Greenspan Downplays Fed's Role In Subprime Mortgage Crisis

By Justine Rellosa-Talk Radio News Service

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan conceded Wednesday morning before a hearing with the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) that he had made mistakes throughout his career, but denied that the Federal Reserve Board played a significant hand in the subprime mortgage crisis.

“Remember that the Federal Reserve Board is a rule making [agency], it is not an enforcement agency," said Greenspan, who served as chairman from 1987-2006. "We did not have the capacity to implement the types of enforcement that the FDIC, [Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice] has."

Greenspan explained that external factors played more of a role in the collapse of the housing market than the subprime mortgages themselves.

"Origination of subprime mortgages - as opposed to the rise in global demand for securitized mortgage interests - was not a significant cause of the financial crisis," said Greenspan.

Noted the 84 year old Greenspan, “I was right 70% of the time, but I was wrong 30% of the time. There are an awful lot of mistakes in 21 years.”

Greenspan declined to speculate on what he could have done differently.

"Figuring out what you should have done differently is a really futile activity because you can’t...in the real world, do it."

Experts Applaud New Direction In Nuclear Policy

By Justine Rellosa-Talk Radio News Service

A number of experts applauded the direction the Obama administration is taking in their nuclear policy during a conference call hosted by the Center for American Progress Tuesday.

“[The new guidelines] state that the U.S will not develop new nuclear warheads, and use only nuclear components based on previously tested designs,” said former British Defense Minister, Des Brown. “That’s extremely important for us here in the United Kingdom because we anticipate in the next parliament that we will have to make the decision about the future of our own nuclear warheads.”

The policies, contained in the administration's Congressionally mandated Nuclear Policy Review, outlines a significant change in the U.S government’s position on the use of nuclear weapons. The U.S. stance is now revised to emphasize the prevention of nuclear proliferation and terrorism. It also outlines the U.S agreement to withdraw from using weapons of mass destruction against any non-nuclear country that has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The release of the review comes just days before President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Prague.

Associate Director of Russia and Eurasia at CAP, Samuel Charap, praised the move to stabilize relations with Russia.

“We’ve gone a long way in being able to discuss some issues that are crucial for the security of both the United States, Russia, and the rest of the world. They have sort of set the groundwork both for a broadening of the relationship between the U.S and Russia, and a deepening of the relationship on arms control and nuclear security issues,” said Charap.

In the political realm, START has bipartisan support from various former Repubican national security officials, according to Max Bergmann, a Policy Analyst of nuclear non-proliferation at CAP.

“[Former Secretaries of State] Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, George Schultz and Senator Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), have stated their support for the ratification," said Bergmann.

Both U.S. And Afghanistan Must Take Ownership Of Missteps, Says Liberal Analyst

By Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service

There have been recent reports regarding U.S military involvement in the deaths of three Afghan women in February following an American Special Operations attack. The nighttime raid is now being called a cover-up with signs of evidence tampering at the scene by Special Operation Forces, who dug out bullets from the bodies of the women in order to hide the true nature of their deaths.

Matthew Duss, National Security Editor at the Center for American Progress, said the U.S. had dealt with the situation in an incorrect manner by choosing to cover-up the true outcome of the assault.

“When there are civilian casualties and other collateral damage to operations like this, I would think that the best thing to do is to own up to it, and recognize it, and deal with the problem. In general, it seems to me that the U.S. has been better at doing that.” said Duss. “General McChrystal himself has been personally involved in dealing with the families of certain civilians in the past who have been killed by air raids or other raids carried out by special forces. It seems it was just not done this time.”

Despite Afghan President Hamid Karzai accusing Western troops of weakening his government, said Duss, Karzai himself is truly to blame for the fact that his government is still dysfunctional.

“What the U.S. and its partners are trying to do is to help stand up an effective and legitimate Afghan central government, and the ongoing corruption of that government really handicaps that effort. We had President Obama in Afghanistan just last weekend making a very public plea to Karzai to deal with the problem,” said Duss.

According to Duss, it is unclear what the United States can really do in Afghanistan if the culture of corruption is not effectively managed by Karzai and his government.

Texas Republican Accuses Obama Of Missing Important Stimulus Benchmark

By Justine Rellosa- Talk Radio News Service

On the eve of the release of new unemployment data, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who serves as the senior House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee, criticized President Barack Obama Thursday for failing to adequately revive the employment situation in the private sector through the Recovery Act.

"9% of ... job loss has been in the private sectors," said Brady during a telephone conference with reporters. "The only jobs that have [been] gained have been in the government sector."

Brady noted nearly 4 million private sectore jobs have been lost since the passage of the Recovery Act.

Obama's Decision To Explore More Offshore Drilling Receiving Mixed Reviews

By Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service

President Barack Obama's decision to open up areas in the Gulf of Mexico, parts of Alaska, and the Atlantic coastline for possible oil exploration has sparked swarms of reaction from both supporters and opponents of domestic offshore drilling.

In an interview with Talk Radio News Service, Christina Larson with the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C. said it is too soon to completely grasp the President's new policy, but said it reflects the administration's attempt to shift the debate from health reform to energy.

"This is sort of the opening bell of the discussion. It's not the end of the discussion by any means so it's really hard to say what it means, [or] who's going to be happy [and] who's not going to be happy," said Larson. "The one thing we do know is that the discussion in Washington is shifting from health care towards an environment that focuses on energy and climate issues."

Although Mr. Obama is already taking heat from Republicans who argue that his new initiative doesn't go far enough, he is receiving some bipartisan support. Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.) told Talk Radio News Service on Thursday that he fully embraces the President's decision, calling it a good start toward making the U.S. completely energy independent.

"I think it is a very encouraging first step, I think that we could still do more," said Haridopolos."This should be part of an all-energy solution meaning not just oil, not just natural gas, but a combination of alternative fuels as well, meaning developing solar and bio-diesel and other things. But, I think this is a great first step it will help each of the states with royalties and it should also make sure that we are not dependent on foreign oil."

On Wednesday, two prominent Republicans, House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) both released statements saying they were wary of Mr. Obama's announcement.

"I'm skeptical," said Brady. "Looking closely at the president's proposal, it will delay more than drill by pushing back leases and delegating drilling decisions in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to a Congress more obsessed with global warming than affordable American-made energy."

However, Haridopolos isn't on an island by himself when it comes to supporting the new initiative. Issac Hayes, a youth Minister from Chicago who is running this fall for the House seat currently occupied by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), released a statement on Wednesday echoing Haridopolos's sentiments.

"The President’s announcement to allow drilling along America’s coastline is long welcomed news. The off shore drilling ban has been an unwanted and unneeded moratorium on energy exploration...I am cautiously optimistic that this is not a smoke screen for a soon to come cap-and-trade bill jammed down our throats."