Posted on 09/24/2008 5:05:45 AM PDT by XHogPilot
HOW did America wind up in its worst financial crisis in decades? Sen. Barack Obama explained it this way last week: "When sub-prime-mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators systematically and deliberately eliminated the regulations protecting the American people." That's exactly backward. Mortgage lending took that "reckless and unsustainable turn" because of regulation - regulation driven by liberals and progressives, not free-market "deregulators." Pushed hard by politicians and community activists, the regulators systematically and deliberately altered financially sound lending practices. The mortgage market was humming along just fine when, in the late 1980s, progressives decided that it needed to be "fixed." Their complaint: Some ethnic groups got approved for mortgages at lower rates than others. In reality, mortgage lenders were simply being prudent - taking care to provide mortgages to those who could best afford to make the payments. The shift began in 1989, when Congress amended the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act to force banks to collect racial data on mortgage applicants. By 1991, critics were using that data to paint lenders as racist by showing that minority applicants were approved at far lower rates. Banks were "Shamed By Publicity," as one 1993 New York Times headline put it. In fact, they found a racial disparity only by ignoring relevant data on applicants' ability to make mortgage payments - such as their assets and credit history. But the political pressure was intense - with few in politics or media eager to speak the truth. And then, in 1992, came a study from four researchers at the Boston Fed, which seemed to bear out the critics' contentions. That study was, in fact, based on quite flawed data - but the authors' political, media and academic protectors stifled most serious criticism, smearing the reputation of one whistleblower
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
That, and the GOP candidate for President is more interested in excusing the activities of his fellow Congressman than in actually identifying and holding the culprits responsible. Franks and Dodd should be in jail; not just off their committees. Instead, they are being allowed to manipulate and hang ornaments of further stupidity (credit card and student loan debt) as if nothing can be laid at their feet. The White House is either in panic, knee-jerk mode or they know perfectly well what they are doing; Next stop; Socialism
Because even conservatives don't want to believe it.
They'd rather believe it's the "rich, evil CEO's" and corporations who are at fault.
Both parties are to blame for this—they are all complicit. This has been gradually building for decades in the form of a demonization of good judgement, policital correctness, crony capitalism, and an erosion of accountability & responsibility.
Most of us know how this horror show will end: in an orgy of wealth transfer, debt forgiveness, and hyperinflation. Evenually, the economy will collapse under the weight of massive debt and US Gov will be unable to keep it “guarantees”. This could play out in months or years, but I’m convinced it will happen.
Sadly, most Americans are so stupid on this issue they can’t tell up from down. We got a good swift kick in the ass coming and we (collectively) deserve it. I think most Freepers are good people and will suffer with everyone else.
The only silver lining, if there is one, is that the adversity of the coming debacle might (finally) restore some common sense to the masses. Time will tell.
Case closed.
And now we have Boston Barney Fwank who has been their point man in charge of the banking committee during this crisis.
Ugh.
Mortgage Rates Drop - Fed at 2%
$200,000 loan for $708/month. Free Quotes - No SSN Rqd. Save $1000s!
The Clinton administration forced lenders to make bad loans. No-one was scared of the poor. They were scared of being put out of business.
This control of business by a Totalitarian state is what von Mises would have called "Fascism".
I think they are behind the scenes. I heard a Senator from Virginia, DeMint (not sure how to spell it), on the John Gambling radio show this morning. That guy is VERY IMPRESSIVE. There are still some fighters out there who are not going to let the rats pin this on the Republicans.
Plus ACORN and NACA.
An informative article "The Trillion-Dollar Bank Shakedown That Bodes Ill for Cities" by Howard Husock in the Winter 2000 City Journal says:
A radical group called ACORN Housing has a $760 million commitment from the Bank of New York; the Boston-based Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America has a $3-billion agreement with the Bank of America; a coalition of groups headed by New Jersey Citizen Action has a five-year, $13-billion agreement with First Union Corporation. Similar deals operate in almost every major U.S. city. Observes Tom Callahan, executive director of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, which has $220 million in bank mortgage money to parcel out, "CRA is the backbone of everything we do."
Senator Obama knows much more about how this works than he lets on.
I was asking a question in response to possible reasons why the Reps are not jumping on this.
“why isn’t the GOP hammering this?”
Because, yet again, they are being cowered by an obviously Democrat-leaning press.
To even MENTION that Obama’s “Advisors” and prominent black Democrats are a$$-deep in this would be RACIST, doncha know....
Repubs are still hammering on the “DRILL NOW” theme, but have you heard that in the press lately? NO...
Nobody "forced" anyone to make bad loans. These institutions made a conscious decision to make bad loans hoping that the good loans would be profitable enough to make up for the bad loans. Interest rates were calculated on projections that the default rate on these bad loans would not exceed the monetary gain they anticipated from the payments on the good loans.
They capitulated to the rules and made a conscious decision to give bad loans to minorities and pray that their default rate would not exceed their profit level. They were wrong and we get to pay for it.
Not only did financially sound people have to pay higher interest rates in order to pay for all these deadbeats, but now we are going to have to pay higher taxes and obviously higher interest rates in the future to undo all the damage.
This trillion dollar bailout is only going to buy time. The recession is coming, and with it double digit unemployment and double digit inflation and double digit interest rates.
We survived it before, we will survive it again. Let us not forget that without Jimmy Carter, we would never have had Ronald Reagan. The gas lines ultimately were worth the cost.
I know why the Reps in Congress are not jumping on it....they looked the other to all the corruption in the first place because they are all spineless and afraid of being painted racist by the MSM. This is how a communist state works...intimidation.
Why is EVERYONE afraid to mention the MASSIVE inner-city mortgage frauds that got us into this mess?
In Indianapolis ALONE, we had over 1,0000(!!!) homes involved in just TWO Mortgage fleecing schemes!
they looked the other way to all the corruption
Bingo
Republicans are gutless
Democrats are skilled racial extortionists
Independents are wimps
We are all losers....
“The private sector got us into this mess…The government has to get us out of it. We do want to do it carefully.”
Average Americans are believing him. Obama is way up in the polls.
Communist totalitarian intimidation by the MSM.
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