Bill Clinton, Home Wrecker

Investors Business Daily ^ | September 23, 2011 | IBD Editorial

[No One Special]

Subprime Scandal: Bill Clinton has summoned the media to listen to his take on the never-ending financial crisis. But the man who is now portrayed as an oracle was in fact its chief architect.

In an interview for his annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York, the former president blamed the mortgage meltdown and ensuing record poverty on a "30-year anti-government rant."

"The American Dream has been under assault for 30 years," Clinton said, lecturing banks to "clean up their financial books" of all the toxic mortgages they made.

This is galling even for Bill Clinton.

He's the one who originally pushed them to make those really dumb loans. And then he baited Wall Street to game the perverse system he created. Nobody put the American Dream of owning — and keeping — a home "under assault" more than he did.

Rewind to 1994. While everyone was worried about Clinton socializing health care, he was busy socializing mortgages. To boost minority homeownership, Clinton toughened anti-redlining rules and launched a federal assault on mortgage underwriting standards.

He enlisted no fewer than 10 federal regulatory agencies to crack down on prudent lenders. He named his anti-bank SWAT team the Interagency Task Force on Fair Lending.

"I want to target new (housing) markets, underserved populations, tear down the barriers to discrimination wherever they are found," Clinton said. "We have to do a better job of reaching the underserved; of eradicating discriminatory practices that prevent minorities from finding, financing or buying the home of their choice.

"We can widen the circle of homeownership beyond anything we have ever seen," he added.

Indeed, Clinton's policies for the first time threw millions of previously unqualified buyers into the mortgage mix, fueling an unprecedented housing bubble.

[No One Special]

One would expect better from a former student at the London School of Economics.

[arthurus]

Jimmy Carter was actually the “architect,” I think. Mr. Bill was more like the general contractor.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He "studied" Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford. I do not think he ever attended the London School of Economics, and from my reading of the The Economist I wonder why you would expect better from a graduate of that particular institution.

[heye2monn]

Yep, Carter and the Dems pushed through the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977.

They said, hey, you ignorant prejudiced banks, you should lend to poor and minority people. Illiterate high school dropouts are just as responsible as middle-class people. You’re just too racist to notice.

[RetiredArmy]

ALL dimocrats have short memories. Even if they caused, invented, actually did it themselves, it is never their fault and is always the fault of conservatives. A dimocrat could pull a gun, shoot someone, that person die, and the dimocrat would blame the gun maker. A dimocrat could run over a 80 year old woman in a cross walk and blame the car. Dimocrats always are and have victims as supporters. Dimocrats are right about one thing though, they NEVER DO ANYTHING. Nothing. Just sit and whine and use other people's money.

We have this Buy and Sell Bulletin here that you can put in each week free things for sale. There is also a comment section. The latest one to come out had a whining dimocrat saying that "Obama might not be very good, but republicans want to do away with Medicate, Social Security, FEMA, foodstamps, welfare, health care, yada yada." To me the magic words were: welfare and foodstamps. This was a typical dimocrat butt sitter, whining that he may lose all his "free benefit." These people simply make me sick.

[wesagain]

"But the man who is now portrayed as an oracle was in fact its chief architect. "

And the world looks the other way....

[chickadee]

Good for IBD - calling a home wrecker, a home wrecker.

The way the game is played in the Beltway, Clinton is the revered elder statesman and Charlie Rangel gets honored by the House.

[No One Special]

I thought he did, but on a quick search, it looks like I’m wrong. It was meant as a joke as my understnding of that institution is that it is generally Keynesian and socialist in its perspective.

[ballplayer]

Yeah but it was at Bubbas direction that Janet Reno Put more teeth into The Community reinvestment act,and thats when the Damage began

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The joke was indeed deep, since the reader would have had to have shared your misperception. I think you are correct in believing someone attending the London School would probably think like Bawny Fwank, Chris Dodd and Bill Clinton.

[george76]

Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

[BobP]

And the world looks the other way....

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              Just shut your mouth and enjoy your ill-gotten gains.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Forever to be known as the guy who articulated a cigar in the vagina of a young intern in the Oval Office.

[heye2monn]

Jimmy created the appalling idea that the federal government knows — through its great financial genius — that ghettoes are overflowing with untapped opportunities for banks.

Then Billy drove a truck through it.

[heye2monn]

But-but-but-but Clinton is the wise man of the Democratic party, a political genius and a statesman of the highest order.