personal failings), it seemed Coakley and the White House presumed victory. One thing Ted did very well every single election year was not to take his seat for granted. The man knew how to campaign. And post-election polls are indicating that Coakley failed to mobilize the one demographic that kept a Kennedy in that office for 50 years: the unions. The Coakley campaign either failed to energize the AFL-CIO to reach out to members, or lost union votes because of a lack of confidence in the Obama administration.

I voted for Obama but I have to say I am very disappointed that he has a lot of tough rhetoric for the banks while shaking their hands behind closed doors. Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone reporter and Lionel Emde wannabe) has done some great pieces on how the banks screwed up the economy, then got the bailout with very little accountability, then have gone right back to screwing up the economy.

Sorry to disappoint the Republicans out there, but this may be a Pyrrhic victory. The more I read about Scott Brown, he seems like a bit of a nitwit and far too right for the moderate Republicans trying to regain their foothold on the party.

January 22, 2010 at 5:45 AM
Unknown said...

Still better than a 60 vote majority in the Senate. I will pit my far right Republican against your left-wing Democratic Leader, Jeff.

January 22, 2010 at 6:28 AM
Jeffrey W Simons said...

Lois, it pains me to see the Dems wasting their 60 vote super majority. They really haven't done anything of substance with it. Obama, left-wing? He's proving himself to be far more centrist than the candidate who ran for office.

January 22, 2010 at 6:47 AM
Unknown said...

Perhaps we will see a little humility in Washington, DC from all of them.

January 22, 2010 at 6:56 AM
Jeffrey W Simons said...

well I will say this for the Republicans . . .

the Democrats really campaigned well in 2006 and 2008 to control the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives with a super majority in the Senate. And then they "negotiated" their way out of the 3 tasks for which they were elected: end the wars in Iran and Afghanistan, fix the economy, and reform the health care industry while expanding coverage for more Americans. (I'm going to take a pass on the issue of gay marriage for now).

When the Republicans controlled the Congress and the White House, they never gave a damn about negotiating away anything. LOL.

January 22, 2010 at 7:27 AM
Kathleen Rogan said...

On, The Call this morning, CNBC, Larry Kudlow said Obama's bank reform is sending the markets downward. Watch your investments. Obama is not addressing the very problem that got us into the mess in the first place, re-designing loans for the poor/bad credit/illegals. He is still pressing banks to give out these types of loans. Watch detroit. Banks were buying up those foreclosures in bulks. Watch what they do.

I have a article I saved from the late nineties, SF Chronicle reporter wrote a full page on how B of A was re-designing loans for illegal aliens. The reporter said this will cause great problems for America in the future.It was the democrats that pushed these loans and they knew 30% of these loans would foreclose. Republicans don't give away anything for free, they are guilty for not screaming loud about it, they did complain, just not loud enough. The dems wanted to socialize housing.

The bankers and hedge fund managers that played a crucial role in the economic crash are gone already with the money. THE BAD GUYS GOT AWAY!!! The American people were ripped off and ALL of our ELECTED OFFICIALS LET THEM GET AWAY!!
The people they are trying to blame now is all show. Beware. Watch what happens. Americans are well informed and ready to battle. FIRE EVERYONE IN CONGRESS REPS AND DEMS, let's start over with people that care about our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Boxer is getting on board, breaking news, with the conservatives in not re-electing B.Bernake Fed Chairman, she knows she is toast. Watch what happens next. Obama's Chickens Have Come Home to Roost!!!!

January 22, 2010 at 9:28 AM
Kathy Meeh said...

Kathleen, the Bank problems are 30+ years old from the time of the Reagan Administration deregulation when the banks began to sell securities. Previously the banks had been in the banking only business. The Obama administration is now trying to close some loop-holes caused from that fall-out. This is a good thing.

What's causing the markets to correct for the past few days is due to market conditions, including the bubble of banks selling their own securities to the public to pay-off the debt they owe to the government.

Brokers need to keep their jobs and have pushed-up the market. Also, the "recovery" continues to be jobless. Again, this is "the worst recession since the great depression" so called. Hard to believe, the 1930's looked pretty grim with no safety net and people out in the street. On the other hand, "1/3 of the world's wealth has evaporated" (Gov. Schwarzenegger interview 7/09, NY Times, http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/07/24/us/1247463630991/an-interview-with-arnold-schwarzenegger.html. Also, also on my 1/11/10 State of CA blog post.

I wish you would get-off national partisan politics. The "chickens coming home to roost" are the result of 8 years of the George W. Bush administration, including the government allowed deteriorated oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the "big five CPA accounting firms" before that. And, in the '90's as I recall congress was mainly controlled by Republicans, so you figure it out.

From what I've seen is that people with brains have been brought-in to this administration to solve big problems, when their appointments are not blocked or smeared by the political maneuvering of the right wing obstructionists, which may be the by your reference "constitutionalists".

January 22, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Kathy Meeh said...

Garbled last sentence... which maybe be the same as your reference to "constitutionalists".

January 22, 2010 at 11:06 AM
Kathleen Rogan said...

BS, Kathy and you know it.

January 22, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Kathleen Rogan said...

"the people with brains have been brought in to solve this" it is quite clear you are out of touch and getting you info from some local democratic leader. Pres Obama economic team is crumbling as I am talking. Open your eyes!!!!!

Now, on a much more diplomatic tone; listening to Pres Obama town hall meeting in ELyria Ohio. I am going to grade his speech; B
Why? you ask, because he is listening. I bet he shoved Rahm Emmanuel in the closet.

And one last comment. Kathy, you insist on acting like my mother, telling me what to say and what to do. I must put you in touch with my REAL mother. She will tell you, I walk to my OWN beat.

January 22, 2010 at 11:44 AM
Jeffrey W Simons said...

Kathy,

I agree with you to a point, but I think what Kathleen and Lois (and many Americans) are responding to is exemplified with Bernake and his connections with Merril Lynch/B of A.

Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone has a great piece on th whole banking mess, and the complicity of people on Obama's staff.

The Great American Bubble Machine

(I hope my html is up to snuff today!)

I suggest you start there and read more insightful Taibbi articles. Obama does seem to be responding to criticism by replacing members of his team with questionable ties to the banking industry, and I give high praise to Elizabeth Warren for being the squeaky wheel for TARP distributions and back door deals that were made during the tail end of the Bush Administration.

You have it right that the deregulation under Reagan got the ball rolling, and while there was some malfeasance and laziness during the Clinton Era, its hard to argue that the laissez-faire attitude of the Bush administration WASN'T the catalyst for the global market meltdown.

January 22, 2010 at 11:55 AM
Kathleen Rogan said...

I love Elizabeth Warren. I have listened to all her lectures and have read everything she has written. Democrats and Republicans don't like her because she tells the truth.

January 22, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Kathleen Rogan said...

As far as de-regulation goes. The OCC, Office of Comptroller and Currency, in 1994 (I believe) Pres Clinton appointed a Mr Lumpkin as the new Director of the OCC. His speech, says something like this, we will remove restrictions on banks and other entities that were put in place during the Great Depression, where banks could only loan to citizens with a 20% cash down." These appointments are for five years. In 1998 Pres CLinton appointed someone else but the damage was done. When Pres Bush came into office , he could not appoint anyone until 2005, his appointment put the regulations back in place. Back to the nineties, 1998, a former Andrew Cuomo former Pres Clinto Secretary of Housing of Urban Development, at a press conf annouced that "now we will be able to give loans to low-income people. We know that at least 30% of these types of loans will foreclose." No republican party is telling me what to say, I found all of this out on my own. It's all out there. I will say, some of this research took me hours and weeks. But, I have time on my side.

Interesting, I was looking to apply for a job with the OCC and was doing a little research on the government when I came across this information. I never did apply.

January 22, 2010 at 12:53 PM
Kathleen Rogan said...

Correction; Pres CLinton appointed Eugene Ludwig 1993-1998 to the OCC.

My memory is good when it comes to numbers, names? forget about it.

January 22, 2010 at 1:28 PM
Kathy Meeh said...

Jeff, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, 2005-06 Chair Advisers Council of Economics under George W. Bush? Or, Timothy Geithner, US Secretary of the Treasury, previously President Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Or, others closely aligned with Wall Street?

Kathleen, changes in regulations happen all the time, usually after something goes radically wrong, then later in move those who remove regulations (greed). Last 8/9 years the Bush administration was in charge.

With PMI insurance, VA and adjustable loans very low down payments have been available on mortgages since I can remember, and that's a long time. 1/3 of the world wealth is gone, people are out-of-work, the "affective" unemployment rate is something like 17-18%, adjustable loans have adjusted upward, the value of house has dropped significantly in most areas of the country. So, why would 30% of homeowner defaults be surprising?

January 22, 2010 at 2:04 PM
Kathleen Rogan said...

Your full of crap and spin. OCC did not de-regulate lending practices for banks since the 1930's. It was under Pres CLinton's appt where they specifically de-regulated so they can lend to low income people, that was their goal and they knew that 30% would foreclose. They knew!! Why would it be surprising? Well, you are a democrat. So , it does not bother you that this risk taking created the worst recession , which will now turn into a depression, of my time. So, it does not "surprise" me that you are dismissive of this fact. The people of Pacifica should be bothered by your statement. What should worry you is the American people are becoming more and more educated on their own. The parties are toast. California Democrats are next. BBoxer and her elitest attitude, like Lancelle, "let them eat cake" days are numbered.

January 22, 2010 at 3:14 PM
Jeffrey W Simons said...

Kathleen,

I think you're partially correct, but remember it wasn't the loans going bad that caused the economic meltdown. It was the bad loans being chopped into pieces and sold as CDOs and "debt swaps" to unsophisticated investors, including countries.

The bankers profited heavily from re-packaging those bad loans, and Wall Street saw its watchdog, the SEC, pretty much muzzled during the Bush administration.

Plenty of blame to go around, and everyone gets a bite.

January 22, 2010 at 3:29 PM
Kathleen Rogan said...

That would be bawwwney frank. I watched him on The Squawk CNBC peddaling the loans that were packaged. He said, 'this is the safest investment ever, backed by the AMerican Government, what more could you ask for"

January 22, 2010 at 10:39 PM

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