Comments for Tell the Post: Lobbyists and Politicians Don't Always Say What They Believe at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.cepr.net Sun, 19 May 2013 11:44:31 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/tell-the-posts-lobbyists-and-politicians-dont-always-say-what-they-believe/#comment-1040 What a surprise - politicians and lobbyists both lie to the press and anyone else they think might swallow their bilgewater. Best to hold politicians accountable for what they do and ignore altogether anything lobbyists say. - Queen of Sheba Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:56:47 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/tell-the-posts-lobbyists-and-politicians-dont-always-say-what-they-believe/#comment-1023 Reporters reported that lobbyists for the bottle and can drink industry were [i]worried[/i] about people not having enough water who could suffer serious health problems due to regulations that restrict access to natural sources of potable water. Lobbyists said higher prices for private water based products like bottled water not only prevent the moral hazard of overconsuming underpriced water, but induce the net production of more total potable water, not the substitution of existing amounts of natural water that supply municipal water plants for pennies a gallon, and anyone who disputes this is a zero sum socialist. Reporters also reported that lobbyists were [i]worried[/i] about crime as well, since the recession has caused more unemployed homeless to trespass into gated areas and use lawn sprinklers for a quick shower bath when they could just grab a quart of mineral water from a convenience store and use that. - izzatzo Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:12:31 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/tell-the-posts-lobbyists-and-politicians-dont-always-say-what-they-believe/#comment-1022 The subject was: "The Republican Motion to Recommit H.R. 5072, the FHA Reform Act, would amend the bill to prohibit individuals who strategically default on their mortgage from accessing the FHA program and protect taxpayers from financing a bailout of FHA programs." And Dean wrote: "But Republicans in Congress aren't interested in leaving things to the market. They were concerned that too many homeowners were acting in their own best interest and thereby hurting the banks. So they decided to have Big Government step in and create an additional sanction for homeowners who strategically default." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-baker/free-market-fundamentalis_b_611659.html That position can be attacked with the exact same logic that Dean used to attack the Post: -- If Dean argued that there should be no consequences for people walking away from their debts, he would probably find little sympathy from the general public. Therefore, he must find some argument about how action to impose consequences is actually a plot to help banks, no matter that 50% of the mortgage accrue to the federal budget. -- More facts on what proportion of mortgage losses will accrue to the Federal Government: "Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA and the Veterans Administration backed nearly 97% of home mortgages in the first quarter of this year, ..." "Fannie and Freddie ... Together they own or guarantee almost 31 million home loans worth about $5.5 trillion. That's about half of all mortgages." http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2010-06-16-fannie-freddie_N.htm So, the Federal Government has a real interest in minimizing its mortgage losses. And no, "carried interest", the deal manager's tax loophole, should not be taxed at a lower rate than income, when there is no capital invested. - AndrewDover Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:59:26 +0100