- Sat. Sep. 6, 2008
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Q: Who is most responsible for the mortgage crisis?
Democrats (41 votes)
Borrowers 0%
Lenders 49%
Regulators 10%
Wall Street 22%
All of the above (volunteered) 5%
Lenders, plus borrowers (volunteered) 5%
Lenders, plus regulators (volunteered) 5%
Lenders, plus Wall Street (volunteered) 5%
Lenders
• "No one in the chain was regulated. Lenders had to market the loans. They should accept the loss, and keep people in their homes."
• "With the explicit support of Wall Street, they went out to lend money to folks that could not afford the mortgages. They created a phony housing boom to try and have the average citizen think that they were getting a break as the wealthy got their huge tax breaks. It was all one big scam."
• "Lenders, with the overexuberance of Wall Street being an extremely close second."
Regulators
• "It is the most important job of any regulator to limit the excesses of greed. In this case, they did not fail -- because failure implies an attempt to succeed. Regulators simply refused to take the field."
• "They failed to policenew financial products. Regulation did not keep up with the pace of innovation.Our regulatory system is in serious need of renovation because financial innovation has surpassed our ability to protect consumers and hold institutions accountable."
Wall Street
"Wall Street was too creative in packaging and repackaging debt obligations -- which obscured underlying risks."
Other responses
"• When avarice meets greed, a mortgage crisis ensues."
• "This was predatory lending at its worst. And no one did anything to stop it."
• "Lenders gave ridiculous loans to people who shouldn't have borrowed or were duped and cheated. Wall Street commoditized the mortgages, and cheated investors by making risky loans look safe. Regulators let it happen."
• "The greedy, under-regulated, out-of-control financial industry."
Republicans (38 votes)
Borrowers 18%
Lenders 39%
Regulators 3%
Wall Street 8%
All of the above (volunteered) 16%
Borrowers, plus lenders (volunteered) 13%
Borrowers, plus regulators (volunteered) 3%
Borrowers
• "Lenders [are] a close second."
Lenders
• "The frenzy was created by the loose, easy access to cash. If the lenders had been the stodgy bankers we expected them to be, the froth would not have formed."
• "Ultimate responsibility for a single failed loan rests on the borrower, but responsibility for a systemic credit collapse rests largely on the backs of lenders who should've managed risk more responsibly. Stupidity is not rewarded in the free market."
• "Prudent lending policies should be followed."
• "We best not make it worse with a bailout. This would be horrible for the marketplace."
Other responses
• "Consumers were not well served by either lenders or regulators."
• "A small percentage of the millions of Americans who bought homes in the last decade -- enabled by some greedy lenders and banks -- ignored risk and speculated on housing growth. And now they want a bailout."
• "Lenders were too lenient, borrowers were too careless and greedy, and Wall Street seemed to have forgotten the dot-com bubble when they started creating all of these financial tools to buy and sell mortgages."
"This is an example of equal-opportunity responsibility."
Q: How will recent developments in Iraq affect the U.S. presidential election?
Democrats (41 votes)
Big help for Democrats 20%
Some help for Democrats 59%
Little or no impact 15%
Some help for Republicans 5%
Big help for Republicans 0%
Don't know (volunteered) 2%
Big help for Democrats
• "Iraq is still an albatross around the Republicans' necks: We are mired down there, and Americans continue to die."
• "The Iraq war will be the issue that brings Sen. McCain down. The resurgence of violence will remind the American people that they do not want the Iraq war or U.S. occupation to last 100 months, much less 100 years, as Sen. McCain has said."
• "Democrats cannot allow anyone to divert attention away from the fiasco that is Iraq."
Some help for Democrats
• "The war is, regrettably, going so badly. And that demonstrates the failures of the Bush/McCain policies."
• "The illusion of the U.S. troop surge stabilizing all of Iraq is slowly being stripped away due to the violent clashes transpiring in Basra. Nevertheless, the economy is still the No. 1 issue. People have become more or less desensitized to the violence in Iraq."
• "Sporadic violence and the lack of political progress undercut claims that 'the surge is working.' "
• "The renewal of violence reminds voters that the Iraq war is a mess, a waste of money with tragic loss of life."
• "Public disappointment in Democrats for failing to end the war after the November 2006 elections will dissipate once there is a stark contrast between McCain and the Democratic nominee."
Some help for Republicans
"McCain can't win without an attack on Iran. Watch for developments in Iraq to be blamed on Iran, then a 'defensive' attack."
Republicans (38 votes)
Big help for Democrats 0%
Some help for Democrats 16%
Little or no impact 42%
Some help for Republicans 26%
Big help for Republicans 11%
Other responses (volunteered) 5%
Little or no impact
• "The progress in Iraq has been remarkable. And, much to the Democrats' chagrin, it will be a secondary issue in this campaign."
• "The American political memory is so short that people think Obama's speeches are 'fresh and new.' Events happening today in Iraq will not figure into the presidential election. What happens in October will have a much greater impact on the election."
• "[Gen.] Petraeus's success and an economic downturn have substantially taken Iraq off the table as an issue, barring future major developments there."
• "The war is secondary on people's minds compared to food prices, gas prices, and their homes."
• "The media should quit analyzing the political benefit or loss from war."
• "It's the economy, stupid!"
Some help for Republicans
• "No matter what, Iraq is a 2-ton anchor around the GOP's neck, but any sustained improvement helps lighten the load."
Big help for Republicans
• "Clearly proves that America must win to protect American families."
Other responses
• "Petraeus's overall success in Iraq will be a boost for those who held out for victory rather than defeat."
• "Depends on what happens between now and November."
National Journal Congressional Insiders
National Journal's Congressional Insiders Poll includes 129 members of Congress -- 10 Senate Democrats, 14 Senate Republicans, 52 House Democrats, and 53 House Republicans.
Democratic Congressional Insiders
Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Christopher Dodd, Edward Kennedy, Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Mikulski, Mark Pryor, Ken Salazar, Jon Tester; Reps. Tom Allen, Robert Andrews, Michael Arcuri, Tammy Baldwin, Melissa Bean, Xavier Becerra, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Rick Boucher, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, Chris Carney, James Clyburn, Jim Cooper, Joseph Crowley, Elijah Cummings, Artur Davis, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, Eliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Alcee Hastings, Mike Honda, Jay Inslee, Steve Israel, Jim Langevin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, Carolyn Maloney, Ed Markey, Jim McDermott, Jim McGovern, Kendrick Meek, Jim Moran, David Price, Silvestre Reyes, Jan Schakowsky, Jose Serrano, Adam Smith, John Spratt, Pete Stark, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Bennie Thompson, Chris Van Hollen, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Henry Waxman, and Peter Welch.
GOP Congressional Insiders
Sens. Lamar Alexander, Jim Bunning, John Cornyn, Jim DeMint, Lindsey Graham, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Johnny Isakson, Richard Lugar, Mel Martinez, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe, John Sununu, John Thune, David Vitter; Reps. Brian Bilbray, Marsha Blackburn, John Boehner, Kevin Brady, John Campbell, Chris Cannon, Eric Cantor, Michael Castle, Tom Cole, Mike Conaway, Tom Davis, John Doolittle, David Dreier, Phil English, Jeff Flake, Scott Garrett, Bob Goodlatte, Kay Granger, Doc Hastings, Pete Hoekstra, Bob Inglis, Peter King, Jack Kingston, Mark Kirk, John Kline, Ray LaHood, Dan Lungren, Kenny Marchant, Jim McCrery, Patrick McHenry, John Mica, Candice Miller, Marilyn Musgrave, Sue Myrick, Devin Nunes, Mike Pence, Tom Price, Deborah Pryce, Adam Putnam, Dave Reichert, Tom Reynolds, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Mike Rogers of Michigan, Paul Ryan, Pete Sessions, John Shadegg, Christopher Shays, Adrian Smith, Mark Souder, Pat Tiberi, Fred Upton, Zach Wamp, and Joe Wilson.