President Donald Trump

[Redbirds Fan]

Again, I don't think a majority ever said this. However, I would agree with the famous MLK quote that the silent majority should have tried to speak much louder. As King said "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." I suspect this will be a part of the non-Obama crowds legacy. I was a fan of his Presidency, but there is a post somewhere on this Board in which I noted that while I disagreed with him, he was MY President.

Now I have to go back and look at the polls to see if where I got that idea. It's been a while, so I may have remembered it wrong.

To the polls, Robin!

EDIT: Okay, as of August 2016, to the statement "Barack Obama was born in the United States", 27% of Republicans agreed, 31% neither agreed or disagreed, and 41% disagreed. That was after seven and a half years in office. Still looking.
EDIT: September 2015 PPP polling shows that 61% of Trump supporters (not Republicans as a whole) believe Obama was not born in the United States. Trump was subsequently elected President.
EDIT 2011 PPP polling shows 51% of GOP primary voters don't believe Obama born in U.S. (Once again, not GOP as a whole, just primary voters. They also liked Palin a lot.)

In all of these cases I have found with just a quick look, the GOP/conservative respondents who didn't believe Obama was born here were supplemented by a large number of respondents who stated they were "not sure" whether he was born here, whatever that means. (I guess I could say I'm not sure Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter were born here, since I didn't see them leave the womb.) But in all cases the "no" and "don't know" responses added up to way over a majority.

So I guess that instead of saying that a majority believe he was not born in this country, I should have said that a majority do not believe he was born in this country.

[Bernie Brewer]

I understand your position that smaller banks didn't cause the crisis, but isn't it true they fueled it by making huge numbers of subprime mortgages? Didn't they do this because they knew they would sell off these mortgages and not take the hit when the loans went bad?

There was certainly some motivation which caused the banks to radically change their lending behavior, and some persuasive arguments that it at least contributed to the economic meltdown. If regulation is not an appropriate response, what is to keep banks from doing this again? I actually mean that as a question.

This notion is largely untrue. Sure, in any group there is always a bad apple or two, but historically Thifts (Savings and Loans) typically made residential mortgage loans at least until the the mid 1980s. Then the advent of mortgage banking firms started as did the notion, heavily promoted during the Clinton years, that everyone should own a home. The majority of small banks didn't make loans that they sold off they made loans that they kept int their own portfolios. As a result, community banks didn't make sketchy loans because it would have harmed them and their shareholders directly. As bug banks became bigger banks, they bought the mortgage banking companies and in conjunction with their investment banking operations sold large pools of loans to investors, such as unions and cointries around the world. The next part of the story is pretty well covered by the Book "Too Big to Fail" or the movie the Big Short.

[Redbirds Fan]

This notion is largely untrue. Sure, in any group there is always a bad apple or two, but historically Thifts (Savings and Loans) typically made residential mortgage loans at least until the the mid 1980s. Then the advent of mortgage banking firms started as did the notion, heavily promoted during the Clinton years, that everyone should own a home. The majority of small banks didn't make loans that they sold off they made loans that they kept int their own portfolios. As a result, community banks didn't make sketchy loans because it would have harmed them and their shareholders directly. As bug banks became bigger banks, they bought the mortgage banking companies and in conjunction with their investment banking operations sold large pools of loans to investors, such as unions and cointries around the world. The next part of the story is pretty well covered by the Book "Too Big to Fail" or the movie the Big Short.

This post makes me wonder the extent to which the mortgage backed loans extended by community banks became the target of investment and speculation which spiraled out of control.

I agree that home buyers used really bad judgment in biting off more than they could swallow, but it sounds like you are trying to saddle the Clinton administration with that. The "Clinton years"? Any mention that this thing went to hell during the "Bush Decade"? There were a lot of moving parts in this disaster, but I don't think Bill and W have leading roles.

[Bernie Brewer]

This post makes me wonder the extent to which the mortgage backed loans extended by community banks became the target of investment and speculation which spiraled out of control.

I agree that home buyers used really bad judgment in biting off more than they could swallow, but it sounds like you are trying to saddle the Clinton administration with that. The "Clinton years"? Any mention that this thing went to hell during the "Bush Decade"? There were a lot of moving parts in this disaster, but I don't think Bill and W have leading roles.

Nor was I implying Bill or W were at fault. I think neither were. Greed was the cause. Greed of investment bankers, mortgage bankers, underwriters, and there was significant fraud. Community bank didn't extend mortgage backed securities. They bought them and several who invested in Fannie and Freddie stock assuming they were backed by the faith and credit of the federal governement failed as a result. The vast majority of smaller banks had no mechanism to securitize mortgage loans and therefore didn't contribute to the wide spread fraud.

[Pogues]

Now I have to go back and look at the polls to see if where I got that idea. It's been a while, so I may have remembered it wrong.

To the polls, Robin!

EDIT: Okay, as of August 2016, to the statement "Barack Obama was born in the United States", 27% of Republicans agreed, 31% neither agreed or disagreed, and 41% disagreed. That was after seven and a half years in office. Still looking.
EDIT: September 2015 PPP polling shows that 61% of Trump supporters (not Republicans as a whole) believe Obama was not born in the United States. Trump was subsequently elected President.
EDIT 2011 PPP polling shows 51% of GOP primary voters don't believe Obama born in U.S. (Once again, not GOP as a whole, just primary voters. They also liked Palin a lot.)

In all of these cases I have found with just a quick look, the GOP/conservative respondents who didn't believe Obama was born here were supplemented by a large number of respondents who stated they were "not sure" whether he was born here, whatever that means. (I guess I could say I'm not sure Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter were born here, since I didn't see them leave the womb.) But in all cases the "no" and "don't know" responses added up to way over a majority.

So I guess that instead of saying that a majority believe he was not born in this country, I should have said that a majority do not believe he was born in this country.

Keep in mind in September of 2015 the Trump supporters was a low percentage of overall Republicans, maybe 10-12%. That poll is not a great one to add to your list.

[Bernie Brewer]

Delete

[Hornsby]

Just a few tidbits people might have missed in the past couple of days.

Trump executive order suspends visas from countries of "particular concern" but does not list which countries are being targeted.

Calls the head of the National Park Service demanding that he produce photos of Inauguration that show more people.

Continues to pile on the lie that there was voter fraud, so far investigation shows mainly his family and staff are registered in two states.

Tells people that the wall will be built, and that eventually Mexico will pay for it. Mexican President cancels visit to the US in protest. Balloon is floated that increased import fees on Mexico will pay for this, fails to take into account that Mexico is the 2nd largest supplier of agricultural products to the US. Fresh produce that you eat has a good chance of coming from Mexico. And if they do slap on a 20% fee, just count on Mexico adding it into the cost, making the US consumer pay more.

Trump Chief "Strategist" and resident National Socialist, Steve Bannon tell the NY Times that the media is the enemy, the opposition party, and that "The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while”. Failing again to see just how democracy works.

Threatens martial law in a major US city.

I'm sure I'm missing a bunch, but this is quite a 1st week of work.

Edit to Add:

Now listing which countries are up for "extra vetting" all Muslim, and promising priority for Christians...

[Hornsby]

This is what we need to remember...6 days after the worst terrorist action ever against the US. This is what we need, not the cowardice of Donald Trump...

The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war.

When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that's made brothers and sisters out of every race -- out of every race.

America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.

Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must be not intimidated in America. That's not the America I know. That's not the America I value.

President George W. Bush...

[Sour Masher]

It continues to anger and embarrass me that Trump is the president. I keep thinking, this can't be what so many people voted for. Surely, many of them feel duped. But I'm not seeing much backlash for his backers yet. I still hold out hope that it will come, but it may take awhile. I don't think many of his supporters rate high on the empathy scale for those that are not like them, and it may take awhile for his policies, like his suggested changes to Medicaid, to hit them directly. At that point, my only hope is that he doesn't successfully dupe them into blaming some other scapegoat for the negative impact of his policies.

[onejayhawk]

Just a few tidbits people might have missed in the past couple of days.

Trump executive order suspends visas from countries of "particular concern" but does not list which countries are being targeted.

Calls the head of the National Park Service demanding that he produce photos of Inauguration that show more people.

Continues to pile on the lie that there was voter fraud, so far investigation shows mainly his family and staff are registered in two states.

Tells people that the wall will be built, and that eventually Mexico will pay for it. Mexican President cancels visit to the US in protest. Balloon is floated that increased import fees on Mexico will pay for this, fails to take into account that Mexico is the 2nd largest supplier of agricultural products to the US. Fresh produce that you eat has a good chance of coming from Mexico. And if they do slap on a 20% fee, just count on Mexico adding it into the cost, making the US consumer pay more.

Trump Chief "Strategist" and resident National Socialist, Steve Bannon tell the NY Times that the media is the enemy, the opposition party, and that "The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while”. Failing again to see just how democracy works.

Threatens martial law in a major US city.

I'm sure I'm missing a bunch, but this is quite a 1st week of work.

Edit to Add:

Now listing which countries are up for "extra vetting" all Muslim, and promising priority for Christians...

The Limbaugh/Hannity crowd is eating this up. Just the two pipeline orders are causing swooning. Wait til the SCOTUS nomination comes out next week.

This is what we need to remember...6 days after the worst terrorist action ever against the US. This is what we need, not the cowardice of Donald Trump...
President George W. Bush...

Horns agreeing with Bush and in under a decade. What's next, the Cubs winning the Series?

J

[cardboardbox]

It continues to anger and embarrass me that Trump is the president.

I thought it was a decent week but if Trump would stop being a sore winner, things would go a lot smoother. I'm hoping the SCOTUS pick will be impressive next week.

[cardboardbox]

oh, and just build the damn wall and pay for it, admit later that it was too embarrassing to the Mexican govt for them to pay for it.

[overkill94]

oh, and just build the damn wall and pay for it, admit later that it was too embarrassing to the Mexican govt for them to pay for it.

What the fuck is that going to accomplish? Spend 20 billion dollars just so that we can keep out a bunch of people who do crap jobs for low pay? Sounds like a real winner for the economy.

[Redbirds Fan]

We now know where the "voter fraud" stuff is coming from...Gregg Phillips, who allegedly owes the government $100K in delinquent taxes (although he says it is under $50K), and has an "program" or "app" which proves this voter fraud. But he can't show it to us know because it will take several months to work the bugs out of it.

I don't know about you skeptics, but I'm all in on this guy.

[Redbirds Fan]

What the fuck is that going to accomplish? Spend 20 billion dollars just so that we can keep out a bunch of people who do crap jobs for low pay? Sounds like a real winner for the economy.

That's the whole thing. First it was "Repeal Obamacare!", then they realized that wouldn't really work out to well, so the cry became "Repeal and Replace!" even though there isn't a replacement plan.
Now "Build the Wall, Make Mexico Pay!" is becoming "Build the Wall, We'll figure out how to pay for it later!" That's some fiscal responsibility for you right there. What happened to don't spend $12 billion unless you cut $12 billion somewhere else?
Point out this hypocrasy, and all the GOP will do is find some example in the past when someone else was allegedly hypocritical, as if that justifies what they are doing. So long as they are allowed to use that justification, Congress will never be better than the worst it has ever been.