The Interview Part II: The Economy, Low-Informed Voters and An Angry Caller

Welcome back and thanks for joining us here. Again, in the studio we are discussing the candidacy of Senator Obama. (turning to me)...

So now, let's discuss the economy.

Let's do.

How bad is it, do you think?

Well, I don't think its a great economy, but its not as bad as people... or the media... say it is.

How can you even say that, though? Mortgage companies like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae collapsing, the Lehman Bros., a Wall Street legend, collapses, AIG falls apart, people are losing money left and right and you can say the economy is "not as bad"?

Its not. Listen, when you are in a country where the NFL sells out most of its games at $50 per ticket, or Apple iPods are still huge sellers, or companies like DirecTV can make millions at providing satellite cable services, then no, the economy is not falling apart. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with the NFL, iPods or DirecTV, but people are spending money. The trouble is, they might not be spending as much for a while.

I know people who have lost money. Some have lost a few thousand, some tens of thousands, heck, my wife and I have lost a couple of thousand in our retirement... but the market will rebound. Strongly, if left alone. Capitalism works, when its left to work.

Capitalism didn't work with the mortgage industry, did it?

It would have.

Do you blame anyone for the mess? Can you pinpoint one party or another for whats happened?

Sure. The entire thing falls squarely on the shoulders of our American Democratic Party. Senator Obama. Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC). Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT). Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). Former President Clinton. Speaker Pelosi, Senate Leader Harry Reid. Thats just naming a few.

So you don't throw any Republicans in there? None at all? This is all the Democrats fault? You seriously believe that?

There might be a handful of Republicans who supported the Democrats in this, and there might be a handful of Democrats who opposed what was happening, but the blame pretty much falls on the American Left. Senator Obama and Senator Dodd have been out there screaming about having "oversight" in mortgage companies, and it was their oversight that forced banks to loan money to people who clearly couldn't pay it back.

And trust me, if there was a single Republican they could pin this on, there would be nonstop media coverage of hearings, investigations and so on, to destroy whoever it was and make him take the fall for it.

But the Democrats in Congress are looking for regulations and an overhaul of the system now. Doesn't that mean that...

...all that means is, they see where they screwed up and are trying desperately to cover their tracks. Bill Clinton even admitted it--he said, "I think the responsibility the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little bit on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Honestly, I don't think the American people have a clear understanding about how big this is, and how deeply the people who are in Congressional power currently are involved in this. President Bush not only warned Congress of this, he had plans to help stop it. Franklin Raines, who was appointed by Clinton and now works for Senator Obama, led Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and combined to loan over 1.5 trillion in loans to people. On September 11th, 2003, Bush proposed what the New York Times called "the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry..." The main point of the overhaul was the creation of an oversight agency for Fannie and Freddie.

But Democrats cried foul. Barney Frank said, "These two entities are not facing any kind of financial crisis", while Watt said that Bush was "weakening the bargaining power of poorer families."

But Bush should have stopped it, right? I mean, he was the President.

You'd think. He tried 11 different times between 2001 and 2007, and 17 different times in 2008 to try to stop this mess through legislation, and every time, he was thwarted by Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid. You said I didn't prop up McCain, well, here's one for ya... in 2005, McCain was urging for reform as well, saying, "if Congress doesn't act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie and Freddie pose to the housing market..."

2005? The Republicans had control of Congress then. Why didn't they pass it?

Because they couldn't get enough Democrats to join them. They controlled, but it wasn't filibuster-proof, as they say.

You mentioned Clinton's role in all this.

Yeah, that would be 1995's Community Reinvestment Act, which mandated--forced under the threat of lawsuits and fines--that banks lend to borrowers in poorer communities. And welcome to the Sub Prime Disaster.

So, the American Dream is not for everyone, huh? You own a home, right? Why shouldn't everyone be able to own a home?

That's a terrible line of thinking, and part of what got us into this. I do own a home, my wife and I bought one in February of this year... but after we got to the financial point of being able to pay for it. We paid off our debts, we found a house we could afford, bargained for a reasonable rate and bought. We didn't just expect the banks to give us whatever we wanted. In fact, our mortgage company told us we could get a home worth several tens of thousands more, but we declined... because we want to be able to pay for it.

Senator Obama has been talking about Bush Economics. Would you agree that Bush Economics led to part of what has happened? With the recession occurring?

What recession?

What recession? Seriously, d$? Have you been paying attention?

(chuckling) I've been paying attention. Actually, it makes me think of this week's Newsweek article, asking the question "What If Obama Doesn't Win?", and pointing out how far fetched that idea is--but it says if Obama doesn't win, it will be due to "low-informed voters voting for McCain". That made me laugh quite a bit. If anyone is "low-informed", it makes me think of people who blindly support Obama without knowing why.

Now I'm going to ask you about what you just said, but I want to hear your response on Bush Economics and this "non-recession" you have scoffed at.

Say what you want about the guy, but under President Bush, we had an extremely strong and robust economy in the first 6 years of his terms. Unemployment at record lows, the stock market strong, gas prices reasonable...

Let me stop you there. Perhaps you've seen the bumper sticker that says "When Bush Took Office, Gas Was $1.45"?

Yeah, I've seen them. There quite stupid actually. I mean, when Clinton took office in 1992, gas prices were 98 cents. So, gas prices were 1.45 when Bush took office in 2000. When the Democrats took over in 2006, gas prices were $2.34, an increase of 89 cents. In the last two years, I've paid anywhere from $2.50 to $4.50 per gallon. Go figure.

Back to the economy, though, Bush has had a great run on the economy. Bottom line is, the tax cuts worked. That puts more disposable income in your pockets. He did it twice, in the early 2000s, and then again a few years ago.

Senator Obama has vowed to cut those taxes though.

But how? He's also vowed to let the tax cuts expire in 2010, even though President Bush has lobbied for making those cuts permanent. Which means in 2010, you'll see your taxes go up, whether you make a million a year, or $20K per year. Your taxes will go up.

This whole notion of "people who make $250,000 or less won't see a single increase" is a flat out lie. A complete and total lie. Recently, however, Obama dropped the figure...

(video clip of Obama speaking) If you have a job, pay taxes and make less than $200,000 per year, you'll get a tax cut.

And then, Joe Biden lowered it even further on Monday.

(video clip of Joe Biden speaking) It [tax cuts] should go like it used to. It should go to the middle class, people making under $150,000 per year.

But let's face it, d$... whether you want to admit it or not, we are facing a tougher economy ahead of us. Those taxes might need to be used to "right the ship", or so they say.

Right, right... only Senator Obama doesn't care about "righting the ship". He cares about spreading the wealth. When he was told, flat out, that when Clinton lowered the capital gains taxes in the 90s, it led to huge economic groth, Obama--who plans to double it from 15% to 30% said, straight up, its not about income, its about fairness.

This is leading to an entirely different subject, and I do want to come back to this. But first, I wanted to back to what you said earlier, about the Newsweek article stating "McCain voters were low-informed", and you said that if anyone was "low-" or misinformed, it was Obama voters? Isn't that a little mean?

Perhaps. But I'm done with the niceties. People have to understand who this guy is. Senator Barack Obama is dangerous, and we are all aware that most of the public only know of the candidates what they read in headlines. All they see from Obama is that, he's different and for change. Well, they also see he's not George W. Bush, so they will take whatever change they can have, regardless of what change it is.

And the facts are that Obama is not even being who he is. If he were running a completely honest campaign, his slogans would be something like "Taking Your Money and Using it For Poor People" or "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You--Demand It". But he's not running on those platforms, because he'd never have a prayer.

The dirty little secret is, he has to "lean right" to be elected. Tax cuts is a conservative ideal...

(cutting me off) Now, come on. Cutting taxes is not only a conservative idea

Yeah, it kinda is. Liberals believe in higher taxes, more government, and less personal freedom. Conservatives believe in the opposite.

And you said that people are voting for him 'because he's not Bush'. In the same manner, aren't you voting for McCain because 'he's not Obama'?

That's one of my reasons, and I'll admit, one of my main ones. However, I'm also voting for McCain because I believe, out of the two, he can do the job correctly. He will keep the taxes lower, he'll concern himself with the well-being of national security and our military and hopefully, he'll start putting some doggone oil rigs in our country.

But people who vote for Obama? I have talked to over a dozen people, and they can't tell me ANYTHING Obama has done. Not a single thing. All they can say is, "Oh, well, he's not George W. Bush. Obama has ideas." And its the low-informed voter that cannot say what those ideas are, those ideas that they will be voting for. Those ideas include taking your hard earned money and giving it to people who don't work, those ideas include making abortion readily available to anyone who wants it, those ideas include possibly nationalizing your 401(k) for government use... these are all things that Obama won't talk about, because he knows it won't do him any good.

Before the break, we do have a caller on the line. Caller, go ahead, you are on the line with d$

Caller: Okay... you've got to stop this. Please don't continue. Seriously. Stop while you still have people reading. (dial tone)

Well, that was kind of to the point, I think. Well, d$, how about it? Why are you doing this interview? Aren't you really just preaching to the choir?

You could say that, I guess. The majority of people who take note of this probably agree with me, and I honestly don't expect to change anyone's minds directly. However, there are people out there that don't like Senator Obama, but don't have all the fact spelled out in front of them. And they are talking to people who love Obama, and probably don't have the facts with them either. Well, this is a good chance for people I know to help Obama supporters be a little more informed. And after its all said and done, and they vote for Obama, then at least they'll be aware of what they are wanting.

I noticed your counter on your blogpage as well.

Yeah... that made me laugh. After posting the transcript to Part I, by the end of the day, I've had over 30 page loads--thats not me hitting the refresh button 30 times, mind you, thats 30+ different computers pulling up my blogpage. I mean, tomorrow I may only have 5, I don't know. But someone was interested. Not that caller though (laughs)

(also laughing) Are you ready to get back to The Dave100, or other random blogs you do? And what is your favorite movie?

God yes. I am so ready for this election to be done and over with. But I want people to know whats going on first. And I can't tell my favorite yet. However, the next up is #80, and it stars Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey.

Well, when we come back, we talk about one of the most divisive comments in our country--Abortion. And, can McCain actually win this election? Coming up later, we ask the question, "Does Obama hate our Constitution?"

d$, via teaser clip: I really think he just doesn't like what our country is founded on. He truly thinks the founding fathers of this country was wrong

Back for more with d$. Stay with us.