I wonder...

Sometimes I sit and think about the financial crisis and wonder how big the bubble was that we (the United States) were in. Was the way the majority of Americans were living unsustainable? Then I read THIS ARTICLE about Canada. Here's just a snippet:

And he gives top marks to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada's banking regulator, for being more conservative than those in the U.S. or Britain. “I think that, from a regulatory point of view, you can say that the Canadian banks were more appropriately regulated.”

The final key is the structure of the mortgage market.

While U.S. banks sold a large proportion of their mortgages, Canadian banks held the bulk of theirs on their balance sheets, giving them an incentive to make sure they were good loans. Riskier ones are backed by government insurance. And the law here makes it tough for consumers to walk away from a mortgage because banks can go after other assets.

Still, the banks are wary of getting cocky when a careful approach has worked well.

“It's a good thing for us to recognize the things we do very well, but maybe do it in what is appropriately a Canadian way – with modesty,” said Bank of Montreal CEO Bill Downe.

If America acted like Canada, how much would the life of the average American change? Would they be less prosperous? I grew up in Canada, and from my experience I would say "No." However, something has to be said for American prosperity. America is the richest nation per capita in the world. But how much of that is merely buoyed up by the amount of billionaires and millionaires?

To Lisha, Tara, Mike (and Whit), Stephen, Emma, and Jeff. We need to get the thinktank together again.

AIG: I don't know

Bernanke, Geithner Testify On AIG For Congress

If there is one thing I don't have a handle on, it is the financial crisis. Sure I can appreciate it to some degree: we were living in an inflated economy where our actual growth was not able to afford our debt.

At least that's what I think is going on to a small degree.

So with that thinking, the conservative part of me jumps out "Why should we try and inflate our ecomony to its previous level again? Is this unrealistic?" But then the leftist part of me comes out, "Hurrary! Increased education and healthcare spending!" (check out the government's new website).

So here's my opinion on the financial crisis. To me, the problem is consumer confidence. Eventually we'll pull out of it one people are more willing to start spending. But even so, I think it would be wise for us to stay out of unnecessary debt. Either way, I'm glad that the government is injecting more money into education and stepping into health care. I think the majority of the recent stimulus package is going to good causes and will help things.

The Wild West

Beckel Admits To Hannity: Fox's Health Plan Rejected Me

Sean Hannity doesn't understand much about health care, and why should he? Disease has always existed, yet AMERICA has endured! Doesn't that mean that universal health care is just unnecessary? Hannity calls to mind a simpler time, where men were men, and women were respectful, and people with scarlet fever and tuberculosis had the decency to say, "No, no! Let me just quietly die in this alley! I don't want to be a part of some depressing set of statistics!"

The above is taken from an article on Huffington Post, and I could not have said it better. I remember listening to Harry Reid during a devotional at Brigham Young University. He spoke about being a Democrat and Mormon. He put his speech in the context of his family's life before the New Deal. He grew up in a coal mining community where people worked hard, but despite how hard they worked they still had a severe lack of health services, education, transportation service, among many other necessities. However, he spoke about how Democrats ushered in a wealth of government programs to provide equal opportunity for even the poorest of Americans. This is what I believe in as well.

And you know what? I would like to think that most Republicans think this way as well. When it comes down to it, they want poor kids to access to good education like rich kids, right? They want poor people to have access to health care, right? However, many Republicans paint a picture that would take the government COMPLETELY out of the equation.

This is the type of thinking that puts people like Hannity in awkard situations like this:

HANNITY: I'm on the Fox Plan and the AFTRA Plan. I have no clue what insurance I have. I don't have a special health care plan! I have the same plan that you do.

BECKEL: No you don't. I don't have a health insurance plan.

HANNITY: You work for FOX, you're on the FOX plan.

BECKEL: I don't qualify for the Fox plan, because I have a pre-existing condition.

GOP: Rest in peace

Republicans are digging their own grave. It is sad. I like Republicans. I love lower taxes, and economic freedom. However, do either of these represent anything that has happened under Bush? Well, maybe a tax cut. But economic freedom?

...Hardly.

Time Magazine ran a piece about how Bush's interventionist policies arguably nationalized our financial market AND subsidized our housing market more than France.

So, what is the point of having a Republican Party? None, unless you are also staunchly conservative regarding social issues. But to all Republicans who read this. I don't think this is smart. Please understand, I know where you are coming from. I don't support abortion or same-sex marriage. But I also understand that both these issues are NOT just black and white from a legislative standpoint. I think I'll expand this argument in another post sometime.

Either way, back to my point. Republicans have long deserted there conservative economics, and have become a party of fear. Fear of the enemy. Fear of change. Fear. Fear. Fear. Here's an excerpt from the recent CPAC:

"Ronald Reagan must be turning over in his grave," said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which sponsored the three-day conference to explore ways of leading conservatives out of the wilderness. "But the American people will soon discover that Obama is no FDR or JFK, but a 21st century reincarnation of Marx and Lenin who is determined to lead the nation down the path of socialism."

Honestly. Did anyone in the GOP actually go to school? Do you know what Marx even wrote about? He didn't write about establishing social programs. He talked about capitalism imploding itself. And Lenin? Do you realize the disservice you are doing to America by associating Obama with a man who purged his political opponents and forced people into labor camps?

What ever happened to great Republicans like Eisenhower, Lincoln, and William F. Buckley? Oh I know. People like that became Democrats.