On Sunday's edition of "This Week," journalist Cokie Roberts indicated that, in regards to John McCain's reaction to the ongoing financial problems on Wall Street, "...He's a Republican and whenever Republicans get into this kind of mess, everybody, even people who were not born or close to being born, the specter of Herbert Hoover comes out to, to haunt them." Roberts didn't clarify just who the "everybody" is that would connect McCain and the Depression era president.
Roberts, who appeared on the ABC program's panel to discuss last week's Fannie Mae meltdown and the government's planned bailout, also asserted a "stark contrast" between the economic advisors of Senators McCain and Barack Obama. She then added that the Democrat's liberal experts reassure her: "I mean, the Obama advisers, with- looking at Bob Rubin and Warren Buffett and Paul Volcker in there, you know, you do feel a sense of security there."
Longtime journalist Sam Donaldson placed blame for the Fannie Mae crisis at the feet of deregulation and singled out former McCain advisor Phil Gramm: "We deregulated in the beginning of '99 and 2000 the banking industry, Phil Gramm and others, I think that Obama ad is correct. He was one of the prime movers. Now we're going to have to clean that up at great expense."
He then derided, "So I mean, I think for John McCain, though, who has the heaviest burden here, since he voted for all the deregulation, for him to now say he would be the toughest re-regulator is kind of a hard thing to swallow."
Of course, both Donaldson and Roberts ignored any role Democrats might have played in the collapse of Fannie Mae. An editorial in the September 17 edition of the Manchester Union Leader explained the part Democrats such as Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Barney Frank played in stymieing oversight:
In 2002, shortly before accounting irregularities were exposed at both companies, Frank said, "I do not regard Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as problems," The Wall Street Journal reported. After the Freddie Mac accounting scandal in 2003, Frank said, "I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis."
But there was a crisis, thanks in large part to Frank, Sen. Charles Schumer and others on the leash of these companies. In Congress, they made sure there was no additional oversight, no additional limit on executive behavior and compensation, and no further restraint on the growth of the companies' mortgage-backed-securities portfolios, among other changes.
...
In fact, Frank & Co. made matters worse by pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to take on greater risk. They wanted more loans to people who might not qualify for traditional bank financing. And, as The Wall Street Journal has pointed out, Frank "pressured regulators to ease up on their capital requirements -- which now means taxpayers will have to make up that capital shortfall."
But, perhaps pointing out these facts wouldn't be as easy and satisfying as calling up frightening images of McCain as Herbert Hoover.
A transcript of the exchange, which occurred at 10:39am on the September 21 edition of "This Week," follows:
SAM DONALDSON: And everyone is now for re-regulation. You know, we deregulated the savings & loan industry. When was that? It began '79, I realize. But Reagan really accelerated it and then we had to clean that up. We deregulated in the beginning of '99 and 2000 the banking industry, Phil Gramm and others, I think that Obama ad is correct. He was one of the prime movers. Now we're going to have to clean that up at great expense. So, I mean, I think for John McCain, though, who has the heaviest burden here, since he voted for all the deregulation, for him to now say he would be the toughest re-regulator is kind of a hard thing to swallow.
COKIE ROBERTS: And he's a Republican and whenever Republicans get into this kind of mess, everybody, even people who were not born or close to being born, the specter of Herbert Hoover comes out to, to haunt them.
GEORGE WILL: I suppose the McCain campaign's hope is that when there's a big crisis, people will go for age and experience. The question is who in this crisis looked more presidential, calm and unflustered? It wasn't John McCain, who, as usual, substituting vehemence for coherence, said let's fire somebody. And he picked one of the most experienced and conservative people in the administration, Chris Cox, and for no apparent reason, or at least none that he would vouched safe, he said fire Chris Cox at this SEC. It was unpresidential behavior by a presidential candidate.
DONALDSON: Well, it was two days after the he said that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. I mean, his talking points have gotten all mixed up. And I think the question of age is back on the table.
...
10:42
DONALDSON: But I do agree that when I say age, I don't know the difference between finding your talking points and not delivering the right ones. We've seen him do this frequently, but this last week was the worst. Between two stops in Florida, as you say, he's had to revise his thinking about what he wanted to say about the economy, wanted to feel the pain suddenly rather than say everything is great.
ROBERTS: And this question of the advisers, even though the ads are ridiculous, the advisers- it is a really stark contrast. I mean, the Obama advisers, with- looking at Bob Rubin and Warren Buffett and Paul Volcker in there, you know, you do feel a sense of security there.
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Oh, Cokie. This comparison
September 22, 2008 - 17:16 ET by Chris NormanOh, Cokie. This comparison really dates you.
McNotObama '08
"God d*mn the Democrats"?
September 22, 2008 - 18:07 ET by wdhorningCokie is not a sincere reporter, has never been and never will be. This is proven out by the facts:
Greedy Congress members who either had investments in these sleazy organizations or had too much lobbied campaign contributions let the "sh*t hit the fan."
Now Democrats want us to bail them out with taxpayer dollars for their blunder. Rev Wright got it wrong. He should have said, "God damn the Democrats?"
it is strange
September 22, 2008 - 18:11 ET by docbthat people want to attack the Commentator, istead of addressing the issue.
Hoover many be a bit back there but the parallel is apt, relevant and with considerable merit...The circumstances are close to the deregulation of today and that is why we had Glass Steagall of 1933 which was repealed by Gramm and Mccain in 1999. It leads us directly to the current meltdown and Wall street Bailout!!!
It makes me think that the taxpayer is going to be made to pay for their own RAPE KIT!!!! Again...Well it is all in the same mcSame party...Mr. Deregulation and his running mate!!!wth
Well it is all in the same
September 22, 2008 - 18:56 ET by motherbeltWell it is all in the same mcSame party...Mr. Deregulation and his running mate!!!
This is Republicans' fault, docb?
No, it's not. From Bloomberg
.... in 2005 Alan Greenspan told Congress how urgent it was for it to act in the clearest possible terms: If Fannie and Freddie ``continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for interest rate risk aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road,'' he said. ``We are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk.''
What happened next was extraordinary. For the first time in history, a serious Fannie and Freddie reform bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill gave a regulator power to crack down, and would have required the companies to eliminate their investments in risky assets......
But the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling that this would be a partisan issue. Republicans, tied in knots by the tight Democratic opposition, couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter.
(all emphasis mine)
Yawn.
September 22, 2008 - 19:19 ET by Roger the ShrubberGlass-Steagall was repealed by a 54-45 senate vote, and 343 congressmen agreeed, including deregulation-crazy right-wingers like Rangel, Murtha, Jackson-Lee, Cold Cash Jefferson, Gephardt, and the Wig. The Senate bill was Gramm's bill, and Gramm's alone. Singling out McCain as if he was instrumental in getting this act repealed is disingenuous. I guess one word could sum up your post: McLame.
Deregulation my ass! It was
September 22, 2008 - 19:20 ET by zfDeregulation my ass! It was regulation that caused this mess, the government made risky lending practises more attractive by making it a vital part of the system. In a true deregulated market, companies would not have touched most of these risky mortgages and loans with a ten foot pole. Fannie and Freddie made those mortages not only more attractive but in some cases mandatory with government punishment if you did not comply.
Glass Steagell (not Steag*a*ll) actually gave more power to financial insitutions! It allowed them to compete with banks in virtually every service which limited the banks ablity to compete in foreign markets and diversify. In a free market, the financial institutions such as insurance companies would not have done so, lacking the incentive and need to!
People need to realise deregulation does not always lead to people "doing whatever they want" sometimes it removes regulations that encourage stupid moves and allows those involved the flexibility to make the right decisions. Deregulation is the only apparatus that truly makes people who screw up face the music and encourages them not to screw up again because they are not then propped up by socialism and insulated from failure. Failure is a great teacher.
And the Hoover comparisons are stupid. For starters, the economy and structure of the U.S. is greatly altered from the status quo of that era. Not to mention far from Hoover being a deregulator and "hands off", he was a big believer in socialism, Keynesian economics and government interference. He oversaw a massive involvement with government in the private sector. Some of his acts: Smoot-Hartly, the "rationalization" of the coal industry, a new bureacuracy to prop up farm prices called Agriculture Marketing Act, higher tariffs, and even taxed bank checks causing a decline in the money supply by penalizing people for writing checks! This is just to name a few. Hoover was about as deregulatory as Karl Marx.
And the commentator gets attacked because she willingly feeds the public myths to bolster her agenda, either that or she is poorly educated about this subject and should keep her mouth shut.
Good summary of some of the
September 22, 2008 - 23:37 ET by jdhawkGood summary of some of the clearly stupid measures that Hoover took in an attempt to turn around what was a recession at the time, zf.
bambi's (aka 57 states) stance on this issue is much closer to Hoover's.
In fact, it would seem that the "journalist" is throwing it out there that Senator McCain is like Hoover to stop the obvious parralles to bambi.
Cokie on crack
September 22, 2008 - 17:17 ET by Sergeant ROCK"...He's a Republican and whenever Republicans get into this kind of mess.."
Since when is this a Republican mess? All I see is the fingerprints of democRATS all over this one.
PALIN/McCain 2008
Cokie Bowie
September 22, 2008 - 17:22 ET by Mica the MagnificentI see Cokie is going for that David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust days look.
Weird.
So, where were the spiders?
September 22, 2008 - 17:26 ET by Sergeant ROCKThat's what I was thinking. lol
PALIN/McCain 2008
That or some kind of Bride
September 22, 2008 - 17:56 ET by Chris NormanThat or some kind of Bride of Frankenstein retro look. :)
McNotObama '08
Agreed
September 22, 2008 - 18:03 ET by Mica the Magnificenthttp://uashome.alaska.edu/~Jndfg20/website/bride.gif
Great Minds Think Alike
September 22, 2008 - 18:46 ET by RiharI immediately thought Bowie too but more of the Thin White Duke/Serious Moolight eras.
When a liberal speaks, the truth is busy elsewhere.
Ziggy
September 22, 2008 - 19:01 ET by MidAmericahttp://www.5years.com/Gall401.htm
1980s-90s Bowie
September 22, 2008 - 20:38 ET by RiharIt seemed to me to be more of one solid piece like this
http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/pv/David%20Bowie-13.JPG
Instead of the spikey Ziggy hairstyle.
When a liberal speaks, the truth is busy elsewhere.
Bowie? I thought it was
September 22, 2008 - 20:53 ET by Hero SquadBowie? I thought it was Christopher Walken.
“I tend to play mostly villains and twisted people. Unsavory guys. I think it's my face, the way I look.”
*****
"People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues." - George Will
And I thought
September 22, 2008 - 17:26 ET by 10ksnookerDopie Roberts didn't even look like Herbert Hoover.
Give away your self defense rights, vote for Obama, ban your guns at the same time. Obama/Biden will ban all the guns they have the votes for.
Journalism
September 22, 2008 - 17:32 ET by KC MulvilleAgain, here is where we really could use solid journalism. It's also why journalism's failure is so dangerous.
I'm not a Beltway Insider. I don't know what really happened. And, under the circumstances, I need to know. Is this an expected and predictable consequence of regulation, or is it a political coverup where Democrats were protecting their money trees? Did the system break down in theory, or in practice?
One thing is for sure -- the media are refusing to offer me any evidence. I have a decision to make, along with every other voter, but the people who claim to "inform me" have nothing useful to discuss. All we get, instead, are a bunch of mixed motive pundits who pop off about how they think the polls will react. Instead of giving the people what we need to make a decision (which would require hard work and true investigation), the media skips over that and gives us how they want it all to come out. It's lazy journalism when we need solid discussion.
This is why the media shouldn't be considered the forum of public conversation.
Herbert Hoover comparisons abound, Cokie
September 22, 2008 - 17:33 ET by Gary HallHerbert Hoover comparisons abound, Cokie - and the comparison is not always directed at Republicans.
According to the progressively liberal economist, Dean Baker of CEPR, the financial leadership in the Clinton administration was the worst since Hoover:
According to yet another leftist economist, Timothy A. Canova, in last month's "Dissent Magazine," Obama's political ad is pointing fingers to the wrong players - the finger gets pointed at the top:
And then Conova, summarizes the Clinton economic legacy for us:
I just love that last one.
These must be the things Barbara Walters was speaking of earlier today as she talked about Clinton's leadership. (;~/ gary
Cokie--can you ever prepare
September 22, 2008 - 17:35 ET by Andrew H.Cokie--can you ever prepare for a program? Nah, I guess not. Keep spewing your democrat lines of garbage. It turns more of us off than on.
Liberalism is a convenient lie.
Kookie Roberts has killed that show.
September 22, 2008 - 17:40 ET by wizardjrWho still watches that bunch? They're just a bunch of spoiled Manhatten milllionaires sitting around being wrong on a more than 50/50 basis. Pretty sad.
ABC NEWS Cokie & Sam show
September 22, 2008 - 17:42 ET by east tennessee johnThe only deregulation involved in this whole debacle was the repeal of Glass-Stegall which was promoted by the Clinton Adm, their super Wall Street insider Rubin and what wereWall St. investment banks. Everything else stems from the total mismanagement and malfeasance of the people who ran Fannie and Freddie and the mulitmillions of dollars they used as political hush money and public relations, mostly Democrats and their constituency groups. You would think such highly compensated talking heads would at least TRY and look for the facts. I'm sorry, an election is at stake. My bad.
Dems 100% to blame (and a few moron Republicans)
September 22, 2008 - 17:58 ET by wdhorningMcCain worked for de-regulation where regulations were causing waste in the efficiency of the programs and wasting taxpayers dollars, but not where it effected accountability and soundness of business practices.
Then in 2005 and 2006, McCain worked for regulation where it was most needed, namely in the area of accountability, since the accounting practices were all messed up, money was going out the door to those who were totally unable to pay mortgages back at all, money was going to speculators who were buying up houses for profit, and where there was a "good old boys" fraternity between selected Congress members and the heads of these organizations. The Democrats voted against McCain (S. 190), along party lines, and so the mess today is totally, 100% the fault of Democrats, and few moron Republicans.
Bush repeats History
September 22, 2008 - 18:12 ET by PopularTechWell since McCain is accepting Bush's bailout it is not far off...
America's Great Depression (PDF)
"When Hoover finally took over the White House, he followed his own advice, and made it an engine of interference, first pumping more credit into an already overheated economy and, then, when the bubble burst, doing everything in his power to organize government rescue operations."
1931: The Tragic Year (Ludwig Von Mises Institute)
"As early as mid-July, Hoover returned to a favorite theme: attacking short-selling, this time the wheat market. The short-selling speculators were denounced for depressing prices and destroying confidence; their unpatriotic "intent is to take a profit from the losses of other people"--a curious charge, since for every short seller there is necessarily a long buyer speculating on a rise. When the crisis came in the fall, the Stock Exchange authorities, undoubtedly influenced by Hoover's long-standing campaign against such sales, restricted short selling. These restrictions helped drive stock prices lower than they would have been otherwise, since the short-seller's profit-taking is one of the main supports for stock prices during a decline. As soon as the crisis struck in the fall, Hoover reverted to his favorite technique of holding conferences. On September 15, he laid plans for a Conference on Home Building and Home Ownership to be held in December, to promote the widening of home ownership and to lower interest rates on second mortgages. The resolutions of the December conference originated many of the key features of later New Deal housing policy, including heavy long-term credit at low rates of interest and government aid to blighted, low-income housing "
Fool me once... ....yeah
September 22, 2008 - 18:22 ET by bigtimerFool me once...
....yeah right...here we go again.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
We can't have a Cokie
September 22, 2008 - 18:51 ET by Roger the ShrubberWe can't have a Cokie Roberts thread without an appearance by her doppleganger....
Doppleganger
September 22, 2008 - 18:56 ET by Sergeant ROCKWas that picture taken after the Palin VP announcement?
PALIN/McCain 2008
Is that a finger in her
September 22, 2008 - 20:59 ET by Hero SquadIs that a severed finger in her hankie?
*****
"People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues." - George Will
COKIE ROBERTS: And he's a
September 22, 2008 - 19:14 ET by MidAmericaCOKIE ROBERTS: And he's a Republican and whenever Republicans get into this kind of mess, everybody, even people who were not born or close to being born, the specter of Herbert Hoover comes out to, to haunt them.
Herbert Hoover?! That's eighty years ago. Hoover was replaced by FDR. So I bet every time a democrat President comes along our fellow citizens of Japanese descent are haunted by the spector of internment camps.
Ummmmm Buffet has lost 10 billion this year
September 22, 2008 - 19:16 ET by Pamso I wouldn't be so quick to point to him..BTW, I thought he was just a supporter
Herbert Hoover was correct economically
September 22, 2008 - 19:54 ET by Lame CherryFor a fact check, Herbert Hoover had nothing to do with the Depression. The meltdown had to do with Robert Rubin's mold he spawned from in setting up an economic collapse to buy up all the industry and centralize money flow into their accounts.
President Hoover correctly stated that if Americans simply purchased products the Depression would end. He was correct.
FDR deepened the depression by his inept programs and made it continue on longer. The only reason the depression ended was the war which started the spending of money again.
As far as this Marxist trash Cokie Roberts, let us examine the facts that it was nation rapist Warren Buffett as I exposed who made over 31 billion dollars in this current attack on the US economy, and her "safety" experts who started this mess and WHO TODAY were tanking the market again and driving up oil prices so to install Barack Obama.
This is economic terrorism and it is time Bush 43 unleash the Justice Department, Homeland Security on these Chicago and European syndicate types causing this mayhem.
It is obvious from the current actions that the trillions the Rothschilds have operating out of Europe have now been brought to bear on oil and on tanking the stock market. This is a direct attack on the United States to install Obama and it is time that thee President says so.
This attack is designed to cripple the world economic central banks and thereby cause a global depression that wet panty Roberts is orgasmic over.
It is beyond disgusting that Cokie Roberts is telling American to go into the abyss that the rapists standing there make her feel safe.
My advice to the President is to forget his 800 billion handout to Wall Street, let it collapse and instead dump that money directly into US infrastructure purchase. I recommend a rebuilding program for homeowners in security shelters, stocked with only US made products, food and weapons.
This will generate the injection of funds to make the economy secure and pay for itself in taxes 10 times over.
The cartel wants to level America. Put the money into citizen's hands where they can not touch it and make the money transfer into US companies employing US citizens.
I suggest also a mandate of carburator vehicles of the old jeep standard, 66 Mustang and 66 Ford Ranchero, cheaply made and lasting through adversity having reasonable gas mileage in the old Ford 300 engine which UPS ran in it's delivery vehicles.
There are definite ways to fix this.Take the money to where they can not touch it Mr. President and recycle it through the economy creating jobs.
Kick them in the butt George and you know who I mean as they are anticipating your moves with a new push.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
Hoover was an idiot
September 23, 2008 - 06:42 ET by PopularTechSo you just proved my point, he wanted people to go farther into debt to float the economy.
And what about George Will?
September 22, 2008 - 22:19 ET by Agrarian-DecentralistInteresting how Whitlock highlights Robert's and Donaldson's anti-McCain remarks, but not George Will's. Too hard to admit that McCain's deficiencies can even draw comment from a prominent conservative?
Republican Fanboys are still playing Football
September 23, 2008 - 06:46 ET by PopularTechThey refuse to be honest about the economy and instead blindly defend their football team no matter how indefensible that is:
Bush's 'American Dream Downpayment Act of 2003' (Lew Rockwell)
This show's a Joke
September 23, 2008 - 07:07 ET by Uncle Don...and I quit watching it a long time ago. This week I was eating my breakfast so turned it on. It was one big happy Obama commercial. Even the turncoat George Will, what a sissy, was agreeing with most of what they said. What a waste of time....why do you even give this show space?
I've got news for you...
September 23, 2008 - 07:12 ET by Uncle DonAnd what about George Will?
September 22, 2008 - 23:19 ET by Agrarian-Decentralist
Interesting
how Whitlock highlights Robert's and Donaldson's anti-McCain remarks,
but not George Will's. Too hard to admit that McCain's deficiencies can
even draw comment from a prominent conservative?
______________________________________________________
George Will hasn't been a "prominent conservative" in a long, long time. He's a whiney, little sissy that want's to be liked by the libs on the show and speaks like the ugly sister not wanting to be reprimanded for not going along with the party line. He's so full of himself that he doesn't speak, he lectures. We don't want him representing us....and he doesn't. He should stick to baseball, that's more his speed.