McCain - "Mr. McCain more or less came out against aid for troubled homeowners: government assistance “should be based solely on preventing systemic risk,” which means that big investment banks qualify but ordinary citizens don’t. ... "our financial market approach should include encouraging increased capital in financial institutions by removing regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital."...on domestic policy, he offers neither straight talk nor originality; instead, he panders shamelessly to right-wing ideologues."
Obama - "Mr. Obama came out strongly for broader financial regulation, which might help avert future crises. But his proposals for aid to the victims of the current crisis...are less sweeping than Mrs. Clinton’s: he wants to nudge private lenders into restructuring mortgages rather than having the government simply step in and get the job done. ...[He] continues to make permanent tax cuts — middle-class tax cuts, to be sure — a centerpiece of his economic plan. It’s not clear how he would pay both for these tax cuts and for initiatives like health care reform, so his tax-cut promises raise questions about how determined he really is to pursue a strongly progressive agenda. ...Mr. Obama is widely portrayed, not least by himself, as a transformational figure who will usher in a new era. But his actual policy proposals, though liberal, tend to be cautious and relatively orthodox."
Clinton - "...the substance of her policy proposals on mortgages, like that of her health care plan, suggests a strong progressive sensibility. ...Mrs. Clinton wants a modern version of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, the New Deal institution that acquired the mortgages of people whose homes were worth less than their debts, then reduced payments to a level the homeowners could afford. ...Mrs. Clinton, we’re assured by sources right and left, tortures puppies and eats babies. But her policy proposals continue to be surprisingly bold and progressive."
1 comment:
I suspect you can thank Mr. Bush for the poor reception to Clinton's proposals -- it's great to promise big pots of money to people who've gotten themselves (remember, it's the borrowers who seriously overextended themselves and are now proving to be the severe credit risk that should have kept them from borrowing in the first place), but with Bush out there scattering greenbacks over the Iraqi countryside and here, I think people want a more measured response than "we'll spend more money."
I note that Clinton's proposals would hit the lenders particularly hard by unilaterally capping ARMs... these are now mortally wounded outfits (witness Countrywide and Bear Stearns). I can't believe it would be a good idea to create a worse credit environment by forcing more lending company fire sales.
Them's my reasons, none related to puppy abuse or dining on babies.
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