A few interesting links for September 26th through September 27th:
- The Capitol Fax Blog » Not that you may care what I think, but… – "both candidates have no real clue how to execute pivots on a regular and effective basis. Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan were masters of this. Both need to watch tapes of those two guys. After McCain made the point about a federal earmark to study the DNA of bears, Obama could’ve come back with Gov. Palin’s request of a federal earmark to study the DNA of harbor seals. It would’ve been a great comeback line, and set up next week’s veep debate as well. The Obama zinger about Spain’s prime minister and McCain’s attenuated line about Obama’s fake presidential seal didn’t work because nobody in the target audience really understood what was going on.
Sharp pivots – when a candidate takes a big hit, turns it around and throws it right back at his opponent with devastating impact – usually end up being “grand slam” debate moments. Learning to pivot means you’ve learned how to win a debate."
- What Is This Money Even For? – "1% of all mortgages — the amount now in default — comes out to $111 billion. Triple that, and you've got $333 billion. Let's round that up to $350 billion. So even if we reach the point where three percent of all mortgages are in foreclosure, the total dollars to buy all those mortgages would be half of what the Bush-Paulson-McCain plan calls for.
a purchased mortgage isn't worth zero..come with property attached. Even with home prices falling and some of the homes lying around unsold, it's safe to assume that some portion of these values could be recovered. Then the real outlay for taxpayers would be $175 billion.Which, frankly, is a number that Wall Street should be able to handle without our help. After all, the top firms on Wall Steet payed out $120 billion in bonuses alone between 2000 and 2006. why do they need us to step in now? And why do they need twice as much as all the mortgages that are even likely to implode?"