Conservatives try to dodge responsibility for financial crisis by blaming poor people, minorities.
Conservatives try to dodge responsibility for financial crisis by blaming poor people, minorities.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, conservative commentators have blamed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), low-income people, minorities, and past Democratic administrations for the sub-prime mortgage meltdown:
- Laura Ingraham: “When Bill Clinton decided to tell Robert Rubin to re-write the rules the Community Reinvestment Act and push all of these institutions to lend to minority communities.”
- Neil Cavuto: “I don’t remember a blaring call that said, Frannie and Freddie are a disaster, loaning to minorities and risky folks is a disaster.”
- Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR): “It was their harsh regulation under the Community Reinvestment Act that started this ball rolling down the hill.”
Watch a video compilation:
While most economists blame the current crisis on market failure and sparse regulation, conservatives are attempting to elude responsibility by smearing the victims of predatory lending. The Wonk Room has more here.
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McCain admits health plan increases taxes.
McCain admits health plan increases taxes.
Today, during an interview on ABC’s This Week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) finally admitted that his health care tax credits would not cover the costs of a comprehensive health insurance plan:
Actually, my position is that it will be, it will give people actually more money to go out and purchase tax - health insurance on their own and only those with the Cadillac gold-plated health insurance policies today are the ones who might suffer from it.
Watch it:
Ironically, McCain’s health care plan raises taxes for families whose yearly income just barely covers the cost of a Cadillac. The Wonk Room has a detailed explanation here.
Ted Kennedy hospitalized.
Ted Kennedy hospitalized.
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who has been “undergoing treatment for a malignant brain tumor, after he was hospitalized for a seizure in May” has been taken to a Cape Cod Hospital. Kennedy was “alert and responsive” during the trip to the hospital.
“Doctors believe the incident was triggered by a change in medication,” Kennedy’s office said. “Senator Kennedy will return home tonight and looks forward to watching the debate.”
The AP is now reporting that Kennedy is back home.
Oprah Clashes With Coburn On Protect Our Children Act
Oprah Clashes With Coburn On Protect Our Children Act
Yesterday, Oprah Winfrey urged her viewers to contact their senators and ask them to support the Protect Our Children Act (H.R. 3845/S. 1738), which authorizes over $320 million over the next five years for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation:
This is what we want to do. Want to get these guys and put them in jail. So, tell us about the Protect Our Children Act. It’s going before the U.S. Senate this month. We only have a few days.
Watch it:
The bill is being blocked by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who, in July, successfully derailed the legislation when it was included in the “the so-called Coburn omnibus,” a package of nearly 40 uncontroversial bills that extended funding for cancer research and crime prevention.
Now, Senate Democrats are gearing up for a re-match. According to the Hill, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), spurred on by activists and TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey…has sent word to Senate Democrats that it would like to bring the so-called Coburn omnibus bill to the floor soon, setting up a rematch with the conservative Oklahoma Republican who has often brought the Senate to gridlock.”
Indeed, in his three short years in the Senate, Coburn has earned the reputation of “a fly in the soup,” abusing the senate’s hold privilege to prevent “the Senate leadership” from bringing matters to a vote. He “initially blocked” S. 1738 “because it would have authorized nearly a billion dollars over eight years to fund a law enforcement crackdown on child exploitation,” but now “questions the efficacy of a new program.”
Far from controversial, the bill is co-sponsored by conservative Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ted Stevens (R-AK) and is estimated to cost just $3 per American over the 2009-2013 budgeted period.”
Cross-posted at the Wonk Room.
FLASHBACK: In July, McCain Promised His VP Pick Would Appear On Larry King Live
FLASHBACK: In July, McCain Promised His VP Pick Would Appear On Larry King Live
Earlier today, ThinkProgress noted that since becoming Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin has rarely taken questions from the press. The McCain campaign is increasingly shielding her from formal interviews with the media, saying that it will “do what we think is in our best interest.” Today, the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder notes:
A senior McCain campaign official advises that, despite the gaggle of requests and pressure from the media, Gov. Sarah Palin won’t submit to a formal interview anytime soon. She may take some questions from local news entities in Alaska, but until she’s ready — and until she’s comfortable — which might not be for a long while — the media will have to wait.
McCain is breaking a promise he made on national television. In July, during an interview with CNN’s Larry King, McCain assured King that his running mate would appear on King’s show shorty after his announcement:
KING: We have a history on this program that whenever the vice presidential nominee is announced, he or she appears on this show the next night. It’s been going on for quite a while. We hope that Senator McCain follows that tradition since I have a hunch he will not announce tonight who that candidate is.
But how close are we?
MCCAIN: I want to say that that vice presidential candidate will be on your show. I will not risk the wrath of Larry King. I want to assure you.
Watch it:
In fact, instead of honoring his word and granting King exclusive access, McCain recently canceled an interview with the newsman as punishment for a tough CNN interview with a campaign spokesperson.
O’Reilly: Richest 1% would have to finance ‘folks who…smoke reefers 24/7.’
O’Reilly: Richest 1% would have to finance ‘folks who…smoke reefers 24/7.’
Today, in a Washington Times op-ed, Bill O’Reilly complains that if President Bush’s tax cuts “on those making $250,000 or more” are repealed, “me and other rich folks” would have to finance “folks who dropped out of school, who are too lazy to hold a job, who smoke reefers 24/7.” He adds, “I am part of the 1 percent of Americans that paid an astounding 40 percent of all federal income tax in 2006,” But, as the Wall Street Journal recently noted, “the average tax rate of the wealthiest 1% fell to its lowest level in at least 18 years.” The Wonk Room has more here.
Senate conservatives vote against cloture on ‘Tomnibus.’
Senate conservatives vote against cloture on ‘Tomnibus.’
Today, in a vote of 52 to 43, conservatives successfully obstructed the Advance America’s Priorities Act, a package of approximately “40 bills that have in many cases been single-handedly stalled by one of the Senate’s more conservative members,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). The act — dubbed the “Tomnibus” — included provisions for a centralized database to help doctors find a cure for Lou Gehrig ’s Disease and authorized more funds “to be added to the Department of Justice budget for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting outstanding Civil Rights era crimes.”
McCain: ‘I Don’t Know’ If Obama Is A Socialist
McCain: ‘I Don’t Know’ If Obama Is A Socialist
The Center for American Progress’ lawyers asked us to take down this post for legal reasons that our paranoid lawyers have prohibited us from disclosing.
O’Reilly: ‘Do I Have To Buy You Dinner Before You Use The Birth Control?’
O’Reilly: ‘Do I Have To Buy You Dinner Before You Use The Birth Control?’
Yesterday, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly agreed with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and argued that it was fair for insurance companies to cover Viagra but not birth control because “birth control is not a medical condition”:
OK, listen up. Viagra is used to help a medical condition. That’s why it’s covered. Birth control is not a medical condition. It is a choice. Why should I or anybody else have to pay for other people’s choices? Do I have to buy you dinner before you use the birth control?
Watch It:
Although O’Reilly may not know it, preventing unwanted pregnancies is not just another “choice.” It is “central to good health care for women.” According to NARAL, 98 percent of women “use some form of birth control during their reproductive years” to “control the timing and spacing of their pregnancies, which in turn reduces the incidence of maternal death, low birth weight babies, and infant mortality.”
Failure to cover birth control also places women at an unfair disadvantage “by singling out for unfavorable treatment a health insurance need that only they have.” According to the National Women’s Law Center:
Failure to cover contraception forces women to bear higher health care costs to avoid pregnancy, and exposes women to the unique physical, economic, and emotional consequences that can result from unintended pregnancy.
With opinions like these, O’Reilly won’t have to worry about buying anyone dinner.
Pfotenhauer: ‘I Was Misinformed’ About Hurricane Oil Spills
Pfotenhauer: ‘I Was Misinformed’ About Hurricane Oil Spills
Today on MSNBC, David Schuster challenged Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) policy adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer’s claim that “we withstood hurricanes Rita and Katrina and did not spill a drop” of oil.
Schuster pointed out that “the U.S. Mineral Management Service said that Katrina and Rita caused 124 offshore spills for a total of more than 743,000 gallons of oil and refined products spilled” and asked Pfotenhauer if she wanted to “take back” what she said:
SCHUSTER: So Nancy, do you want to take back what you said?
PFOTENHAUER: Well, I actually do. I was misinformed…the point is still that we had a remarkable performance, that you had about 16,000 barrels that were lost during two of the worst storms that have ever…keep in mind David that 1,700 barrels per day naturally seeps into the ocean floor, so 365 days a year you’re at about 620,000 barrels per day, pardon me per year, that naturally seep into the ocean floor. So this is a really remarkable performance of technology.
Watch It:
But Pfotenhauer, a right-wing energy lobbyist, is misinformed still. According to a report from the County of Santa Barbara, CA, “the effects of seeps and spills differ hugely.” As one planner put it, “if seeps and spills are the same, why aren’t all the beaches covered with mounds of fresh tar and dead birds?”:
The key difference has to do with release rates and spatial concentration of the oil. Seeps release large amounts of oil over large areas of the ocean gradually throughout the year. Spills release large amounts of oil from a point source in a short time.
In fact the real “remarkable performance” has been the parade of conservatives repeating false claims to justify expanding offshore drilling.