Supporting Obama
Michelle Malsbury, BSBM, MM
March 29, 2009
President Obama has been in office a scant sixty days, give or take. He inherited a collection of half-baked and totally uncontrolled issues, plans, and international foibles from the Bush Administration, who left office as the most unpopular man ever! There has been no grass growing under the feet of the Obama Administration as they press forward to untangle those carried forward IED´s from the Bush days. The relentless and oftentimes ridiculous right has not helped to quiet those left behind IED´s by offering any viable plans or working with the democrats, but merely tossed more criticism of what has been done out for debate.
The economy had been falling steadily since 2005, but the Bush Administration turned a blind eye and deaf ear to those problems and pushed forward with their various wars and other non-issues. President Bush said [paraphrase] that this housing situation was not a big problem and that our economy was long and strong. However, shortly he would be proven wrong in that evaluation, but would never recant his statements to the contrary. Was he merely biding his time until he left office or is it possible that he and his administration were really that dumb and out of touch?
Months pass with jobs being lost by the hundreds of thousands, and homes being foreclosed by the millions, still President Bush contended that we were ok. A complete and total economic meltdown was not far away, but knocking loudly at the White House door. Did any of the occupants inside the White House hear that knocking or would they answer the door? Last fall the economy crumbled before our very eyes and the Bush Administration acted as if it was all a big surprise! Perhaps to them it was, but if that is the case ignorance is not a credible defense. When push came to shove and they were not yet out of office they [the Bush Administration] paraded out Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke to formulate a three page $800 Billion dollar plan with no details about how it would be deployed. Senator McCain even cut his campaigning short in order to take charge of this pressing issue back on the Hill. What would come of it?
All banks, even those who stated that they were not in financial distress, were forced to take billions of dollars under the Paulson/Bernanke plan. As they did so, the media noted several outlandish expenditures by many of those recipients. AIG was perhaps the most egregious of those offenders. Public outcry was growing. Congress had to act.
In the months that would follow, especially as new requirements were introduced under President Obama and congress, some banks would offer to give back the monies so they could continue to operate as usual----however unethically that has proven to be. President Obama and congress promised greater oversight, transparency, and tighter regulation to curtail these practices.
As America´s economy grew and industries shifted or were absorbed by mergers and acquisitions businesses were allowed to expand into areas that should have been regulated, but were not. Lending institutions, insurance corporations, and investment houses were allowed to invest or lend more than 60 times what they held as equity in house. Investors in large unregulated funds were allowed to air trade---trading without actually putting up the cash to do so. As stock prices and other corporate assets plummeted savvy accountants were allowed to fudge the balance sheets to depict a rosier picture of organizations than was actually the case. Greedy CEO´s and other executives raked in huge bonuses and other incentives while driving their corporations into bankruptcy. Something had to give!
I personally do not think that having some of those banks and investment organizations pay back those TARP and TALF funds is a bad thing because it means that the taxpayers of America will have a lot less to pay back over time. Regulation, oversight, and accountability will go a long way toward repair now and curtailing any future instances of this rampant misconduct on Wall Street. President Obama should be given a real chance to succeed in his plans. Just as this mess was not created overnight it will not disappear overnight.
As much as the economy has weighed heavily on this new Administration it is not the only problem that requires their attention and action. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need leadership and procedures to wrap them up and create a stable platform from which to build peace to that war torn region. Iraq has taken the lead by stating that they want our troops out by 2011. President Obama, Vice-president Biden, and Secretary Clinton is already beginning that process and working with the leaders in Iraq to define who and how they want to be governed. Leaving any troops there would be a huge mistake in my esteem.
Transferring troops to Afghanistan is an equally bad move. What we need to do in Afghanistan is to get out, secure their borders along with the international community and those countries that happen to be contiguous to Afghanistan to ferret out terror as it moves between those treacherous regions and threatens the safety and security of the world. Let the lessons here be that war can never effectuate a lasting and durable peace. War only begets more hatred and violence. Diplomacy must reign supreme!
Please lend your support for President Obama and his Administration during this difficult time. They do have the best interests of ALL Americans in mind. If you have any ideas that might help in this process please post them to their web site www.recovery.gov. I promise you they are listening and that they do care!
The economy had been falling steadily since 2005, but the Bush Administration turned a blind eye and deaf ear to those problems and pushed forward with their various wars and other non-issues. President Bush said [paraphrase] that this housing situation was not a big problem and that our economy was long and strong. However, shortly he would be proven wrong in that evaluation, but would never recant his statements to the contrary. Was he merely biding his time until he left office or is it possible that he and his administration were really that dumb and out of touch?
Months pass with jobs being lost by the hundreds of thousands, and homes being foreclosed by the millions, still President Bush contended that we were ok. A complete and total economic meltdown was not far away, but knocking loudly at the White House door. Did any of the occupants inside the White House hear that knocking or would they answer the door? Last fall the economy crumbled before our very eyes and the Bush Administration acted as if it was all a big surprise! Perhaps to them it was, but if that is the case ignorance is not a credible defense. When push came to shove and they were not yet out of office they [the Bush Administration] paraded out Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke to formulate a three page $800 Billion dollar plan with no details about how it would be deployed. Senator McCain even cut his campaigning short in order to take charge of this pressing issue back on the Hill. What would come of it?
All banks, even those who stated that they were not in financial distress, were forced to take billions of dollars under the Paulson/Bernanke plan. As they did so, the media noted several outlandish expenditures by many of those recipients. AIG was perhaps the most egregious of those offenders. Public outcry was growing. Congress had to act.
In the months that would follow, especially as new requirements were introduced under President Obama and congress, some banks would offer to give back the monies so they could continue to operate as usual----however unethically that has proven to be. President Obama and congress promised greater oversight, transparency, and tighter regulation to curtail these practices.
As America´s economy grew and industries shifted or were absorbed by mergers and acquisitions businesses were allowed to expand into areas that should have been regulated, but were not. Lending institutions, insurance corporations, and investment houses were allowed to invest or lend more than 60 times what they held as equity in house. Investors in large unregulated funds were allowed to air trade---trading without actually putting up the cash to do so. As stock prices and other corporate assets plummeted savvy accountants were allowed to fudge the balance sheets to depict a rosier picture of organizations than was actually the case. Greedy CEO´s and other executives raked in huge bonuses and other incentives while driving their corporations into bankruptcy. Something had to give!
I personally do not think that having some of those banks and investment organizations pay back those TARP and TALF funds is a bad thing because it means that the taxpayers of America will have a lot less to pay back over time. Regulation, oversight, and accountability will go a long way toward repair now and curtailing any future instances of this rampant misconduct on Wall Street. President Obama should be given a real chance to succeed in his plans. Just as this mess was not created overnight it will not disappear overnight.
As much as the economy has weighed heavily on this new Administration it is not the only problem that requires their attention and action. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need leadership and procedures to wrap them up and create a stable platform from which to build peace to that war torn region. Iraq has taken the lead by stating that they want our troops out by 2011. President Obama, Vice-president Biden, and Secretary Clinton is already beginning that process and working with the leaders in Iraq to define who and how they want to be governed. Leaving any troops there would be a huge mistake in my esteem.
Transferring troops to Afghanistan is an equally bad move. What we need to do in Afghanistan is to get out, secure their borders along with the international community and those countries that happen to be contiguous to Afghanistan to ferret out terror as it moves between those treacherous regions and threatens the safety and security of the world. Let the lessons here be that war can never effectuate a lasting and durable peace. War only begets more hatred and violence. Diplomacy must reign supreme!
Please lend your support for President Obama and his Administration during this difficult time. They do have the best interests of ALL Americans in mind. If you have any ideas that might help in this process please post them to their web site www.recovery.gov. I promise you they are listening and that they do care!
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