Dow drops another 700 points today

[TonyB0D]

you gotta buy gold!!

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Let's say you say "fuck it" and withdraw your entire 401k plan and get a check (is that even possible to do?). You put it in your wallet or in your safe at home or literally underneath the mattress.

Yes it is possible... but you pay a hefty upfront penalty, plus you owe taxes on the entire amount.  I've moved most of the money in my 401k to bond managed funds, so it'll stabalize. 

[bsmooth]

you gotta buy gold!!

Someone is channeling Ron Paul.

[Dphins4me]

  What ticks me off was I kicked the tires of pulling mine & my wife's 401K out of the market when it hit 14k.

[TonyB0D]

Someone is channeling Ron Paul.

he's the ONLY presidential candidate who knew the root cause of the problem AND how to fix it properly

[Fau Teixeira]

he's the ONLY presidential candidate who knew the root cause of the problem AND how to fix it properly

he nailed it squarely too .. he predicted the housing bubble crash and the credit crisis pretty much verbatim .. but he got made fun of by the republican party because he was the only voice of reason in those primary debates

[run_to_win]

I'm all for Ron Paul and his domestic policies - but weren't there investigations and hearings about this years ago? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPSDnGMzIdo

Can we discuss the content of this video and not the source?  If it's wrong, which it could be, then lets talk about that.

[run_to_win]

While you're debunking that ^^^ video, can you also debunk, or provide balance for, this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs&NR

Thanks.

[fyo]

I saw a report some time ago, where Clinton (as president) warned against some of the problems and tried to get Congress to act. He had very little support on either side of the isle.

The current problem has clearly been building for a decade or more, with neither Democrats nor Republicans willing to do anything about it.

One thing, though, the warning signs have increased substantially over the years and for the vast majority of that period, there has been a Republican controlled Congress (and a Republican president - but the president doesn't pass legislation). That's where the majority of the fault lies, IMHO, in the Congress. VERY few, of either party, seem to have pushed much to do anything about, despite the increased warning signs. The Republicans get the majority of the blame simply because they were in the majority.

It's interesting at some level that both the Republican administration and the Democratic one (8 years) before that warned against the problems, but at no point (to the best of my knowledge) did either party in Congress act on it. Sure, you can probably find a few individuals on either side of the isle, but in substantial numbers, no, neither party did squat.

Should the Republicans get the majority of the blame just because they had the majority -- and the presidency for the past 8 years?

[raptorsfan29]

Should the Republicans get the majority of the blame just because they had the majority -- and the presidency for the past 8 years?

no, both republicans and democrats deserve equal blame.

[raptorsfan29]

Guess the "bailout" didn't work, eh, George? 

Patience young grasshopper. You do realize things take time to work, right?

[MaineDolFan]

One thing to see as encouraging is that oil is headed towards $80 a barrel.  It was something like $140 a barrel this summer.  This will start to level off gas and home heating.  We're paying $2.99 a gallon in Maine now and it's been on a steady decline.

Remember that our economy is driven by the consumer.  If the price of oil continues to drop, the rising cost of food will stem off - it was going up due to transportation reasons.  If the general cost of living comes back down, people have more free money to put back into the system.  At some point I would think we would see the housing market hit bottom.  Once that happens we can start to head back up.

I hope.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

One thing to see as encouraging is that oil is headed towards $80 a barrel.  It was something like $140 a barrel this summer.  This will start to level off gas and home heating.  We're paying $2.99 a gallon in Maine now and it's been on a steady decline.

Remember that our economy is driven by the consumer.  If the price of oil continues to drop, the rising cost of food will stem off - it was going up due to transportation reasons.  If the general cost of living comes back down, people have more free money to put back into the system.  At some point I would think we would see the housing market hit bottom.  Once that happens we can start to head back up.

I hope.

QFT. 

[run_to_win]

I saw a report some time ago, where Clinton (as president) warned against some of the problems and tried to get Congress to act. He had very little support on either side of the isle.

Isn't he the one who signed the legislation that started this snowball rolling?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsynspIqAoE&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPSDnGMzIdo&NR=1

[CF DolFan]

I saw a report some time ago, where Clinton (as president) warned against some of the problems and tried to get Congress to act. He had very little support on either side of the isle.

The current problem has clearly been building for a decade or more, with neither Democrats nor Republicans willing to do anything about it.

I voted twice for Clinton but he started this mess and Democrats have been defending it every since.  No one on the Democratic side will stand up and say they screwed up but they did and continue to do so even blaming Republicans.  Republicans have a lot of screwed up issues but this housing crisis, and hence our economy, is driven from this one Democratic economic plan.


From the New York Times in 1999

http://www.topix.com/us/democrat/2008/09/new-york-times-clinton-adminstration-pressured-fannie-mae

New York Times - Clinton Adminstration Pressured Fannie Mae
September 30, 1999

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

This is even much more detailed fromn the New York Times.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260