Currently, the nation’s economy has become an election issue, and so it should be.
The mortgage crisis nicely buffered by harsher bankruptcy laws, the soaring cost of oil, gas, college tuition, health care, a growing deficit, a climbing unemployment rate and an unstable stock market is coming to a head. Include to the equation that we continue to fund our Invasion of Iraq at a very low return, and
you get the picture; it’s the economy stupid.And so, considering that this was Bill Clinton’s winning 1992 mantra, it is the conventional wisdom that the economy is an issue that should favor Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, brimming with self assured confidence that eight years living in the White house brings, has alluded to herself as being the “doer” solving real problems, while telling us that Mr. Obama is the “talker” offering “false” hope. She touts of having “been there, done that”, and that it would be wiser for Americans not to take a gamble (with Sen. Obama, I presume).
But there is a kink in Hillary’s sale of her direct experience in the area of the economy. As Sen. Obama reminds us:
He
wasn't willing to concede the former first lady's claims of a superior economics background.
" I am happy to compare my experiences with hers when it comes to the economy," Obama responded, when asked by reporters. "My understanding was that she wasn't Treasury Secretary in the Clinton Administration."
Obama, too, has been focusing on the economy in recent days. At a news conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Sunday, he tweaked Clinton for past support of the North American Free Trade Agreement. http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/obama_clinton_spar_over_grips.htmlSo what are the two leading candidate offering in terms of direct assistance to the American People. What policies have actually been proposed to bring needed relief? Which is the “doer” and which is the “hopeful” approach?
In early December,
Mrs. Clinton called for a “time out” on foreclosures, and a 90 day period to “review” what could be done. The point of the 90 days would be to give time for homeowners to work with lenders in trying to work out a better situation for foreclosure candidates.
Clinton said the freeze would give the housing market time to stabilize and homeowners time to build equity. She also called on the mortgage industry to provide regular reports on the number of mortgages they have modified.
If the administration fails to secure an agreement that includes those provisions, Clinton said she would push for legislation that would allow lenders to convert subprime mortgages into more affordable loans without permission of investors.
She also called for a $5 billion fund to help hard-hit communities and homeowners cope with the foreclosure crisis.
The subprime mortgage crisis has hit some states harder than others, including Florida, Nevada, California, Michigan and Ohio -- key states in next year's presidential” elections.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0342861320071203It appears that Sen. Obama has not so much of the “wait and see” plan that Sen. Clinton would suggest. Based on what Obama has offered, it appears that his proposal are much more agressive than Hillary would care to acknowledge.
Back in August of 2007, Obama began addressing the foreclosure looming crisis, by proposing what the financial community labeled a “radical” plan:
Unscrupulous lenders who deceptively sold subprime mortgages to millions of Americans should be fined and the proceeds used to help bail out borrowers facing a wave of according to Barack Obama, the Democratic senator running to be his party’s presidential candidate.
The proposal is among the most radical yet from a leading Democrat and comes as Washington tries to respond to a growing wave of foreclosures and a crisis in credit markets.
It also comes amid greater discussion in Washington on whether the mortgage industry – including credit rating agencies involved in rating mortgage-related securities – should be more tightly regulated to prevent a repeat of the crisis.
Writing in today’s Financial Times, Mr Obama blamed lobbyists working on behalf of lenders for obstructing tougher regulation of the subprime industry, adding: “Our government failed to provide the regulatory scrutiny that could have prevented this crisis. http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/npr-obama-seeks-to-fine-unscrupulous-mortgage-lenders-to-address-foreclosure-crisis/In October, Obama called for an investigation in Subprime lending practices: “U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today sent the following letter to FTC Commissioner Deborah Platt Majoras, calling on her to investigate the marketing practices of subprime lenders and the brokers of subprime loans to determine whether minority borrowers have been victims of discrimination.
Read the letter here: http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/obama-demands-investigation-into-subprime-loan-discrimination/
The letter is sharply worded and refers back to the days of the Clinton administration, where subprime loan targeting offering high interest rates was already an issue.
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So both Clinton and Obama offer stimulus packages dealing with some of the current economic issues. Compare them here, and see if Clinton is really the Doer and Obama the Talker.
As a tax accountant who’s married to a financial consultant, I’m not coming to the conclusion that Mrs. Clinton has more answers.....even if she give off that perception. She may easily be the Talker that she refers to when mentioning her opponent. Mr. Obama in fact, appears to want much more radical action; indeed it appears that the talker also “does”.
Hillary’s Stimulus Proposal coverage--70 Billion
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2008-01-11T173043Z_01_N10245304_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-POLITICS-CLINTON-ECONOMY.xml
Obama’s Stimulus proposal coverage-- 75 Billion
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080113/pl_nm/usa_politics_obama_dc
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