 |
 |
   Memo: The way forward on health care reform in 2010.
 A dark legacy of the Vietnam War is creating a whole new set of problems.
|
   |
|
|
April 17, 2009
BANK-RUN BURR'S BOGUS EXPLANATION.... Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) offered some unusually irresponsible talk this week, suggesting the appropriate response to an economic crisis is a bank run. In a speech on Monday, he told voters that at the start of the crisis, he instructed his wife to go the ATM every day and "draw out everything it will let you take." Interest in Burr's bizarre comments made the rounds fairly quickly. The senator is now trying to explain himself. (via Rachel Weiner)
It's one thing to encourage families to have "a little bit of cash set aside" in their home in the event of an emergency. It's something altogether different for a U.S. senator to tell voters withdrawing the maximum from an ATM during an economic crisis is a reasonable thing to do. What's more, Burr lives "from ATM machine to ATM machine"? I'm not entirely sure what that means, but it still misses the point. Since the advent of FDIC, Burr's family money was safe, right where it was. Calling home in a panic, and withdrawing the maximum as a crisis unfolds, only serves to make a bad situation worse. Oddly enough, as this story has gained traction, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is peddling Burr's odd comments as perfectly sensible. Brian Walsh, the communications director for the NRSC, said, "The Democrats' response highlights perfectly the competing views of the two parties when it comes to strengthening the economy.... In just the first three months of this year, Senate Democrats have voted for more spending than the previous Administration spent on Iraq, Afghanistan and Katrina recovery combined so it's little wonder Americans want to keep their hard earned money away from the grips of Washington." Even by the NRSC standards, this doesn't make a lick of sense. Burr wasn't talking about keep money away from Washington, but rather, taking money out of banks at the first sign of an economic crisis. As Chris Orr concluded, "According to a party spokesman speaking on the record to a national news outlet, the GOP not only believes in starting bank runs, but considers this selfish, panicky, wildly destructive position a perfect illustration of 'the competing views of the two parties.'" —Steve Benen 10:30 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (20)Comments
Well, now---if we were to view Burr's madnesses as logical, then we might identify the banks that are owned by Republicans, and then instruct every "loyal American" to immediately withdraw every lest penny of their monies from those banks. Because, of course, the Republicans tell us it is a good thing to do. So tell me---how many of those "Republican-owned banks" will still be in business, beginning the day after all of us "loyal Americans" take every last penny of our monies out of their books? *crickets chirp.... Posted by: S. Waybright on April 17, 2009 at 10:41 AM | PERMALINKBrian Walsh, the communications director for the NRSC: "In just the first three months of this year, Senate Democrats have voted for more spending than the previous Administration spent on Iraq, Afghanistan and Katrina recovery combined..." Is this true? I find it very hard to believe. Posted by: Chris on April 17, 2009 at 10:42 AM | PERMALINKBoy the level of stupid that these GOPers have gone to is staggering. Posted by: Gandalf on April 17, 2009 at 10:42 AM | PERMALINKRemember during the Bush administration the blogs would have the Outrage of the Day? Remember how it got so overwhelming they all just gave up after awhile? Do you think the same tactic may be going on right now? Posted by: martin on April 17, 2009 at 10:48 AM | PERMALINKIf you have any amount of real money in the bank, It's a waste of time to take out the maximum amount an ATM will give you day after day, the way this guy instructed his wife. If you just walk into the bank and close your account, they will give you your entire balance in cash all at once. Posted by: Haik Bedrosian on April 17, 2009 at 10:48 AM | PERMALINKSince the tea party faction already believes that they will never see a dime from Social Security, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that many of them believe that the FDIC is bankrupt as well. Posted by: dr sardonicus on April 17, 2009 at 10:55 AM | PERMALINKBurr uses cash? I mean, like, bits of signed paper scrip that represent money? Posted by: Daniel Kim on April 17, 2009 at 10:58 AM | PERMALINKFrom the OpenSecrets.org donor tracker for Senator Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina: Both Wachovia and Bank of America are based out of Charlotte, NC. Wachovia Bank is his third largest contributor between 2003-2008 ($102,650 total, $88,400 Individual, $14,250 from PACs). Bank of America contributed $47,600 total during the same period, and is the ninth largest contributor. Looks like they bought themselves an idiot. Posted by: Gene Ha on April 17, 2009 at 11:02 AM | PERMALINKI'm a little concerned that morans listening to Burr will start a bank run when the results of the stress tests come out. I am not at all confident in my fellow citizens' ability to keep cool heads. Not at all. Posted by: shortstop on April 17, 2009 at 11:12 AM | PERMALINKLiving from ATM to ATM describes the life of an addicted soul, and when the money at the ATM is no more, the addict begins to rob other ATM goers from ATM to ATM. I wonder where the good senator from the Great state of North Carolina is going with this explanation - admission of heroine addiction? -Kevo Posted by: kevo on April 17, 2009 at 11:22 AM | PERMALINKHo long before withdrawing money from the banking system becomes the next great FOX, RNC wingnut blogger cause celebre to "stop Obama"? Posted by: markg8 on April 17, 2009 at 11:23 AM | PERMALINKPosted by: Chris, Brian Walsh, the communications director for the NRSC: "In just the first three months of this year, Senate Democrats have voted for more spending than the previous Administration spent on Iraq, Afghanistan and Katrina recovery combined..."Chris, you have to parse republican words very carefully. This in fact probably is an accurate stmt. They are speaking of the amount of dollars the prev administration spent on recovery in Iraq, Afghanistan and Katrina combined. Posted by: G.Kerby on April 17, 2009 at 11:34 AM | PERMALINK That's the Right's whole schtick: do whatever you can to get yours, and to hell with the consequences. Then bitch at everyone else for not being "patriotic". Also, they love to "make" money by manipulating financial investment (as I know from their newsletters and the grapevine) instead of inventing, doing real labor, etc. Posted by: Neil B ☺ on April 17, 2009 at 11:40 AM | PERMALINKI want to repost part of comment and link from other thread:
Posted by: inthewoods on April 17, 2009 at 8:43 AM Read it, it's great and full of hilarious but pitiful irony. Posted by: Neil B ♪ on April 17, 2009 at 11:48 AM | PERMALINKLet's assume for a moment that Brian Walsh isn't stupid. Maybe he is, but on the other hand, maybe he isn't. If he isn't, then this comment is consistent with a strategy of emotively melding the financial crisis with the notion that Democrats perniciously tax the individual and spend lavishly [to favor special interest groups and maintain their grip on power.] In a crisis, the 'rugged individualist' response is to grab a gun, stock up on ammo, withdraw all his money from the bank, and hunker down, refusing to spend on anything but survival supplies. The message of the current administration - that we should have faith in each other, continue to spend if we have the means to do so, and believe that we can lift the economy out of the mire and revitalize the nation if we work together - runs against the grain of this impulse, and makes it a naturally resonant sentiment for the Republicans. The rise in secession talk is consistent with this. With secession there is a reversion to the days of the frontier (for the West) or the Confederacy (for the South), bringing both the comfort of the pseudo-historic conservative romance and freedom from the man whose presence in the White House, coupled with the failure of George W.'s governance by moral clarity, places sufficient strain on their world view that troubling, insoluble inconsistencies begin to emerge. In the current environment, amnesia and incoherence in Republican discourse do not necessarily represent failure. They may in many cases be necessary failures of representation, allowing the Republican imagination to defer a contradiction. So, to make a little list of the dialectics in place, shown as Republican vs. Democrat(ic): Freedom vs Government Control (Government Initiative) Nobody can operate in the Republican party right now without appealing to this worldview. Brian Walsh is on message. Posted by: sleepy_commentator on April 17, 2009 at 12:16 PM | PERMALINKIt doesn't actually strike me as worthy of the scorn (and the "overthinking") being heaped here - as someone who was traveling during 9/11 and got caught without money as the area banks and ATMs shut down, without any idea of when they might be up, whether my credit cards would be accepted at the hotel I was staying in or area restaurants, I can see the admittedly weak logic of this. Likewise, as someone who does keep a cash reserve around the house "just in case" you could say I've already done it. If he'd told his wife: "close all of our accounts and withdraw everything in cash that we've got" that would be one thing - but you can only get $200 a day out of an ATM. That's hardly "inciting a bank run." Posted by: M So on April 17, 2009 at 12:31 PM | PERMALINKDid anybody else see Rachel Maddow's takedown of this guy last night? It was one of the most awesome pieces of television I've seen in my 50 years!! Posted by: rickles on April 17, 2009 at 1:56 PM | PERMALINKWow, did I read that right? The official position of the Republican Party is that a run on the banks during a recession is A GOOD IDEA? These guys are truly, disturbingly mad. Posted by: Rian Mueller on April 17, 2009 at 4:34 PM | PERMALINKNo wonder the Repub alternative budget had NO numbers in it. How could anybody trust Burr with the economy or budget of America? You would have to be a lunatic (to paraphrase Rivera) to trust him. 
February 2010
January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 |
|
|
    |
|
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
