At a private fund raiser ( Bush was secretly video taped on a cell phone ) Bush JOKES about Wall Street and the housing meltdown. The video is now on the internet.
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
18y
Both the Federal Govt and Wall Street were drunk. The WH didn't do anything because it helped the economy to grow . . . . Wall Street also got fat . . . .
GWB might not know a lot about economics or real estate, but one thing he does know something about is getting drunk. He's just trying to fall back on his expertise.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
Originally posted by "**********":
The thing that get's me is all the joking and laughter about this mess at the video in the PRIVATE fund raiser!!
Lol, geeze James, I'm curious - do you wake up in the morning wondering how Bush is going to offend you that day? I don't think my ex wife was this good at looking for things to get mad about. :lol:
He was cracking jokes - and frankly some funny ones for an off the cuff moment. You gotta laugh.
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
18y
Bush is not the only one to blame here for the issues going on. Like him or not, Bush had an agenda and he has followed that agenda. He stuck to his guns and has been VERY effective in his presidency in serving HIS constituency.
What has our Congress done for us?
The Democratic Congress, who promised to stand up to Bush, to fight him on the war, etc., has done relatively little to garner confidence from the American people. Their approval rating is actually 1/3 that of Bush, and his is the lowest of ALL TIME! They have NOT fought for their constituency and have been worse then the DO NOTHING CONGRESS label the press has given them.
Blame Bush . . . no, blame the Democrats that you support for not standing up to him.
Everyone is talking about "Change" - an empty word. Lets talk about voting for effective government. Lets talk about voting for people who actually want to accomplish something other than getting themselves re-elected.
While you may disagree with John McCain, there is one incredibly honorable thing that he said recently about the war . . . he'd rather lose an election then lose a war. Now you can argue about his honesty, and you can disagree with his position on the war itself, but you can't argue that is takes some balls to hold to your guns like that. (Note: I'm not endorsing him or his position here)
If you want to see change, then in this upcoming election, vote for people who honestly want to make a difference. Vote for folks who could care less about re-election. Vote for people who are going to stand up for you and your beliefs. Vote for people who aren't in it for the power or glory or "world fame."
Wait . . . I guess that pretty much eliminates the entire crowd of candidates for Congress/Senate/Presidency.
Hmmmm . . . well, there's always Dennis Kucinich (who, like him or not, actually has the balls to stand up for what he believes in, opposed the war, and fought his own party in trying to go after the WH - and no, I'm not endorsing his positions here, either)
Final Note - This post is politically neutral. At this time I'm having a REALLY difficult time believing in either party. I only wish the American people took the time to look at their leaders without the rose colored glasses. We are not Democrats and Republicans - we are Americans - and we deserve better from all of our leaders. The reason that our politicians can get away with what they are doing is because we are too afraid, or too weak, or too concerned with American Idol to stand up and vote them out of office when they aren't doing what they should. We tell ourselves that the only way we can go on is to vote the party line . . . the party lines are completely blurred people. Instead of focusing on party lines, lets focus on effectiveness, and a willingness to stand on principals.
I, for one, think now is the time for us to build a third party, designed for people like myself, who are looking for real leaders, not the self-interested, bloated egoed, "politicians" we have today.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
Josh, you're right.
As to the issue of who is to blame for this, I'll been feeling this for a long time and I'm voing to vocalize it. There is one more party to blame and we see them in the mirror every morning. Every time we got a stated loan and "overstated", every time we convinced a complete newbie to purchase an "investment" property on 100% financing, every time we taught credit risks how to work the system to hide their past data, every time we made a proforma that omitted certain details, every time we did this and every time we stood by silent while others did it - we contributed to this mess.
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
18y
Tim, you're also right.
The only people we have to blame in all of this is ourselves. We contribute to our own problems by pushing our own partisan agendas. The day we can overcome partisanship and act as responsible citizens is the day our problems will start to get solved.
Fairy dust, false promises, hope, change, trust, Republicans, and Democrats aren't the answer . . . we are!
Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2008 · 691 posts · 12 votes
18y
Speaking of "change", I don't know why the Republicans got so bent out of shape today for Obama's comment that he was "a proud American Citizen, and also a "World" citizen" - what's so bad about trying to bring people of the world together for a "change"? :beer:
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
18y
Mike -
I think people are bent out of shape because he's trying to say that his trip was not a campaign trip but a fact finding mission. In looking at how he's conducted the trip, it is hard for anyone to imagine that it is not a campaign trip. Lots of folks at home - Dems/Repubs - think that he should be campaigning at home for the presidency instead of trying to do so in another continent (and then pretending that the trip is just a fact finding mission).
His speech in Germany proved that he is not there just to get information, but to get on the covers of newspapers and to share his "message" with a world audience.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
Originally posted by "msedwick":
Speaking of "change", I don't know why the Republicans got so bent out of shape today for Obama's comment that he was "a proud American Citizen, and also a "World" citizen" - what's so bad about trying to bring people of the world together for a "change"? :beer:
Obama was a "community organizer" and senator in Illinois. He changed NOTHING here and neither the people of Chicago nor Illinois were "brought together for change" at the hands of Obama. But he's going to bring together the world? Yeah ok. :roll:
The Democratic Congress, who promised to stand up to Bush, to fight him on the war, etc., has done relatively little to garner confidence from the American people. Their approval rating is actually 1/3 that of Bush, and his is the lowest of ALL TIME! They have NOT fought for their constituency and have been worse then the DO NOTHING CONGRESS label the press has given them.
Blame Bush . . . no, blame the Democrats that you support for not standing up to him.
You can thank Joe Lieberman for that. He has openly threatened to switch to the republican caucus if they push too hard on the war, which would hand the senate to the GOP.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
Originally posted by "Sporkman":
Seems the only successful deal he's made is by using his family's influence to profit off of taxpayer subsidies. Correct me if I'm wrong...
Well golly gee you said a few posts ago Bush knows nothing about economics or real estate and now you point to his 2500 percent return on investment real estate deal leveraging the influence of a basebal team? For a man who knows nothing about real estate - that's not a bad return. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Seems the only successful deal he's made is by using his family's influence to profit off of taxpayer subsidies. Correct me if I'm wrong...
Well golly gee you said a few posts ago Bush knows nothing about economics or real estate and now you point to his 2500 percent return on investment real estate deal leveraging the influence of a basebal team? For a man who knows nothing about real estate - that's not a bad return. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Sorry, my original statement stands. Using your family's influence to land sweetheart deals does not count as expertise.
Rest assured though, your objection has been duly noted.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
Originally posted by "Sporkman":
Sorry, my original statement stands. Using your family's influence to land sweetheart deals does not count as expertise.
Rest assured though, your objection has been duly noted.
Lol....if using family friends to make a business deal happen does not count as expertise then every investor I know is apparently just a plain idiot....lol. I understand though - because it's Bush doing it, doesn't matter what it is - it's evil....lol. Maybe he was drunk when he negotiated that 10 percent stake. Yeah, that must be it.
We are getting off topic though in one of those circular political arguments that really goes nowhere.
BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
18y
Thank you. We all need to be a little more balanced when looking at politics. Unfortunately most people start being emotional and can't see the forest for the trees.
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
18y
Originally posted by "**********":
Bush was BORN into money-PERIOD! And Daddy's "deals" did indeed pre date his presidency.
:shock:
Bush's dad had a net worth of 4 million dollars by 1989 and apprently 3 million of that was the value of their primary residence. He beat his dad's net worth by over 10 million dollars. He didn't ride on daddy's deals. He took what his dad taught him and went further. If you were to talk about Bush's economic policies, I probably would not disagree with you. I can't stand 80% of his economice policies, but this avenue you are taking here that he, as a person, is a total financial screwup is an aside from his policies and not a strong argument. I have yet to think of one huge financial success who didn't start with a few companies that didn't work out.
And Spork - would I pay Bush for financial advice? Funny you said that. About a year or two ago, my dad who is a 20 year veteran investor, analyzed the Texas Rangers deal and told me I should study what Bush did to make the deal happen and how he negotiated his position and go do something similar. I am "paying" Bush for his advice in the sense that I am investing time into studying what he did. I am creating funds now in which to do a similar thing. However, when the time comes - would I pay or donate some funds in order to get a sit down with President Bush to discuss how he made the deal happen that turned 600k into 14.9 million? You bet your *** I would.