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Financial crash leaves politcal mess in economy
By CHRIS VARMECKY
STAFF WRITER
CIVSO43@PSU.EDU
With last week's collapse of
the investment bank mammoth
Lehman Brothers Holdings, a
federal takeover of mortgage
lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, and the subsequent bailout
of AIG, the sensationalism in the
media would have led some to
believe that the entire American
economy is teetering on the brink
of destruction.
These seemingly earth shattering
events sparked the unprecedented
intervention by the United States
federal government to the tune
of nearly $1 trillion in the form
of mortgage securities purchases
and financial bailouts outs.
Amidst the atmosphere of
financial turmoil, the two
candidates sparring for the 2008
presidency engaged in a back
and-forth schoolyard brawl,
President's Corner
By NATHANIEL HEZEKIAH
SGA VICE PRESIDENT
N7lllll @PSU.EDU
Hello, students, faculty and staff
of Penn State Harrisburg.
I'm Nathaniel Hezekiah, vice
president of your Penn State
Harrisburg Student Government
Association.
Currently, we are taking bold
steps in improving the campus
atmosphere. Our first event of the
year will be an art festival, which
will be a THON fundraiser, on
Oct. 18. Everyone is encouraged
to come out and support the cause.
My initiative for this academic
semester will be to focus on ways
to improve and promote more
club cooperation on events in
Penn State Harrisburg. Another
goal is to bridge the gap between
undergraduate and graduate
students and I'm looking forward
to any suggestions as to helping
to achieve this goal. Finally, I
would like to strongly encourage
our current freshmen on campus
to get involved some way in any
organization you feel you can
each asserting that their populist
message was the appropriate one
to bring accountability to Wall
Street and end the tyrannical
corporate practices perpetrated
against the "little guy."
McCain's newfound populism, in
a dubious effort to usurp Obama's
misguided message of change,
brought the hammer slamming
down on free markets, and it
conjoined McCain with the likes
of those advocating more stifling
restrictions on capitalism. Akin to
the idealists in the democratically
controlled Congress, McCain's
ploy to inflict more restrictions on
Wall Street only exasperates our
current mess.
However, what McCain neglects
to point out is that unfettered
capitalism was not the catalyst
that spawned these unprecedented
failures in the financial markets.
Last week's chaos was a product
of quasi-privatized institutions
mandated by Clinton era policies
strongly benefit.
If you've look around the
campus lately, there is an increase
in the number of events going on
around campus.
Recently, I overheard a comment
that "there's always something
going on here."
My reply to that comment is,
"There's a lot more events coming
in the near future."
Starting with intercollegiate
and intramural sports already
beginning this semester,
more Penn State pride will be
noticeable on campus. The
numerous events ranging from
guest speakers, game shows, club
meeting and many other great
social events this semester could
be considered one the busiest in
the school's history. Most notable
is the Martin Luther King Lecture
Series, which is sponsored by
Diversity and Educational Equity
Committee (DEEC) here at Penn
State Harrisburg. The lecture
series allows speakers from
various backgrounds to come and
discuss their experiences in their
field and discuss topics that could
www7wrrm
to loan people money with
essentially no down payment,
no verification of income and
no collateral in the case that the
borrower would happen to default
on his or her loan.
Capitalism is not to blame.
The finger of ridicule should be
point at Congress's failure to
reform these government-backed
entities years ago when the Bush
administration and John McCain
were calling for it.
According to a Sept. 11, 2003
article in the New York Times, the
Bush administration pushed for
"the most significant regulatory
overhaul in the housing finance
industry since the Savings and
Loan's crisis."
This recommendation consisted
of a formation of a new agency
within the Treasury Department
to supervise Fannie and Freddie
in the midst of compiling a
$1.5 trillion outstanding debt,
manipulating its accounting to
affect us as students in life after
college. The main topic in the
lecture series might be focused
on diversity, but there is so much
more you can learn once you step
in to one of those forums.
In your Student Government
Association Update since last
issue, the general weekly meeting
has had many positive outcome
over the past couple weeks.
Topics discussed in the most
recent meetings focused on the
ratification and implementation
of the new constitution, new
appointments to the Senate and
Executive Board and finally
the Inner Club Council. Look
forward to open forums, senators
will hold in order to allow faculty
and students to communicate to
each other any complements,
questions and/or comments
regarding specific majors for
each individual school. Recently
the SGA was out in support to
promote students introducing
themselves and conversing with
Chancellor Madlyn L. Hanes.
The event helped students discuss
a wide range of topics with the
hoodwink investors and failing to
adjust to rising interest rates.
Nevertheless, much to the duress
of the Bush administration,
congressional Democrats blocked
legislation to tighten regulation
on " these mortgage behemoths
because they did not want to
interfere with financing for low
income and affordable housing.
Current Chairman of the House
Financial Services Committee
Barney Frank, D-Mass., at the
time even trumpeted that, "These
two entities -- Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac -- are not facing any
kind of financial crisis."
He went on to say that, "The
more people exaggerate these
problems, the more pressure there
is on these companies, the less
we will see in terms of affordable
housing."
Ironically, it's these same do
nothing congressional Democrats
(today) who are now lambasting
the Bush administration's
chancellor and also with members
of the SGA. If you are interested
in what is going on with SGA
and have yet to attend any of the
meetings and you would like to
sit on a meeting, they are held
in room 128 of the TL building
every Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
To all the students here at Penn
State Harrisburg, I hope for
the greatest success for you as
you continue your education in
the next couple of weeks with
examinations and papers due
t. 24 2008
economic policies, swindling the
American people to believe that
Bush's nonexistent policies of
massive deregulation are to blame.
It's apparent that Democratic
ideals along with failure to
reform the system, obstructed by
congressional Democrats, were at
the center of this fiasco.
Despite the populist rhetoric
spewing from McCain's mouth
these days, he foresaw the dangers
that these government-sponsored
entities or GSEs posed. McCain
cosponsored the Federal housing
regulatory Reform Act of 2005,
and he warned that if Congress
failed to act, "the American
taxpayers will continue to be
exposed to the enormous risk
that Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac pose to the housing
market, the overall financial
dates closely arriving. Despite
the educational demand college
might offer, do not be afraid to
get involved in anything you are
interested in here on campus.
If what you like is not here on
campus, take a step in being
innovative and start a club to
get what you are interested on
campus. If there are in . questions
or comments to anything I
have written or general interest
question feel free to contact me at
nzh 111 @psu.edu.
Please see CRASH
on page 10