Would we have been in the current financial crisis had Gore or Kerry won?

(1) Burning debates rage over whether we would be drowning in this credit mess had Gore or Kerry won. Dems say it's because the GOP let Wall Street run hog wild, with the whole deregulation, etc. Republicans say it wouldn't have made any difference, both parties were equally careless %26amp; greedy.



(2) An even hotter topic is around 9/11...some say it could have been prevented had Gore won...is this totally ridiculous %26amp; unfounded, or did Bush %26amp; company fail to do their homework and let the warnings sail right past them?Would we have been in the current financial crisis had Gore or Kerry won?No, Democrats are for the middle class. It is republicans who have the agenda of deliberately destroying the middle classWould we have been in the current financial crisis had Gore or Kerry won?
1. I really doubt we would be in this situation, and if we were, the impact would be far less severe. Deregulation and a lack of oversight created this mess, and both are GOP things; one of the reasons that conservatives rail against the left is because they support regulations... so they're in effect admitting that if we did not have the GOP running everything (or more accurately, *not* running everything) then the outcome would have been much different.



2. I believe that Al Gore probably would have paid more attention to the situation, though it would admittedly be hard for any president to get wind of the situation when the FBI, CIA, state authorities, NSA, TSA, and everyone else involved had a complete breakdown in communication.

Do you remember back in '98, around the time of the Lewinsky scandal, when Clinton supported the firing of missles at an Afghani camp where Bin Laden was to be, and the GOP attack dogs strutted out the "wag the dog" theory and called Clinton a "warmonger?" Clinton and Gore were well aware of the threat posed by Bin Laden, but the GOP turned a blind eye in the spirit of impeachment and trying to gain power of the country. We paid for it, and we still are paying for it.Would we have been in the current financial crisis had Gore or Kerry won?Of course. Democrats were the ones who were against fixing the problem. Democrats even accused Republicans of being racist for trying to stop zero-down mortgages.



Since 2001, President Bush warned of the problem and put forward plans to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/鈥?/a>

In 2003, "Spurred by worries that Fannie and Freddie were cooking their books and taking too many risks, Treasury Secretary John Snow proposed placing the companies under Treasury oversight with strict controls over risk and capital reserves. The NYT labeled the proposal "the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago""

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/sam-dealey/2鈥?/a>



Democrats' response to President Bush's reform of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac.

"These two entities鈥擣annie Mae and Freddie Mac鈥攁re 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."

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/sam-dealey/2鈥?/a>



Democrat Barney Frank: In April 2004, Fannie announced a multibillion-dollar financial "misstatement" of its own. Mr. Frank was back for the defense. Fannie and Freddie posed no risk to taxpayers, [ Barney Frank ] said, adding that "I think Wall Street will get over it" if the two collapsed. Yes, they're certainly "over it" on the Street now that Uncle Sam is guaranteeing their Fannie paper, and even Fannie's subordinated debt.

http://www.wsj.com/article/SB12209179618鈥?/a>



[ Democrat Barney] "Frank was publicly arguing for an increase in the size of their combined $1.4 trillion portfolios right up to the day they were bailed out. Even now, after he's been proven wrong about a taxpayer guarantee, he opposes Treasury's planned reduction in the size of the portfolios starting in 2010, according to a quote attributed to him in this newspaper last week. "Good luck on that," he reportedly said. Mr. Frank's spokeswoman hung up the phone when we sought confirmation Tuesday" ... "For years, Mr. Frank and other friends of Fan and Fred opposed not only bills written to limit the size of their portfolios"

Wall Street Journal.

http://www.wsj.com/article/SB12216101087鈥?/a>



In 1997 Clinton "actively sponsored " risky home loans :

""...rapid growth in affordable-loan programs and subprime lending..."

"The growth in these [special loan] programs has been actively sponsored by the Clinton administration "

"The currently strong housing market is due in part to the initiation of a wide variety of affordable home-loan programs. These programs are intended to benefit low-income and minority households and neighborhoods through more flexible underwriting policies. These policies include low-downpayment requirements, higher acceptable ratios of debt payment to income, the use of alternative credit history information such as records of payments for rent and utilities, flexible employment standards, and reduced cash reserve requirements. The growth in these programs has been actively sponsored by the *** Clinton administration *** in a concerted effort to raise home-ownership rates."

Mortgage Banking [News] - Aug 1, 1997



One of Clinton's Freddie Mac changes:

"Freddie Mac, one of the primary government-sponsored enterprises involved in the purchase of mortgages, recently announced plans to enter the secondary market in subprime loans by purchasing significant numbers of "A minus" subprime mortgages by 1998 and the higher-risk "B and C" loans by 1999.(20) "



One of Clinton's changes to foreclosure insurance ( that protected banks ).

"On June 6, 1996, President Clinton announced that he had directed FHA to reduce the up-front mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) for first-time homebuyers who receive housing counseling"



Some facts:

1) The last Democrat president created the housing bubble which is now collapsing. http://www.frbsf.org/publications/econom鈥?/a> (non-biased Federal Reserve website)

2) Democrats caused the housing bubble to collapse by reducing consumer confidence (negative campaigning) and by encouraging home builders to overbuild by using illegal immgrant labor to generate 100% to 400% profits. ( Democrats blocked massive efforts made by President Bush to fine employers of illegal immigrants.)

3) Clinton ignored a government report that said bank derivatives were dangerous to the economy. He also threatened to fine banks that were not giving loans to poor people.

4) Clinton, ACORN, and Rubin pushed for changing laws to provide more risky loans.

5) Obama and other Democrats voted for weak border control which decreases wages, increases joblessness, lowers the standard of living, etc.

6) Democrats blocked President Bush's GSE reform (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform) by filaabuster in congress..

7) $700 billion was spent to fix Clinton's bank derivatives problem.

8) Democrats increased our dependence on foreign oil. That increases gas bills, decreases national security, and gives other countries hundreds of billions of dollars yearly. Also, it financially helps many countries which do not have our best interests in mind.
probably notWould we have been in the current financial crisis had Gore or Kerry won?Look - 9/11 would have happened no matter who was elected. Fiscally, the U.S. was in great shape when Bush took office and his focus was on Iraq (finish daddy's war) and he appointed a cabinet to get him there. None of the Bush appointees were geared up to manage the overall economy, instead they were dedicated to the war in Iraq and ignored all the signs of trouble at home. Neither Gore or Kerry were suited to the job but may have muddled through until 2004 without a meltdown and our choices then would have been different for that election. But now we will never know..Would we have been in the current financial crisis had Gore or Kerry won?
yes
Our problems would be way worse. Add in the fact that if we had a democratic white house for the last 8 years it means that on top of everything else, we would have spent trillions more on social programs, the welfare ranks would be through the roof and include all illegals(that would have been made legal by the democrats). The list goes on %26amp; on. This probably would have happened 5 years ago instead of now. As far as 9/11 goes, yes it would have happened. They hate us all equally, regardless of political party.Would we have been in the current financial crisis had Gore or Kerry won?
since our problems were caused by the federal reserve it is hard to say. but it was democrats that blocked mortgage reform so i would have to say yes. anyone that thinks gore would have prevented 9/11 forgets the world trade center was bombed while he was VP
If Gore won we would be fine today remember clinton had us out of the recession Bush stole the presidency his brother in Florida had a lot to do with that.
..no but I think things would be really weird right now..
No, an anti-gone war would have been the expensive route.
worse