newsobserver.com projects - Brian Nick - Comments

Re: Hagan criticizes Dole over banking bill

Proctor — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:15:53 -0400

Sen. Dole has a strong and commendable record on banking oversight, and it is disappointing and surprising to see the Hagan campaign try to claim otherwise.

Sen. Dole was a leader in the Senate several years ago in recognizing and pointing out the need for regulatory reform and oversight of the sort which is now finally being discussed in both houses of Congress. Had she had more support in both parties in the U.S. Senate for her earlier analysis of structural banking problems and for her proposals to correct these systemic problems, the banking and finance sector of the American economy might not have had to face the crisis with which it now must contend.

David P. McKnight

Reform this...

scharrison — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:00:36 -0400

"Dole was right to propose reform when she did"

I'm not really sure tearing down two regulating bodies to replace them with one of your own that can be more easily manipulated is how voters these days would describe true reform. From S.190 (2005):

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-190

"SEC. 301. ABOLISHMENT OF OFHEO.

(a) IN GENERAL- Effective at the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the positions of the Director and Deputy Director of such Office are abolished.

SEC. 311. ABOLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE BOARD.

(a) IN GENERAL- Effective at the end of the 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Housing Finance Board (in this title referred to as the `Board') is abolished."

and in place of these bodies, we would get this:

"SEC. 1311. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY AGENCY.

`(a) ESTABLISHMENT- There is established the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Agency, which shall be an independent agency of the Federal Government."

the leadership of this *replacement* agency would (of course) be chosen by the President, and he/she in turn would choose everybody else:

"SEC. 1312. DIRECTOR.

`(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF POSITION- There is established the position of the Director of the Agency, who shall be the head of the Agency.

`(b) APPOINTMENT; TERM-

`(1) APPOINTMENT- The Director shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among individuals who are citizens of the United States, have a demonstrated understanding of financial management or oversight, and have a demonstrated understanding of capital markets, including the mortgage securities markets and housing finance."

Re: Hagan criticizes Dole over banking bill

CitizenOpinionated — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:23:19 -0400

Ryan:

Can you be anymore partial...seriously?

Everytime Kay Hagan opens her mouth or sends out a press release...it is run, yet in looking the Dole website, countless press releases are ignored. Unless the Dole campaign just mistakenly not sending them to you guys; I am left wondering, when you will give equal time. Dole warned against the financial meltdown three times and the need for regulation and oversight on Fannie and Freddie. These warnings were quickly negated by the Democrats and even squashed by one, Senator Charles Schumer. The same Charles Schumer that is financing Kay Hagan's campaign and the same one that received thousands in contributions from the executives and PACs of Fannie and Freddie. Essentially we are paying for the mistaes of the Democrats that are funding and strongly influencing this race, yet Hagan says it is Dole that is influenced by special interest. I guarentee you very few in North Carolina would ever vote for Schumer (Reps and Dems alike).

Honestly, if the Dems claim were true and this were the fault of the Republicans, then how come the witch hunt trials are not starting. Given the majority of the Democrats, it is a certainity that they would demand investigations.

Kay Hagan never said that Bear Stearns benefitted

betsybarnet — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:38:51 -0400

Dole's mouthpiece is just making stuff up. Gee Ryan, I'm so used to you artificially balancing your work I figured fo' sho' you'd correct Dole's mouthpiece in your post.

Oh...and Bear Stearns collapsed/was purchased by JP Morgan back in March....not last month.

Elizabeth Dole Was Right!

CarltonH — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:22:36 -0400

So I suppose capitalism and the free market are flawed then. Let's just take a page out of Hugo Chavez's book and propose government management of any industry it chooses. BTW Venezuela is suffering from hyper inflation thanks to the policies of Chavez, which isn't enough to deter Democrats who wish to mimic such policies here in the US.

Hagan has no room to criticize Dole since her New York sugardaddy, Chuck Schumer, was intimately involved in the efforts to block proposed reform in Fannie and Freddie back in 2005. Dole was right to propose reform when she did, and was opposed by Democrats who love to criticize Wall Street while having no problem raking in the same company's cash. I almost hope you Democrats put people like Schumer and the pride of Massachussetts, Barney Frank, in charge of our financial system so we can see how ethically bankrupt and inept they are at fixing America's problems.

"Total lack of understanding"

scharrison — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:42:02 -0400

Is exactly how I would describe Senator Dole's behavior by authoring and pushing this legislation. Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted specifically because companies like Enron etal demonstrated they could not and would not properly perform internal audits, and even if they did, they couldn't be trusted to properly report said audits.

If Dole had presented this legislation 3-4 years ago, it would merely have represented her flawed free-market beliefs. But by her pursuing this as recently as March of this year, in the midst of a crumbling economy due mainly to extremely bad judgment on the part of the banking industry, this shows either a total misunderstanding of what caused the current crisis or a total disregard for this country's economic health. Or maybe even both...

Re: Ryan

j1c2kp — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:31:46 -0400

Okay I give up trying this route to find out where Bob Dole is registered to vote. I'll try the Washington Post.

Ryan

j1c2kp — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:25:30 -0400

Perhaps you have already printed this information previously, but where is Bob Dole registered to vote? Can he even vote for his wife?

Liddy and Bob

j1c2kp — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:09:50 -0400

I'll ask again, does anyone know where Bob Dole is registered to vote? If it's not NC then that makes it quite obvious that Miss Liddy's role in NC is a sham. Oh what am I saying, the woman hasn't lived in NC for 40 or 50 years???

Re: Dole in N.C. less than two weeks in '06?

j1c2kp — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:16:48 -0400

Where is Bob Dole registered to vote?? And Dan Besse, I really liked your comment.

Re: Dole in N.C. less than two weeks in '06?

piperscot — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:01:54 -0400

If I am not mistaken, Sen. Dole served as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for 2005 and 2006. I'd bet that she had to spend a lot of her time traveling around the country, trying to raise money, protect senate seats and still doing her job.

Re: Dole in N.C. less than two weeks in '06?

lefaim — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:43:32 -0400

And yet they can't provide a single receipt for any of those trips?

Here is the deal, she is supposed to represent us, yet spent less than a year total in our state for the first 5 years she was a Senator. That is pathetic.

Re: Dole in N.C. less than two weeks in '06?

cmitchz — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:45:54 -0400

zzzz

Re: Dole in N.C. less than two weeks in '06?

AquaMan — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 16:57:48 -0400

she has the money for gasoline to get here, if she can find it

Re: Dole in N.C. less than two weeks in '06

danbesse — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:37:43 -0400

Sen. Dole is always a welcome visitor to North Carolina. Tourism is an important industry in our state.