Donald Johnson

TARP: Bailout or Money Pit?

I think propublica.org has little credibility as an objective source of information. It's apparently backed by lefties.

When you make big moves you risk big mistakes. Paulson took big risks and made some big mistakes. Whether his efforts have been beneficials will be discussed by academics for years. I don't see easy answers to the Paulson question or to the crisis that still is evolving.

I wonder if there are smaller, less risky things that can be tried? I have no confidence in the Obama team and little confidence in the wisdom of those leading our major institutions.

Obama and Bush: Different Objectives, Same Results

Both presidents have treated the financial crisis as a political problem rather than an economic problem. In fact, they've pretended to treat the crisis as an economic problem but their actions have been all about politics.

Neither understands or appreciates markets. Not even Bush, who ran businesses and has a Harvard MBA. Both have had flawed economic and financial advisers who bowed to political realities rather than dealing with the market's problems.

Would Gore, Kerry or McCain have done better? No.

Only Romney might have been more successful in dealing with the crisis, but who really knows.

So now we're stuck with a president who is more intent on changing America into a state dominated by government rather than on providing the leadership that might shorten our depression/recession. He might get his cherished left wing legislation passed, but he'll also get his lunch handed to him, and we'll all pay.