Obama on Golden Sacks, JP Morgan CEOs: "I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen."

Your comment reminded me of an article I came across a little while ago concerning Colorado Springs (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14303473). Here's a little snippet:

COLORADO SPRINGS — This tax-averse city is about to learn what it looks and feels like when budget cuts slash services most Americans consider part of the urban fabric.

More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.

The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.

Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that.

Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero.

City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won't pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.

"I guess we're going to find out what the tolerance level is for people," said businessman Chuck Fowler, who is helping lead a private task force brainstorming for city budget fixes. "It's a new day."

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_143034...

If you want the state outta da way, den dis is whatcha gonna get!

And remember, up until very recently Colorado Springs was touted as one of the top ten places to live in the country. At the rate they appear to be going it may end up going the way of the "Book of Eli".

See, Here.

There is a broad consensus that Congress must act to stave off deeper turmoil on Wall Street. Irrespective of the final agreement yet to be reached, there are several principles that must be part of a broader reform effort that begins this week and continues in the coming months.

This is not just a financial crisis; it's an economic crisis. Therefore, the solutions we pursue cannot simply stabilize the markets. We must also deal with the interconnected economic challenges that set the stage for this crisis -- and reverse the failed policies that allowed a potential crisis to become a real one.

First, we must address the skyrocketing rates of mortgage defaults and foreclosures that have buffeted the economy and ignited the credit crisis. Two million homeowners carry mortgages worth more than their homes. They hold $3 trillion in mortgage debt. Nearly three million adjustable-rate mortgages are scheduled for a rate increase in the next two years. Another wave of foreclosures looms.

I've proposed a new Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), to launch a national effort to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. The original HOLC, launched in 1933, bought mortgages from failed banks and modified the terms so families could make affordable payments while keeping their homes. The original HOLC returned a profit to the Treasury and saved one million homes. We can save roughly three times that many today. We should also put in place a temporary moratorium on foreclosures and freeze rate hikes in adjustable-rate mortgages. We've got to stem the tide of failing mortgages and give the markets time to recover.

At the time Hillary wrote this, Obama was pushing TARP.

Coulda shoulda woulda, maybe, but this was actual, serious policy she was pushing.

And not for the first time.

More on her economic policies.

Jumpstarting Our Ailing Economy

* $40 billion in tax rebates for working and middle-class families. The rebates should meet Hillary's principles of being fast-acting, temporary and targeted to working and middle-class families who need help the most. The rebates should not be partially or completely denied to the 50-70 millions of workers who would be left out under the plan that President Bush is considering.

* A $30 billion Emergency Housing Crisis Fund to assist states and cities mitigate the effects of mounting foreclosures. The fund would provide immediate, time-limited resources to states, cities and community organizations to help prevent unnecessary foreclosures. States and communities could also use the funds to offset the costs associated with vacant properties by supporting efforts like community-level anti-blight programs and helping local housing authorities buy up vacant properties and rent them to working families. The availability of $30 billion in federal assistance will ensure that states and cities have the resources they need to fight foreclosures, prevent a downward housing cycle impacting large numbers of homeowners and to weather the crisis without unnecessary fiscal contraction.

* Bold action to end the housing crisis, with a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and a 5 year freeze on interest rates on subprime mortgages. In addition, Senator Clinton proposed to temporarily empower state housing financing agencies to help families refinance unworkable mortgages and temporarily increasing the portfolio caps at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and enabling them to purchase larger loans in high-cost areas. These steps would immediately increase the availability of mortgages for responsible borrowers.

* $25 billion in emergency energy assistance for families facing skyrocketing heating bills. Rising home heating prices are imposing a serious and immediate financial burden on working families. Senator Clinton's emergency initiative would get immediate help to these families by empowering states to use existing income eligibility rules to distribute energy rebates or direct energy assistance without requiring time-intensive application processes. Her plan would provide an average of $650 in energy rebates to tens of millions of families. Economist Paul Krugman called Senator Clinton's plan "a clever way to put cash in the hands of people likely to spend it." [New York Times 01/14/08].

I won't argue with anyone who says Hillary and Obama are both hawks, and that there is very little difference between them on foreign policy, but they are polar opposites economically. Always have been, always will be.