[clue-talk] Wow, Card's a little political...

[Nate Duehr]

On Oct 31, 2008, at 10:25 PM, Angelo Bertolli wrote:

> So yeah, I'm being kind of mean, but if you think you really do have  
> something that you feel makes her overly qualified, please mention  
> it.  At least then I'd know a little bit more about the people who  
> like her.  (Right now I only have one friend who likes her and it's  
> for her stance on abortion, but I'm guessing that's not your reason.)

How about this one:  She did what her constituents wanted in Alaska.

Is there any better measure of a politician?

> By the way, the Democrats aren't socialist.  Neither am I, but this  
> list has a lot of right wing campers so I know the things I pick to  
> say make me sound differently.  We're all capitalists in this  
> country, but some of us think that a different mix and balance of  
> social programs are necessary for a good society.  (Well except for  
> maybe you and Jed, who as far as I can tell don't think we should  
> have any social programs or taxes.)  But at least admit that it's  
> not as black and white as "the Republicans are Capitalists" and "the  
> Democrats are Communists."  It's just not true.

Fair comment.  I like it.  I wholeheartedly agree.  (You probably  
think I'm a right wing camper.  But I do want government for many  
things.  Not healthcare, and not forced housing loans.)

> Well I"m not so sure that greed, fraud, and deception are  
> incongruent with capitalism ;)  That's kind of the point.  How do  
> you get around that without regulation?  Someone tells you to spread  
> your money as thinly as possible and buy 20 houses so that you can  
> make the most profit.  They get their money,  while you've helped  
> them to create a housing bubble where the supply is too high and the  
> values are therefore not at the correct point.  People and banks  
> think they have more value than they actually do,  and then suddenly  
> it starts to fall.  But it doesn't just punish the people who  
> screwed up.  Everyone falls together.  We're all interconnected.   
> What you do affects me, and what I do affects you.  Thats' the whole  
> point.

The part you're missing there is that the guy spreading the money  
around to the 20 houses is taking RISK, and so is the person taking  
the loan.  The risks weren't allowed to play out.  (And sadly, I agree  
with that move right now, although I think it was botched in the  
execution phase and worse, done far too late... but we were all going  
down with those bad debts and the bailout was necessary, sadly.  I  
take it as a personal failure not to have paid enough attention to  
what my Congresscritters were allowing in 2005 when they stopped the  
vote to put higher regulation on the banks.)

--
Nate Duehr
nate at natetech.com