Some lively discussion. The biggest errors, imo, were no mention of Senators Dodd and Frank. If Gramm is #1, which I don't necessarily disagree with, Dodd and Frank should be numbers 2 & 3. Putting the American Consumer as #5 is so absurd it's not even worth discussion, other than the fact that if you're going to include a "group" on the list, then were the hell is Acorn? Finally, Madoff has no place on the list. He should be swinging from a rope for sure, but he doesn't belong on this list.
My point was Joe $ixpack doesn't *need* to spend $100/mo on cable, he doesn't *need* a McMansion, his wife doesn't *need* a $50K car on the driveway. Yet they go blow whatever money they not only earn but borrow as well, fuck it all up and then turn around and want government help to boot! Where the hell are these peoples' priorities???
Youâre right people should get their priorities straight. Instead spending it on the cable bill they should send it to Chase who triples their interest despite their perfect credit history so that Joe 3 button suit can get a $10 million bonus instead of 5. They should definitely drop Showtime to pay for their annual health insurance hike. You people are so set on trashing the little guy for spending a few hundred dollars on a few small luxuries, meanwhile you sit idly by and say nothing when corporations and the rich and sometimes the government rape them out of billions of dollars. Why do you talk about the wife not âneeding a 50k carâ but capping executive pay for bailout companyâs is a rediculous Socialistic notion? You know there are a lot of people out there that live within their means, yet still struggle to just stay afloat. Youâre hell bent on blaming them for their situations instead of trying to fix a problem. Take a drive around your neighborhood, do you see McMansions everywhere. Unless I'm mistaken all of those apartments and condos and townhouses have people living in them. Stop listening to Hannity and start figuring out how to help people get back on their feet. Once you do that, then you can blame them for their "mistakes".
The debate you and sandy are having provides an excellent illustration of what the powers that be are most adept at...divide and conquer. While we the commoners fight amongst ourselves, they merrily go on their way quite unscathed comparatively speaking. The people depend on the so-called experts to tell the truth. When the experts lie, misrepresent, and commit outright fraud then it should come as no surprise that joe six pack will make bad decisions. Joe six pack certainly played a part, but doing even the most elementary root cause analysis will point to the government, corporate America,(arguably the same thing), Wall Street Institutions and the mortgage industry as the source of the problem.
How about Woodrow Wilson at #1 for signing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 into law? "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -Woodrow Wilson
The fact that Paulson is on the list and Bob Rubin is nowhere to be seen says it all. Then again if I were to compile a list of 25 influential publications Time magazine would be missing from the list too......
I don't really trust Time in any way, how was it done? Did they have 30 people you could vote for? Greenspan should be much higher, as should secretary of treasuries.
It's impossible to rate this using individuals as no single individual stands out. It must be rated in the form of a tier. Tier one would be, in no particular order, Greenspan, Gramm, Dodd, Frank, Cox, and all the rating agencies. Tier two would be Raines, Mozilo, The Sandlers, Paulson, Bernake, Gietner, ACORN, and the eight big wall street firms. Tier three would be Bush, Clinton, Carter and Reagan. Tier four is everybody else.