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BizJournals April: Vitner: Worst of the recession is over Forbes May, The Recession Is Over http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/04/recovery-indicators-unemployment-opinions-columnists-recession.html Bloomberg June, Treasuries Drop for 3rd Day on Signs Worst of Recession Is Over: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=as7n0AWDEzuQ&pid=20601087 Newsweek July, The Recession Is Over: http://www.newsweek.com/id/208633 FoxNews August, The Recession is Over! http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/25889935/recession-is-over.htm WSJ September, US Stocks Slightly Higher As Bernanke Says Recession Is Over Sep http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090915-711042.html

Harris County taxpayers may have to inject up to $7 million a year into the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority for the next two years due to a financial crisis sparked by the souring of bonds used to build Minute Maid Park, Reliant Stadium and the Toyota Center. Facing balloon payments on $117 million in variable-rate bonds, the authority now is obliged to pay off the debt in five years instead of 23 years. That would require $24 million a year — a figure that, together with more than $30 million in additional obligations, would push the authority to the brink...

Let's not mince words here: The entire finance and real-estate "industry" is filled with massive, pernicious fraud, and we now have only one question remaining - will The Government do its lawful and mandated job, that of prosecuting the bad actors, or has it joined with the fraudsters, become one with them, and thus, declare itself as a gang of mobsters rather than a legitimate government? The latter, of course will beg only the question of what should be an ordinary American's response. Let's start with what may be one of the most outrageous yet least-actionable examples: Alan Greenspan. Alan...

The B-Cast: How Obama's 'Coalitions of Power' Are Key to 'Stealthy Agenda'

The Community Reinvestment Act, first passed in 1977 under Jimmy Carter, was intended to increase minority homeownership. It grew out of charges that banks were "redlining" entire inner-city neighborhoods as bad credit risks. Banks now were forced to perform outreach to these areas. In the '70s and '80s, banks could show that they were trying to do that by advertising in minority newspapers and having representatives sit on the boards of local groups. In other words, they were rated on the effort made and not on the results achieved. Creditworthiness still mattered. In 1995, as Howard Husock pointed out eight...

JOHN KING (host): If you pick up Maureen Dowd's column in The New York Times this morning, she goes through Congressman (Joe) Wilson's statement, some of the other things, and she says in her -- she has come to the conclusion, quote: "Some people just can't believe a black man is president and will never accept it." Does the president believe that some of these attacks are based on his race? WHITE HOUSE PRESS SEC. ROBERT GIBBS: I don't think the president believes that people are upset because of the color of his skin. I think people are upset because...

On Friday, I stated Barney Frank Says Ron Paul's Audit The Fed Bill Will Pass In October. Quite a few others made the same mistake as noted by RonPaul.Com in Misinformation Alert: Barney Frank Never Said That HR 1207 Will Pass In October. Several blogs and forums reported during the past 24 hours that Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, said that Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve, HR 1207, will pass in October. Incorrect Reports about Barney Frank’s Statement on HR 1207 * Washington Times: Barney Frank says Ron Paul bill will pass* Politico:...

Are journalists playing favorites with some of the key political figures involved with regulatory oversight of U.S. financial markets? MSNBC’s Chris Matthews launched several vitriolic attacks on the Republican Party on his Sept. 17, 2008, show, suggesting blame for Wall Street problems should be focused in a partisan way. However, he and other media have failed to thoroughly examine the Democratic side of the blame game. Prominent Democrats ran Fannie Mae, the same government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) that donated campaign cash to top Democrats. And one of Fannie Mae’s main defenders in the House – Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a recipient...

Leading conservative economist Bruce Bartlett writes that the Obama-hating town-hall mobs have it wrong—the person they should be angry with left the White House seven months ago. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where is the evidence that everything would be better if Republicans were in charge? Does anyone believe the economy would be growing faster or that unemployment would be lower today if John McCain had won the election? I know of no economist who holds that view. The economy is like an ocean liner that turns only very slowly. The gross domestic product and the level of employment would be pretty much the...

Perhaps it's the Russ Feingold influence. Feingold, when he served in the Wisconsin Legislature before traipsing off to Washington, was the bulldog behind legislation that outlawed gifts and other perks to legislators, things like free dinners and drinks, pen sets and the like, or even a cup of coffee. The idea was that legislators ought not be beholden to anyone except the people who elected them. Conversely, lawmakers are not to lavish favors on lobbyists and other influence peddlers. So by law they are to pay for their own meals and reimburse their hosts when they get something of value...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Two key Democrat senators were cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee on Friday from year-long investigations about whether mortgages they obtained from Countrywide Financial Corp. violated the senate's rules on gifts. The bipartisan committee, which supported the decision unanimously, did scold the senior lawmakers, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., for not being more careful in their dealings. "While the committee finds no substantial credible evidence as required by committee rules that your Countrywide mortgage violated Senate ethics rules, the committee does believe that you should have exercised...

n the middle of a difficult re-election campaign, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., on Friday was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee from a year-long investigation about whether mortgages he obtained from Countrywide Financial Corp. violated the senate's rules on gifts. The committee, however, did scold the senior lawmaker for not being more careful in his dealings. "While the committee finds no substantial credible evidence as required by committee rules that your Countrywide mortgage violated Senate ethics rules, the committee does believe that you should have exercised more vigilance in your dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid...

Before “subprime” became a crisis, ACORN was active in the mortgage market, fighting in support of the policies that helped lay the groundwork for the banking collapse of 2008. ACORN lobbied legislators and banks to ensure that any person, regardless of credit history, income, or assets, would qualify for a mortgage. They mastered the art of pressuring banks – often through radical and controversial methods – to provide subprime loans to all comers. President Obama acted as a lawyer for ACORN in a lawsuit against Citibank forcing it to provide subprime loans. It was many of these “toxic” loans that...

In 2007, West Gate Bank paid no premiums to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. In 2008, the Lincoln bank paid $160,000. This year, with a special emergency assessment, which was finalized on Friday, President Carl Sjulin is estimating West Gate’s premium to be around $530,000. “It’s a burden,” Sjulin said. It’s also bitter medicine for banks that did little or nothing destructive to contribute to the unhealthy state of the nation’s banking industry. “It’s a very difficult pill to swallow for Nebraska bankers,” Sjulin said. “We didn’t have anything to do with it, but we’re paying for it.” That’s a...

Two U.S. federal regulators who sounded early warnings on the financial crisis and a Liberian peace activist who helped end that nation's civil war were honored for their efforts Monday at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairwoman Sheila Bair, former chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Brooksley Born, and peace activist Leymah Gbowee (LAY'-mah BOH'-wee) were presented with Profile in Courage Awards, annual honors named for a 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book written by John F. Kennedy. "(It's) a special honor to present the award to three women who have inspired all those who...

The kerfuffle about current New York Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Stephen Friedman's purchase of some Goldman stock while the Fed was involved in reviewing major decisions about Goldman's future—well-covered by the Wall Street Journal here and here—raises a fundamental question about Wall Street's corruption. Just as the millions in AIG bonuses obscured the much more significant issue of the $70 billion-plus in conduit payments authorized by the N.Y. Fed to AIG's counterparties, the small issue of Friedman's stock purchase raises very serious issues about the competence and composition of the Federal Reserve of New York, which is the most powerful...

New York Fed Board Chairman Stephen Friedman resigned yesterday amid controversy he owned stock and served as a board director of Goldman Sachs -- an entity he was served with overseeing as a Fed regulator. From Friedman's resignation letter: "…although I have been in compliance with the rules, my public service motivated continuation on the Reserve Bank Board is being mischaracterized as improper." It was improper says our guest, William Black, associate professor of Economics and Law University of Missouri, Kansas City. Bottom line: It's a clear conflict of interest for private banks to own an arm of the Fed,...

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York shaped Washington's response to the financial crisis late last year, which buoyed Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other Wall Street firms. Goldman received speedy approval to become a bank holding company in September and a $10 billion capital injection soon after. During that time, the New York Fed's chairman, Stephen Friedman, sat on Goldman's board and had a large holding in Goldman stock, which because of Goldman's new status as a bank holding company was a violation of Federal Reserve policy. The New York Fed asked for a waiver, which, after about 2½...

OAKLAND - A grand jury today voted to indict Yusuf Ali Bey IV, the scion of the defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery, for ordering the killings of journalist Chauncey Bailey and two other men in 2007, authorities familiar with the situation said. Prosecutors are likely to bring the case with special circumstances - allowing them to seek the death penalty against Bey IV, 23. He allegedly told two of his followers that in exchange for killing Bailey, he would teach them how to file fraudulent loan applications that could reap hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another man, Antoine Arelus Mackey,...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new national poll suggests that President Obama is personally more popular than his policies. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, released Monday, also indicates that 63 percent of Americans approve of how Obama is handling his duties as president. One in three questioned in the poll disapprove. The survey, released two days before Obama marks 100 days in the White House, indicates that three in four Americans feel Obama has the personal qualities a president should have. But when asked whether Obama agrees with the respondent on the issues, that number drops to 57 percent. "Americans have...

The pressures were already immense when David B. Kellermann was promoted to the top financial position at the mortgage giant Freddie Mac last September. Then they got even worse. Mr. Kellermann’s boss and other top executives were ousted when the Treasury secretary seized Freddie Mac and its sibling company, Fannie Mae; others left on their own and were not replaced. Soon President Obama told the companies they were responsible for carrying out some of his programs to revive the economy, in addition to keeping the housing market afloat by buying and selling hundreds of thousands of mortgages a month. Mr....

Barney Frank's Rental ReversalApril 21, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Now, we've got a couple Barney Frank spites here. He's always good for a couple sound bites. We thought about getting a Barney Frank translator in here but that would sorta destroy it. I mean, I can do it myself but sometimes it's better to leave Barney Frank un-translated. He was on Tavis Smiley's show, PBS, last night, and Smiley said, "What did you do today relative to low-income housing?" FRANK: One of the causes of the terrible crisis we had over the last few years, which has given us today's...

David Keller was found dead in his home Tuesday morning in an apparent suicide. Keller, 41, has served as the acting chief financial officer (CFO) for Freddie Mac since September. Kellerman reportedly hanged himself in the basement of his Reston, Va. home. The Fairfax County Police Department said there are no signs of foul play. Keller took over as CFO when Anthony “Buddy” Piszel resigned in the wake of the government takeover. The news comes on the heals of Freddie Mac CEO David Moffett's resignation last month. The government-controlled Freddie Mac owns or guarantees about...

Law enforcement sources said they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. Virginia police say they found David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, hanging in the basement of his Reston home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. (ABC News)The death was "an active investigation" and there were "no signs of foul play," Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Local police said they were called to Kellermann's home at 4:48am. Kellermann,...

The acting head of Freddie Mac, David Kellermann, has apparently committed suicide, Fairfax County Police tell WTOP. Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Mary Anne Jennings says Kellermann, 41, was found at his Hunter Mill Estates home Wednesday morning. Jennings says police responded to the home after family members called police around 5 a.m. "We were called from inside the house to come investigate an apparent suicide," Jennings says. Because of legal ramifications, Jennings says she can't describe the nature of the suicide. "We're not to give you details of the condition of the body, except to say it was an apparent...

$400 bn more losses at US banks: JP Morgan 21 Apr 2009, 0010 hrs IST, REUTERS NEW YORK: JP Morgan Securities said it estimates US banks to incur $400 billion more in losses from the credit crisis and expects there will be need for more capital for certain institutions. "We expect that total losses could reach $1.3 trillion. Banks so far have taken writedowns and losses of $920 billion, so they are roughly 70 percent through with total losses," the brokerage wrote in a note to clients. The bulk of the bank losses will come from loan books and less...

Monday afternoon, Goldman Sachs reported much larger than expected first quarter profits, and this comes on the heels of Wells Fargo’s strong earnings reported last week. No one should be surprised. The Federal Reserve has provided the banks with lots of cheap funds through its various emergency lending facilities and quantitative easing. The Federal Reserve has permitted the banks and financial houses to park vast sums of unmarketable paper on its books—securities made nearly worthless by the misjudgment and avarice of bankers. In return, the Fed has provided these scions of finance with fresh funds, cheaply, that they may lend...

It all started with a question: "How much responsibility, if any, do you have for the financial crisis?" Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and a conservative Harvard law student debated over how Frank should have handled his role as the House Chairman of the Financial Services Committee. Frank was at Harvard University for a speech at the Kennedy School of Government. Frank said the student wasn't backing up his claims, invoking some laughter from the crowd, and the student told Frank he wasn't answering his question. This student was absolutely incredible! "You're a public representative, I'm a student... it does allow...

The "dirty little secret" that Geithner is going to great degrees to obscure from the public is very simple. There are only at most perhaps five US banks that are the source of the toxic poison causing such dislocation in the world financial system. The heart of the present problem, and the reason ordinary loan losses are not the problem as in prior bank crises, is a variety of exotic financial derivatives, most especially credit default swaps. What Geithner does not want the public to understand, his "dirty little secret", is that the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the passage of...

A Fox News timeline of documented facts and proof that the Mortgage Meltdown, precipitating this current economic crisis, all could have been prevented. This video clearly shows that George Bush and his administration warned Congress starting in 2001, that this economic crisis was coming, if something was not done to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Congress refused to listen, lead by the arrogant Congressman Barney Frank. This video says it all. The media reportedly did not want this video on You Tube. It was taken off. This link is of the same video, but is routed through...

video 8:37 ... for future reference.

The Obama administration on Monday launched its much-awaited assault on the worst U.S. banking crisis in 70 years, billions of federal dollars to thaw the nation's frozen credit markets and ease the economy out of recession. So far, the markets like the plan. I'm still skeptical of the long term success. Another $1 Trillion? Where is this going to leave us in the long run? Bankrupt?

Many financial gurus believe the requirement for banks to "mark-to-market" their assets, particularly the mortgage backed securities has put our financial system in the mess it is in today. Mark to market is accounting act of recording the price or value of a security, portfolio to reflect its current market value rather than its book value. Lets say you were a bank and bought $10 Billion Dollars worth of mortgage backed securities (MBS). The market crashes, and if you were to sell them today they would be worth $1 Billion and you have a paper loss of $9 Billion Dollars....

President Obama's new Economic Recovery Advisory Board includes a subprime-mortgage pioneer who drove her Chicago-area bank into bankruptcy; a national union boss who took the Fifth Amendment on three occasions when asked by federal investigators what he knew about a money-laundering scheme involving the Teamsters union and the Democratic Party while Sen. Christopher J. Dodd was its general chairman; the president and CEO of a Swiss bank under investigation for helping rich Americans dodge income taxes; and assorted deep-pocketed Obama campaign donors with conflicts of interest, the Washington Times reports. No wonder investors have such little faith in the president's...

Here's an example: What Obama means to Bob Dog Illinois, USA - 27 Feb 2009 What Obama means to me is that even an amoral congenital liar can get elected to the presidency. Oh wait, we learned that back in 1992.

For all the media's irresponsible coverage of the 2008 elections, they were the most blatantly dishonest and biased in their allowing Democrats to use the airwaves to present a blatantly false narrative that Republicans were to blame for the tanking economy due to their "failure to regulate." We could go back to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who demonized "the Bush administration's failed economic policies -- policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything-goes mentality with no regulation, no supervision and no discipline in the system." The airwaves have been filled with Democrats and liberals presenting their talking points of Republican...

The recent debate over the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus plan and revelations of tax problems by three Obama administration appointees have voters angrily jamming phone lines on Capitol Hill to air their frustrations to their elected representatives. Voters are calling several congressional offices, complaining about stimulus negotations. Their reactions are putting pressure on Congress and benefiting watchdog groups on both sides of the political aisle. Capitol operators tell CNN Radio that phone lines have been jammed for the past two weeks, sometimes prompting busy signals. A spokeswoman for Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, said calls on the sweeping stimulus plan...

Next Catastrophe Think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were a politicized financial disaster? Just wait until pension funds implode. Funds worth trillions of dollars start to plummet in value. Political pressure to be “socially responsible” distorts the market decisions of government-related enterprises, leading to risky investments. Investors who once considered their retirements safely protectedwake up to a sinking feeling of uncertainty and gloom. Sound like the great mortgage-fueled financial crisis of 2008? Sure. But it also describes a calamity likely to hit as soon as 2009. State, local, and private pension plans covering millions of government employees and union workers...

I can't believe that Barney Frank and I actually agree on something, although for probably very different reasons. The dangerously malfeasant congressman who helped to exacerbate the banking crisis with his ineptitude as Chairman of the House banking oversight committee wants to drag the heads of banks who took bailout money in front of Congress and give them the third degree...

It was six moths ago when Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd admitted to America that he had the IQ of a slug (either that or he thinks that his constituents were stupid). It had been disclosed that the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Received TWO VIP Loans from Sub-Prime Lender Countrywide Inc. The Loans were at favorable interest rates. THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE, Chris Dodd, said he didn't realize that VIP treatment meant favorable rates. COME Freaking ON. He is CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE, we were really to believe that he has no Idea of...

The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part.In the second part of a week-long series looking behind the slump,Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis Alan Greenspan, chairman of US Federal Reserve 1987- 2006Only a couple of years ago the long-serving chairman of the Fed, a committed free marketeer who had steered the US economy through crises ranging from the 1987 stockmarket collapse through to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, was lauded with...

By Sammy BenoitBarney Frank is the "Teflon Congressman. He was a leading OPPONENT of regulating of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac (see video below) and was able to transfer the entire blame on President Bush. He never had to answer why he fought so hard to squash regulation, was it the tons of campaign cash Frank got from Freddie and Fannie OR the fact that Frank's former lover was the former director of housing initiatives for Fannie Mae. The July 3, 1998, Reliable Source column in The Washington Post reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with...

( worth a re-read) September 28, 2008 Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis By James Simpson America waits with bated breath while Washington struggles to bring the U.S. economy back from the brink of disaster. But many of those same politicians caused the crisis, and if left to their own devices will do so again. Despite the mass media news blackout, a series of books, talk radio and the blogosphere have managed to expose Barack Obama's connections to his radical mentors -- Weather Underground bombers William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis and others....

Tyler Cowan, a distinguished economist, gives us eight reasons why we are in a depression. Here are five more: 9. Throughout the long presidential campaign, Obama repeatedly expressed his intention to raise taxes and redistribute wealth. 10. Throughout the long presidential campaign, Obama repeatedly promised to dramatically cut carbon dioxide emissions. 11. Obama and majority party leaders in Congress have endorsed abolishing secret-ballot union elections in favor of "card check". 12. Obama and the majority party in Congress are perceived to be hostile to business and supportive of imposing burdens on business via regulation, mandates, and legal liability (the favorite...

Feds Cite Schumer In Collapse Of IndyMac An important angle in the IndyMac failure that may get lost in ominous headlines tonight and tomorrow: federal regulators pointedly cited U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in explaining the bank's failure. In simple language, federal regulators blamed Schumer for a run on the bank.

In last six months, 65 percent of days when Fed chairman speaks show market declines, including three of worst drops in history. When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks, Wall Street listens – and investors should beware. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has lost nearly 2,300 points on days he has spoken, including three of the worst point losses ever. “Every time President Bush, Ben Bernanke, every time [Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson – every time they get on the air, the market just drops in concert with every word that comes out of their mouth,” CBS “The Saturday Early...

Bailed out Citigroup fund spends $10 billion buying 44 foreign toll roads. Just one week after receiving a pledge of $306 billion in support from US taxpayers, Citigroup announced the intended $10 billion acquisition of a debt-laden Spanish toll road group. Citi Infrastructure Partners will hand over $3.6 billion in cash and assume $6.3 billion in debt from Sacyr Vallehermoso, the parent company of the Intinere Infraestructuras toll road group. Itinere operates 32 toll roads in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Portugal and Spain and Ireland. Another twelve concessions are under construction. Sacyr today issued a statement to Spanish investors noting...

EXCERPT FROM 5-PAGE REPORT....members of the Congressional Black Caucus attended the 13th annual Caribbean Multi-National Business Conference in sun-drenched St. Maarten......enjoying free airfare, meals and hotel rooms paid for by IBM, AT&T, Verizon, Citigroup, Pfizer, Macy's and American Airlines..... Citigroup that last week received a massive bailout, ponied up $100,000 according to one lobbyist....and has supported the conference for several years, but would not reveal an amount.The yearly event - held in a Caribbean country - draws black politicians, as well as community activists, lobbyists and special-interest groups looking to promote agendas.....the main goal is "promoting business relationships between America's...

As bad a year as the stock market is having, Treasury Secretary Paulson is having an even worse one, according to William Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri. The professor, who was counsel to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L Crisis and blew the whistle on the "Keating Five" in 1989, says Paulson deserves an "F-minus" for his role in the financial crisis. "All of his policies made [the crisis] worse," says Black, citing Paulson's: * Pushing for more deregulation of the securities and mortgage businesses. * Failure to recognize the...

Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, national campaign finance chairwoman for the Obama campaign, has taken herself out of the running to be secretary of Commerce because of vetting issues, a Democratic official said.