The Timeline Project

various ^ | 30-SEP-2008 | George Smiley

[George Smiley]

Let's collaboratively build a timeline of this disaster, starting with when these agencies were formed, tracking the legislation that was not only passed, but proposed, and quotes from who supported and opposed it.

PLEASE INCLUDE URLs so we can link to sources.

Here's a start.

1938 Fannie Mae, or the Federal National Mortgage Association, was founded in 1938. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode12/usc_sup_01_12_10_13_20_III.html

1954 1954 Charter Act

1968 1968 Charter Act

1970 Freddie Mac, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, was established in 1970

1989 Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989

1990, James A. Johnson went to work for Fannie Mae as the CEO and quickly became its $5 million-a-year chairman. His compensation rose to a reported $21 million by his final year, 1998.

1992 The Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 Pub. L. No. 102-550, 1311, 106 Stat. 3941, 3944 (Oct. 28, 1992) codified at 12 U.S.C. 4511.

OFHEO was established by the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (Safety and Soundness Act). [1] The act gives OFHEO oversight responsibilities over two government-sponsored enterprises, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the enterprises), to ensure their capital adequacy and financial safety and soundness. 12 U.S.C. 4513. Among OFHEOs duties are to conduct annual on-site examinations of the enterprises, to conduct enforcement proceedings and take enforcement actions. 12 U.S.C. 4517, 4631, 4636.

1995 In 1995, President Bill Clinton's HUD agreed to let Fannie and Freddie get affordable-housing credit for buying subprime securities that included loans to low-income borrowers. The idea was that subprime lending benefited many borrowers who did not qualify for conventional loans. HUD expected that Freddie and Fannie would impose their high lending standards on subprime lenders.

1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999

2001 Superior Bank of Chicago went belly up in 2001 with over $1 billion in insured and uninsured deposits. This collapse came amid harsh criticism of how Superiors owners promoted sub-prime home mortgages. Penny Pritzker

2005 FEDERAL HOUSING ENTERPRISE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 2005

Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA)

Back on January 26, 2005 McCain cosponsored and introduced the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act (S.190) to regulate Government-sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

2006 On May 25, 2006 McCain addressed the Senate:

Quote: Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae's regulator reported that the company's quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were "illusions deliberately and systematically created" by the company's senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's former chief executive officer, OFHEO's report shows that over half of Mr. Raines' compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.

2007 BAPCPA "is directly responsible for the rising foreclosure rate since the end of 2005," concluded a 2007 study by Credit Suisse.

2008 BAPCPA "is directly responsible for the rising foreclosure rate since the end of 2005," concluded a 2007 study by Credit Suisse. The law "increased foreclosures and the number of homes for sale," echoed a July 2008 study by U.S. Treasury researcher David Bernstein. That study estimated the law had pushed foreclosures or forced sales on 200,000 homeowners since it went into effect.

[ForGod'sSake]

Freddie and Fannie compilation of history and facts (VANITY)

surfer compiled a pretty good case study of Fannie and Freddie's culpability in this whold mess, but it's not the complete story. I posted THIS LINK to that thread for some balance.

[ForGod'sSake]

Just adding this to the thread:

Anatomy of the Crisis

[magooey]

Maybe a website with economic commentary and a focus on the financial shenanigans would be useful. Suggestion - call it "Shyster Watch".

[ForGod'sSake]

Maybe a website with economic commentary and a focus on the financial shenanigans would be useful. Suggestion - call it "Shyster Watch".

Heh, now THAT would work for lawyers, but the money changers? I dunno, maybe "Shark Watch"??? I know, I know, gotta take a nap.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

I feel compelled to return here. Two important links:

Obama, ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and the current financial mess
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2098656/posts?page=1
[Links and youtubes by ETL]

Stocks sharply lower as global crisis persists (Dow under 10,000 1st time in nearly 4 years)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098644/posts

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Rush shocked me with something I didn’t know.

Five Million Illegal Aliens get Fraudulent Loans?

Here’s what a google link yields:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=house+loans+bailout&as_epq=illegal+aliens&as_oq=%

22five+million%22+%225+million%

22&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr

=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images

Near top of the list, Newsbusters:

headline: Calling the Old Media: Five Million Illegals Have Illegal Mortgages in U.S.A.!

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/10/09/calling-old-media-five-million

-illegals-have-illegal-mortgages-u

Here are some snippets:

” ... One illegal alien was arrested this year in Tucson after allegedly using a stolen social security number to buy two homes and rack up over $780,000 in bad debt. ...”

” ... It’s not known how many of those have contributed to the subprime housing mortgage

meltdown, but it has affected every state, including Arizona. ...”

One FR related link in which HUD denies the charge:
HUD cries foul over illegal immigrant mortgage data
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2101844/posts

Oldexpat posted: Whether it is 1m or 5m is irrelevant. No bank should have been giving mortgages to someone who could be deported any day. Makes no sense. All I know is we have a friend foreclosing on almost one house a day in Orange Co. CA.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Urg ... fixing google link:

Here’s what a google link yields:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=house+loans+bailout&as_epq=illegal+aliens&as_oq=%22five+million22+225+million22&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Sketchy info but useful historically:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2102284/posts?page=6#6

This past summer a $300 billion housing bailout was passed with a $500 million a year payment to ACORN. — icwhatudo

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Adding another to your thread:

Monetary Madness
10-9-2008 | Toni Straka
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2103825/posts?page=2

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Some really smart guy needs to make a web 2.0 website called timelines.com (or similar name) where you can use a provided timeline template and insert events to tell your story. Someone who’s good with Java or Ruby on Rails or something.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I find the timing of Spitzer’s “investigation” of AIG forcing Hank Greenberg out (and removing the main opponent of Credit Default Swaps) very suspicious.

2005 - Eliot Spitzer (the same idiot who had to resign later from the governorship of NY after he was caught with hookers) forced CEO Hank Greenberg out of AIG. Greenberg did not trust these instruments and stood firm in not allowing them on his books. Once he was gone, the Financial Products division went crazy selling CDSs and making billions.

AIG promised to guarantee banks in case they had above-average mortgage defaults. But the “insurance” policies they sold (CDS instruments) weren’t backed by anything because they were classified as assets and not covered by insurance regulations.

CDS fraud is apparently in the trillions of dollars because they were written into the accounts as assets. They let the brokerage houses lend even more money on high-return loans.

Here’s a good article about Joseph Cassano and his infamous credit swaps.

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/09/28/AIGs-Derivatives-Run-Amok

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Here's another chart I found:

Loss histories for subprime mortgages in their first year after issuance formed a predictable pattern between 2000 and 2005, but the loss history for subprime loans issued in 2006 broke the mold during the first eight months of 2007.

http://www.calvert.com/news_subprime_anatomy.html

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Proven Failure of Obama Socialism [Bailout timeline]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2112941/posts

[Timeline Project still growing, FRiend.]

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

You know what’s important. We MUST win the economic meltdown debate. I’ll be devoting my tagline to one thread for the rest of the election:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2115485/posts?page=9

Also linked to here from there.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Moved to here:

Obama-nomics & Greece [link-list vanity]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2464021/posts?page=38