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Tuesday, November b, aoio I The Rid a Black
BmM Burnett | Editor In Chief editor@randb.com
Carey OtM | Managing Editor me@randb.com
Coartaay Holbrook | Opinions Editor optnions@randb.com
Economic woes
not Bush’s fault
Blame Game:
Washington Points
to Wall Street,
Democrats Point to
Republicans.
Instead of asking who
did it, why not ask, how
did it happen?
While President Bush
obviously had many faults,
I’m not one to put the
weight of our recession on
his shoulders.
Asa Republican, lam
continuously hearing
Democrats defend Obama
in this election cycle by
saying he hasn’t whipped
the economy into tip-top
shape because he’s been
cleaning up the mess Bush
left behind.
I would like to suggest
the possibility that this
recession isn’t the result of
Bush’s time in office.
There are three factors
to consider when you ana
lyze how we got into this
mess: the housing market,
Wall Street and certain
sectors of the federal gov
ernment.
While these three seem
ingly separate entities
don’t necessarily operate
as one, they are linked in
many ways.
We all remember hear
ing about how selfish Wall
Street executives were to
blame for the fallout. But
how many people actually
know what it is they did
that caused the blame to
fall on them?
It starts with turning
mortgages into something
to invest in, called mort
gage backed securities.
By putting a large
group of mortgages into a
single package, the inter
est derived can result in a
great deal of money.
Simply put, Wall Street
was finding ways to make
money off of other peo
ple’s mortgage debts.
What makes this prac
tice so risky is the issuing
of subprime mortgages,
which are home loans to
people who wouldn't nor
mally qualify for such large
amounts of lending.
The idea was to provide
the opportunity to be a
homeowner to as many
Americans as possible.
A nice thought, right?
Some of you might
remember hearing about
Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac falling under govern
ment control at the begin
ning of the recession.
If not, it’s probably
because no one really
seemed to know what
those organizations were,
and the downfall of other
financial powerhouse insti
tutions such as Bear
Steams, J.P Morgan and
Lehman Brothers caught
people’s attention.
Fannie and Freddie
were, and still are, govern
ment-sponsored entities
charged with expanding
the secondary mortgage
market through mortgage
backed securities.
In 1999, Fannie Mae
came under pressure from
the Clinton administration
to expand mortgage loans
to low and moderate-in
come borrowers, also
known as subprime mort
gages.
The issuance of more
mortgages allowed for the
creation of new mortgage
backed securities. But as
the number of subprime
loans went up, so did the
risk of default on the secu
rities.
soundbfte
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HR Thomas
Ledbetter
This practice continued
from 1999 until 2008.
Enter the housing mar
ket. Since mortgages were
easier to obtain, the
demand for additional
housing rose.
Home builders enjoyed
years of consistent work,
and with the continued
rise in home values, they
couldn’t build them fast
enough.
Problems arose when
the mortgage responsibili
ties became too great for
these iower-income fami
lies, and they defaulted on
their loans.
Obviously the loans
themselves fell through,
but with the issuance of
these securities, there was
an entirely separate cate
gory of invested money
that also became worth
less.
Suddenly there was an
over-supply of homes.
Not only are mortgages
being defaulted upon, but
building loans are default
ing.
Home builders are try
ing to pay the loan pay
ments on houses that
aren’t selling. Those home
building loans collapse in
on themselves, as do the
subprime mortgages to
the lower-income families
which results in the col
lapse of the mortgage
backed securities.
With so many different
individuals, families, busi
nesses and institutions
revolving around this mar
ket for home loans, the
collapse of this market is
disastrous for Americans
across the country.
Wall Street falls, home
builders fall, banks forced
to issue loans by govern
ment mandates fall, gov
ernment-sponsored enti
ties fall —and families
overwhelmed with debt
they couldn't handle fall.
I think part of the prob
lem is that we’ve given the
government a lot of power
over our economy.
When they have some
thing to do with a large
downturn, we have a hard
er time tracing the poor
polices back to their spon
sors and holding them
responsible.
If the parties involved
in an economic crisis were
privately owned they
would be held responsible
by the loss of their busi
ness or criminal charges.
I’m not trying to argue
either way for Democrats
or Republicans.
My goal is simply to
inform my peers on this
election day.
Instead of pointing fin
gers and letting our “lead
ers” say this recession is
someone else’s fault, why
don’t we accept it has
happened, analyze how it
happened and begin the
rebuilding of our collapsed
house?
The best way to know
where you’re going is to
recognize where you’ve
already been, and do your
best to leam from your
mistakes.
Thomas Ledbetter is
a senior from Carrollton
majoring in finance
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Opinions
*■ > \4^bi^^Sh
What happened to election dreams?
We are who we’ve been wait
ing for.
...Right?
Almost exactly two years ago
today, 53 percent to 46, Barack
Obama was elected to the presi
dency over wax-figure-in-waiting
John McCain.
What sort of “we” have we been
for him in the interim?
Better yet, what sort of “he" has
Obama been, anyway?
The Republicans have an
answer: frankly, they have too
many.
He’s a tyrant! He’s a terror!
Well, I don’t mean to show a
bias, but—
Obama, you’re a martyr.
Or, perhaps to slightly re-jigger
this religiously-tended label, he’s
self-crucifying.
Oh, of course, how can I forget?
He passed a historic yes, that’s
right. Newt Gingrich devotees and
devourers of all things Glenn Beck:
historic healthcare reform bill,
oversaw legislation regulating pred
atory credit lending laws and nomi
nally ended the Iraq War.
And there are still 1,051,200 min
utes left.
Remember: two years ago, this
column was unnecessary, its senti
ment irrelevant, unrealized.
Handily maneuvering an election
season that climaxed with an eco
nomic crater, Obama, our then-sen
ator; soon-leader, stood before the
crowd and his victory.
“This is our moment. This is our
time,” he said. “[To] reaffirm that
fundamental truth: out of many, we
Fahrenheit does not
promote homophobia
In response to Polina Marlnova’s
article (“Student accuses
Fahrenheit bar of discriminating,”
Nov. 1) and Blake Pippin's border
line libelous accusations that
Fahrenheit may be homophobic or
discriminatory.... Now being a gay
male who spends a lot of time in
that bar, I get the exact opposite
treatment that he claims to have
received there, and I am appalled.
It’s a sad day and age when peo
ple pull out the “gay card" for each
and every transaction in their lives
that does not go their way. In actu
ality, if they don’t like the color of
your fingernail polish or the bushi
ness of your eyebrows, they do not
have to let you in and/or serve you
in their establishment, period.
All of that being said, I attend
that bar just about every time I
decide to venture downtown with
large groups of gay men and have
never had a problem or felt dis
criminated against.
In fact, I have performed the
“Single Ladles” dance by Beyonc6
in its entirety at the bar on at least
30 occasions after asking the bar
tender to play the song for that
purpose.
My friends and I are not shy
when it comes to wearing blatantly
“gay” clothing or being as openly
gay in our actions, and Fahrenheit
has never treated us unfairly
because of such. Being gay males in
a small community, we should all
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Our Staff
A Adam
Uy Carlson
are one; that while we breathe, we
hope, and where we are met with
cynicism, and doubt, and those
who tell us that we can’t, we will
respond with that timeless creed
that sums up the spirit of a people:
yes we can.”
...Right?
The hundred-thousand minutes
that have intervened since would
disagree, with both sides rearing
their ugly apathetic heads.
No, Obama didn’t repeal “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell.”
No, he didn’t do much with cli
mate change.
And no, he never came close to
passing comprehensive immigra
tion reform in his first year.
But look at us: apathy has found
its twin.
No, we didn’t scale our expecta
tion.
No, we didn’t tamp down the
hype.
No, we didn’t reckon the circum
stances of the situation against the
measure of the man and his office.
Instead, we called out, deriding
or demanding or complaining:
He’s a Kenyan-fascist-Marxist
socialist-terroristic-lying-cheating
huckster who shambled into office
while the country burned!
There is, beneath the multi-hy-
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from our readers
be very weU aware of this concept.
If the keynote speaker at a Mothers
Against Drunk Driving conference
picked up a DUI on the way there,
they probably aren’t going to on
the VIP list for next year’s events.
If you and/or your friends have
to be kicked out of a bar on several
occasions, then you’ve probably
gained a not-so-pleasant reputa
tion. Now that might not be fair,
but “not fair” is not homophobia.
If I was on the receiving end of
an unwanted water hose or denied
entry for my wardrobe choices, I
would be upset and embarrassed.
But unwanted and unwarranted
are two different things. If you
angered the bartender and/or
owner to the point that he sprayed
water at you (which was probably
preceded with a warning), let’s
chalk up his reaction to being an
overreaction, not homophobia. In a
town where minors often illegally
attempt to enter bars, many fight
and others vomit in bars regularly,
having little tolerance for foolish
ness (which often includes dress
code) is essential to maintaining
order.
They degraded and embarrassed
a guest in their bar, which may not
be standard protocol or an act of
kindness, but the Better Business
Bureau won’t be coming for them
or anything. Not everything is
because you’re gay, sometimes it is
just... you.
PHILLIP HENRY
Rmmtcli Assistant, Athens
Biology, Synageva Biopharma
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Crtaft* AMtotent: 0M( Scatoraugh
Phone (706) 433-3002 | Fax (706) 4333033
opinionß@rKndb.oom | www.redandblack.com
540 Baxter Street, Athens, Ga. 30605
phenated superlatives, a kernel of
truth, worn over by agitation into
agitprop.
How does that wonderful old cli
che go?
“You campaign in poetry and
govern in prose.”
Our president does neither:
He leads too often in
silence.
Or, if not silence, then the
appearance of it; and in the hall of
mirrored media we live in, with
truth refracting back on itself,
appearance is everything.
Obama has become the occa
sionally stony face he puts on, just
as Bush became his smirk and
Clinton his oily charm.
So here we sit, two years in,
across a divide not so much a mat
ter of liberal or conservative as
wanters and doers.
We America want and judge
and require.
He Obama does and does
not.
The stalemate continues, doing
and wanting spiraling endlessly on:
one and the other; one and the
other; one and the other...
Here’s to two years of the pro
cess, and two years more.
To anniversaries! To that
Tuesday night!
Remember?
We had a dream, once.
So who woke up first?
Adam Carlson is a sophomore
from Hiram majoring in magazines
and film studies and is a variety
writer for The Red & Black
Hunting does not help
lower deer population
Samantha Shelton’s editorial
(“Let hunters help keep roads
safe," Nov. 1) shows the kinds of
detestable attitudes that lead to
animal abuse. Her argument that
killing deer will make our roads
safer is absurd.
Hunting does very little, if any
thing to reduce wildlife popula
tions.
Eliminating a few deer simply
removes competition for food
sources, allowing populations to
quickly balance out.
Deer populations remain high in
large part because overpopulation
is deliberately encouraged so that
people can continue to hunt.
Immunocontraception and steril
ization techniques are far more
humane and effective.
Hunting for sport is a despicable
act.
I am fhlly supportive of some
one’s right to hunt for food so that
she or he doesn’t have to buy meat
from a supermarket or farm.
But sport hunting does not save
human lives or make the world a
safer place.
Perhaps we would all be safer if
gun-toting lunatics who murder
helpless wildlife because they find
it enjoyable weren’t roaming our
streets.
ADRIAN FOSTER
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