Obama Jumps on McCains SEC Gaffe

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

John McCain proposed firing the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is not something the President of the United States has the power to do.

“I think that’s all fine and good but here’s what I think. In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path.

“Don’t just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration. Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who’s going to fight for you.” (Source)

Sounds like good advice.

Tags: McCain, Obama, SEC
Posted in Election 08, Politics | No Comments »

A Real Maverick Republican

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, of Maryland has endorsed Barack Obama for President.

On why he didn’t support fellow Republicans, McCain and Palin, Rep. Gilchrest had this to say:

“We can’t use four more years of the same kind of policy that’s somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness.” (Source)

The wheels are coming off the Straight Talk Express, folks.

Tags: Gilchrest, McCain, Obama
Posted in Election 08, Politics, news | No Comments »

Brits Ban Short Selling Financials - We Should Too!

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

While it hasn’t been discussed nearly enough in the U.S. media, the short selling of Lehman Bros, AIG, Morgan Stanley and others has gone a long way toward precipitating the current economic crisis. What is Short selling? Wikipedia describes it as:

“The practice of selling securities the seller does not own, in the hope of repurchasing them later at a lower price. This is done in an attempt to profit from an expected decline in price of a security, such as a stock or a bond, in contrast to the ordinary investment practice, where an investor “goes long,” purchasing a security in the hope the price will rise.” (Source)

When you or I short a stock, it has no effect because we’re only dealing with a few hundred shares, but when hedgefunds do it by the 10’s of thousands of shares, they’re forcing the price of the stock down. This downward pressure attracts more short sellers and becomes a death spiral to the stock price.

The downward price of the stock lowers the value of the underlying corporation, and degrades their ability to borrow or otherwise raise capital. This further presses the stock price down. Eventually the stock collapses, unless…

Unless you’ve got a new scheme, and that’s to drive down companies that the U.S. government can’t let crash. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest mortgage underwriters in the country, the government can’t let them crumble. Same with AIG one of the nations largest insurors, the government can’t let that fade away, so they come up with a bail out plan.

The bailout “saves the day” for the stockholders, many of whom are the very short sellers that precipitated the crisis, buoying the stock price back up and letting the hedge fund take a new profit at tax payers expense.

It’s happening around the world, and London has had enough. Today the British government announced that it was banning the short selling of stocks of financial institutions as of midnight tonight.

The ban, which has been approved by the watchdog’s board of directors, will prevent investors from creating or adding to short positions in all publicly quoted financial companies. The ban will remain in force until January 16, 2009, when the FSA plans to publish a comprehensive review of short-selling rules.
                  —     —     —
News of the ban comes amid growing political backlash against short-selling, which has been blamed for exacerbating the woes of the country’s banks, and for contributing to the crisis of confidence in some of the country’s largest financial institutions. (Source - Financial Times)

The time is now for the U.S. government to follow suit, and implement a similar ban. We need positive action to stop this crisis, not a Commission to study it and do nothing. Contact your Congress Person and urge them to support a ban on shorting finies!

Tags: AIG, Economy, Financials, Lehman Brothers, Short Selling, Stocks
Posted in Economy, Opinion | No Comments »

Comrade Palin

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Maybe she’s a little TOO close to Russia?

Tags: Humor, Palin, Russia
Posted in Election 08, Humor, Politics | No Comments »