Conservatives Push Absurd Lie that Wall Street Hustlers Were Innocent Victims ... of Poor People [View All]

[Joanne98]

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Posted on October 10, 2010, Printed on October 11, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/148454/

AlterNet is proud to present this excerpt from senior writer Joshua Holland's new book, The Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy (And Everything Else the Right Doesn't Want You to Know about Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America).

Perhaps the most pernicious right-wing lie of late is that the Wall Street hustlers who came close to bringing the global economy to its knees in 2008 were just innocent victims of government-sponsored programs that forced them to lower lending standards in a misguided effort to increase home ownership among the poor (read: dark-skinned).

It’s an alluring story line for those who are ideologically predisposed to blame “inner city” people instead of MBAs in suits roaming the executive suite. It’s also patent nonsense—a Big Lie that has nonetheless become an object of almost religious belief for some on the Right.

Jeb Hensarling, a notably obtuse Republican back-bencher from Texas, wrote that “the conservative case is simple”:

http://www.alternet.org/economy/148454/conservatives_push_absurd_lie_that_wall_street_hustlers_were_innocent_victims_..._of_poor_people/