Posted on 03/04/2010 8:19:10 AM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March
While most of the world is recovering economically, the US continues to flounder. Greece is highly unionized. Result? Chaos.
Is that our trial canary? We know that tax cuts work. Please feel to help with informative / shocking links regarding economics, government budgeting, what triggered the meltdown, Obama-nomics, and/or Greece.
Obama-nomics Madness:
NOTE -— “ ... most economies around the world are again growing.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2455228/posts
[But not in the US.]
American reliance on government ‘at all-time high’...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/01/americans-reliance-on-government-at-all-time-high
A union fat cat as ‘fiscal watchdog’ [Obama’s Andy Stern]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2463063/posts
Clinton says deficit now security issue...
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2511749320100225
Jobless claims up 12% in past 2 weeks...
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/25/news/economy/initial_claims
JP MORGAN CHASE: ‘California a bigger risk than Greece’...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7326772/California-is-a-greater-risk-than-Greece-warns-JP-Morgan-chief.html
White House to push ACORN pet project
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2461400/posts
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=126510
Critics warn plan will ‘sneak socialism’ into U.S., cause major economic loss
[Article is actually about the “living wage” campaign, nothing about ACORN funding]
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MORE BAILOUT: FANNIE Seeks $15.3 Billion in Additional Aid...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=alet_UTqF04M
Freddie Mac likely to need more cash support
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2458857/posts
The Timeline Project / Link List of Bailout History [and meltdown]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2093845/posts
[Plenty about Fannie/FReddie]
- - -
IMF CHIEF WANTS NEW GLOBAL CURRENCY
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9958995
Bernanke delivers blunt warning on U.S. debt
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2459997/posts
Senator warns of ‘financial meltdown’ risk...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d618a9a4-225b-11df-a93d-00144feab49a.html
GOLDMAN probed over crisis in Greece...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ca979904-2216-11df-98dd-00144feab49a.html
‘TOYOTA defense’ might rescue jailed man...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100225/D9E364PG0.html
Detroit Mayor emphasizes need to shrink city...
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100225/METRO01/2250391/Detroit-Mayor-Bing-emphasizes-need-to-shrink-city
FDIC reports 27% jump in problem banks...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Regulators-report-27-percent-rb-3180263608.html?x=0&.v=1
Elizabeth Warren Introduces COP’s February Report (almost 3,000 more banks will collapse)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2455798/posts
FBI Raids Toyota Suppliers [early breaking report]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2458512/posts?page=443
[Just imagine if all US cars are made by unions. Look at union-run Greece and ...]
Strike Paralyzes Greece
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575084853361540506.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_world
[Thanks to unions. And if Toyota is ruined, all US cars made by unions.]
“Everyone’s up in arms about Goldman Sachs’ role in helping Greece hide its mounting debt ...”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2454754/posts
Greenspan: Recovery ‘extremely unbalanced’...
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/100223/business_us_usa_greenspan.html?.v=3
Toyota: Dems ‘not industry friendly’ [This BEFORE the FBI raid]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2456395/posts
“Internal Toyota documents derided the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as “activist” and “not industry friendly,” a revelation that comes days before the giant automaker’s top executives testify on Capitol Hill amid a giant recall.” [snip]
TOYOTA faces class-action problem; Claims could reach $3.6 billion...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c41c5a9e-1b2a-11df-953f-00144feab49a.html
Crisis-hit TOYOTA to idle two US factories...
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.231a2854e18ee0b63877c9ffdd84d92d.41&show_article=1
Las Vegas Mayor rejects Obama invitation... Developing...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2454749/posts
http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11996202
[Obama repeatedly sabotages Las Vegas economy]
Obama’s Call to Endeavour Astronauts Gets Awkward (Outrage Over Deep Cuts to NASA)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2454573/posts
CPI Number Reported INTENTIONALLY INCORRECT?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2455768/posts
The Market Ticker | 2/20/10 | Karl Denninger
Cash for Convicts? [Stimulus checks for first degree murderers]
http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/26044849/cash-for-convicts.htm
[Stimulus]
How Did John Stossel Get a Free Golf Cart From the Government ...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585395,00.html
Jitters over China’s waning taste for T-bills...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a9c5a39e-1cb5-11df-8d8e-00144feab49a.html
Frank Fires Shots Right & Left On Deficit (BLAMES Hussein? Still no Banking Queen investigation)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2456497/posts
OUT THE BACK DOOR DALAI; DON’T SLIP ON THE GARBAGE...
http://www.gettyimages.co.nz/detail/96834730/AFP
[How pathetic of us. We, the US, land of the indebted, pushed around by China.]
‘GOVERNMENT MOTORS’ CEO Gets $9 Million Pay Package...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/GM-CEO-Whitacre-receives-9M-apf-362235582.html?x=0&.v=5
Stealth Unionization (of home daycare providers in Michigan)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411601/posts
Report: Taxes prop up ‘dying’ abortion industry
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=125372
“70 years of Giving to the Po and they Still Po”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2455807/posts
Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure
http://www.infowars.com/frustrated-owner-bulldozes-home-ahead-of-foreclosure
- - - - -
Obama-nomics Lite:
Olympic carbon offsets for dummies
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2456060/posts
WAL-MART suffers first sales decline...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4c23fbdc-1c8d-11df-8456-00144feab49a.html
Adam Shaw Nailed It:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2458882/posts
“Someone like the president would not even have to say he was a socialist in Western Europe; it would be assumed quite normally, without any fuss or conspiracy.”
STIMULUS ‘SAVED US’ [If this is saving us, forget it.]
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61G38U20100217
Dogs Do Bark at Obama Stimulus “No Jobs” Folly!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2453932/posts
Rush compares Obama’s lies about Stimulus to Hitler’s “The Big Lie”
http://www.therightscoop.com/rush-compares-obamas-lies-about-stimulus-to-hitlers-the-big-lie
[He also had hard hitting factoids about wasted Stimulus money yesterday, and when he read the NJ governor’s speech — most exciting budget speech I ever heard.]
Glenn Beck: Obama is lying about the Stimulus by intentionally confusing it with TARP
http://www.therightscoop.com/glenn-beck-obama-is-lying-about-the-stimulus-by-intentionally-confusing-it-with-tarp
OBAMA TO OUTSPEND FDR...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2453231/posts
http://cnsnews.com/commentary/article/61454
[Without a dire need, such as a war or competition, corruption and apathy overwhelm integrity.]
Jobless claims rise...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35457298
Wholesale inflation surges...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35457298
16.8% annual?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-jobless-claims-producer-rb-1321801194.html?x=0&.v=3
Buchanan: ‘America faces a crisis of democracy’; Predicts a paralyzed gov’t...
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=125514
Bush ‘Miss Me Yet?’ Merchandise a Hit Online...
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6216739.shtml
Cash-strapped LA going after unlicensed dogs...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100224/ap_on_re_us/us_dog_licenses
Unsustainable Spending [Real Clear Politics]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2456202/posts
A spectre is haunting Europe, and America — the spectre of Keynesianism finally gone nuts. ... Little things, such as the heart of the U.S. space program, are being gutted to make way for metastasizing social security entitlements and debt service payments that will soon swamp the entire federal budget — thus requiring the elimination of more little things such as the army, navy and air force. ...[snip]
Governors: Bad economies in states to worsen...
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61J26V20100220
The Audacity Of Dishonesty: The One Year Anniversary of The Stimulus
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2456184/posts
[Obama-nomics] Oil above $80...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100222/D9E13JSG1.html
[ And who OWNS gas prices? I want gas prices at rock bottom! Drill-baby-drill! ]
Orchestrated Meltdown Review:
Computer-driven trading raises meltdown fears; Control of trading algorithms questioned...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/84950872-09e5-11df-8b23-00144feabdc0.html
The [2008 Financial] Meltdown Orchestrated?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2430464/posts
“Sure, it could be pure coincidence that exactly at 11 a.m. a wave of concerned investors all decided it was time to electronically withdraw their funds thus creating this crescendo drawdown effect setting in motion a worldwide panic. It could be coincidence. But, it’s doubtful. The fact that the identities of those who simultaneously decided to withdraw their money at 11 a.m. on Sep. 18, precipitating this panic, were never released, does lead one to question whether or not something sinister was at work.”
Other meltdown links:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/02/tight-before-the-election-of-president-hussein-an-electronic-run-on-the-banks.html
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/02/9112008-catastrophic-financial-terrorist-attack-caused-economic-meltdown.html
[More info about the Fannie-FReddie Meltdown in response to this post.]
Mystery Men of the Financial Crisis [NYT?]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2444906/posts
More light shed on the way we are economically manipulated.
Russia Urged China to Dump FANNIE, FREDDIE Bonds...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=afbSjYv3v814
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2441326/posts
“This is indicative of how dangerous the Chinese holdings of U.S. debt are. It is a huge financial weapon ...”
Barney Frank gets clarity. Finally
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2441738/posts
WASHINGTON - Barney Frank has been one of the staunchest defenders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their mission to increase access to affordable housing. Now he’s helping to lead the charge to dismantle the troubled mortgage giants.
[Would that be because of Paulson’s book now revealing the Russia/China negotiations to sabotage our economy?]
[In light of Russia’s attempt to manipulate Fannie/Freddie bailout during China’s Olympics ...]
YouTube:Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs&feature=channel_page
More light shed on the way we are economically manipulated.
Russia Urged China to Dump FANNIE, FREDDIE Bonds...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=afbSjYv3v814
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2441326/posts
“This is indicative of how dangerous the Chinese holdings of U.S. debt are. It is a huge financial weapon ...”
- - -
Shocker: Electronic Money Market Run Nearly Destroyed US Economy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2183027/posts?page=117
Shocker: Electronic Money Market Run Nearly Destroyed US Economy
RushLimbaugh.com ^ | February 10th | Rush
Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 3:03:27 AM by Halfmanhalfamazing
RUSH: I want you to listen to this, Paul Kanjorski. He’s a Democrat member of Congress from Pennsylvania. He was on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on January 27th.
KANJORSKI: On Thursday at about 11 o’clock in the morning —
RUSH: Stop the tape a second. Go back and recue this. He’s talking about September the 18th here. Let me tease you even further. September the 18th is the day last year that the world economy almost came to an end. Don’t smirk. It’s true, Snerdley. That’s what Kanjorski is saying. So he’s talking here about Thursday, September the 18th.
KANJORSKI: On Thursday at about 11 o’clock in the morning the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous drawdown of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion was being drawn out in a matter of an hour or two. The Treasury opened up its window to help. It pumped $105 billion in the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide; we were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn’t be further panic out there.
RUSH: Do you remember this? This is the day I think that the Atlanta banks ran out of one-hundred-dollar bills. But now stop and think of this: A $550 billion withdrawal from money market funds in one-to-two hours. I am convinced — and there’s one more sound bite to go here — I am convinced that this is what they took to the White House and said to President Bush, “We have got a disaster, you have got to get on board with a bailout,” which came later on in October, “you’ve got to get on board with this $700 billion, the TARP 1,” all because 550 — now, what precipitated this? Here’s the second Kanjorski sound bite.
KANJORSKI: If they had not done that, their estimation was that by two o’clock that afternoon, five-and-a-half trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed. It would have been the end of our economic system and our political system as we know it. We’re really no better off today than we were three months ago because we’ve had a decrease in the equity positions of banks because other assets are going sour by the moment.
RUSH: Now, this is January 27th, Kanjorski is talking about this, and we have to allow, since Kanjorski is a Democrat he’s part of the Pelosi team, we have to allow that some of his comment here is being flavored. When he ends up saying we’re no better off today than we were three months ago, some of this is obviously oriented toward panic and getting people to go along with the bailout today, but let’s leave that aside because that’s traditional Democrat Party politics. If they had not done that, if that $550 billion-dollar withdrawal in an hour or two had not been stopped, if they hadn’t closed the windows, he says that five-and-a-half trillion would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States. Now, when I hear money market I think of savings accounts, higher interest rates than passbook savings at the old downtown building and loan where people park their money temporarily ‘til they decide where to put it permanently. He says five-and-a-half trillion would have vanished from the banking system, would have collapsed the entire economy of the US and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed.
Now, we’ve gotta allow here for some exaggeration. It’s amazing this was said on C-SPAN on Thursday, January 27th, and nobody picked up on it. We got it from a website called LiveLeak. They were rummaging through things, and they found this. Now, let’s assume for a second here that elements of this are true. Let’s assume that there was a $550 billion run, electronic run on the banks and money market accounts in one to two hours. The question is who was doing this? Who was withdrawing all this money? And the next question is why? That’s where my mind starts exploding, and this is dangerous to have these explosions going this way. Could it have been George Soros? Could it have been a consortium of countries — Russia, China, Venezuela — countries that are eager to have Barack Obama elected because they know that will make it easier for them to continue their own foreign policies in the world? In the meantime, five-and-a-half billion dollars in one to two hours, that can probably be confirmed. The five-and-a-half trillion is speculation based on the rate at which money was coming out. We could check that the Fed stopped the trading windows, they closed the window. We do know they were pumping money into the system left and right. And remember when the Federal Reserve loaned elements, $2 trillion and we weren’t told who got the money? And we still haven’t been told who got the money.
We know that last fall, the Federal Reserve lent $2 trillion to somebody or a series of somebodies, and we still don’t know where it went. We know last year that we had a crisis on our hands and everybody was saying if we didn’t do this today the country was finished and they got Bush on board, they got Paulson on board. Obviously this kind of news, if somebody from the Fed shows up and Bernanke and Paulson say, “Hey, we got a chance here of losing five-and-a-half trillion dollars if we don’t do something,” I mean that’s gotta scare anybody into some sort of action to stem the tide. RUSH: We have an AP-Obama story here that targets the date of this run on money market accounts to September 16th. It was Kanjorski on C-SPAN on January 27th, said it was Thursday the 18th. Here’s the AP story: “A money-market mutual fund that ‘broke the buck’ amid a rush of orders to pull out cash has begun returning an initial $26 billion to investors who had been unable to access their money for more than a month. ... On Sept. 16, the rapid sell-off of assets caused the value of fund assets to fall to 97 cents for each investor dollar put in — the first instance in 14 years of a money-market mutual fund ‘breaking the buck,’ or having its per-share value fall below $1. Reserve Management froze redemption orders. That led institutional investors to pull out cash...” I think both dates are right. September 16th, the rapid sell-off begins and “[t]hat led institutional investors to pull out cash from that fund and others, creating fears about the safety of the $3.4 trillion in assets held in money-market funds, and a new temporary government money fund guarantee program.’” It’s sort of just a casual, hey, no-big-deal kind of story from the Associated Press — and here again is Kanjorski talking about this. Let’s go back to these two sound bites, Paul Kanjorski (Democrat-Pennsylvania) on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on January 27th.
KANJORSKI: On Thursday at about 11 o’clock in the morning, the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous drawdown of money market accounts in the United States to the tune of $550 billion was like being drawn out in a matter of an hour or two. The Treasury opened up its window to help. They pumped $105 billion in the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide; we were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn’t be further panic out there.
RUSH: By the way, I should tell you that Kanjorski’s source for this is none other than Bernanke — Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve — and the Treasury secretary, Hank Paulson. They are the two figures that told members of Congress what was going on with this initial run of $550 billion, an electronic run on the banks, money market accounts, investor accounts here. He goes on to say this, if they had not stepped in to stop this, if they had not closed the window...
KANJORSKI: If they had not done that, their estimation was that by two o’clock that afternoon, $5-1/2 trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed. It would have been the end of our economic system and our political system as we know it. We’re really no better off today than we were three months because we had a decrease in the equity positions of banks because other assets are going sour by the moment.
RUSH: So the last part, I think that’s just salesmanship for doing something now to get the stimulus bill passed, although Kanjorski is among some Democrats starting to shift to the cant that more time is needed to make a correct decision this time; which I think is one of the reasons Geithner postponed his announcement to today from last week or even today. So, you know, I have been suspicious of all this that happened last fall. It just seemed too perfectly timed. Now we know that these are not individual money market accounts like you would have had to withdraw your money. This is money invested in a mutual fund money market account. So it is quite possible somebody could have started a run on this thing and the word spread, and it did — and the $550 billion withdrawal in one hour would panic anybody. So there’s so much to this. You know, it’s always the case that there’s so much more going on in all this that we don’t know. The Drive-By Media, any longer, is worthless in ferreting out the truth involved in events. They totally exist on the surface. They exist with a path of least resistance particularly with Democrats in power, because with the presumption that Democrats could abuse power or commit ethics violations just doesn’t even cross the radar. It doesn’t even show up on the radar. It’s not possible for Democrats to behave in that fashion, and so all this stuff goes on below the surface and we find out about it much later after the fact.
Deeper look:
The Timeline Project / Link List of Bailout History
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2093845/posts
The Best Quotes From Thomas Sowell’s “The Housing Boom And Bust.”
http://rightwingnews.com/2010/03/the-best-quotes-from-thomas-sowells-the-housing-boom-and-bust
[Condensed, slightly reworded.]
[In] Thomas Sowell’s The Housing Boom and Bust, here are the quotes:
More than two-thirds of the mortgages in 2004 were resold to some other financial institution, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These two government-sponsored enterprises bought more than one-third of all the mortgages in the nation that were resold by the original lenders. P.3
The interest rate on a conventional 30-year mortgage was about 8 percent in 1973, 18 percent in 1981, and 6 percent in 2005. — P.6
An international study of urban areas around the world with “severely unaffordable” housing likewise found that 23 out of 26 such areas had strong “smart growth” policies. ...As a former governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand put it, “the affordability of housing is overwhelmingly a function of just one thing, the extent to which governments place artificial restrictions on the supply of residential land. — P.13
A study of housing prices across the nation concluded:
[”Growth management” artifically doubles the cost of a home in the name of “smart growth”. Here are Sowell’s specifics]
Today, a family in an American city without growth management planning can buy a very nice “middle manager’s” home with about 2,200 square feet, four bedrooms, two-and-one-half baths, and a two-car garage, for $150,000 to $200,000. In cities than have had growth-management planning for ten to fifteen years, that same home costs $300,000 to $400,000. In cities that have had it for twenty-five years or more, the same house costs from $500,000 to as much as $1.5 million. — P.14-15
Refinancing grew “ten-fold during the housing boom, rising from $26 billion in 2000 to $318 billion in 2006. As of 2006, 86 percent of all home mortgage refinances were “cash-out” refinances.” — P.23
Equity dropped. Average equity in a home, which was 86 percent of its value back in 1945, was just 55 percent of its value in 2003. — P.23
Advocates of “affordable housing” seldom — if ever — seek to remove government restrictions that have led to higher housing prices. Instead, they seek various ways of either forcing the private sector to charge lower home prices and apartment rents, or else they seek to use the taxpayers’ money to subsidize housing in one way or another. — P.35
In 2002, the George W. Bush administration urged Congress to pass the American Dream Downpayment Act, which subsidized the down payments of prospective home buyers whose incomes were below a certain level. After passage of that Act, the president also urged Congress to pass legislation permitting the Federal Housing Administration to being making zero-down-payment loans at low interest rates to low-income Americans. In 2004, Federal Housing Commissioner John Weicher said, “the White House doesn’t think those who can afford the monthly payment but have been unable to save for a down payment should be deprived from owning a home.” He added, “We do not anticipate any costs to taxpayers.” Who, if not the taxpayers, would pay for these government subsides — much less the defaults from riskier loans — was not revealed. — P.41-42
As far away as London, the distinguished British magazine The Economist in 2003 reiterated a warning it had made before, that “house prices would fall by 10% in America over the next four years,” though it acknowledged that many of its readers “reject our gloomy warnings.” In reality, American house prices fell sooner and more steeply. By 2005, The Economist repeated their warnings yet again, but more urgently: “America’s house prices have reached dangerous levels” and added: “The whole world economy is at risk.” In 2003, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow asked Congress to “enact legislation to create a new Federal agency to regulate and supervise” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, because of his concerns about the risks they were taking. Two years later, testifying before the same Congressional committee, he returned to the same theme, citing the “systematic risk”... p.45
A 2004 article in Fortune magazine also warned of housing speculation that “is rapidly losing touch with reality” and of the risks created by the growing practice of borrowing against the equity of one’s home. It warned that “there’s a real danger that a downturn in prices, or even a stall, could slam the economy, especially all-important consumer spending. Americans have used their homes like ATMs, taking out $662 billion in home-equity loans and refinancings since 2001.” — P.46
In 2005, resident scholar Peter J. Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, warned that, if Congress did not rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, “there will be a massive default with huge losses to the taxpayers and systemic effects on the economy.” — P.46
In June 2004, in response to President Bush’s expressed concerns about the riskiness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, seventy-six Democrats in the House of Representatives sent him a letter defending these government-sponsored enterprises, and against making the case that “an exclusive focus on safety and soundness is likely to come, in practice, at the expense of affordable housing.” These 76 house members included such prominent individuals as Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel. — P.51-52
[OFHEO {Housing Oversight} turned up irregularities. Kit Bond [R] and Barney Frank [D] teamed up seeking to punish and slash the oversight agency.]
Congressional support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went far beyond words. When the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight — the agency overseeing these government-sponsored enterprises — turned up irregularities in Fannie Mae’s accounting and in 2004 issued what Barron’s magazine called “a blistering 211-page report,” Republican Senator Kit Bond called for an investigation of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, tried to have their budget slashed, and sought to have the leadership of the regulatory agency removed. Democratic Congressman Barney Frank likewise declared: “It is clear that a leadership change at OFHEO is overdue.” — P.53
The development of lax lending standards, both by banks and by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac standing behind the banks, came not from a lack of government regulation and oversight, but precisely as a result of government regulation and oversight, directed toward the politically popular goal of more “home ownership” through “affordable housing,” especially for low-income buyers. — P.57
By 2007, about one-fourth of all adjustable rate mortgage loans, interest only loans and payment option loans were at least 60 days late on their mortgage payments. This was more than double the rate of payment delinquencies on conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. — P.63
[Housing speculators]
Like other aspects of the housing markets, foreclosures on property owned by absentee owners were “much more common among defaults in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida — all states with particularly rapid price appreciation that attracted speculators.” — P.64
Holman Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal called attention to “the striking fact” that much of the subprime crisis originated in particular areas in just four states. [lost page]
Professor Stanley Liebowitz of the University of Texas at Dallas put it: “From the current handwringing, you’d think that the banks came up with the idea of looser underwriting standards on their own, with regulators just asleep on the job.” Government was not passively inefficient. It was actively zealous in promoting risky mortgage lending practices. — P.68
Senator Christopher Dodd said: “I have a lot of questions about where the administration was over the last eight years.” Often the Bush administration had sought increased power to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during those years, which Senator Dodd fought adamantly against granting such powers. — P.72
In the wake of the housing bust, Congressman Barney Frank and Senator Christopher Dodd, as chairmen of the House and Senate committees most involved in the housing market — and long-time promoters of the very policies that led the housing boom and bust — were all over the media, where they were treated as experts, able to explain the problems and provide solutions. — P.75
[How leftist groups like EEOC, ACORN, and the ACLU fanned the meltdown fire through legal threats over housing discrimination.]
Moreover, the process costs of fighting a discrimination charge can be enormous, whether the charge is racial discrimination or sex discrimination. The Sears department store chain, for example, spent $20 million fighting a sex discrimination case for 15 years, even though the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that brought charges against Sears did not produce even one woman, either currently or previously employed in any of Sears’ hundreds of stores across the country, to claim that she personally had been discriminated against. — P.105
A study of housing costs, for example, found that land-use restrictions in the name of “smart-growth” policies had added costs of more than $100,000 per home in 50 metropolitan areas. In a community of just 10,000 families, that adds up to more than a billion dollars’ worth of extra housing costs loaded onto the people in such a small community, often on the basis of little more than some fashionable but unexamined phrases about “smart growth.” — P.114
More generally, what is called a “solution” in politics is often simply a patch put over problems caused by previous political “solutions,” which in turn were patches put over other political “solutions” before that. — P.123
Few things blind human beings to the actual consequences of what they are doing like a heady feeling of self-righteousness during a crusade to smite the wicked and rescue the downtrodden. — P.128
During all the previous history of the United States, when the federal government let the economy recover from downturns on its own, no depression was ever as deep or as long-lasting as the Great Depression of the 1930s. — P.134
Mortgages made under the Community Reinvestment Act were especially vulnerable during the housing downturn, to the detriment of both borrowers and lenders. For example, lending done under Community Reinvestment Act criteria, according to a quarterly report in October of 2008, constituted only 7 percent of the total mortgage lending by the Bank of America, but constituted 29 percent of its losses on mortgages. — P.66
[US housing compares well with other countries.]
For the country as a whole, however, home buyers have paid no more than the old fashioned standard of 25 percent of their incomes for housing in any year since 1985. Renters in recent years paid a somewhat higher percentage of their smaller incomes but not more than 20 percent in any year over the past several decades. Most housing in the United States unaffordable. The median-priced home in the United States as a whole is 3.6 times the median income of Americans. For Great Britain, the median-priced home is 5.5 times the median income and, in Australia and New Zealand, the ratio of home prices to income is 6.3 — P.33-34
Comments made years ago by distinguished British historian Paul Johnson remain very apt in our times:
The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false. — P.148
ACORN’S involvement in risky loans meltdown:
http://www.barackbook.com/Profiles/MadelineTalbott.htm
At ACORN, Talbott Was A Key Leader Of An Attempt By ACORN To Storm The Chicago City Council. “And what exactly was Talbott’s work with Acorn? Talbott turns out to have been a key leader of that attempt by Acorn to storm the Chicago City Council (during a living-wage debate). While Sol Stern mentions this story in passing, the details are worth a look: On July 31, 1997, six people were arrested as 200 Acorn protesters tried to storm the Chicago City Council session. According to the Chicago Daily Herald, Acorn demonstrators pushed over the metal detector and table used to screen visitors, backed police against the doors to the council chamber, and blocked late-arriving aldermen and city staff from entering the session.” (Stanley Kurtz, “Inside Obama’s Acorn,” National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com, 5/29/08)
Talbott Justified Her Actions Of Storming The Meeting. “This was not an overreaction by frustrated followers who couldn’t get into a meeting (there were plenty of protestors already in the gallery), but almost certainly a deliberate bit of what radicals call ‘direct action,’ orchestrated by Acorn’s Madeleine [sic] Talbot [sic all]. As Talbot was led away handcuffed, charged with mob action and disorderly conduct, she explicitly justified her actions in storming the meeting.” (Stanley Kurtz, “Inside Obama’s Acorn,” National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com, 5/29/08)
Talbott And ACORN Staged Protests In Bank Lobbies Intent On Pushing Risky Lending Strategies. “Various ACORN chapters across the country, led by folks like Chicago’s Madeline Talbott, staged in-your-face protests in bank lobbies and filed complaints meant to hold up mergers sought by targeted banking firms. Unless the banks agreed to ACORN’s terms - which many (understandably) did. Talbott & Co. generally wanted them to ease down-payment requirements and ignore weak credit histories. And their intimidating tactics often necessitated police action, as at a ‘97 protest at Pulaski Bank & Trust in Arkansas, where activists blocked drive-through lanes.” (”The Meltdown’s ACORN,” New York Post, 9/29/08)
Talbott Bragged Of “Dragging Banks Kicking And Screaming” Into Dubious Loans. “ACORN recognized very early the opportunity presented by the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977. … ACORN proudly touted ‘affirmative action’ lending and pressured banks to make subprime loans. Madeline Talbott, a Chicago ACORN leader, boasted of ‘dragging banks kicking and screaming’ into dubious loans.” (Mona Charen, “Guilty Party,” National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com, 9/30/08)
Facts About Me and Barack
Stanley Kurtz On Obama And Madeline Talbott: “He had very close ties to Acorn and in particular to the head of Chicago Acorn. Her name was Madeline Talbot [sic all]. Madeline Talbot was an absolute pioneer of these intimidation tactics against banks, and Barack Obama was selected by Madeline Talbot when he was just sort of a wet behind the ears organizer. She recognized his abilities, and she asked him to train her personal staff. When he came back to Chicago from law school and Madeline Talbot was beginning her campaign against these banks, Barack Obama trained the leadership of organizers in Acorn in Chicago.” (Fox’s “Fox & Friends,” 9/30/08)
Talbott Hired Obama To Train Her ACORN Staff. “ACORN attracted Barack Obama in his youthful community organizing days. Madeline Talbott hired him to train her staff — the very people who would later descend on Chicago’s banks as CRA shakedown artists. The Democratic nominee later funneled money to the group through the Woods Fund, on whose board he sat, and through the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, ditto. Obama was not just sympathetic — he was an ACORN fellow traveler.” (Mona Charen, “Guilty Party,” National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com, 9/30/08)
Talbott Spoke Up In Defense Of Obama After Some Claimed He Exaggerated His Accomplishments In Spearheading Asbestos Cleanup. “Some claim that Obama’s book, Dreams from My Father, exaggerates his accomplishments in spearheading an asbestos cleanup at a low-income housing project. … Speaking up in defense of Obama on the asbestos issue is Madeleine [sic] Talbot [sic all], who at the time was a leader at Chicago Acorn. Talbot, we learn, was so impressed by Obama’s organizing skills that she invited him to help train her own staff.” (Stanley Kurtz, “Inside Obama’s Acorn,” National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com, 5/29/08)
“’He Got People To Vote With Their Feet’ On The Issue, Organizer Madeleine [sic] Talbot [sic all] Said. At The Time, Talbot Worked At The Social Action Group ACORN And Initially Considered Obama A Competitor. But She Became So Impressed With His Work That She Invited Him To Help Train Her Staff.” (Letta Tayler and Keith Herbert, “Chicago’s Streets Obama’s Teacher,” [New York] Newsday, 3/2/08)
“This Was The Woman Who First Drew Obama Into His Alliance With ACORN, And Whose Staff Obama Helped Train.” (Stanley Kurtz, “Inside Obama’s Acorn,” National Review Online, www.nationalreview.com, 5/29/08)
Talbott Was Quoted Affirming ACORN’s Strong Ties To Obama. “[Obama has] ties to such radical groups as Chicago ACORN, whose lead organizer at the time, Madeline Talbott, practiced the sort of intimidating and often illegal ‘direct action’ that ACORN remains famous for. Talbott is quoted affirming that ‘Barack has proven himself among our members … we accept and respect him as a kindred spirit, a fellow organizer.’” (Stanley Kurtz, “True Believer,” National Review, 6/30/08)
Talbott On Obama: “He says things like, ‘Do you think we should do this? What role would you like to play?’ … Everybody else just puts out an e-mail and says, ‘Y’all come.’ Barack doesn’t do that.” (Peter Slevin, “For Clinton And Obama, A Common Ideological Touchstone,” The Washington Post, 3/25/07)
At Two Charities, Obama Funneled Money To ACORN. “ACORN also got funding from two charities, the Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation, when Obama served on their boards, and from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge - the radical ‘education reform’ outfit Obama ran from ‘95 to ‘99.” (”The Meltdown’s ACORN,” New York Post, 9/29/08)
My Donations and Bundling for Barack
What Barack Says About Me
Obama: “I’ve been fighting alongside Acorn on issues you care about my entire career…” (Steven Malanga, “Organizer In Chief,” [New York] City Journal, Summer 2008)
OK .. calm posting resumes. Here are the latest:
Bunning op-ed in USA TODAY: Why I took a stand on spending...
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/03/column-why-i-took-a-stand-.html
Germany: ‘We’re Happy to Give the Greeks Anything, Just Not Money’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2463825/posts
Germany wants Greece to sell off its islands for cash
http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20100304-25667.html
(Republicans) AWOL in the Bunning Battle
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2463900/posts
[National Review’s Andrew C. McCarthy op-ed, not mine.]
You are right to be concerned. Loaded heavilly. Now off to post “Close Encounters with the Loony Left”.
The Historical Lessons of Lower Tax Rates
http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm327.cfm
Florida schools giving away $350,000 worth of IPods — using Stimulus Money...
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2010/2/10/581592.html
I wonder what Andrea Mitchell thinks of Hillary now.
Thank you for the quote. I remember George H. Bush [Senior] saying that Greenspan concealed the recovery in 1992, delaying recovery info that helped un-elect him. Tried for a while to google it. Tough to dig up.
CBO: Trillion dollar deficits for the next decade
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2465639/posts
Cash-Strapped States Delay Paying Income-Tax Refunds
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2465586/posts
TAX PROTEST! MARCH ON WASHINGTON [Online. A revolution in Free Speech.]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2465622/posts?page=1
Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2467001/posts
Just Piper found some interesting things. Here’s one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2437390/posts?page=926#926
Who’s Behind the Financial Crisis? (Soros)
Foot soldiers for census ease jobless rate...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0eecb496-27c5-11df-863d-00144feabdc0.html
Germany: ‘We’re Happy to Give the Greeks Anything, Just Not Money’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2463825/posts
Germany wants Greece to sell off its islands for cash
http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20100304-25667.html
More media lies: How ABC News’ Brian Ross staged his Toyota death ride
http://www.infowars.com/more-media-lies-how-abc-news-brian-ross-staged-his-toyota-death-ride
Gawker | Brian Ross, America’s Wrongest Reporter, has been credited with owning the Toyota recall story, including one memorable report with Ross behind the wheel of an out-of-control car. He did it by splicing in staged footage to make it look scarier. [snip]
REID: GOOD NEWS, ONLY 36000 LOST THEIR JOBS TODAY...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC211h9AY-4
Credit Suisse Declares the U.S. a Riskier Investment Than Indonesia
http://www.infowars.com/credit-suisse-declares-the-u-s-a-riskier-investment-than-indonesia
STIMULUS WATCH: Less stimulus for minority firms...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100307/ap_on_bi_ge/us_stimulus_minorities
CBO: Trillion dollar deficits for the next decade
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2465639/posts
Cash-Strapped States Delay Paying Income-Tax Refunds
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2465586/posts
Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2467001/posts
Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2467766/posts
Obama Pledges to Greek Leader U.S. Will Help (Socialists Need to Stick Together)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2467674/posts
Obama-nomics & Greece [link-list]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2464021/posts?page=4
- - -
Calling It ‘Stimulus’ Doesn’t Make It So By THOMAS SOWELL
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=525717
Snippets:
Economic Sedative — That was called “pump priming.”
After the Bush administration’s stimulus spending in 2008, business spending on equipment and software fell — not rose — by 28%.
Just two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reported, “U.S. banks posted last year their sharpest decline in lending since 1942.”
Half of my letters brand me an idiot - President Obama
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2468312/posts
US President Barack Obama has joked that half of the 40,000 letters that pour into the White House each day brand him an “idiot’’.
The Obama Moratorium: No offshore drilling while he’s in office
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2468252/posts?page=49
[Focusing on the economy like a laser — to kill it.]
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