... or least my version of it. I too burble over with cynicism at times and get it all over everybody else, and then my sense of civility leads me to cringe a little as I relax from my compelling, unsatiated urge to do something. :|

Somewhere in the annals of psychology there is written stages of grief or loss (or something). I feel like I, and perhaps others too, relive some of the stages repeatedly, but moving closer to acceptance all the time. By that I mean, more and more it feels like s**t is gonna hit the fan and I feel myself moving toward a protective, hunker down mode.

I don't know if I'm making sense, but I'm talking about something I don't really control. It happens to me, and around me. Very unsettling.

are working on in a particular case:

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke opposed a push to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgages higher than $417,000, saying it may undermine efforts to strengthen regulation of the two largest U.S. mortgage finance companies.

A proposal in Congress to increase the limit ``would be ill- advised if it has the practical effect of reducing the incentives to achieve meaningful'' regulatory tightening over the companies, Bernanke said in a Sept. 17 letter to Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Frank and other Democrats, seeking to reverse the biggest housing market slump in 16 years, have called on the Bush administration to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy bigger mortgages and expand their $1.5 trillion investment portfolios. The companies' regulator announced today it will allow the companies to annually increase their purchases of home loans and mortgage bonds by 2 percent.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0.agqXFxu_Y&refer=home

In my view, FDR would not have been on their side of the ball.

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

agree with Frank on this one either.

born an FDR Democrat, went far to the left as a kid, and returned to being one, as everyone one was taking the Dems away from labor and basic civil rights into "University sponsored" issues, like the environment, gender orientation, and all the other kinds of things we talk about on this site.

These other issues are ok with me, but when you lose sight of the middle class, which labor became in the 60's and 70's, and basic civil rights, you lose too many votes. And the Republican have stepped into power since the Rainbow Coalition.

Now here is Frank trying to get loans for someone in excess of 417k. That is nonsense and Paulson is starting to back his play:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Shifting course, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson planned to tell Congress that the Bush administration would consider allowing the big mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to temporarily buy, bundle and sell as securities loans exceeding $417,000.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070919/paulson_mortgages.html?.v=4

I don't know any FDR Democrats except me. Where'd we all go?

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

although I'm very sympathetic to that tradition. On the third book of Schlessinger's Roosevelt trilogy, which if you haven't read I expect you would enjoy.

Very interesting and unusual guy Roosevelt. Very flexible in his approaches to things, actually. He was interested in "what worked" and had a real care for ordinary people. He wanted things to "work" and was willing to keep trying until they did, and if one thing didn't seem to cut it, he'd try another.

There's not much I want more for the US than another Roosevelt.

Before you get on your high horse, a starter house in So Cal, where I live is $450k to $500k. Similarly in Hawaii. And these are 40 to 50 year old 1,200 sq ft, no basement, 3 bed 2 bath tract home in the cheapest city in the LA metro area.

STFU until you know why things are the way they are. Moron.

don't use words like moron for fellow commenters.

Where are your manners? Were you raised by wolves?

people went to California to die. I bid you to live life more abundantly somewhere else.

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

If mortgages weren't as easily available, then So. Cal. prices would return to reasonable levels instead of being several times higher than the national norms. Increase the limits and see housing prices soar even higher. Good for existing home owners, bad for the society.

I'm going to cut you some slack, this once. Neither Mauberly nor I are blaming the borrowers as a class, we just disagree that Franks is the best solution. You are assuming what our reasons are for opposing it. Given that Fannie Mae can't even produce an audited financial statement for the last few years, I really am not interested in letting them load up on more bad debt. It's a bad solution that will only pump up the bubble even more. There comes a time when you have to deflate bubbles.

See, for example this article.

However calling people f....s and morons is unacceptable behaviour. Please don't do it.

before coming on here and assigning beliefs to everyone. You are completely off-base in your criticisms.

anger management

but ad hominem attacks are the substance and stuff of a lot of other blogs. I don't post on them because, quite frankly, the space for polite reasoned discourse just doesn't exist.

Thank you for Agonist.

Hey, yesterday was talk like a pirate day.

If you're saying my response was ad hominem, you're mistaken.

...the other poster.