Obama's March, 2007, Letter to Bernanke and Paulson

Andrew Sullivan has a post that highlights the difference between Barack Obama and John McCain and the current economic crisis. In my view, in order to deal with a crisis, one has to recognize the problem on a timely basis. In the case of John McCain, a few short weeks ago McCain was repeatedly stating that the fundamentals of the economy were basically sound. Obviously, such statements were not in sync with reality. In contrast as far back as MARCH 2007, Obama showed that he recognized the nature of the growing problem overtaking the US economy. Sadly, rather than recognize the problems and formulate a way to deal with them, the McCain/Palin tickets' sole solution to everything is to spread vicious lies and half truths attacking Obama's character and/or patriotism. Here are some highlights from Andrew's post:

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I posted this rather prescient letter from Obama to Bernanke and Paulson last March. The letter itself is dated March 22, 2007. As with Obama's warnings about the possible consequences of occupying Iraq, I think this letter is worth considering as we face the consequences of the financial mortgage-rooted meltdown in the credit markets and consider the two candidates. Money quote:

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We cannot sit on the sidelines while increasing numbers of American families face the risk of losing their homes. And while neither the government nor the private sector acting alone is capable of quickly balancing the important interests in widespread access to credit and responsible lending, both must act and act quickly...There is an opportunity here to bring different interests together in the best interests of American homeowners and the American economy. Please don't let this opportunity pass us by.

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Remember: from March 2007. Wouldn't it be great to have a president who actually anticipated problems rather than grappled with them after the fact? Read the full letter here:

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Dear Chairman Bernanke and Secretary Paulson,
There is grave concern in low-income communities about a potential coming wave of foreclosures. Because regulators are partly responsible for creating the environment that is leading to rising rates of home foreclosure in the subprime mortgage market, I urge you immediately to convene a homeownership preservation summit with leading mortgage lenders, investors, loan servicing organizations, consumer advocates, federal regulators and housing-related agencies to assess options for private sector responses to the challenge.

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And while neither the government nor the private sector acting alone is capable of quickly balancing the important interests in widespread access to credit and responsible lending, both must act and act quickly. Working together, the relevant private sector entities and regulators may be best positioned for quick and targeted responses to mitigate the danger. Rampant foreclosures are in nobody's interest, and I believe this is a case where all responsible industry players can share the objective of eliminating deceptive or abusive practices, preserving homeownership, and stabilizing housing markets.

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In short, Obama foresaw what we are now reaping as far back as when I first began sounding the alarm about what was happening to the residential real estate market and foreclosure rate increase. Where was John McCain? Probably off advocating for even more deregulation and a further lessening of government oversight.