Business & Media Institute Vice President Dan Gainor told the Fox Business Network on April 4 that the government might be intervening too much in the financial markets to address credit problems, and he criticized the media for failing to cover both sides fairly.
"The networks are not portraying at all the other point which is: maybe we're using too much government intervention. Maybe we're using too much regulation," Gainor said. "Instead they're using the worst-case scenario reporting" to support government intervention.
Gainor also criticized the media's attempts to portray the economy as Wall Street versus "Main Street." "The two streets interact and the impact is felt by both," he said. "I'm not really advocating for a massive amount of what [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke's already done, but what [the media are] trying to do is critique it from the left and say, ‘We haven't done enough.'"
Host Liz Claman put Gainor on the spot, asking him "why should we help Bear Stearns when they were sitting at the craps table in Vegas making all kinds of bets on collateralized debt obligations?"
"I think you can make a good case that you maybe shouldn't," Gainor answered, "except for the potential damage it would have done to the rest of the market."
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Bingo!
April 7, 2008 - 15:47 ET by iveseenitallBingo!
Gainor is spot on. "Liberalism" and government intervention are the opposite of what this country needs. Oh,right--- that's the other side of the "debate". It's like global warming, unsound reasoning and a pre-determined conclusion that more government is the answer to all our problems. It's anti-American. You know, even the dummies on the 911 Commission said that America needs to use its "imagination". But that would take thinking, responsibility, and having a long view--- things anathema to America these days. Sad.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
"Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness." --William Godwin, 1793.
"The nine most terrifying
April 7, 2008 - 10:16 ET by mattm"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" - Ronald Reagan
An excuse that works every time, it seems...
April 7, 2008 - 10:28 ET by sarcasmo"...the potential damage it would have done to the rest of the market."
The damage to responsible savers and taxpayers from this bailout isn't "potential," unless you count the unfortunate fact that inflation tends to delay an inevitable punishment for fiscal irresponsibility to future generations. It's morally wrong, and it sets up incentives among top level executives that are much the same as the incentives of welfare-queens. This makes it ironic when both groups bitch about eachother.
Might it damage other firms if Bear (or before that Citi, following their Mexican fiasco) had been allowed to fail instead of being "too big"? Yes. And business -- like life -- is not a risk-free proposition, but that doesn't mean taxpayers' & their grandkids on April 15th should be transmogrified into the unwilling insurance company of last resort.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Holy crap, I agree with
April 7, 2008 - 14:19 ET by MindwerkzHoly crap, I agree with sarcasmo. There must be a cold front moving
into hell. Just messin with ya man, though I do tend to disagree with you
quite a bit so this is a rarity.
I have been wondering for a while, where is it that you fall? Are you
a liberal, or just a libralish libertarian? Where do you plug yourself into the collective?
Total 100 100 libertarian,
April 7, 2008 - 14:30 ET by sarcasmoWhich used to mean "classical liberal," before the newspeak version of the word as a dimwitted insult took over because of English-hating authoritarians. Former partisan Libertarian, currently still registered Republican. I'm likely to vote for Dr. Mary Ruwart or else for Bob Barr, if either of those is the Libertarian choice. Not sure about the other flavors on their menu, but I like those 2 a lot -- especially Dr. Mary.
The great thing about Barr -- though it disappeared from the LP's own website, apparently -- is that Bob constitutes living proof that "tough love" clearly works on drug warriors. ;) Yep, gotta slap 'em around sometimes to finally-knock some sense into 'em. It's not easy or cheap when politicians are particularly-hysterical on the tax and spend drugwar like Barr was, but it's apparently worth-it in the end if one wants freedom-politicians. Heh heh heh -- I was a small part of that election smackdown he suffered, for the record. I'm damn proud of it, too. It was fun, and the tax & spend drugwar needed a good smackdown.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
vain attempts to avoid the inevitable
April 7, 2008 - 12:13 ET by Ten7sTheir interventions are just vain attempts to avoid the inevitable recognition of nearly worthless credit derivatives (e.g. CDOs, CDSs, etc.) held in financial institutions at nominal values of tens or even hundreds of trillions of dollars. The roots of this problem run at least a decade and a half deep, and there are no silver bullets. So, we'd best get ready to weather the mother-of-all financial hurricanes, clean up the pieces, and put it back together so that it never happens again.
This is a lot like
April 7, 2008 - 12:37 ET by motherbeltThis is a lot like prescribing a medicine for a condition, then having to prescribe another medicine to relieve the side effects of the the first one. It gets to be a never-ending sequence, with the consequence being an ever-sicker patient on increasing amounts of medication.