The Buck Plops Here
Politico:
Here we go again. During the Clinton years, accepting responsibility without consequences was the rule. During Bush, denying it completely was. I'm not sure which is worse.
The White House was forced to issue its third public defense of Geithner in as many days, while Obama sought to insulate his team from blame. “I know Washington’s all in a tizzy. Everybody’s pointing fingers at each other and saying, it’s their fault, the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault,” Obama told a crowd in California. “Listen. I’ll take responsibility. I’m the president.” |
Here we go again. During the Clinton years, accepting responsibility without consequences was the rule. During Bush, denying it completely was. I'm not sure which is worse.
posted by The Cunning Realist at Wednesday, March 18, 2009
6 Comments:
I seem to remember Bush "taking responsibility" for the Katrina response.
As someone who was (and for the time being, remains) an Obama supporter, I found the "buck stops here" statement to be pretty inconsequential. I was kind of disgusted by the TV pundits who rushed to laud him for this comment.
...and it gave me the creeps to watch the pep rally, I mean Town Hall Meeting, in California. The campaign is over, and it seemed really staged and non-productive.
I understand that Obama wants to appear to be positive and strong, but it seemed like a farce. WTF is up with an appearance on Leno tomorrow and the thing on ESPN with the March Madness bracket picks? Get to work!
CR
I remember some posts of yours a long time ago predicting that we would try to print our way out of this, and that this would be very beneficial to the financiers.
Well here we are, now printing, and here's Wall Street cheering it on:
"Jan Hatzius, economist at Goldman Sachs, said the Fed might have to expand its balance sheet to $10 trillion to restore growth. "
"The Fed’s announcement signals a clear intent to continue to drive mortgage rates lower and we expect them to meet this objective. This could represent a powerful source of stimulus for the household sector of the economy. In 2008, the average mortgage rate on the outstanding stock of loans was about 6.50%. So, if the Fed brings 30-yr fixed rate mortgages down to 4.50% and all homeowners are able refi, the aggregate permanent cash flow savings would be on the order of $200 billion per year. –David Greenlaw, Morgan Stanley "
You missed the full Obama quote:
"I hope that Wall Street and the marketplace don’t think that we can return to business as usual. The business models that created a lot of paper wealth but not real wealth in the country and have now resulted in crisis can’t be the model for economic growth going forward.”
Even as Obama spoke these words, the Fed was announcing that they were to print 1.2 Trillion in new paper wealth in order to by up Treasuries and MBS.
The rot in Washington and WS is deep. It will take a lot of time and effort to turn this ship into a different direction. What's that saying, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. It's positive that people are keeping track and reporting. Finally! I wish the media and folks were as diligent during the Republican rein so we didn't have to get so deep in this financial mess in the first place. Perhaps this explains why the current Republican party makes a better opposition party. They care what the Democrats do, but join in when it's Republicans.
Not to take the heat off Obama--as Geithner was a dreadful choice, and Bernanke deserves a kick in the balls--but the continuing revelations about Senator Dodd are revealing. It seems he's been looking out for some big losers at our expense.
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