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PAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-367-2490 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com Opinion “Where the press is free and every tnan able to read, all is safe.” — Thomas Jefferson Hoping to keep ‘Black Days’ at bay The photos are grim. Men in soup and bread lines. Women cooking meals in shacks. Houses with “For Sale” signs. “Evacuation Sale. Furniture Must Be Sold.” “This property for sale.” Dry expanses of nothingness. Worried, lined faces. On the heels of the “Roaring Twenties,” it’s hard to believe those photos show America. And considering the crisis we face today, it's eerie to see all the foreclosure signs. True, the Great Depression coincided with the Dust Bowl years, but the collapse of the stock market, the fail ure of banks and the onset of that financial crisis came first. “Black Sunday,” as it was called, was a day in April 1935 when the sky turned black over the plains from so many dust storms. But before “Black Sunday,” there was “Black Friday” and “Black Tuesday.” “Black Friday” was the September 1869 stock market crash in the United States, while “Black Tuesday” was so called on October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed. I also find this line, written in an article, “Stock Market Crash of 1929: The Week That Broke the American Economy,” to be resonant of some of today’s issues, what with the impending election: “Although it is not entirely clear what exactly caused this disaster, many economists agree on the Boom-bust theory to explain what happened. Whatever caused the crash, its consequences affected American consumption, banking, and the economy in general. The disaster was tragi cally predictable, and President Hoover responded cautiously at first. However, Hoover’s successor, President Roosevelt, quickly and vigorously tried to restore confidence, fix the economy, and prevent another financial catastrophe.” Another article on the Great Depression says that economic crises — “panics” or “depressions” — historically have come around about every 20 years. The 1930s, stemming from the 1929 crash, were different, in that the depression — coming to warrant a capital “D,” as in Great Depression — was more severe than any the country had seen. Some economists attribute that not only to the stock market crash and stock speculation, but also to an already weakened economy and “the worldwide interdependence of economies.” Sound familiar? The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1939 and was eased by the start of World War II. A relief and a tragedy rolled into one. Of course, we are at war now. I am certainly no economist, but I wouldn’t say the war has been an economic boon. What will pull us out of this decline? Let’s hope it’s not another world war. Actually, there is another “Black” day in the United States, one that started in the 1970s and was touted as an economic boost, rather than a drain. It’s another “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving, when consumers are urged to rush out to the stores and spend, spend, spend in prepa ration for Christmas. In the black, not in the red. I suspect on this year’s “Black Friday” (and let’s hope it’s the only kind we have), the stores will be less crowded than usual. Let’s also hope that we are on the verge of a “panic” or a “depression” with a lower case “d,” rather than one that will come to warrant a “D.” jana a. mitcham Jana Adams Mitcham is features editor of The Jackson Herald, a sister publication of The Banks County News. E-mail comments about this column to jana @ mainstreetnews. com. The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. Mike Buffington Co-Publisher Scott Buffington Co-Publisher Angela Gary Editor Chris Bridges Sports Editor Sharon Hogan Reporter Anelia Chambers Receptionist Suzanne Reed Church News Phones (all 706 area code): Angela Gary Phone 367-2490 Angela Gary Fax 367-9355 Homer Office Phone 677-3491 Homer Office Fax 677-3263 (SCED 547160) Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 Subscription in county $19.75 Subscription in state $38.85 Subscription out of state $44.20 Military with APO address $42.20 Senior citizens get a $2 discount "At least we won’t have to worry about traffic congestion for awhile!" How the crisis came to Georgia When Congress gets around to investigating the genesis of the current financial crisis, for mer Gov. Roy Barnes and Gov. Sonny Perdue may be among the first witnesses called to Washington to testify. Here’s why: The first battle of the cur rent financial market crisis was not fought in Congress this week and the first casualties were not Lehman Brothers or the American taxpayers. The first battleground of this con flagration was actually in the Georgia General Assembly in 2002 and 2003, and the first casualties were Roy Barnes’ re-election and Georgia’s homeowners. In 2002, when Clinton/Obama pal Franklin Raines was making millions mismanaging Fannie Mae, and McCain campaign manager Rick Davis’ lobbying firm was being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by Fannie/ Freddie’s Homeownership Alliance, Barnes saw what was coming and tried to do some thing about it. Digging through the rubble of Wall Street and the $700 billion-plus bailout (more than the total budget of the last Carter adminis tration), it is reasonable to ask: how did we get here, and what was Barnes trying to do? Barnes believed the best way to keep banks from ripping off Georgia homeowners was to stop Wall Street from investing in such prac tices. He proposed and passed a state law to clean up the lending business in Georgia. One of the strongest tenets of the Barnes law in 2002 was the arcane notion of “assignee liability.” It held that assignees of the loan — those Wall Street firms that bought bundles of loans that we the taxpayers of today are going to have to take off their hands for pennies on the dollar — would have been liable for any of the shenanigans that led to the sub-prime loan being made in the first place. These titans of finance would have been responsible for such monumental tasks as making sure the original bank closing the loan did basic under writing to determine whether the borrower could actually repay the loan. Reporting on the Barnes law, Newsweek recently wrote, “The 2002 law made everyone up the line, including investment banks on distant Wall Street and rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s, legally liable if the loans they sold, securitized or rated were deemed unfair.” “There has to be accountability,” Barnes told Newsweek. “In the end you have to be able to say, do I really want to make this loan? Because I may have to eat it.” “A victory for Georgia consumers,” the Atlanta Journal- Constitution called the new law, which was also hailed by AARP and the NAACP. When Barnes started talking about account ability the K-Street crowd marched on Georgia. Barnes found himself besieged by lobbyists from major banks and national regulators — as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ...” (Newsweek, “Predators’ Ball,” Aug. 18-25, 2008) While those well- heeled banking lobby ists weren’t able to stop Barnes’ bill in 2002, they recognized that they had to make an example out of Barnes and Georgia to prevent other states from considering their own similar reforms. The bankers and Wall Street money men poured money and support into Sonny Perdue’s and the Republicans’ coffers in 2002. After beat ing Barnes Sonny and company took away any real possibility for assignee liability as they dismantled Barnes’ earlier hard-fought consumer victory. Afterward, no state took up assignee liability again. With any possibility of liability lifted from their shoulders for any of the abuses that were clearly evident in some of these loans, the Wall Street bankers continued to bundle and repackage the loans with similar loans from all across the country. They sold them far and wide with no care or concern for the viability of the underlying transactions. In fact, Fannie and Freddie became the top purchasers and bundlers of sub-prime loans from 2002 on. Of course today they are wards of the taxpayers to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. After the geniuses in Washington get through figuring out whether John McCain is a hypocrite for decrying lobbyists and then hiring Rick Davis of the Freddie/Fannie Homeownership Alliance or whether Franklin Raines really advises Obama on the economy, Congress should hold hearings and get to the bottom of this mess — the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. The first wit ness should be Barnes, who can explain what it was he saw, what he tried to do to prevent it and how his efforts to protect consumers would have actually been in the best interests of Wall Street. The second witness should be Perdue, to explain how and why Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the rest of the bankers (some gone or soon to be gone) convinced him to make Georgia more “business friendly.” You can reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 2520. Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail: shippl@bell- south.net, or Web address: billshipponlinecom. Letters to the editor policy given The Banks County News has established a policy on printing Letters to the editor. We must have an original copy of all letters that are submitted to us for publica tion. Members of our staff will not type out or hand-write letters for people who stop by the office and ask them to do so. Letters to the editor must also be signed with the address and phone number of the person who wrote them. The address and phone number will be for our verification purposes only and will not be printed unless the writer requests it. Mail to, The Banks County News, P.O. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547. E-mailed letters will be accepted, but we must have a contact phone number and address. Letters that are libelous will not be printed. News department contact numbers Anyone with general story ideas, com plaints or comments about the news department is asked to call editor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490. She can also be reached by e-mail at AngieEditor@aol.com. Anyone with comments, questions or suggestions relating to the county board of commissioners, county government, coun ty board of education and crime and courts is asked to contact staff reporter Chris Bridges at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at chris @ mainstreetnews.com. Bridges also is sports editor of the paper and covers local high school, middle school and recreation sports. Anyone with comments, questions or suggestions relating to Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville, should contact Sharon Hogan at 706-367-5233 or by e-mail at sharon @ mainstreetnews.com. Calls concerning the City of Maysville should go to staff reporter Justin Poole at 706-367-2348 or e-mail him at justin@ mainstreetnews.com. Calls for information about the church page should go to Suzanne Reed at 706-677-3491. Church news may also be e-mailed to churchnews@mainstreetnews.com. The Banks County News website is updated throughout the week and may be accessed on the Internet at www.banksnewsTODAY.com. Arrival of fall brings needed change for soul “Deep inside, we 're still the boys of autumn, that magic time of the year that once swept us onto America’s fields.'' — Archie Manning • •• I was all set to write a column about politics this weeks. With the presidential election clos ing in I had several items to discuss. However, with the arrival of fall for another year I figure politics can wait for another week anyway. Fall is my favor ite season of the year and I wanted to give it a just welcome with this week’s column. As I drove through the middle of Homer Monday afternoon the leaves were actually falling off several trees near David and Katie’s store. It was a true sign of fall if there ever was one. I realize the tem peratures still have a ways to drop before we truly sense fall in the air but I can feel it: fall is not far off. With that in mind I wanted to share a few things which make fall my favorite time of the year: •fall festivals which include every thing from Halloween carnivals to apple celebrations to corn mazes to parades. •the colors of fall from light brown to blazing orange to bright yellow. This is one time of the year I would truly hate to be color blind. •pumpkin pie and any food associ ated with the months of September, October and November. •high school football games once the weather begins to cool. The first games of the season are always too hot. Players struggle to stay hydrated and always run the risk of serious health issues because of the heat. Things are always much better for the players once the temperatures drops. The games are more enjoy able for fans as well. •being able to ride down the road without having to turn the air condi tioner on. There’s something about being able to roll the car window down slightly and enjoy the fresh air without it being too stifling. •sleeping at night with the need for the air conditioner wrecking havoc on your sinuses and causing a coughing fit when you get out of bed in the morning. •knowing that the grass won’t need cutting much more for another year. •daylight arriving earlier in the morning. (It makes it easier for me to get out of bed as daylight is my body’s natural alarm clock!) •seeing signs for various politi cal candidates dot the highways and byways (see I did work a little poli tics into this week’s column!). •memories of playing football in a friend’s backyard and not worrying about getting hurt. •seeing houses as I drive home from work decorated with fall themes including bales of hay, pumpkins, colorful flower arrange ments and the like. •homecoming bonfires and spend ing time with friends. •Halloween. I’m not a big fan of candy but I am a horror movie buff. I usually spend the entire week look ing through my collection, re-watch ing some of my favorites. A Vincent Price classic or two almost always make their way to the surface each Halloween week for viewing. •memories of Keith Jackson call ing the college football game of the week. I know he’s retired now, but there’ll never be another one like him. •the first frost of the year and beauty that comes with it in the early morning. chris bridges Chris Bridges is a reporter for The Banks County News. E-mail com ments about this column to him at chris@mainstreetnews.com.