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Stacy McCain explains Washington Mutual…

Posted: April 18, 2010 by datechguy in opinion/news, Uncategorized
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…in a long and detailed post on the subject and the Washington Post article that it is based on. You should read it all but there are two points he makes that are worth emphasizing:

For many years, lenders were able to get away with making high-risk loans because of the steady upward trend in the housing market.

“Asset value” in a rising market meant that if you loaned $300,000 on a house and the borrower defaulted –hey, no problem! Foreclose on the loan and re-sell the house for $350,000. So it didn’t really matter how shady the borrower might be, as long as the value of the asset kept going up.

When the housing bubble was really cooking – 2003 through 2006 — both the borrowers and the lenders were thinking of the houses as investments.

I know my house is an asset and it has a market value, but that market values comes from it being a place to live. Yeah my wife would like to build a new one and someday if I have the money to build her that house she wants I will, but until that day comes the value of my house to me is based on the roof and walls and the shelter it provides, it has value because is it home. Who cares what the bank says it’s worth? My eventual goal is to pass it on to one of my sons to give his life a jump start.

If more people thought that way maybe we would be in better shape.

The Second bit is more about human nature:

We can generate new regulations designed to prevent a repeat of the WaMu collapse, but those new regulations — like the old regulations — will only be as good as the officials who enforce them. New regulations will inspire new evasion techniques, equally risky new ventures will attract investors with an appetite for lucrative risks, and the next “bubble” boom-and-bust will occur in some as-yet-unsuspected market sector.

There are two lessons here, it’s like computer security, you password is only as secure as the least careful person who has it. This means you have to have good people willing to enforce any rules you have. The second is about human nature, you can’t repeal it, you can only reveal it.

For example I’ve always thought the laws about not accepting a meal from a lobbyist are foolish. An honest person can’t corrupted by a meal and a dishonest person will find a way around it. That’s why campaign finance laws are a sham, they restrain the honest while giving the dishonest the veneer of respectability as they skirt the rules. Much better to just have full disclosure so people know where the money is going.

There is an interesting tidbit in the Alexandar Stephen’s speech…

Posted: April 8, 2010 by datechguy in Uncategorized

that I referred to in my earlier post that upon reflection, is even more significant that the excerpt quoted by Rich Lowry and myself to the country at large today. It concerns the state of mind of the founding fathers concerning slavery. All emphasis that follows is mine:

First he acknowledges that slavery was the immediate cause of secession:

The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution African slavery as it exists amongst us the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the “rock upon which the old Union would split.” He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted.

He notes that Jefferson saw slavery as big trouble for the future. Stephens then makes a statement that is was not controversial at the time but would be a bombshell to anyone reading a 21st century history book in a high school:

The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.

Remember that this speech was given in 1861. The enactment of the constitution was in LIVING MEMORY. He states without hesitation that most of the founding fathers thought slavery was wrong in every sense of the word. This would shock a lot of people in the race bating business. He then drops bombshell #2:

It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error.

He not only states clearly that the men of the time considered slavery evil but states they ignored it because they thought it would die out through time and the will of God (providence). He then explicitly states that this rested on the assumption of the equality of races. He is stating this as a member of congress for 16 year, a political man for a quarter of a century, top man in his class in college, and as a man known for his knowledge and intelligence. A man in a position to know .

Moreover he says it as a simple matter of fact, as a person who would have reason to know this. The concept that the men of the day, the founders, rested their opinion on racial equality was not odd to him, he just thought they were wrong.

Print out that paragraph of this speech and carry it with you. Whenever you hear someone going on about the “racist founders of the nation” or “a nation founded on racism” take it out and read it aloud to the person ranting in your face and see what they have to say. It should be very interesting.

I suspect Father Z would prefer Te Deum…

Posted: April 2, 2010 by datechguy in catholic, Uncategorized
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But as I’m a traditionalist we are going to celebrate Father Z’s addition to our blogroll under Catholic blogs with 1812.

But in deference to his spectacular defense of the Church we’ll give him Te Deum too!

“I wanted to see for myself.”

Posted: March 31, 2010 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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The Back room at the Border Grille & Bar was full. The waitstaff was working diligently to keep up with the crowd that spilled into the upstairs section filling up the place on a Monday night when restaurants are hard pressed to get people in the door.

Just a few months ago the closest thing to a political meeting the place had seen was Stacy McCain holding court with American Glob and Left Bank of the Charles at the Charles at the bar four days before the January Election.

Brown supporters ate there that weekend and on the 19th the back room was filled not with Football fans but with citizens following the game of politics.

The next month some of those people had returned reserving the room for the first Twin City Tea Party meeting. Neither the organizers nor the restaurant knew what the draw would be. The 40 people who came kept the waitstaff on their toes.

Now one month later the crowd has doubled. At the height of the evening people stood lined up in front of the lunch buffet area as candidates for office and tea party organizers spoke about what was going on.

There were familiar faces in the crowd, some had protested in front of Representative Olver’s office two weeks ago. Several faces from the Conservative Forum of the commonwealth were there.

But most were new, people who had heard about the meeting from a friend or who, as the patriots of old, had seen a handbill at a location and were drawn to see what they could see.

Richard Chambers had seen the handbill at a gym and came down. He didn’t necessarily disprove of the healthcare bill but thought the method of passage was a disgrace.

The bill and the methods used to pass it were certainly the catalyst for many there. Mike and Kathy Holland were also new, they wanted to see for themselves what the tea party looked like. They found it totally opposite of what the media had portrayed it as.

Both the media and the government took their lumps among attendees. The idea that Government was out of control was a common theme. Scott Houle who had been involved in republican politics on the local level seeing the crowd that gathered commentated he was surprised it took this long for people to get angry.

Justin Brooks then took the stage welcoming the still growing crowd. He urged them not to let the passage of obamacare “take the wind out of our sails”. When he asked for a show of hands as to how many people had volunteered for Scott Brown a wave of digits filled the air. He pointed to the 3rd and 5th congressional districts as places where supporters of Obamacare were being challenged and expressed regret that a viable candidate had yet to challenge Rep Olver. He then gave the stage over to candidates and speakers.

Several candidates and/or their representatives came to the stage. It was an opportunity to meet energized votes and get signatures on nomination papers. Some like state auditor candidate Mary Connaughton had a person speak for her. Others like Kamal Jain, Lew Evangelidis and Jennie (Jane) Caisste made their case personally. Jain in particular made a strong case about the need for transparency and how important it was for people outside the system to see the books.

…yet he expressed that it was actually a better thing for the tea parties to remain independent.

The office seekers there were for positions that are not considered glamorous. State Auditor, Worcester County Sheriff, Governor’s Counsel (they vet judges) , but in each case the candidates pointed out the functions of the office and the reason why it is important. All fielded questions from the inquisitive crowd.

When the candidates were done Ken Mandile of the Worcester Tea Party came to the stage. He talked about the need to focus on local races to build a farm system and stressed, from his successful experience in organizing events in Worcester, keeping people the focus of the tea party events.

At the time he took the stage the crowd was at its peak (86). Although he had a lot of practical experience, his long disorganized presentation started to thin the crowd and his attack on Sarah Palin and the Tea Party express brought grimaces to many faces there.

Justin retook the stage and closed with a bit of brainstorming on how to keep momentum and interest alive though November before adjourning.

It was a strong second showing and experience would certainly lead to improvement, but would March 29th be the high water mark or another step toward the summit of change for the Twin City Tea Party? That question will be answered next month by those 40 new faces that came to see for themselves.

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