- cross-posted to:
- nyt_gift_articles
- cross-posted to:
- nyt_gift_articles
With the billionaires backing him, it’s going to be on us as individual Americans to make sure Trump doesn’t end up in the White House again. That means not just voting but talking with people around you, volunteering and donating
I’ve read his autobiography focusing on this period, iirc according to him his advisors said there were basically only three options.
Bail out the banks who had a part in causing the issue and subsequently failed. (His least favorite but what he ultimately picked)
Bail out the mortgages of the people who were at risk of foreclosure. (His favorite option)
Complete nationalization of failed banks with extra actions like forgiving all at risk mortgages (He was tepid on this)
The problem was that those solutions are in order of increasing expense and decreasing likelihood of Congress’s will to pass. Meanwhile the economy was burning down and his advisors were saying we could have another great depression if action wasn’t taken immediately.
That’s interesting. I may read his autobiography myself. Personally, I’d have preferred to see him try to pass mortgage relief through Congress and fail, than to go right for the bank bailout. I can see how timeliness was his priority, but our unhoused numbers and housing market would look very different had mortgage relief passed.
Oh yeah in hindsight most people would say they’d prefer the mortgage bailout rather than the bank bailout. But when you’re a young president in your first days of office and people with economics degrees are screaming about how it’s all burning down…
I understand why he did what he did, should’ve definitely still tried to of gotten way more mortgage relief afterwards though.
I just wanted to note that it wasn’t exactly the sneering “Yes let me fuck over the working class as much as possible for my neoliberal values” as some people claim.
I was unaware of the motive, and assumed it was related to the Citigroup members of his cabinet. It’s nice to know the inside track. I’m still critical of the decision, but at least I understand it better now. My previous perspective always conflicted with my understanding of his leadership.