Bush: My conscience is clear on financial crisis

[sabra]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bush-my-conscience-is-clear-on-financial-crisis-2010-11-10

It’s hard to explain to Americans why we used their money to prop banks: Bush

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Former President George W. Bush on Wednesday defended his record of oversight of banks and argued that his conscience is clear when it came to the massive financial crisis that shook the economy to the brink in the final days of his presidency.

“I don’t think this was a matter of overregulation or lack of regulation. It was a matter of poor judgment by Wall Street and others. And -- but no question the housing bubble was fueled by government policy, and that is the result of people and Congress refusing to regulate Fannie and Freddie,” Bush said in an interview on NBC TV. “So my conscience is clear when it came time to recognize an impending problem.”

Bush, who was president from 2001 to 2008, argued that he recognized the looming problem of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but his efforts to regulate the two housing refinance giants were ‘thwarted by powerful forces’ on Capitol Hill.

...

During Bush’s presidency, the notional over-the-counter derivatives market ballooned from roughly $88 trillion in 1999 to $592 trillion at the end of 2008, and has been widely charged with helping to drive the meltdown. The opacity of this market led to a $180 billion bailout of American International Group Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!aig/quotes/nls/aig (AIG 42.88, +0.02, +0.05%) , an insurance giant that was also a major derivatives vendor.

Bush declined to respond to a question about how much blame he deserves for the financial crisis, except to say that “any time you’re in power and there’s a problem, you’re going to get blamed.”

He argued that it was difficult to explain to “hard-working” American people why the government was using taxpayer dollars to stabilize the markets

[Solly Mack]

1. No doubt. Blank slate.

[walldude]

4. +1.. beat me to it.

Great minds and all that :toast:

[Solly Mack]

6. Sorry! :)

lol

[BurtWorm]

2. That's because his brain is clear.

[marmar]

3. Of course it's clear.....it doesn't exist.

nt

[Bluebear]

5. Now watch this drive.

[beachmom]

7. Actually, the bailout was the best thing Bush did as President.

It saved the economy. I supported it, as did the current President. Remember how the House Republicans intially voted it down? Yup, they're idiots, and are now back in power. Sigh.

Edit: to be clear, it saved the economy from absolute catastrophe. It was only step 1, but if it hadn't been taken, we would be in the middle of a depression instead of a deep recession.

[niceypoo]

9. It was nothing but an excuse to loot the treasury one final time

Bush handed money to the banks with NO STRINGS ATTACHED meaning they didn't have to repay it or use it for loans.

[dawg]

15. beachmom ...

as a *financial-type* guy, I agree with you, although I think we are a dintinct minority here on this issue. I understand people's unhappiness with the bailouts. They were like removing a gangrenous limb. It should have never gotten to that point in the first place. But once it did, there was really no choice.

The people in the late 20's early 30's thought they were living in *modern* times and that a global financial catastrophe couldn't happen. Markets were resilient, and the business of America was business.

And there is nothing now, save the few remaining New Deal safeguards, to prevent it from happening again.





And unlike my great-grandfather, I do not know how to farm.




Edited due to: I spell like a freeper.

[niceypoo]

8. Sociopaths don't have a conscience

[leveymg]

10. Ding-ding-ding! Beat me to it. eom

[Yavin4]

22. Gotta Type Fast on DU

I was just gonna post that comment.

[Blasphemer]

25. Bingo! nt

[dchill]

11. Bush has no idea what he's talking about.

Conscience? Don't make me laugh.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

were the source of this ENTIRE crisis?

:wtf:

[jmowreader]

23. Read the whole quote...

"the failure of people and Congress to REGULATE (emphasis mine) Fannie and Freddie."

This is something akin to a religious conversion. George W. Bush was absolutely, adamantly against regulation of any sort during his presidency. If someone in Congress would have said, "look, Mr. President, we've got to do something here, the price of a house has doubled in the last ten years but salaries in the working class are actually down, maybe we should write some common-sense regulations to keep Fannie and Freddie from buying bad paper and the banks from writing it," Bush would have been up in their faces: "we can't regulate Fannie and Freddie, we'd be stifling the whole free enterprise system." Now he's coming out and admitting, "gee, maybe we should have regulated them."

[Proud Liberal Dem]

29. Oh o.k.

Well, I guess I did just kind of blow through the article instead of bothering to read it all. I just zeroed in on the right-wing meme that Freddie & Fannie were the main causes of the financial collapse.

Of course, the Republican Congress failed to regulate them and Bush's (mis-)administration was all about de-regulation and the *miracle* of the "free market". If the DECIDER had REALLY cared about what was going on, he would've cracked some Republican skulls and gotten it done, particularly post-9/11 when he could do no wrong and basically he and the Republicans got everything they ever wanted legislatively. They either didn't care about what was going or didn't know the scope of what was going on although even if they did, well, they probably wouldn't have cared enough to do anything anyway. I mean, he didn't care enough about that fateful pre-9/11 PDB to actually do anything. If he didn't care about THAT, then when would he EVER care about Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac?

:mad:

[jmowreader]

31. I think they actually WANTED this to happen...

although I don't think they wanted this much of it.

Seriously, guys: a LOT of Repukes have made a hell of a lot of money out of this crisis. There have been fees for foreclosures, fees for realtors suing debtors, fees for debtors suing banks, fees for banks suing debtors...you know, rape, murder, arson and rape.

Look at the advantages here: By selling mortgages no honest man could pay, they ALSO sold a construction loan (which paid the bank interest), appliance loans (which pay interest--if you buy a new house that comes with appliances you are a supreme dumbass; who the fuck wants to pay on a refrigerator for 30 years when they've only got a 10-year lifespan?) plus gave fees and commissions to realtors, mortgage officers, etc. Then when the house gets repo'd and resold, there are all new fees and commissions. It's the supreme racket.

[TBF]

13. I bet it was "hard to explain" to working class Americans -

who know just exactly how much they're being screwed.

[political_Dem]

14. Of course it is...especially after taking money from the government and running away with it.

[lunatica]

16. As pristine clear as his two brain cells

[NC_Nurse]

17. What conscience?

[grilled onions]

18. Like Mama Like Junior

Got to keep those pretty heads clean of all evil thoughts. The Hungry Caterpillar does not lie.

[Philly219]

19. conscience, what conscience?

Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition, or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong.

Does this bozo have any of these qualities? Seriously!

[AndrewP]

20. It's clear because he doesn't have a fucking conscience

[devilgrrl]

21. Well yeah. What Sociopath has a conscience?

He doesn't care about anything.

[Jefferson23]

24. No conscience, no soul. I can't stand this bastard. n/t

[spanone]

26. the man has no conscience

[toddwv]

27. I understand why he blames Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the financial crisis.

He did, afterall, invade Iraq because a bunch of Saudis committed an act of terrorism. Why would we expect him to actually understand the machinations of the financial crisis that nearly destroyed our economy?

[dgibby]

28. Spoken like a true sociopath. n/t

[Marr]

30. Of course it is. He's a sociopath.

His conscience has never been troubled at all, about anything.

[sendero]

32. It's "hard to explain"..

.... something you don't really understand yourself.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

33. "I know my conscience is clear...

...because when I look for it I don't see anything."