Ron, we are not getting any younger but seemingly these same politicians will be in office when I am dead and gone.

How many PF bloggers are good with their money BECAUSE they hit rock bottom? Did it suck? Yes. Was it painful? Yes. Knowing where you are now, would you choose to go back to being stupid with your money and running up debt just because it was a painful learning experience? I’m guessing not.

So am I worried about what will happen with the economy and whether I might lose my money or my job? Sure, but I still believe that this is a lesson that america needs to learn. People have made their beds and dragged the rest of us down with them. Now all of us will have to live through this.

It all boils down to the repeal of Glass-Stegall back in 1999 under Clinton (who willingly signed the repeal). That act prevented banks from tampering in the stock market. De-regulation was supported by Clinton…and Biden. McCain didn’t vote. Here’s the vote breakdown:

REPUBLICANS FOR (52): Abraham, Allard, Ashcroft, Bennett, Brownback, Bond, Bunning, Burns, Campbell, Chafee, Cochran, Collins, Coverdell, Craig, Crapo, DeWine, Domenici, Enzi, Frist, Gorton, Gramm (Tex.), Grams (Minn.), Grassley, Gregg, Hegel, Hatch, Helms, Hutchinson (Ark.), Hutchison (Tex.), Inhofe, Jeffords, Kyl, Lott, Lugar, Mack, McConnell, Murkowski, Nickles, Roberts, Roth, Santorum, Sessions, Smith (N.H.), Smith (Ore.), Snowe, Specter, Stevens, Thomas, Thompson, Thurmond, Voinovich and Warner.

DEMOCRATS FOR (38): Akaka, Baucus, Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Breaux, Byrd, Cleland, Conrad, Daschle, Dodd, Durbin, Edwards, Feinstein, Graham (Fla.), Hollings, Inouye, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerrey (Neb.), Kerry (Mass.), Kohl, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Moynihan, Murray, Reed (R.L), Reid (Nev.), Robb, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Schumer, Torricelli and Wyden.

REPUBLICANS AGAINST(1): Shelby.

DEMOCRATS AGAINST(7): Boxer, Bryan, Dorgan, Feingold, Harkin, Mikulski and Wellstone.

NOT VOTING: 2 REPUBLICANS (2): Fitzgerald (voted present) and McCain.

The repeal of Glass-Stegall allowed all the shenanigans to get started. It was the beginning of the end and no person who voted for it should be crying about de-regulation. Heck, they’re the ones who put it in motion. The whole thing was very bi-partisan. That’s why I blame Congress 100%. Throw them all out…except Richard Shelby. He’s a personal friend from many years back.

What about McCain’s campaign manager getting $30K a month for the last 5 years, from FM&FM, to provide access to McCain for FM&FM so they can avoid regulation on their loans?

Three years ago, Alan Greenspan warned that Fannie and Freddie were on cue to put our entire financial system risk and a Fannie and Freddie reform bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill (S-190) was co-sponsored by John McCain and would have required both Fannie and Freddie to divest of their riskier assets. In essence, it would have given a regulator the power to say “not a chance!”

But the bill didn’t become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, indicating this would be a partisan issue. Republicans couldn’t even bring it to a vote in the Senate for fear of a filibuster.

The Democrats, under Clinton, had strengthened a government-created monster called the “Community Reinvestment Act.” This law was then used by “activists” and “community organizers” to coerce lending institutions to make these bad loans … millions of them. Many of them are on record bragging about their harassment tactics aimed at getting banks to make more loans to unqualified, sub-prime buyers.

Throughout his political career, Senator Obama has gotten more than $125,000 in campaign contributions from employees and political action committees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, second only to Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, who received more than $165,000.

Clinton, the 12th-ranked recipient of Fannie and Freddie PAC and employee contributions, has received more than $75,000 from the two enterprises and their employees. The private profit found its way back to the senators who killed the fix.

They socialized the risk but privatized the profit, so to speak.

There has been a lot of talk about who is to blame for this crisis. A look back at the story of 2005 makes the answer pretty clear.

Today we get to see what happens when political “wisdom” thinks it understands and knows more than good loan underwriters. When private financial institutions are forced to make loans to people with a bad credit and job history…this is what you get. Enjoy it.

Just wait til the monies start flowing back in from this investment (it isn’t a real “bailout” since it’s backed by real estate). You think ANY of that will go to reducing the Federal debt? Nope, no matter who is in office, it will be wasted, squandered away.