Eureka Iron Works

Who's to Blame for the Market Dive? Democrats.

Now, I know that this isn't going to do one damn thing to get us out of this mess, but it's sometimes instructive to see how things happened, and maybe we can learn something.  

You should read this from Roger Simon on Pajama's Media:

Who caused “the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression?”

I'll summarize: this crisis was caused by a bursting of the housing bubble, which formed when the Democrats passed the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977, and used rules and legislation to force banks as well as Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac to loan money to folks who couldn't afford to pay the money back.  

Here's some interesting points from the story:

"The original Community Reinvestment Act was signed into law in 1977 by Jimmy Carter. Its purpose, in a nutshell, was to require banks to provide credit to “under-served populations,” i.e., those with poor credit."

"In 1995, Bill Clinton’s administration made various changes to the CRA, increasing “access to mortgage credit for inner city and distressed rural communities,” i.e., it provided for the securitization, i.e. public underwriting, of what everyone now calls “sub-prime mortgages.”  Bottom line? It forced banks to issue $1 trillion in sub-prime mortgages."

"But wait: how did it force banks to do this? Easy. Introduce a federal requirement that banks make the loans or face penalties...Way back in 1994, for example, Barack Obama sued Citibank on behalf of a client who charged that the bank “systematically denied mortgages to African-American applicants and others from minority neighborhoods.”

"Why didn’t someone try to stop it?  Someone did: “The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago,” The New York Times, September 11, 2003."

"But someone intervened to stymie the Bush administration. Who? The New York Times reports:  Supporters of the companies said efforts to regulate the lenders tightly under those agencies might diminish their ability to finance loans for lower-income families. . . . “These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Just read it.  Essentially, the Democrats penchant for social engineering will cost us trillions of dollars we don't have, and we're ready to give these idiots a chance to fix this?  I will also say that a bunch of Republicans went along with this nonsense for way too long.

I have to go back to a great quote from a Tom Clancy novel: "If you broke your leg, wouldn't you go to a doctor to get it fixed?  Sure, but I wouldn't go to the doctor who broke it."

Poll: Detroit Voters are Idiots

Well, actually the title of the article is this:

Freep Poll: Most voters think Detroit now headed in right direction

While Keith Cockrell is the new Mayor-Pretender of Detroit, what has really changed?  The City Council is still made up of the same dysfunctional gang that was there with Kwame.  The Detroit School Board members fight for the back seat on the short bus each day when they head out to school.  People, jobs and businesses flee the City when the opportunity presents itself. 

So it's a bit surprising the the voters of Detroit somehow think changing the Mayor and the hundred or so appointees will make that much of a difference.  Sure, the City is not the visible national laughingstock on the news shows, but nothing really fundamental has changed.  

But keep on believing!  Maybe Obama will give Detroit $700 billion if he becomes President so everyone can move to Mississippi.  

"Bring Out Yer Dead"

The Messah Barack Obama and his running mate Sancho Biden are coming to Detroit this weekend for a little visit, sermonizing and fundraising:

Freep: Woodward stretch to close for Obama-Biden visit

One purpose of the rally is to "...urge voters to register by the Oct. 6 deadline."

Like they said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail..."Bring Out Yer Dead."  I'm sure the ACORN folks will be glad to sign 'em up to vote. 

Kahlua-Blogging the Presidential Debate

Well, I poured a Kahlua and settled in to watch the Presidential debate.  First of all, Jim Lehrer must be 90 years old, and has so much makeup on he'll crack it if he smiles or talks to much. 

Obama has been coached so much he stutters through the same 30 second sound bite after each question.  And McCain is coming across like some smiley curmudgeon lecturing on the evils of corruption.

It's not really working for anyone on stage.  My mind was made up on this election in 1980 when I heard Reagan speak in his first campaign.  So I'm going to have another drink and watch "Kelly's Heroes" on cable.

And hope by some miracle that McCain wins.

It's Going to Take More Than This

Not to be so pessimistic about the domestic car industry, but the Wall Street Journal has offered another silver bullet to the Big 3:  Get Rid of CAFE.  (How to Save Detroit, And $50 Billion)

"The Big Three's problem, to be blunt, is North America. They should have pulled out long ago.

Not only did history saddle them with a UAW labor monopoly that their foreign competitors have managed to avoid. Even that might not have been fatal had Congress not enacted its "corporate average fuel economy" rules in the 1970s.

Look at gallons consumed, miles driven, barrels imported or emissions emitted: CAFE has had no significant impact on energy consumption. Its sole practical effect has been to inflict on Detroit the need to produce, with high-cost U.S. labor, millions of small cars designed to lose money."

At this point, the Big 3 will need the $50 billion, no CAFE, oil under $70 a barrel, 5 or 6 hit products, 2 year power outages in Anna, Ohio and Georgetown, Kentucky and the dedicated effort of the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny to get out of this without going bankrupt.  

And you thought things were bad in Detroit with Kwame.  

Palin: The Left's Nightmare

With all the hyper-analysis and never ending commentary on Sarah Palin, I did manage to find this gem of a story from the Weekly Standard:  The Left’s Nightmare

"She [Sarah Palin] represents what the everyday person feels inside when they see the flag or the faces of their children and friends, who don’t cling to cable news or the New York Times. Everyday people who cling to their American right to have children, go to the church of their choice or not go at all. They cling to the certainty that not protecting our borders is akin to leaving the front door open at night while you think your children are safely sleeping. In their hearts they know that Palin represents what they know is right. But to the liberals, her similarities to the average American are horrifying and worthy of attack ads."

They really got it right:  We're in a war, facing volatile oil prices and economic uncertainty, and we want some leaders who are like us.  John Wayne is dead, Hollywood has checked out, and the Democrats have become some twisted version of 1930's Communists.  

So McCain and Palin will have to do.  

Sorry if that thought spoils your brie. 

Why We Fight

You should really watch "102 Minutes that Changed the World" on the History Channel.  It's a compilation of the events of 9/11 from a variety of viewpoints.  No narration, just clips, pictures and sound tied together into a seamless program that shows the events as they happened.

It's why we fight, and should continue to fight, until all those rat islamist bastards are dead.  

McCain and Palin: Genuine Americans

Think about this for a moment:  

Why, when you hear McCain and Palin speak do you feel like they are down to earth, and really speaking from the heart?  Why do they connect to people and not sound like things are contrived? 

It's easy: they are genuine.  

Why does that matter?  Because if you are trying to build some kind of image that you expect or want people to have of you, it requires that you act the part all the time.  This means that each time someone asks you a question, or you speak without prompting, you have to remember the theme and approach and get it right every time.  It doesn't matter what you think or believe...you have to stick to the script.  

Watch Obama...he stutters or does the" um ah ah um" thing when he gets a tough question.  This is because he has to process the question against his theme/image and make sure the answer is in line with his carefully crafted persona.  If you watch carefully it doesn't always work.  And when he messes up it creates a huge gaffe that his campaign has to explain away. 

It's not hard for McCain or Palin, because they don't have to hide behind a facade.  They just answer the questions or give the speech based on their knowledge and values and things come out just fine.  Sure, they do have talking points, a platform and specific positions, but that's not the same thing.  The don't have to hide things, so they can just be themselves.

Genuine Americans.  

PS: It's gonna be funny watching Obama and Biden screw themselves with this concept over the next 8 weeks.  

McCain: Back to Basics

In his speech tonight, McCain said he wants to get back to basics, which is to return to the conservative Republican principles that have been successful in the past.  

It's about time someone started to lead the Party back in this direction.  It was a winning formula in the past, and can win in 2008:

Low Taxes.  Spending Discipline.  Open Markets.  Keep the fruits of your labor.  Strong Defense,  A culture of life.  Personal responsibility.  Rule of Law.  Impartial Judges that don't Legislate from the Bench.  School Choice. 

"And a Government that does not make choices for you, but make sure you have more choices to make for yourself."

Hopefully, the Congressional Republicans will get a clue and run on this platform.  They might even win.  

PS:  After Sarah Palin came up on stage after the speech, they played "Barracuda" by Heart.  Nice touch.

Wednesday Stem Winders

Another night for the Red Meat Republicans.  

Mitt was ok, and seemed to just go thru the motions, which is why he's not speaking tomorrow night.

Huckabee was rocking.  He's a great speaker and really connected to his audience.  If you didn't see his speech, watch a rerun, paying particular attention to the "desk story" at the end.  You'll get what I mean if the version you see shows the veteran tearing up towards the end.  Great speech.  

Rudy started slow and got rolling.  He's really great at this, and will be an asset to the campaign and the future McCain administration.  It was kinda like one of those Batman fights:  ziff, poww, ultracrunch, kablooey!

Palin gets it.  She's grounded in American values without all the cocktail party new age bullshit. 

"But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world."

I'm not sure if our country knows how lucky it is to have McCain and Palin running for office.  

SEPT 4 UPDATE:

Informed commentary on Palin's Speech...

- Obama's press guy talking about speechwriters:  waa waa wah

- Biden concerned about qualifications:  wah waa waa

- Community Organizer's" Comments:  wah waa waaaa

- Drive by Media Types:  waa waa waaaa

- Republicans:  Woo Hoo!