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Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Vicksburg Post
THE VICKSBURG POST
EDITORIAL
Founded by John G. Cashman in 1883 Louis P. Cashman III, Editor & Publisher • Issued by Vicksburg Printing & Publishing Inc., Louis P. Cashman III, President Karen Gamble, managing editor | E-mail: kgamble@vicksburgpost.com | Tel: 601.636.4545 ext 123 | Letters to the editor: letters@vicksburgpost.com or The Vicksburg Post, P.O. Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182
JACK VIX SAYS: Sugar and spice and all things nice? Not so much.
OLD POST FILES 120 YEARS AGO: 1890 Mrs. C.O. Willis dies at Cambridge, Md. • Mrs. Juliet Peale is in Meridian visiting friends.
110 YEARS AGO: 1900 Sam Brown and Sam Baer return from Paris. • Cotton worms appear in Madison County.
100 YEARS AGO: 1910 Five hundred people assemble at the Oak Ridge barbecue planned to aid the agricultural schedule. • John Woolfolk is home from his summer outing.
90 YEARS AGO: 1920 The Rev. J.C. Greenoe is home from a successful meeting at Hickory. • Salvi, noted harpist, is in Vicksburg.
80 YEARS AGO: 1930 The Jitney Jungle store on Cherry Street is formally opened. • Warren citizens vote on the issue to retain the county highway commissioners, those favoring the commission winning by a huge majority. • Louis Froent is back from a buying trip.
70 YEARS AGO: 1940 Mrs. Mary Oakes dies. • Nicholas Kahn dies.
60 YEARS AGO: 1950 The 434th Engineer Construction Battalion leaves Vicksburg for active duty with the United Nations forces, the first organization of its kind to be called out in the United States. • John Bell Williams, renominated for another congressional term last week, is the father of an 8-pound, 13-ounce daughter.
50 YEARS AGO: 1960 An industrial clinic sponsored by Mississippi Power & Light Co. is held here at the Hotel Vicksburg. • Mr. and Mrs. Claude Grimes are vacationing in Colorado. • Dr. J.A.K. Birchett and Tommy are visiting in Chicago. • State Tax Collector William Winter speaks to the Kiwanis Club. • Frank Sinatra stars in “Oceans 11” at the Strand Theatre.
40 YEARS AGO: 1970 Mr. and Mrs. Robert Henry announce the birth of a son, Michael, born Aug. 14. • Mrs. W.H. Davis is a patient at Mercy Hospital. • Mr. and Mrs. Thomas White announce the birth of a son, Scott Wayne, on July 23. • Mrs. F.W. McClain, Tallulah resident, dies.
OUR OPINION
30 YEARS AGO: 1980
Withdrawal
Tom Lindsey, 60-year-old factory worker, dies in his sleep. • Robert David Goshorn celebrates his fourth birthday. • Mr. and Mrs. Robert Saway are the parents of a daughter, Kathryn Grace, born Aug. 23.
20 YEARS AGO: 1990
Feds should begin exit from mortgage business The country’s housing finance system is in dire need of revamping — this is a consensus. But the question is how to fix it. The best answer is to phase out most forms of federal mortgage support and get taxpayers out of the mortgage-backing business. At a conference to discuss possibilities earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner advocated a system that would still include the government. Instead of backing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the largest federal mortgage support institutions, the government would explicitly subsidize mortgage loans made by private companies. That would be a mistake. Taxpayers have already spent more than $150 billion to make up for losses that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac acquired by investing in lower-quality, subprime mortgage loans. As Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, noted in a recent article, the main flaw in the current
system is that “the gains from risk-taking are divorced from losses ... lenders, homeowners and the real estate industry reap the rewards, while the taxpayer is left holding the bag.” Calabria also pointed out the mortgage finance system has morphed into another form of welfare. If the government aims to redistribute wealth, he contends it needs to do so transparently. Those in support of governmentbacked mortgages argue that the guarantees are vital in order for investors to finance mortgages. Geithner said such support would ensure Americans can borrow at reasonable interest rates despite the downturn. He also argued the recession could worsen if unsubsidized private companies reduce lending. But other countries manage well without significant government involvement. The Economist magazine cited a paper by Michael Lea of San Diego State University which looked at how numerous other
countries, including Germany, Britain and Canada, boast fairly healthy home-ownership rates with much less government backing of mortgage finance. Elliot Spoon, a professor at Michigan State University’s College of Law and an expert on housing legislation, says despite how central Fannie and Freddie have been to the housing finance system, change is essential. He recommends winding down the mortgage giants and allowing the private market to take over. “No longer would taxpayers be on the hook for the private mortgage market,” he says. A properly managed phase-out is important, however, since government entities such as Fannie and Freddie and the Federal Housing Administration back about 90 percent of new mortgages. The housing market is still depressed. The government needs to begin extricating itself from the mortgage industry.
Jeanette Baswell dies. • Capt. Dickie Martin of the Vicksburg Fire Department warns Vicksburg residents to use caution when burning trash because of the dry weather conditions and the lack of rainfall. • Shameka Shawntae Valentine celebrates her first birthday.
10 YEARS AGO: 2000 Vicksburg Fire Department receives $7,500 after winning a charity volleyball tournament hosted by Rainbow Casino. • Mary Katherine Kraemer celebrates her third birthday. • Brig. Gen. Richard E. Coleman, commander of the 412th Engineer Command, is nominated by President Bill Clinton for promotion to the rank of major general.
VOICE YOUR OPINION Letters to the editor are published under the following guidelines: Expressions from readers on topics of current or general interest are welcomed. • Letters must be original, not copies or letters sent to others, and must include the name, address and signature of the writer. • Letters must avoid defamatory or abusive statements. • Preference will be given to typed letters of 300 or fewer words. • The Vicksburg Post does not print anonymous letters and reserves the right to edit all letters submitted. • Letters in the column do not represent the views of The Vicksburg Post.
MODERATELY CONFUSED by Bill Stahler
For both parties, 2008 seems a lifetime away It was fewer than two years ago that voters swept Barack Obama into the White House, bolstering Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and setting off a flurry of predictions about the demise of the Republican Party. But with the 2010 elections fewer than three months away, all signs point to voters preparing for a dramatic course correction that will produce large Republican gains and is almost certain to produce arguments about what the results say about the president’s fate in 2012. National polls are consistent in showing an electorate that is dissatisfied with the direction of the country, unimpressed with the president’s job performance, disapproving of the job Congress is doing and calling for change. Although voters have confidence in neither of the two political parties, they appear to be inclined to cast their votes for GOP candidates in the fall. The Gallup poll, for example, has found more voters saying that they plan to vote Republican than Demo-
Stuart
National polls are consistent in showing an electorate that is dissatisfied with the direction of the country.
Rothenberg
crat for Congress, a dramatic reversal from sentiment before the 2006 and 2008 elections, when voters told the polling organization that they intended to vote for Democratic congressional candidates. Part of the Democrats’ problem is that they hold so many seats after winning a total of 51 seats in the past two elections. Forty-eight districts won by John McCain in the 2008 presidential race are currently represented by Democratic House members, making them obvious targets in a midterm election when voters may
send a message of dissatisfaction about the president and the Democrat-controlled Congress. Republicans need to gain 39 seats in November to take back control of the House of Representatives. A year ago, that seemed unlikely, but now control of the House is very much up for grabs. More than 70 Democratic House seats are at risk, while only a handful of GOP-held districts are in any danger. Polling conducted in individual competitive House races shows the same thing over and over: Democratic
incumbents are under-performing even against unknown Republican challengers. This is particularly true in Republican and swing districts where the Democrats supported the economic stimulus, health care reform and the climate bill, which included the so-called cap-and-trade provision. At this point, Republicans appear likely to gain at least 25 seats in the House, with possible gains reaching well into the 40s, or even above, if the GOP political wave reaches tsunami size. In the Senate, where Republicans have only 41 seats and need to add 10 for a majority, substantial GOP gains are also likely. At least 11 Democratic-held seats are at risk, but a handful of Republican-held seats, all of them open because of retirements, are also competitive. Republicans seem assured of gaining four or five Senate seats at a minimum, with gains of five to eight seats more likely. In a huge wave, doubledigit gains are not impossible. Of course, Democrats have more
than two months to try to limit the damage, and they will use their resources to try to change the election from being a referendum on President Obama and the Democratic Congress to being a choice between Democrats who are tackling tough issues and making progress and a Republican Party that wants to return to the Bush years. Unfortunately for the president’s party, voters understand Democrats didn’t create the economic mess, but they aren’t confident that the White House and Democratic Congressional leaders have the right solutions. Two months is indeed an eternity in politics, and we all have learned to expect the unexpected. But the current landscape is terrible for Democrats, and the only question is the size of their losses. •
Stuart Rothenberg is editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter that reports on and handicaps Congressional elections.