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.

[Tenacious 1]

Arthur,

We’re gonna need a bigger boat.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Speaking of Barney Frank, if anyone is curious about the sleazy details about his boyfriend and prostitution going on in Frank’s own home ...

Be warned. This was so repulsive that the FR had to yank it:

http://www.geocities.com/forceofreedom/goddoor4.html

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

No, wikipedia is in their hip pocket. They’ll nitpick everything and demoralize any conservative who wastes energy there.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Backhoe’s link pages make this look tiny. But it’s a great start! — FRegards ....

[SBD1]

Effort to Rein In Fannie, Freddie Gains Steam
Treasury Puts Muscle Behind Bipartisan Push for Greater Oversight of Firms

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and David Cho Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, April 23, 2008; D01

Past fights over efforts to boost regulation have been bare-knuckled affairs. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac assembled two of the most expensive and formidable lobbying operations in Washington and were able to stop almost any attempt at regulation. "They really had this place locked down, and everybody was afraid of them," Hagel recalled.

[SBD1]

Since I set up this quick website already, you are more than welcome to use it as a central depository for the documents and links to the various information.

Here is the link

If you are interested, I can set you up with a username and password. During the 2004 Presidential election, I did something similar for the with this website for Swift Boat Veterans. To this day, I host that site in their honor free of charge.

SBD

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Update on effort to suppress “Burning Down the House” Video [What Caused our Financial Crisis]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2094199/posts

“The first YouTube posting of this video received over one million hits in less than five

days.”

UNIVERSAL RETRACTS COPYRIGHT CLAIM ON “BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE”— ROCK ON ACTIVISTS!!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2094369/posts

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

DOW Closes Up 484 Points (Just Misses Record 1 Day Point Jump)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2094245/posts
[Tuesday, September 30, 2008]

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

$700 Billion American Taxpayer Dollars to go to Foreigners!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2094684/posts

[XR7]

BTTT

"If we fail to act, the gears of our economy will grind to a halt," McCain said.
McCain planned to return to Washington to vote on the bill...

Gag me.

[Freedom2specul8]

bookmarked

[SBD1]

Newsweek
January 6, 1975, UNITED STATES EDITION
FINANCE: Reviving the RFC?

It's a nightmare that shakes economists awake in a cold sweat: a big corporation goes bust because of a liquidity squeeze and this sets off a chain of events that turns a recession into a crushing depression. As the recession deepened last week, the illiquidity fear was very real.

Thus, a number of powerful and diverse voices - including William McChesney Martin Jr., former Federal Reserve chairman; Felix G. Rohatyn, the New York investment banker; Henry Ford II; Frazar B. Wilde, chairman emeritus of Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. (opposite page), and the Democratic Party leadership - were pushing a controversial remedy to avert an economic calamity. They were calling for the revival of the long-defunct Reconstruction Finance Corp., which bailed out thousands of banks, railroads and businesses during the Depression through massive loans and investments. Congress killed the RFC in 1954 amid charges that it had been swayed by favoritism and political influence when making loans.

Proponents of a new RFC say that the agency is needed because corporations are overburdened with debt at a time when sources of capital are drying up and the economy is slumping. They argue that there is simply no way for many financially troubled corporations to get needed capital unless it comes from a source - such as a new RFC - that does not now exist.

Many opponents of a latter-day RFC assail it as socialistic and a bail-out for big business. Other critics warn that such an agency, drawing its funds from the U.S. Treasury, would simply worsen the country's economic woes by fueling inflation. Still others question whether the agency is needed. They note that most of the RFC's old lending functions have been taken over by the Small Business Administration, Department of Agriculture, Federal National Mortgage Association and other government agencies.

According to investment banker Henry Kaufman of New York's Salomon Brothers, the main beneficiaries would be big corporations that have been poorly managed and have run up big losses. He questions whether such firms deserve to be helped. SBD

[ForGod'sSake]

Excellent idea bump! SUBPRIME LOAN PRIMER

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

How The Fed, Media And Academia Aided And Abetted Lending Debacle [Excellent Overview!]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095599/posts

91,000 Bailout Calls - 85,000 Against to Sen. Feinstein (CA)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2095425/posts

[Heard Elizabeth Dole on the Bill Lamay [sic] Radio Show. She had an even higher % of negative calls]

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

(1993) Assault on the mortgage lenders: in the name of racial justice, the Clintonites...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2095640/posts?page=1

[syriacus]

Bookmarked.

This is a terrific thread. Thanks for setting it up.

Someone at YouTube called this scandal

DemronPerhaps "Dem-ron" would be better.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

For historic reference:

McCain and Obama both vote for Bailout:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2095404/posts?page=201

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Yep, you’re right. Perhaps even the Wikipedia administrators want the truth out on this [in part].

[George Smiley]

This is a terrific "in a nutshell" presentation http://navlog.org/SHOTINTHEFANNIEMAE.ppt

[ForGod'sSake]

EXCELLENT link.