Print Edition: October 4, 2008
TRUTH IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Outta the Zone…With this meltdown of the banking system there seems to be enough tap dancing going on to qualify as a Bill "Bojangles" Robinson performance. Have you ever in your life seen more posturing? It’s getting downright ridiculous. Truth seems to have taken a holiday.
Take the one about John McCain warning us all about this back in 2005. Well, he did warn us – sort of. www.Politifact.com rates this as a half-truth: "McCain did indeed co-sponsor the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, a bill that would have enhanced oversight of Freddie and Fannie. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., introduced the bill in January 2005 and immediately garnered co-sponsorship from two other Republican senators. McCain signed on in May 2006…Does McCain's support for that bill amount to fighting to rein in Freddie and Fannie? Sort of. Others had been fighting for Fannie-and-Freddie reform for more than a decade, and McCain signed onto the bill a year-and-a-half after it was introduced. And he reportedly didn't do too much for the bill beyond co-sponsoring it and issuing a statement."
Did Democrats block the reforms? Not really. www.FactCheck.org says: "Saying that Democrats killed the 2005 bill oversimplifies things considerably. The bill made it out of committee in the Senate but was never brought up for consideration. At that time, Republicans had a majority in the Senate and controlled the agenda. Democrats never got the chance to vote against it."
In another instance in 2005, according to watchdog group Common Cause, a Senate amendment that would have curbed predatory lending (subprime mortgages) was actually voted on and defeated. No Republicans voted in favor of the amendment. John McCain voted against it. Joe Biden was one of four Democrats who voted against it. Barack Obama voted for it.
Observed a USA Today article: "…the measure would have driven Fannie May and Freddie Mac out of the business of subprime lending which could have averted this crisis."
All this shows is that in this mess truth seems to be in the eye of the beholder. www.FactCheck.org sums it up this way: "The U.S. economy is enormously complicated. Screwing it up takes a great deal of cooperation. Claiming that a single piece of legislation was responsible for (or could have averted) is just political grandstanding."
…With truth a moving target, I’m having a tough time (given my limited math skills) even grasping the magnitude of $700 billion. A writer to the Detroit Free Press this week made these calculations on how this country could spend $700 billion: Each of the 50 states could have $14 billion to add to their budgets; 1 million teachers could be hired at a $70,000 yearly salary and could be paid for 10 years; 10 million home owners could have $70,000 each.
…There is some good news in all of this. The FBI is investigating four major institutions whose collapse helped trigger this bailout plan. That adds to the 22 financial institutions and the people who ran them already under investigation.
I’d get the IRS involved, too. These CEO creeps and their high flying minions raked in millions (if not billions) and then used accounting tricks to avoid paying income taxes. One doozey is claiming actual income as capital gains. I hope the message goes out far and wide: "I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!"
…Do you want to know how far reaching this scandal could be? Here’s a true story from "The World Is Curved" by David M. Smick. "A small village in Norway saw its entire financial future destroyed because its financial managers invested heavily in a Citigroup product called a collateralized debt obligation. When the housing markets an ocean away in Florida and California collapsed, the Norwegian village had to shut down its kindergarten and health services for the elderly."
…When last Monday’s Dow Jones plunged 778 points, there was only one S&P 500 stock that ended the day with a gain – Campbell’s Soup. That may have been an omen that when all is said and done the only thing any of us will be able to afford is a bowl of chicken and noodle (and even then we may have to split the lone noodle).
…Not to worry, though. Even with all of this turmoil your government is ever vigilant in protecting you. To wit, this week the law requiring a country of origin labels on food went into effect. Now you will always know where your food comes from – as long as you know all the completely logical facets of the law.
Peas must be labeled and carrots must be labeled, but if they are in a bag together they don’t need a label. If the peas are frozen they’ll have a label, but if they’re canned they will not have a label. Raw peanuts will be labeled, except when they’re in trail mix where they won’t. If you want to eat a raw chicken, it will be labeled, but if the chicken is breaded it will not be labeled. Pork chops will have labels, but not ham or bacon. That is unless you buy your meat someplace strange, like at a butcher shop, which is exempt from labeling. Or if you buy any meat or fish that’s been cooked, salted, cured, or smoked – no label. That’s because processed foods are exempt from the law, or if two commodities that require labels are put together they no longer have to be labeled. And no food served in restaurants, cafeterias, or taco stands have to be labeled. The good news is that all goat meat will have labels.
Got all that? If not, you can read a transcript of a news conference starring Secretary of Agriculture Bruce Knight at the very simple website address of: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/10/0249.xml.
After you read the transcript I’m sure you’ll feel better about the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Remember, the same government that put together this easy to understand food labeling system is the same one that will be administering the $700 billion.
Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com. Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews.
Copyright © by NeffZone Services. All rights reserved.