Congressional Leaders Were Stunned by Warnings [“When you listened to him describe it you gulped,"]

New York Times ^

[Sub-Driver]

Congressional Leaders Were Stunned by Warnings By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

WASHINGTON — It was a room full of people who rarely hold their tongues. But as the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, laid out the potentially devastating ramifications of the financial crisis before congressional leaders on Thursday night, there was a stunned silence at first.

Mr. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had made an urgent and unusual evening visit to Capitol Hill, and they were gathered around a conference table in the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“When you listened to him describe it you gulped," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

As Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, put it, “There was a long pause in the room.”

Mr. Schumer added, “History was sort of hanging over it, like this was a moment.”

When Mr. Schumer described the meeting as “somber,” Mr. Dodd cut in. “Somber doesn’t begin to justy the words,” he said. “We have never heard language like this.”

[avacado]

When Mr. Schumer described the meeting as “somber,” Mr. Dodd cut in. “Somber doesn’t begin to justy the words,” he said. “We have never heard language like this.”

Little drama queens!

Bush warned you in 2003 and McCain warned you in 2005.

[steve86]

You are entirely at the mercy of unelected elitists who were formerly executives at Goldman Sachs and similar, and what they decide is best for their constituents (big Wall Street firms). From the point of view of the retail consumer, chaos theory applies here very well.

[Nonperson]

Among the potential steps Congress can take include approving legislation to allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of primary mortgages — authority that the bankruptcy laws do not currently allow and that the banking industry has strenuously opposed.

Nobody should give a crap at this point what the banking industry opposes.

Since Dick Durbin was the Senator pushing the amendment in favor of allowing bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of primary mortgage, I am suspicious of such a move!

[milwguy]

“We have got to deal with the foreclosure issue,” Mr. Dodd said. “You have got to stop that hemorrhaging..If you don’t, the problem doesn’t go away. Ben Bernanke has said it over and over again. Hank Paulson recognizes it. This problem began with bad lending practices. Those are his words, not mine, and so this plan must address that or I’ll be back here in front of a bank of microphones at some point explaining the next failure.”

Dodd is such an idiot. Bernanke and Paulson were telling the moron that it was the stupid Dems who made banks lend money to losers with bad credit. The Community Development Act was a recipe for this collapse. Fannie and Freddie cooked the books for years to keep this hidden and have Raines and Johnson collect their bonuses. Once housing peaked, it was impossible to hide it any longer. I am just surprised that the Lehmans, Bear Stearns, etc didn;t realize sooner and dump the CDO’s they had on some unsuspecting foreign SIV.

[rrrod]

Its pat time for Republicans to man up... most of them could take courage and backbone lessions from Sarah Palin.

[ctdonath2]

You can buy REAL assets like gold and silver.

The trick is that you have to POSSESS it, lest the digital house of cards block your access to your I-don't-know-where-it-is assets. Then you have to be able to find someone who actually wants it when things get tough.

Tangible properties, like real estate, are a better choice: you know where it is, it's marked, and it can't be stolen (someone might keep you from it, but that's a different problem).

[keats5]

In times past you would buy real stuff (land, real estate, precious metals) or sell what you can and hid the cash under your mattress. That won’t work now. Even the price of precious metals can decrease, real property can’t be resold, and the value of the dollar is decreasing.

Not only can we not protect our investments, we will be forced to rescue the very same people who have screwed us out of our investments.

[listenhillary]

Love to see lists of the Republicans over the past seven years that joined with the Democrats to block attempts to address the out of control Freddy and Fanny financial fiasco.

[rbg81]

...the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee

Is it just me, or does the name of this committee speak volumes for why we are where we are in this crisis? Puttng Banking in the same category as Urban Affairs is wrong. In my mind, this whole thing is Reparations by another name.

[happygrl]

they are not sure what they can do to fix it or even if they can fix it.

What if the fix proposed by Bernanke doesn't work ?

[Steve Van Doorn]

Just a reminder:
"We are socialists, we are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions."
-Adolf Hitler

I am not sure if it is Communism or extreme socialism because they are taking a little of both concepts. From the Nazi’s they learn to use hate by putting the blaming this time on conservatives and Religion. From the Communist they learn to not use nationalistic bases for the argument and have more of a worldly view.

Whoever they are they need to be stopped and the only way to do that is to show the evils of who they really are.

I don’t know how long it will take this time for the extreme left to be taken seriously by the rest of the leftists, that we conservatives and religious people must be jailed. But my estimation at this point is about another 10 years.

[dalereed]

“Among the potential steps Congress can take include approving legislation to allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of primary mortgages”

No one should be allowed to live in any structure they can’t pay for, purchased or rented!

[rbg81]

There is even a story floating around about a illegal alien woman WITHOUT A JOB who was given a $1 MILLION loan for a home in California!

---

That sounds like an urban legend, but (sadly) not out of the realm of possibility. If it did happed, I’ll wager the loan officer was scared of being accused of racism if he turned her down.

[Rum Tum Tugger]

“When you listened to him describe it you gulped,"

So, why in the hell isn't it being described to the rest of us? Something smells very rotten here.

I'm sorry, but after Shamnesty and after more and more revelations regarding possibly bogus justification for invading Iraq, I just don't trust the Bush administration about anything anymore.

The sudden urgency and lack of specifics makes me very nervous that the people who own Dubya are trying to make us bend over and take another one where the sun don't shine before their boy leaves office.

While I'm on a roll, let me continue. Yes, Obama is an abomination, but it's going to take more than Sarah Palin to convince me that the GOP aren't equally as bad.

[Roccus]

Sounds like pitchfork and torches time (metaphorically of course).

Why metaphorically??? These bastards in Congress have been getting away with this crap for generations! Do you honestly think that any plan Congress comes up with won't have their best interests and wallets at heart? Do you really believe that suddenly, Congress will experience an epiphany and do what's good for the nation???

They are already saying "...stop the foreclosures" and talking about a new "stimulus package." They're politicing the same as always. THIS MUST END NOW!!!

[LomanBill]

>>I wonder what Barney Frank had to say?

 

 

==================================================================

During the House Financial Services Full Committee Hearing on "Recent Events in the Credit and Mortgage Markets and Possible Implications for U.S. Consumers and the Global Economy",  Chairman Barney Frank left the hearing in order to attend a meeting in support of legislation that would force American employers to hire homosexuals.   That says a lot about Barney's priorities.

 

Barney "Fife" Frank.

Financial Services Watchdog

 

This watchdog only has one tooth.

Barney's boyfriend makes him keep it in his pocket

==================================================================

[jbarkley]

That’s because they’ve been so juvenile and thinking this is all a game and the grownups came to shock them that this is all very real and impacts real lives.

I think they were shocked to discover that it isn’t just one gigantic game of Monopoly with little pieces to be moved around at will.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

The Dims demanded that Banks make high risk loans to their unqualified constituients.

And then they predictably defaulted. Leaving the taxpayer holding the bag.

[Momaw Nadon]

Mr. Dodd cut in. “Somber doesn’t begin to justify the words,” he said. “We have never heard language like this.”

Unless there is a total collapse of civilization, gold and silver will still be worth something.

Do you think the reason why the Congressional leaders gulped is that they were warned about the actual collapse of civilization?

[DoughtyOne]

Don’t go wobbly on me Steve. Just the other night Janeane Gerofalo was voicing the idea those on the right need to be incarcerated now. To heck with the ten years.