Analyst Who Predicted Meltdown Leaning Towards Challenging Chris Dodd
Peter Schiff, a Connecticut-based brokerage firm owner who has been widely hailed for predicting the U.S. financial meltdown, says he’s “leaning towards” challenging Chris Dodd’s reelection next year, a move that could make the contest a nationally watched media event.
“It’s better than 50-50,” Schiff told me a few moments ago, saying he’d decide in the next “two to three weeks.”
National Dems say they would take Schiff seriously, because of his personal wealth and because his predictions have made him something of a YouTube folk hero. He’s a libertarian whose father is reportedly in jail at the age of 81 for refusing to pay taxes, and he says he’s inherited many of Ron Paul’s fans. One former Dodd operative conceded he has a “huge grassroots following.”
The media would eat it up if someone who nailed the meltdown challenged Dodd, a major recipient of Wall Street money who was chair of the Senate Banking Committee during the collapse. Schiff suggested he would portray Dodd as asleep at the economic switch at a time when Schiff saw the collapse coming.
“What makes the race so potentially interesting is that Chris Dodd is one of the poster boys for the financial class,” Schiff said. “He was Wall Street’s boy. He snuck in the bonus provisions for AIG.”
Schiff says he has the means to easily self-finance his race, or could easily raise the money via his newsletter, which is read by a fair number of wealthy people. Schiff’s libertarianism probably puts him well outside the mainstream, and he’d still have to clear a GOP primary. Still, it’s a contest that the media would love.
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Uh oh – I think our biggest threat now is Libertarianism. It scares me silly, too.
Libertarians are worse than Repugs in every respect except one: they believe in legalizing drugs and in choice for women. But that’s only because they think we evolved as solo hunters like the big cats and shouldn’t be restrained in any way whatsoever by government.
Oy.
The problem is that Schiff is an unapologetic rabid wingnut free marketer. He doesn’t want any kind of regulation, he wants to abolish the Fed and he wants to go back to the gold standard. As impressive as it is that he called the meltdown even if the face of ridcule, he wouldn’t make a good candidate at all when his views on everything else comes out. He would get the Ron Paul faction and thats about it.
SG — a lot of cash can unmarginalize you right quick.
For some reason John LeBoutillier springs to mind.
Greg
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In a House race I would agree, but in a state wide race he is going to actually have to debate and express his stance on many issues. Besides that there are tons of youtubes of him on FoxNews and CNBC that can be used against him. And as we say in athletics, film don’t lie. Basically if he wants to Chris Dodd can make Schiff look like a kook. Besides that he could tar him because Schiff was close to Paul and you know Paul has some issues in his past about being aligned with racists. I just think the guy is too easy of a target no matter how much money he wants to spend.
“I just think the guy is too easy of a target no matter how much money he wants to spend.”
I think I’ll go with your assessment of the situation. So far, Libertarians like Ron Paul, and Kinky Freidman, have made noise but have not made much in the way of real support and haven’t won anything. Yet.
They worry me – they do have a hold down here in Texas and the western US which is still mired in rugged individualism. I see more signs every election cycle for Libertarian candidates. The GOP is really defunct. There’s a vacuum. Please, goddess, do not let it be filled by Libertarianism.
He may have predicted the meltdown, but he’s also against any kind of regulation.
“Libertarians like Ron Paul, and Kinky Freidman . . .”
Kinky ran for governor as an Independent but he has been a Democrat his entire life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinky_Friedman
I find it interesting that a guy who predicted the financial meltdown supports the exact sort of policies that caused it. You’d think he’d be a little less clueless if hes supposedly that prescient.
Dodd deserves to lose.
“Kinky ran for governor as an Independent but he has been a Democrat his entire life.”
Well he was sure running in Dallas like a Libertarian and I sure know a lot of people who were supporting him on account of it.
but you can have it your way, sbj.
Tena – thanks, but it’s Kinky’s way, not mine. Kinky is a very, very, very proud Democrat. I think he might argue that those positions he holds that make him appear to be a Libertarian to folks like you, are actually traditionally Democratic positions, at least in Texas. (Sorry to hear about your mouse problems. I can’t help but wonder that you might represent just the sort of Democrat that Kinky would have a hard time relating to. Do you happen to have a grand piano up there in Taos? “No more buttered scones for me, mater. I’m off to play the grand piano.”) Just funnin’ you – available for rent by week?
Do you guys remember when Southern Dems tended to be further right on a lot of issues than moderate Reps are today? Or am I the only old guy reading this stuff?
I’m not well acquainted with libertarian dogma. Does he favor regulation of the financial industry? If not, what does he suggest should have been done to prevent the present disaster that he, along with a whole host of others, saw coming?
It’s not quite accurate to say that Schiff predicted the current meltdown. In fact, Schiff has been predicting meltdowns for years. It’s his whole shtick. So when an actual meltdown really came along, well, of course he said it would happen. But he’s been saying that for a long, long time.
Yes, Schiff opposes financial regulation. But — and this is critical — he also opposes bailouts. The bankers wouldn’t have made all the big bets they did if they weren’t confident their buddies at Treasury and the Fed would come to their rescue if their bets went bad. Which is exactly what happened. And that’s what Schiff wants to stop.
Schiff is pure genius. Dig up as many youtube vids as you can. Not one can be used against him. It’s always Schiff vs the talking heads, and Schiff always wins. Dodd can’t beat him in any kind of debate. Peter is way smarter than him. BTW – he is anti-war as well. If you think Dodd is better, than you deserve the bankers’ tool.
Lets hope Schiff decides to run!!! You all are fools for saying he is a bad choice for standing against regulation. Regulation is what got us into this mess. Let the free markets work!!!
libertarian just means that you actually believe in liberty. You know, things like Constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy.
There’s no such thing as left vs. right, the paradigm is liberty vs. tyranny.
This county was founded on these beliefs. Read, don’t just listen to what the media tells you.
I gather many of the posters here would blame our current crisis and the depression on capitalism. Crony capitalism, gov’t intervention, fiat money, inflationism, corporatism and the Federal Reserves low interest rate policies caused this. We have NO semblance of a free market in this country and haven’t in a very long time – it is naive to think free markets caused this crisis.
Schiff would have my full support.
I can’t believe all the sheep on this site that don’t have a clue what Schiff stands for. He wants to encourage savings, not spending money.
He does not support the policies that got us into this mess. We have not had a free market for years. How can we have a free market when one company determines interest rates for the country? That is a monopoly controlled by the Federal Reserve/Federal Government.
Schiff is a believer in the constitution and the principles of the founding fathers. He believes in less government involvement in our lives and the core principles of peace, prosperity and freedom. Freedom to choose what we want to do with our bodies, and the freedom to produce and spend our money. Read the Creature of Jekyll Island to understand the heart of what is going on. You will not read this book in any public school institution. You can’t have big government and freedom at the same time. Both parties spend your money, ok these wars and want you stupid. The 19th century = Century of the Brainwashed.
Peter Schiff is the right man for the job. He knows that our economic troubles come from excessive debt and manipulation of interest rates, and therefore was able to accurately predict the Meltdown. He is a civil libertarian who opposes both government bailouts and needless wars of aggression. Peter Schiff should be CT’s next senator.
If Schiff does decide to run, the campaign will be a moot point by the time the election is held. Schiff has not simply offered his predictions and analysis in the past; he continues to be very vocal in offering his predictions of what will result from the current measures being taken. If he turns out to be right, the dollar takes a heavy hit, unemployment goes up, housing and commercial real-estate don’t recover, domestic markets drop and foreign markets rise, and America finds herself looking into the abyss of another great depression, he will most certainly win. If he turns out to be wrong, and the economy recovers, only then will Dodd be able to paint him as a kook.
How can anyone blame this problem on “under regulation” and the “free market”…what free market do you speak of? We haven’t had a “free market”. There has been regulation in virtually every aspect of our lives as well as in the economy.
wake up and smell the B.S that’s being put in front of you. The next time someone says it’s the free markets fault…ask yourself, what is so free about our economy?
Trade regulations/agreements, FCC,SEC, Fed Reserve, SOX, WTO, IMF, World Bank, Now we have a car czar, an internet czar, the list goes on and on.
What free Market? Does anyone even know what a free market is anymore? Because none of us here have seen one in our lifetime
Bad news. We need the expert bankers to remain unquestioned if we’re going to dig ourselves out of the mess they’ve created. Schiff wants to break up the cartel in order to again decentralize the monetary system, which we know inhibited American growth in the 19th century. If too many guys like this get in office, the next thing you’d know we’ll have people criticizing the finance experts and attempting to take away their power. Not good if we’re to remain a powerful nation.
Schiff would mop the floor with the criminal Chris Dodd in the debates.
To the clueless clowns who are saying Schiff is supporting the policies that caused the crash, you are 100% wrong. If we followed Schiff’s advice, the meltdown would never have happened. It’s government intervention – the Fed, Fannie & Freddie, Corporate Welfare, bailouts, etc, taxes – that caused the crisis.
Libertarians scare me. Their gaining ground after the repugs self destucted because of their bibles and their guns. These guys left the bibles behind and they think that they stand for freedom but we’re not really free until the government provides health care for everyone. We’ll never be free until home ownership is granted to everyone. We’re not free until the government makes sure that my familie gets to eat at mcdonalds whenever just like Schiff’s familie. In order to get there we can’t have rich people no more.
google “peter schiff was right”
“Real Freedom” must be a joke name because that user is espousing communism and clearly doesn’t know the first thing about freedom. It’s that sort of entitlement mentality that is killing the country.
What’s will all the clueless Keynesian liberalism on here? We haven’t had truly free markets in this country for (at least) nearly 100 years, so what makes you think the free market could have caused the crisis when the free market DOESN’T EXIST? Schiff has it right.
Libertarians scare me too!! If those libertarians ever got in power they would expect us to be responsible for ourselves! I’m not sure I could be happy without the government telling me what to do and how to do it. If I wasn’t able to suck off the teat of the Federal Government I would have to learn to do for myself and actually be productive. They would also lobby for a sound monetary system so I wouldn’t be able to sacrifice my children in needless wars funded by Federal Reserve inflation.
Tena writes “I think our biggest threat now is Libertarianism”. nutbags. If Schiff runs, he wins. You can take that to the bank.
Tena writes “I think our biggest threat now is Libertarianism”. You got that right. We will eat the GOP whole and spit out the religious wing nuts. If Schiff runs, he wins. You can take that to the bank. the 4:17 comment was cut short.
“Libertarianism” is a threat? If you are threatened by freedom, I suggest finding the nearest dictatorial country and move there. This country was founded on libertarianism, which has declined since the time of the revolution. The philosophy is simple – people should be able to live their lives as they choose so long as they do not infringe on the life, liberty, or property of other people. The government is not at a higher moral level than us. If it’s wrong for us to steal, the government can’t call it taxation. If it’s wrong for us to kidnap, the government can’t call it the draft. Liberty is something to be embraced, not feared.
Peter supports the ultimate regulation… bankruptcy! None of this “too big to fail” nonsense. He also supports honest money, not printing up money or enabling 40:1 leveraging like wall street was doing. Regulations were in place to prevent someone like Madoff from doing what he did, but the regulators failed and the investors put their faith in the regulators instead of doing their due diligence themselves (which the regulations made them feel was unnecessary… someone else is monitoring this stuff). Also, Sarbanes-Oxley came in after the Enron scandal. Enron got dealt with using existing laws. Once again buyer (investor) beware. Ultimately, most regulations put up barriers to competition and end up being a boon to the big corporations and a bane to small businesses.
“You got that right. We will eat the GOP whole and spit out the religious wing nuts.”
We will also spit out crushed chickenhawk bones.
Free market what free market?
“Trade regulations/agreements, FCC,SEC, Fed Reserve, SOX, WTO, IMF, World Bank, Now we have a car czar, an internet czar, the list goes on and on.”
Exactly!!!
Holy ****. I’m blown away at the amount of people who fear libertarians. How do you guys wipe your own arses without expecting gov’t to do it for you? Schiff, like Ron Paul, has common sense. Something this country could use a lot more of. Frankly, I’d LOVE to see Schiff drink Christopher “There’s-Nothing-Wrong-With-Fannie-Mae” Dodd’s milkshake. Any takers for Barney Frank?
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
To those that think Ron Paul and Peter Schiff only represents a small percentage, based on the primaries last year, you are forgetting that the media practically ignored Paul and that was before the crash. Paul was protected as nutty because he predicted this crash and gave the remedy. Now after the crash has happened, his media coverage has sky rocketed and the same with his support. Libertarian Republicans appeal to Democrats and Independents as well as traditional/historical Republicans, especially in this position after the dreadful neocon. Republicans. We did not say the Ron Paul revolution would happen last year, it only got started now and full victory to come. Schiff’s win in the primary and in the election will be a very important milestone. Schiff will give a weakened Dodd – who has to face a primary opponent as well – a race he will never forget, as successful libertarian Independent puts it.
BTW: Paul fared last year way better than Dodd in the presidential primaries (Iowa), even though Paul was less known and run as an antiwar candidate in a pro-war party.
@Tena – Repubs and Dems are two sides of the same coin. I’m sorry you got brainwashed into thinking this country is a 2 party system. I guess some people are satisfied with living with an illusion of choice. And libertarians promote something called “Liberty”… Your country was founded upon it. Look into that.
@sgwhiteinfla – This country was founded upon free market economics and capitalism. When free markets are interfered with, meltdowns happen. Take a look around today. Do you like what you see? It’s because of, amongst other things, interference in a free market and interference with contracts that creates this profound disruption that we are seeing right now. Existing businesses that played by the rules are being punished by the government because of their bailing out of companies that have failed miserably. This perpetuates the mess and prolongs the suffering.
@Thomas Morton – I truly want to be respectful of other peoples ideas and opinions here, but your statement has to be the most profoundly ignorant thing I’ve read in a long time. “Hey, you know that electrician that burned down the building next door with his bad wiring job? Yeah, I think we should trust him, his judgement, and his skills and let him wire our building.” Wow. Turn off Fox News and read some books on austrian economics.
This country is lucky to have someone like Schiff. I can’t believe people are actually still putting their faith in the politicians that created this mess, or somehow think these corrupt, backroom dealing, greased palmed, two faced, swindling jackasses give a **** about them.
Some previous commenters labelled Schiff a ‘wingnut’. Funny how those who disagree with the current two party power structure are labelled ‘wingnuts’ by those of uncritical thought. Just a reminder that the current power structure has produced massive economic collapse across the world. So much for the view that those in power are somehow possessed of far sight – its just another kleptocracy disguised as free market capitalism. It causes me no end of fascination and curiousity that those who have lost the most in the current meltdown are still the most vocal supporters of a stilted system that is robbing them of their futures. Talk about putting the bullets into the gun that will kill you.
Let Peter speak for himself…
http://www.mises.org/story/3493
Wow at some of the comments.
What is a free market to you people? The choice to choose a Iphone or a blackberry??? America is not a free market.
And so many people bad mouthing libertarians. Do you hate the constitution or something? Whats wrong with you people? Do you hate the very freedoms you use every day?
Regardless, Dodd needs to go. Schiff has my vote.