Hillary took to the floor of the Senate today to lay our her plan for halting the economic meltdown, and her Senate staff has the video of her speech up online (along with the text of her speech) HERE. So folks, listen to what she's got to say. She's speaking about what needs to be done NOW to address the economic meltdown taking place up on Wall Street this week. She talks in detail for over 20 minutes and dammit it just breaks my heart that someone this capable and brilliant isn't headed to the White House this fall. But maybe this wise and mighty Senator from the Empire State can talk some sense into her collegues and the regulators out there. Check it out...
CLICK HERE to read the text of Hillary's speech calling for immediate action to halt this market crisis.
Ya know Hillary had some ideas on all this back in mid-March, 2007. She spoke before a meeting of the the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
So you've got CEO pay up. You've got corporate profits up. You've got productivity up, which means that we're all working harder than ever before. But the folks who are doing the work are not getting rewarded. And a lot of those folks during the 90s, when we created 22 million new jobs and lifted more people out of poverty than at any time in our history, they felt that we and our country were on the right track, didn't they? And they thought the sky was the limit. They were going to send that child to college. They were going to get that home. Well, now we are concerned, and NCRC has been sounding the alarm to try to wake us up for the last several years. Well, I sure hope we're awake now.
You can't be surprised, can you? Because the alarm bell about the subprime home market has largely gone unnoticed by this Administration because they keep arguing we have to give trillions of dollars of tax cuts for the wealthy. They keep arguing that a $9 trillion national debt and an increasing trade deficit -- the highest in history -- are signs of increasing strength. Well, I have to say that I don't buy that. I think there are trouble signs below the horizon. Maybe they're not as obvious to some, but you keep sounding that alarm. Because I believe that we've got to take action.
According to most recent statistics, delinquent payments now affect more than 13 percent of subprime loans in our country. That's the highest level in four years. Now, many would attribute this rise to unsophisticated homebuyers, even irresponsible buyers, or the subprime market itself. But the foreclosure rate for all mortgages increased by more than 17 percent in the last quarter of 2006. That's the highest foreclosure rate in four decades.
So when somebody tells you this subprime market thing is no big deal, or maybe, you know what, let the buyer beware, these folks signed on the dotted line, it's their responsibility. Ask them why the rate for all homeowners is so high. Because the economy is not supporting homeownership the way we need it to. And after all, in the absence of an alternative, the subprime market has opened the doors to millions of families and responsible lenders and the market are rightfully casting out some of the worst actors in the subprime industry. But the market will not address the millions of families trapped in unworkable mortgages, hounded by delinquency and facing the grim possibility of foreclosure.
Remember folks - this was back on March 17 15, 2007. Look at where we are now. Hillary was talking about this and mapping out solutions long before others realized we were headed for major trouble. Those subprime loans led to a lot of the problems on Wall Street today dammit, and no one in BushCo did anything about it. No oversight. No tightening of regulations. All the while the CEOs cooked the books so they could collect those nice fat bonuses for meeting targets and goals.
How long will it take for Bush to act now. Or will we have to wait until months into the next administration for solutions and results?
Sigh... if only they'd listened to her then, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess today. But noooooooo... they were too busy bashing her to listen to her wise words.
Maybe they'll listen to what she has to say today, since she's no longer a threat to DeanCo's sick plans for monumental losses in Congress and in the race for the White House.
"Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you?re knocked down, get right back up. And NEVER listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on."
Hillary Clinton - June 7, 2008
