Bush and Clinton didn’t cause this,, you did.

The latest crisis in Wall Street is being blamed on either the White House or Congress, take your pick. In my limited point of view the blame lies in the banking and housing industry.  You might lay some of the blame on Congress or the White House for some piss poor legislation but  following that trail of crumbs leads back more than a few Presidents.  The house of cards was out there for all to see, but the vast majority decided to ignore all the warning signs.  Lets fact it, Wall Street is just legalized gambling, its Las Vegas without the show girls and Wayne Newton. I am placing economists in the same category as weather forecasters, both are great at telling you what happened yesterday but tomorrow is a 50/50 semi educated guess.  I digress, back to the housing industry and their bedding partners the banking industry. Together they created a false economy, false growth based on demands from investors of a high return on their investments. It’s called greed folks, just plain old greed. The industry lost control of growth and everyone jumped on the bandwagon as it headed towards the cliff. The laws of supply and demand were manipulated to create something that wasn’t there.  Housing prices went out of sight, and states and local governments based their taxes on an inflated value for property taxes.  No one wanted to question who was going to buy all these new houses being built at an inflated price.  To fix that problem the banks started the sub prime lending practice and hoped that the bubble wouldn’t burst. The housing industry kept building with no one signed up to buy betting on the demand staying high. The banks kept financing and depended on inflated values to justify the risk.  The rest of the economy could not keep pace, wages did not increase at a rate close enough to the inflated values of housing to keep maintain the payments. More creative financing was used. Any time you hear the word creative and it doesn’t apply to the arts be afraid, be very afraid.  So what happens now? I would guess and remember this is a guess, those area’s where the housing prices were inflated the worst will be hit the hardest. If your 401K was heavy into the investments dealing with property your going to have to push retirement back a few years. The stock market will adjust as people see this as a time to invest and get back in on the ground floor. If your looking for someone to blame, find a mirror.  Congress might be held liable for part of it since Congress makes the law’s and controls the purse strings of this country.  Blaming the white house either current or past, read,, Bush  or Clinton is blowing smoke and venting.  

Making liberals mad will increase your hits

It’s interesting what some people assume.  I received a welcome to the internet lesson from one reader.  Now why did she assume that this was my first adventure in the internet? This is my third blog, which are really nothing more than a BBS on speed.  I go back to the good old days of Prodigy and CompuServ. This was back in the heady days of the early 90’s when there was a little over a million  of us between the two services.  We had dial up, bulletin boards, games, chat rooms, etc, etc.  I am  well aware of what happens when I push the publish button. If fact those of us that have been around a long time refuse to put much personal information out there because of the every expanding net and nut jobs that go with it.  I think Al Gore was actually behind Prodigy but can’t prove it. On the other hand I do welcome the increase in hits, although I have no idea what to do with them?  If I get a thousand hits a day does McDonalds give me a discount on my morning coffee?