Andrew Cuomo, can NY ever catch a break?

Posted by Ray on March 3, 2010 under Politics | Read the First Comment

Haven’t we learned anything about legacy political leaders after the Bush years and countless other Congressional leaders who “inherited” their seat from a parent? Part of the reason the US is in shambles is because we elect these people, why I do not know, and they are ignorant about the problems the country faces. It is no secret that Mario Cuomo was extremely liberal and responsible, in my view, for NY States horrible financial condition because of his socially liberal programs. While I was young during his reign even I knew he was a terrible governor, but we elected Pataki twice so New Yorkers are not known for picking the better candidates.

Now we might be living under another Cuomo who is also a terrible leader and, as Dick Bove claims, largely responsible for the GSE’s collapse. According to Bove, Cuomo’s relentless pursuit to force Freddie and Fannie to loan to the poor led to the GSE’s into buying sub-prime mortgages and eventually their collapse. Frankly, in my opinion, Mr. Bove is correct, you will not hear me agree with Bove much I might add. Cuomo took the GSE’s and many banks to court because of discrimination, some of which I am sure is true, but his main problem was that banks were not loaning money to the poor. Now, I am not a rocket scientist, but I do know if you loan money to poor people who do not have the ability to pay back loans they will eventually default. The banks knew this and that is why they did not lend money to the poor, yes, some discrimination probably existed though.

Because of his zealous behavior we know have had to guarantee Freddie and Fannie for unlimited losses, which is also why the Fed will stop buying MBS’s as well because the GSE’s can now pick up the slack. With NY in such dire straits, and we are, is it wise to elect another lawyer to the governors position? I think not. Surprisingly, I actually like our current governor, who is a Democrat, because for all of his faults he realizes what a horrible position NY is in. He is actually trying to cut spending, but is met with the same corrupt response from the unions and Assembly that usually appears when you try to take money away from their interests.

Patterson is a mess and not the best person for the job, but I would vote for him over Cuomo any day of the week. Of course, Obama and other NY Democrats want him out, are you really surprised over the recent scandals breaking? My belief is that these timely scandals are appearing because Patterson is trying to cut spending which will impact many social programs like schools and welfare. Those are the Democrats pet projects and by cutting spending there, which is the primary reason for our fiscal distress I might add, he was a marked man and is now out.

Cuomo will be a party man upping the spending as much as the market will allow, but that will not be too much more given our deficits. He will do what he is told and not make those hard decisions because he is just like his father, a tax and spend liberal without the knowledge on how to pay for it. It is far easier to get reelected when you make your base happy and paper over the major problems. However, our problems here are so severe they cannot be papered over any longer. They have already robbed the highway and bridge trust fund to pay for the interest on our debt, that money was supposed to be secured for, well, highways and bridges.

How anyone can look to this man or to the Democratic Party in NY is beyond me. They have shown themselves to be horrible when it comes to financial issues and refuse to make the hard decisions. I am referring to NY Democrats not Democrats nationwide. I will not vote for him and I will find it difficult to vote for the Republican challenger, Rick Lazio is potentially the R’s candidate, because politics in NY have not changed. They simply pick the next person in line who is ‘due’ for the next run at a major office. I almost hope we go into receivership as it will let some sane court appoint conservator to get rip of the ridiculous contracts the unions have and, ultimately, uncover all of the corruption we know exists, but has been masterfully hidden from the public.

We Were a Little Off

Posted by Ray on September 29, 2008 under Main | Be the First to Comment

We figured Wachovia had until Wednesday at the latest for the bailout package to make a difference for them, Tuesday was a more likely scenario though. Based on what we saw, we figured National City would fall first followed by Wachovia. I guess at the end of the day it does not really matter.

Was this a bank failure? That depends on what you are looking at and who you believe. The FDIC arranged the sale to Citi which means that they were on the verge of failing. As you know, we made the call of who we thought could fail and most of the predictions were correct. We believe that National City is the next to go, unfortunately.

What is very sad is the fact that if the bailout package went through last week then this would not have happened. While we oppose this package it was goign to pass, that was a given. However, this package could have been completed on Thursday of last week, but Congress, in their infinite wisdom, decided to attach pork to the bill and then dragged their feet for 3 extra days.

Then, Yesterday, Pelosi, Reid, Frank and Dodd told us they have a bill and then proceeded to tell us how great they were for compromising on everything. What they didn’t tell you was that their incompetence cost us another huge bank with more waiting in the wings. To think that they saved us is just dumb, they are now part of the problem.

This was never a Republican or Democrat issue, this was an American issue and they failed us, miserably. We are nonpartisan, but believe that the dems, in this case, dropped the ball and should bear responsibility. While the republican administration and Congress screwed up, the dems had control for 2 years. The point is they need to politics on the sideline right now to fix this problem.

We have yet to get a copy of the plan as the website is still clogged, but we will voice our opinion on it when it is reviewed. Hold on as the next few days in the market are going to be a wild ride.

The Blame Game Begins

Posted by Ray on September 26, 2008 under Main | Be the First to Comment

It was bound to happen, soon rather than later, that Washington would start the blame game. Senator Reid was just on and said that this is a Republican problem. That is simply not true, totally.

We are not partisan, at all, but we do give the Republicans more blame than the Democrat’s for one simple reason, they had control for 6 years. However, for the last 2 years, the Democrat’s have been in control of Congress. To lay blame is just plain dumb right now. Both parties took money from the financial services industry, so to say one party is guiltier than the other is dumb. They are all crooks.

On another note, WaMu is now bought by J.P. Morgan for $1.9B in one of the most necessary buyouts of our lifetime. What is amazing is that WaMu had $330B in total deposits and they were bought for $1.9B… do you think there was a problem there?

While this buyout averted one major bank failure there are more to come. We have had 12 banks fail this year, but there are a few big ones to watch, specifically Wachovia. This bailout and now the politicizing of this event is just ridiculous and it will make this not work. We hate the bailout, as you already now, but at this stage it is going to be passed so these people, our elected officials, need to make sure we get the most equitable deal possible.

The thing is a farce, but if they are going to do it then they need to do it right.