Financial Crisis Panel In Turmoil As Republicans Defect; Plan To Blame Government For Crisis

[KeepItReal]

Source: Huffington Post

The four Republicans appointed to the commission investigating the root causes of the financial crisis plan to bypass the bipartisan panel and release their own report Wednesday, according to people familiar with the commission's work.

The Republicans, led by the commission's vice chairman, former congressman and chair of the House Ways and Means Committee Bill Thomas, will likely focus their report on the explosive growth of subprime mortgages and the heavy role played by the federal government in pushing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase and insure them. They'll also likely focus on the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 law that encourages banks to lend to underserved communities, these people said.

...

During a private commission meeting last week, all four Republicans voted in favor of banning the phrases "Wall Street" and "shadow banking" and the words "interconnection" and "deregulation" from the panel's final report, according to a person familiar with the matter and confirmed by Brooksley E. Born, one of the six commissioners who voted against the proposal.

"I think a number of us had really pulled for" bipartisan consensus, said Born, a Democratic commissioner who famously tried to regulate certain derivatives as head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. "But this action by the Republicans indicates they have decided to go their own way."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/14/financial-crisis-panel-wall-street_n_796839.html

---

GOP'er bailing out of the investigation because they do not want "Wall Street" and "deregulation" to even be mentioned in the final commission report.

[Skittles]

1. these repuke bastards, blaming the poor

FUCKING ASSHOLES

[villager]

2. this will keep happening until the poor rise the fuck up

otherwise, these bastards keep getting away with it...

[jtuck004]

7. I don't think it will be the poor - if anyone, it will be the middle class.

Though I am not sure those days aren't gone now - everyone is too civilized...

[moose65]

23. You're right.......

Revolutions are always led by the middle class.

[Bragi]

24. Too civilized, or too socially isolated? /nt

[No Elephants]

35. U.S. is huge.Europeans "take to the streets." Americans would have to take to lawns and pastures.

RW can organize on a dime via mega-churches, parochial schools, youth groups of various kinds, NRA and other predominantly RW groups and organizations. The left has only unions. And unions are not strong here. (People should never have let that happen.)

[liberation]

59. Yeah, obviously the US is an agrarian society with no major cities whatsoever...

[molly77]

44. civilized socialized, brainwashed?

[jtuck004]

51. Maybe domesticated? n/t

[texastoast]

76. Too comfortable. Still.

It hasn't gotten bad enough yet in the middle class world for them to start calling bullshit on their elected representatives. Amazing that they are willing to head over the cliff still.

[No Elephants]

33. If someone does not revolt soon, there will be no middle class.

The French Revolution was inspired by the American Revolution. Maybe Americans today should consider turnabout.

Any of this seem familiar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_French_Revolution

[ArcticFox]

50. Civilized in America?

That is not the case. Even healthy young men here often won't even give up their seat for a pregnant woman on a bus. And man are most Americans dumb. If anything, it's not that they're too civilized to rise up, but just too dumb to know what's good for them.

[xxqqqzme]

74. The middle class is the poor.

They are just beginning to realize it.

[timo]

90. so whats your plan?

lay it out for us who do we rise up on first?? we talking guns blazing? anarchy in the streets? riots? burn some shit down?? spill some blood? whose blood? who strikes the first blow? only to be labeled a homegrown terrorist and get hunted down like a rabid dog??

[IScreamSundays]

39. Middle Class is the New Poor nt

[divine_truine]

95. g.o.p. stands for greedy ol' party

gwbush said in a recent interview 'stop calling it the bush tax cuts!' can you effing believe the little prick?!

[divine_truine]

99. g.o.p.

greedy old party...i coined this phrase this morning on Stephanie Miller's show! Let's all start it and rubbing repukes faces in it! Because that is what this is all about: OVERREACHING GREED! we can't count on networkmsm 'news' shows to confront and hold republicans accountable for their gross hypocrisy on fuxmsnbccnn anymore. msm 'news' are in on it too. I'm beyond fuming right now! A quick reminder to fuxmsnbccnn: '01&'03 BUSH taxcuts & TWO ILLEGAL WARS...all UNPAID for!

[progressoid]

103. Welcome to DU!

:hug:

[JDPriestly]

3. The public, even people who should know better, actually

believe that it was just the fault of people trying to buy houses they could not afford.

Clearly, that was part of it. But the role that brokers played in getting loans for people who could not afford to pay them back is somehow ignored.

Brokers are supposed to represent the banks and refuse loans to people who are bad risks. Thanks to the derivatives, the banks thought that THEY were protected, that THEY could not lose money on the loans.

There was fraud and wrongdoing from one end to the other. To fail to blame the banks for their part in creating the bubble and the crash is to lie about the causes of the recession.

But then, what do you expect from people who simply say what they are paid to say?

[roseBudd]

6. Subprime 25 by the Center for Public Integrity...

Wall St owned the mortgage lenders that kept them supplied

http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/economic_meltdown/articles/entry/1343/

There is something of a myth surrounding the current economic crisis, how it unfolded, and the precise role of the world’s largest financial institutions in the global meltdown. That myth suggests these banks and investment houses were somehow surprised “victims” of unscrupulous subprime mortgage lenders, and that they could not have anticipated the damaging toxic assets that have so infected their balance sheets.

What’s missing from this story is the fact that this was a self-inflicted wound for which the rest of us are picking up a massive tab. The largest American and European banks and investment houses were not the unwitting “victims” of an unforeseen financial collapse, as they have so often been portrayed. The mega-banks not only invested in subprime lending institutions — they were the enablers, bankrollers, and instigators driving high-interest lending, and they did so because it was so lucrative and unregulated.

Worse, in many instances these are the same financial institutions the government is now bailing out with tax revenues. How these bottomed-out banks helped cause the financial meltdown can be clearly seen in a new study by the Center for Public Integrity. The Center ran a computer analysis of every high-interest loan reported by the industry to the U.S. government from 2005 through 2007, a period that marks the peak and collapse of the subprime market. From this pool of 7.2 million loans, our investigators identified the top subprime lenders. The “Subprime 25” were responsible for nearly a trillion dollars of subprime lending, or 72 percent of all reported high interest loans.

The “Subprime 25”, which are mostly no longer in business, were largely non-bank retail lenders that needed outside financing to make their subprime loans. So where did that financing come from? The Center’s study found that at least 21 of these Subprime 25 lenders were either owned outright by the biggest banks or former investment houses, or had their subprime lending hugely financed by those banks, either directly or through lines of credit.

[Mark D.]

78. Infuriating!

Great info, I'll add to it in a moment. I am sick and tired of right wing mislead debating me, blaming the entire fiscal crisis on Fannie & Freddie, and the Community Redevelopment Act. That means basically blaming the government's attempt to help people, and the victims themselves. But Fannie & Freddie were only 20% of it, the rest were sub-prime lenders doing so of their own free will.

Of the top 25 sub-prime lenders, ONLY ONE was subjected to HRA enforcement. Meaning, the other 24, or the vast majority of sub-prime lending, was done without government intervention. It was the slime-ball predatory lending. Sell the loan no matter what to the person who either won't be able to pay it back at all, or won't once the interest rate skyrockets after the initial period ends.

It's that simple! They sat there and told prospective buyers or refinancers that they could afford it. When they'd ask: "but what about when the two years go by and the rate goes up" and the slime ball lenders would say: "don't worry about it, your home will be worth more and you can get another loan". Like Michael Moore described it, the bank of YOU. People were mislead. Period.

Those jerks made their commission selling it to the customers, then selling them as investments, terrible investments with artificial AAA ratings. When the loans failed, the investments failed, and the market sunk. Didn't matter. The slime-ball who sold it has the commission, and they were long gone on their golden parachute. So the company teeters? It's 'too big to fail'. Screw them.

That's what happens when self-interested, self-centered, sociopathic corporations (large banks) hire people who are just like them (the triple 'S' above). They had their CDS to insure those bad investments, they didn't care. In fact, in Goldman and other's cases, they WANTED failure. The payout from the insurance would be more than if it didn't fail. They planned this whole thing!

Now the sociopath manipulators had to do damage control. Off the talking points went to GOP politicians and FAUX News and Limbaugh, etc.. Spread the lies. You can see as I try to explain above in the simplest terms, you still see. IT CAN'T FIT ON AN EFFING BUMPER STICKER. Neil Cavuto on Fox saying "minorities getting loans" is so much easier for those lying bastards to sell. Bastards!

Now they will have this, a last minute hold off until the whistle blows and the new game begins (a GOP controlled House) so they can be sure their banker buddies never get investigated again. That's the final act of the banker heist of America. The royal scam. Can't effing WAIT for the Palin fans and other mislead to start trumpeting the GOP report as 'truth' and the Dem one as 'partisan'.

[JDPriestly]

98. Absolutely right, roseBudd.

[roseBudd]

108. I have become quite the expert on the credit & liquidity crisis of 08...

I spend most of my time commenting on a MSM newspaper site & the depth of my knowledge drives the dittoheads crazy

They can lie, but we can & must refute

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/inequality_and_crash_1

"mortgage originators no longer had any interest in whether or not homeowners could actually pay back their mortgages, since they were
selling those mortgages immediately to mortgage bundlers, who then sold them to banks, who then turned them into collateralised debt
obligations (CDOs) and sold them to hedge funds, who, beginning in 2005 or so, started taking out CDSs on the CDOs. One key piece in the puzzle was the ability of sophisticated traders in the bond market to game ratings agencies like Moody's and S&P into mistakenly awarding investment-grade ratings to CDOs containing large proportions of subprime mortgages. The profits on these higher-level mortgage-backed securities were so high in the early- to mid-2000s that they created a huge market for the subprime mortgages that made them up, and that money ultimately fueled ever-higher loans to subprime borrowers who would never be able to pay them back. To make a long story short: the reason there was too much credit available to subprime borrowers was, in large measure, financial innovation. The same derivatives and hedging that, at the global level, encouraged bankers to systematically take on too much risk were, at the granular level, supplying the credit that encouraged mortgage originators to hand out risky loans.

[guruoo]

94. Most people consider lenders to be the authority when it comes to what they can afford

One could have reasonably assumed that since the lender is the one taking the risk, they're going to be
the first one to tell them when can't afford the property, right?

[JDPriestly]

97. That should be right.

Unfortunately, it wasn't during the Bush housing boom. The lenders thought they could loan money to anyone and that the lenders' insurers would pay if the loans were not paid off.

[jtuck004]

4. That's predictable

But a reading of any of the half a dozen good books on this make it crystal clear that the phony ratings on the bonds made up of thousands of mortgages induced their sale to unsuspecting buyers, and the insurance (credit default swaps) that were sold 50 or 100 times on the same bonds, many times without even an underlying bond (just a bet) totaled over hundreds of trillions of dollars - sold without enough reserves to possibly pay off all the claims, which range in estimates from $450 trillion to $700 trillion. Nobody knows, since it was all off the books, and still is today.

On the other hand the mortgage market was about $13 trillion, with about $1 point something of truly subprime. So, literally, the entire subprime group of homes could have been purchased for $1 trillion and the loans rewritten, people foreclosed, whatever.

Instead it led to about $23 trillion of bailout money loaned or paid to the largest investment banks both here and in other countries, as well as companies such as GE, McDonalds, etc. They have made hundreds of billions in interest without public accounting, (we know this because they received treasury bonds and the interest).

Most of what they are saying has been debunked by several sources, but these congressmen are citizens with a right to put out what they want, regardless of how silly and wrong it is. And there will always be a market for that kind of stuff.

The question is, given that most people operate within their own experience, many will believe their story, because the real issues cannot be explained in a short news story. Or even if they can, the news folks have moved on, and all we hear are these echoes of the talking points which try to point the finger of blame anywhere else but at the people who destroyed so many people's lives. And are continuing the same behaviors.

Maybe if Goldman Sachs hadn't been the second largest contributor on the Open Secrets list, http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=n00009638">here..., and had a few less ex-employees in the governement, or their lawyers and chairman sitting in on meetings, (all of this is documented pretty well in other posts, btw) we would be hearing more of the story, and maybe seeing more changes.

As I recall "Bailout Nation" takes this issue on directly and refutes it pretty well - he even has pretty charts that show how private funding (in the billions of dollars) and predatory lending had a much earlier, larger, and longer lasting impact than anything the GSE's did, (and some portion of what they did was right along the same line, but with not near the impact).

[on point]

5. Much easier to live in fantasyland if you hide the facts

[mfcorey1]

8. Their plan of corruption and destruction begins. I still say that the Republic Party has a master

plan to destroy the Democratic Party. All of this chaos is not happenstance. Destroy from within and you will find many who are gullible to whatever they are fed. Look for more of this pseudo interest in the welfare of the people to continue and increase.

[liberation]

60. Too bad the Dem party's only master plan involves saving the GOP.

Just like they did during the 70s.

[fasttense]

9. How bizarre

In order to keep their little fantasy world going the RepubliCONS have to outlaw words. How strange is that? What words will they take out of the english language next? How about lie, cheat and steal? Or would RepubliCONS outlaw the words bribery, complicity and con job?

[Enthusiast]

10. They learned their lesson from 1929.

They took the blame for the 1929 stock market crash. It damaged their party brand for most of a century. They learned that in was in their vital interest to deflect blame away from their own deregulation policies and onto social liberals (Democrats)and their poor people lovin' ways. And this has played out favorably for the GOP in the media.

Of course their explanation for the crisis is entirely inadequate. But if it's the only one people hear and it's easier to repeat (as in Fox viewer) they win again.

[spicegal]

11. The GOP turns everything into partisan warfare and

refuses to take responsibility for ANYTHING. Our political system is failing. It has become so corrupt and polarized that there are no capable leaders willing to make reasonable decisions or compromise on behalf of the country. After everything that's happened, the GOP still wants to protect Wall Street above all else. They still want to protect the rich more than anyone else.

[The Backlash Cometh]

48. Yes, but...

This should be the info that should be relayed to the mainstream media. Don't you think the mainstream will want to know why they parted ways? Highlight the differences. The fact that they wanted Wall Street and deregulation stricken from the report should show how compromised and devious they are.

In fact, report it that way. They are conflicted and devious.

[Amonester]

100. Good luck with that, since M$M and W$

R One And The $ame

republikkkans will never bite the hand$ that feed them (with million$ upon million$ they $tole from their sheepish victims: the 'now' poor, a.k.a. the 'now' ex-middle class).

[Ganja Ninja]

12. I don't know why the Democrats allowed a bipartisan investigation in the first place.

When will they ever learn or maybe I expecting something from them that they just don't have - leadership.

[Democat]

42. Because Obama cares more about making Republicans happy...

...than he does about doing what's right for the country.

[ArcticFox]

52. Because that's what the American people want

Obama keeps saying that, no?

[liberation]

61. Except when we want something else which may not be corporate-approved...

... in which case this administration will hastily "correct" the mistaken popular opinion. Because they care *that* much for our "own" good. Like when people wanted such awful things like single-payer.

[Plucketeer]

79. EGGSACTLY!

We're at the point where we're given what's "GOOD" for us - not what we WANT! :grr:




GOP JOBS PLAN

[ArcticFox]

111. Who wanted single-payer?

Wasn't Obama busy marginalizing those people at the time, too?

[sabrina 1]

13. So, they reveal themselves. The CRA, Community Reinvestment Act

was the one concession Clinton fought for before he signed the Gramm/Blilely Act, ending Glass/Steagal and beginning the ravaging of our economic system by Wall St.

ACORN was attacked from its inception, because of the CRA. That bill made it illegal for banks to refuse to grant mortgages to minorities, which they could do and did, with zero repercussions. Banks and Republicans have hated the CRA from the day it was signed into law.

ACORN's main focus was to ensure that banks did not refuse mortgages to minorities based on prejudice. And as a result they became enemy #1 to the Banks and to Republicans and were constantly under attack but always managed to survive, until Democrats joined Repubicans in destroying them finally last year. O'Keefe/Breitbart/Giles were doing the work of those who had made it a mission to abolish the CRA. So, after 40 years the Corporations had bought enough members of Congress to get what they wanted. I could not believe it when I saw so many Democrats voting against ACORN. Without even an investigation.

As for the effects of the CRA, most of the minorities who qualified for mortgages over the years since the CRA went into effect, paid their mortgages in full.

I thought they had moved on from wanting to abolish that law once they got rid of ACORN. But, these people never forget and will probably make false claims that minorities got mortgages they could not afford because of the CRA. If they do, that will be a blatant lie.

So, how does President Obama feel about his bi-partisan commission now, I wonder?

[sweetapogee]

27. good question...

sabrina 1 said: "So, how does President Obama feel about his bi-partisan commission now, I wonder?"

Perhaps others will have a different take on it but in my opinion to believe that the President has come to changed his mind about the commission because of the reports coming out of it would seem to indicate that the President is a political novice. I don't think he is and what is happening is not only expected but is an effort to minimize damage to himself personally. I think, looking into my crystal ball that the President intends to (justifiably so) place the blame on others before him and will make a case that Congressional oversight (or lack thereof) was the blame. The only question then is who in congress takes the hit.

Regardless of the fault or blame or who was/is a victim in the sub-prime mortgage debacle, one thing I think is very clear, there is a scandal of Titanic proportions out there drifting in the fog, waiting to hit a stationary object. It will become, before it is resolved, a messy, bloody battlefield and I think heads will roll on both sides of the isle. There is international pressure to get to the bottom of this and one way or another, the bottom will be found. You don't lead the charge to the bottom of the economic shit can and expect the international banking community to simply smile and say nothing.

To quote Kenny Rogers: "...you've got to know when to fold up". In the next 18 months we are going to see why some in Congress decided not to run this time. We are also going to find out why some long time congressman who were way down in the polls decided to humiliate themselves and face certain defeat. Everyone fights their battles differently. The President, for his part can go about the business of being the President and let Congress defend itself.

Food for thought, other opinions are welcome and encouraged...

[suffragette]

88. I'd add the attacks against Maxine Waters to this

You've raised very important points here.

[goforit]

14. Well, this is where they will trip and fall....The common repug

even wants wallstreet and the Banks regulated.... ASAP!!!
I am surrounded by these repugs.
This will piss them off.

[mstinamotorcity]

15. I will say one thing

they sure will keep their circle tight. No matter what fucked up lie they are going to tell the people. I wonder when we will find our unity in the truth!!!!!!

[mwb970]

16. republicans don't seem to be part of our country any more.

They won't participate in our government, they don't care about our people, their number one goal is total power. Why would anyone vote for people so hostile to the very idea of America to actually run the whole damn thing?

:shrug:

[Bragi]

25. Too bad almost half the country supports them

Let's be realistic folks. The repubs are indeed repugnant, but they have successfully captured the support of almost half the population. It isn't like they're an isolated kook group.

[The Backlash Cometh]

49. They're responsible for more death and loss of welfare.

That's for sure.

[MannyGoldstein]

17. Again, the blame lies squarely on purist Democrats

These purist Democrats need to realize that Republicans love their country too, and want to help. We need to be bipartisan, to build bridges; these are people we can do business with.

The Democrats on this commission should take the lead of the brave patriots on the President's Deficit Commission, patriots like Dick Durbin, and vote for whatever the Republicans want. This is the only way to break the hyperpartisan Washington gridlock.

I hope our President has the courage to present these aggrieved Republicans with a Medal of Freedom, or a huge trickle-down bailout.

[xchrom]

18. +1

[Jefferson23]

46. LOL, very good Manny, the response from many of our elected

Dems may say just that and them some.

End gridlock now and do as the Republicans say today!

[Crunchy Frog]

68. .

:thumbsup:

[progressoid]

102. shhhhh

They'll probably do it.


:banghead:

[droidamus2]

19. Once again

We see the Republicans don't play well with others. Again the Democrats must realize that Republicans are only interested in having things their way and any 'show' of bipartisanship or compromise is just that a 'show'. That is why we need strong leadership on our side. When you talk compromise with the Republicans they see it as a sign of weakness and figure if they hold on long enough they can roll you and get whatever they want.

[florida08]

20. it wasn't the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans

Over 90% of theirs are still good. It was the fraudulent ones sold to them by the private investors/banksters that caused it. Countrywide had over 90% of theirs being stated income only or liar loans. They didn't bother to check any further because they were not making money off the loan interest but off the derivatives. That's why they did it. Having A1 ratings that were fraudulent greased the wheels.

These people are participating in a cover up. We know how Greenspan (the wizard), Robert Rubin and Larry Summers attacked and blocked Brooksley Born when she tried to warn them while she was in the Commodities Future Trading Commission as the chairman. They still don't regulate speculation http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-15/cftc-urged-to-curb-commodity-speculation-as-wall-street-resists.html

This is nothing but a cover up by the banksters thru their republican representatives. Greenspan never thought fraud existed. That's the meme..it's always the government's fault.

[florida08]

65. hmmm

now they've changed the title..it was:

CFTC Urged to Curb Commodity Speculation as Wall Resists - Bloomberg
Dec 15, 2010 ... Wall Street Pushes for Delay in U.S. Rules to Curb Commodities Speculation ... for delay and companies including Delta Airlines Inc. urge strict limits. ... The CFTC should resist pressure from “inside and outside the ...
www.bloomberg.com/.../cftc-urged-to-curb-commodity-speculation-as-wall-street-resists.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1276&bih=765&q=cftc+urge+to+curb+commodity+speculation+as+wall+street+resists&rlz=1R2GGIT_en&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

now it's "Wall Street Pushes for Delay in U.S. Rules to Curb Commodities Speculation"

[harun]

21. Is anyone surprised that the GOP acts like immature babies and does not play well with others?

[av8rdave]

32. I wonder if it's that, or simply that they didn't like the real picture that was emerging

Rs do have a problem with reality, you know.

[harun]

36. Awesome sig pic

[droidamus2]

81. Just remember

I don't know who it was but it was some Republican operative that said when asked about the reality of a particular political situation (to paraphrase) 'Reality. There is no reality. Reality is whatever we decide it is'. So basically their attitude is that if they can convince the public that their point of view is 'reality' then it is.

[SkyDaddy7]

22. The Public will side with the Republicans after ...

Talk Radio, FOX "News" & the rest of Rupert Murdoch's media empire shape the message & the M$M chases the squirrel...The GOP can do whatever it is they want...They rewrite our history, redefine & perhaps even rewrite our Constitution, they can basically get away with lying, cheating & stealing the middle class because they have convinced enough of the middle class everything they say regardless of how ridiculous or untrue it is that they are always correct! Oh well.

I will change my mind when I finally see the public reject their lies outright...If I ever do.

[IDemo]

26. "as Republicans defect?"...

Would that not imply they ever had any other intention?

:shrug:

[Roy Rolling]

28. This just in....

Republicans rewrite history to find the great depression of the 1930s was caused by greedy people who wanted to sell apples on the street and stand in soup lines, twarting the valuable commerce carried on by investors on Wall Street.

[WestSeattle2]

29. When was the last time one of these panels or commissions

actually produced the unvarnished truth? Quite frankly, I don't believe much of what comes out of government. Decades of spins, deceptions and outright falsehoods have destroyed any credibility the US government may have had at one time. Sad but true. It's hard to hold corporate America accountable when those doing the accounting are corrupt themselves.

[rucky]

Over 75% of the subprime lending originated from brokers.

Brokers are not subject to CRA mandates.

And even just among banks, CRA mandated mortgages went down from nearly 40% in the 90's to about 25% in 2006.

[rucky]

30. Over 75% of the subprime lending originated from brokers.

Brokers are not subject to CRA mandates.

And even just among banks, CRA mandated mortgages went down from nearly 40% in the 90's to about 25% in 2006.

[CanonRay]

31. As long as we don't address what really caused this

we are guaranteed to have it happen again. And again. And again.

[lib2DaBone]

34. They conviently forgot about Derivatives and Credit Default Swaps....

..worthless bundles of papers sold all over the globe by... Goldman Sachs and the REPUBLICANS.

IT will never end until the have sucked every last penny from the working poor.

[Alcibiades]

37. Can they answer these questions?

* If the meltdown was a result of federal policy, we would expect problem mortgages to be evenly distributed across the US. Instead, they are concentrated, with the greatest concentration in a few formerly "hot" markets. Looks more like a speculative bubble than one caused by unqualified borrowers.

* What is the average value of a US mortgage in default?

* How much of the meltdown was due to people trying to "flip" a house?

The real culprits were Wall Street's race to the bottom in search of profits, faulty assumptions that prices would always increase, and the favorable tax treatment of appreciation of a primary residence. People were buying homes, taking out HE loans to make improvements, getting their homes reappraised, and borrowing again.

How do they explain the McMansions in default? These were not subprime borrowers.

[Hestia]

38. Can't we blame * for this? You know, the previous administration that allowed the foxes in the hen

house?

[Democat]

40. Could Obama be more of a disaster?

It's like everything he touches turns to shit.

[sinkingfeeling]

41. What's new? There will be a report made for use by Fox News and the Teabaggers and then the real

report that no body will read.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

43. Bill Thomas

I remember him. Scroll down:

Al Kamen's WP column looks into a complaint that California congressman Bill Thomas was recently spotted driving like a jerk on Capitol Hill. In the course of his investigation, Kamen learns that Thomas has a Porsche and a BMW, which causes him to ask exactly the right question: "Just how big was that last raise for Congress?"

The column is so far back that it is not indexed. Anyone who wants can find it on microfilm.

[valerief]

45. Why do they even use the word bipartisan? Why don't they use the word magic instead? nt

[florida08]

55. lol

good one

[The Backlash Cometh]

47. This looks like an excellent example to illustrate how the Republicans

try to deflect taking responsibility for their mistakes. And how they dupe the public.

[Javaman]

53. Newspeak is alive and well. nt

[SOS]

54. From 2002....

WASHINGTON — "We can put light where there's darkness, and hope where there's despondency in this country.
And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home."
- President George W. Bush, Oct. 15, 2002

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/worldbusiness/21iht-admin.4.18853088.html

Despondent people will benefit from home ownership, said the Republican Dingus-in-Chief.

And what about the banks selling those loans the next day as "mortgage backed securities"?
How did those MBS get a AAA rating?
Who got stuck with $1 trillion worth of that crap?

Allowing these Republican propagandists to re-write history is unacceptable.

[burnsei sensei]

56. Republicans . . .

then negotiate in bad faith, work in bad faith, and even evaluate in bad faith.
Yes, of course they'll blame the people.
They will never blame money managers.
What shits.

[tinkerbell41]

57. I have a problem with this.

I can hear them now. Soon my Family will be parroting this meme.And it will take everything I have not to go postal on them.
First, I have a MOD been finished since Dec of last year. I bought way below what the BANK said I could afford, I mean like 30 grand below. Why did I need a MOD if I was responsible???? Because my income has fallen every year since I made my purchase in 1998. More than half, I was unemployed close to two years, my industry has been decimated, I worked 25 weeks this year, and am looking at another two before I can go back to work again.
Someone I am very close to bought a home at the height of the bubble, with income to compensate, the taxes have gone up 40% making those original figures obsolete, the taxes are being based on the bubble. So you bought on a lie, and are being taxed on a known lie. You cannot appeal taxes based on false appraisal, it is done on comparables, and when the whole frickin area has been pumped up, you are denied.
I am so fucking pissed off and pumped up about this. Somebody with any ounce of smarts should have
wondered what the fuck was happening. I remember watching my home value skyrocket, yeah it seemed like a good thing, but in my mind I realized "This is a blue-collar neighborhood, I couldn't afford
to buy my home now, and surely someone who has that kind of money, will not be moving here."
Obviously, I wasn't that financially savvy to realize what was actually happening, but my radar was on, and I was wary. Now you mean to tell me ANYONE with more education NEVER made a connection?
NEVER questioned this??? I mean, my resume reads, waitress, tradesperson, homemaker.
Pretty fucking sad, that a so-called Prole had a clue, when everyone else seemed to be blind-sided.

[bongbong]

58. Hubris

The repigs are doing this because they feel in no danger of offending their acolytes with their "don't blame the billionaires!" message.

The real inside meaning of this is that they feel they have finally gotten so much of the MSM co-opted, and so many sheep completely inside the Fox "news" fence, that they can tell those anti-American "Americans" anything and they'll buy it.

By now, they are probably tweaking their "Get Your Guns Out And Kill All Liberals In Your Town" message, getting it ready to give to the sheep.

[DallasNE]

62. If A 1977 Law Was The Cause

The problem would not have shown up 30 years later, it would have shown up 3 years later.

There have been plenty of reports singling out "jumbo" loans. By definition, these are loans of $500,000 and above. Many were set up with balloon payments that came due after 5 years.

Obviously, with the size of the problem, there were multiple causes but to focus on a somewhat minor problem while overlooking the more obvious and larger problems such as loans with balloon payments is just plain dishonest.

[TayTay]

63. CRA demonstrably not responsible for the fiscal crisis

I will post a lot more on this as time goes on. CRA's loans are audited yearly and their loan performance stats are public and available online. The Republicans have been gunning for the CRA and attempting to get it repealed ever since it was established. Thye out and out lie about what the CRA does and it's performance in lending.

Suffice for now:

Purpose of Study

This study, http://traigerlaw.com/publications/The_community_reinvestment_act_of_1977-not_guilty_1-26-09.pdf">Traiger & Hinckley LLP’s fourth annual analysis of home mortgage
lending data, builds on our 2008 report which found that banks subject to the Community
Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) were substantially less likely than other mortgage
lenders to engage in the types of risky lending practices that helped fuel the foreclosure
crisis.

Publication of our 2008 report coincided with but ran counter to pronouncements
from a small but vocal group of critics who seek to portray the CRA as a principal cause
of the U.S. financial crisis. These individuals allege that CRA-subject banks downgraded
their standards for originating mortgage loans in order to comply with their obligation to
lend to low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals. This “lowering of the bar” has,
according to the skeptics of the CRA, facilitated or precipitated the current wave of
delinquencies, defaults, and foreclosures. Because this argument is incongruous with our
statistical research and our experience counseling banks on CRA compliance since 1990,
we decided that this year’s report should investigate the critics’ accusations.

We posited the following hypothesis. If critics were correct about banks having
lowered underwriting standards for LMI borrowers, lending data from 2007, a time of
constricting credit and significantly tightened underwriting standards, should show
greatly diminished service to LMI borrowers by CRA-subject banks. To test this
hypothesis, we looked at 2007 and 2006 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data
from the 15 most populous U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). As we explain
below, the data tend to refute the accusation that the CRA helped cause the current
mortgage crisis.

Please peruse this report. The Republicans want the CRA gutted. They want to blame CRA for the financial crisis instead of placing blame where it belongs, on greed and lax regulatory overview of the big banks.

Arm yourself, a battle is coming.

[drm604]

64. Banning phrases.

This is pure political propaganda. When they start focusing on irrelevant issues and talking about banning phrases (rather than actually trying to tackle the problems) then Frank Luntz is probably involved somehow.

The American people need an honest report. Something that tells us the truth no matter whose ox is gored by it.

Instead the Republicans want to give us a campaign document designed by a PR firm.
:cry:

[Atypical Liberal]

66. I had this same argument with my father over Thanksgiving.

It is absolutely BULLSHIT that the federal government somehow twisted the arms of all those mortgage brokers into making loans.

The people making those loans did not need any encouragement. They were in it for the quick buck because they knew they were selling the loans on to the next sucker down the line. They got their cut and that was all they cared about.

Listen to this and you can hear the story straight from the horses mouth:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/355/the-giant-pool-of-money

These people were making $100K a month drinking bottles of booze with sparklers stuck in it. They knew the loan terms were outrageous but they were driven by GREED to continue making them.

The idea that somehow the federal government forced them to make these loans is ridiculous.

[bergie321]

67. A leaked copy of the Republican report has been discovered.

It contains only 9 words:

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

[lafayettelonewolf]

92. Yup!

Shades of 1984. Looks like Orwell knew what was coming down the pike. Little does most of the people know that it's the Repigs that are calling for a new world order.

[midnight]

112. Well now we no why they started the mantra: Money trumps peace....

[libmom74]

69. This is surreal

it's like they have taken the book 1984 and are turning into their playbook. It is truly scary.

[TygrBright]

70. Oh my goodness. How very unexpected. n/t (since I can't put a "sarky" smiley in subject line)

[bergie321]

71. We should send Obama in to "negotiate" with them

Then we can reach a "bipartisan" agreement that it is only 99% the fault of poor people.

:sarcasm:

[robinlynne]

72. Now, in hindsight, wouldn't it have been a good ide for Obama to create a liberal panel

from the getgo and let them scream bloody murder? Elizabeth Warren could have headed the panel. he created a center-right panel and they are still screaming bloody murder. So the Us has a choice between center right and far right over and over again. The entire dialog in this country is just wrong.

[MannyGoldstein]

73. Only if he wanted a Liberal outcome. nt

[felix_numinous]

75. This is akin to asking a pig to slaughter itself

the pig being the excesses of the RW/MIC--regulation will only be forced from outside the system.

[xxqqqzme]

77. Of course the rethuglicans are whining

about government! It was rethug policies that got us into the current mess. Using their 'supply side - trickle down' scam, the greedy intercepted the trickle down stream, diverted it through their pockets, and tried to resell it. The overvalued property collapsed and blew a hole in the whole scam. The struggling middle class is getting sucked through that hole. The greedy are denying there was ever a hole so what's to fix?

[grahamhgreen]

80. So why does this admin continue to cave into them?

[PBS Poll-435]

82. Will this commission have 9-Lives?

:rofl:

[deurbano]

83. Bill Thomas

Bill Thomas--- one of the architects of the budget busting (and sell-out to Big Pharma) Medicare Part D.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/republican-budget-hypocrisy-health-care-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html

Bill Thomas-- literally “in bed with lobbyists.”
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2008/02/back-when-in-be.html

Bill Thomas-- GIANT hypocrite.

(Not to mention his pork barrel spending in Bakersfield and surrounding district... Why in god's name would he be considered remotely qualified to serve on this commission? Is it like with Bush-- he's "failing up?" Or... shit floats?)

[femrap]

84. How can anyone be so

naive to believe that the repugnants would play by the rules???

Seriously.

[Historic NY]

85. Its entitlements.......you'll see...Corporate welfare is the economies engine.

[DirkGently]

86. What a surprise. "We reject your reality, and substitute our own."

[abelenkpe]

87. Not new or surprising

They have been saying this for years. They take this position to avoid regulation of business and to further undermine confidence in the government. Think of every GOP campaign: "Elect us so we can shrink government and keep government out of your hair." Aka elect us to not work for you. Anyone who cannot see that the GOP serves business against the best interests of the people is a fool.

[LuckyLib]

89. Republicans creating their own truth. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

'all four Republicans voted in favor of banning the phrases "Wall Street" and "shadow banking" and the words "interconnection" and "deregulation"' --

up is down and black is white. Creating their own reality, one idiotic move after another.

[Guilded Lilly]

91. Word deal: they can ban those terms only if every time the word Republican appears

in print or spoken in the media "obstructionist, lying, repulsive, poisonous, souless and vile " must be mentioned preceeding it. Order isn't important, but every word must be there.

[Locrian]

93. Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners

Matt Taibbi has a great article that spells it all out, AND how it's continuing to screw over home owners.

Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/232611


At the worst (ignoring the scams,etc) the people getting into loans they could not afford were stupid and greedy. The people MAKING the loans, then selling and using them to place bets and gamble the entire economy are not only greedy and stupid but CRIMINALS.

[guruoo]

96. And it all happened on their watch. nt

[ut oh]

101. Wow, what a bunch of f'ing children....

More of the 'I'm taking my ball home' crowd....

[paulflorez]

104. AND WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF GOVERNMENT WHILE BUBBLE INFLATED?

"Republicans Defect; Plan To Blame Government For Crisis"

You mean the REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED CONGRESS and the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT???

"June 2002: President G.W. Bush sets goal of increasing minority home owners by at least 5.5 million by 2010 through billions of dollars in tax credits, subsidies and a Fannie Mae commitment of $440 billion to establish NeighborWorks America with faith based organizations."
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020617-2.html

"September 2003: Bush administration recommend moving governmental supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under a new agency created within the Department of the Treasury. The changes are blocked by REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED Congress."
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63

The Republicans SAT ON THEIR HANDS as this mess got bigger and bigger. Housing prices were ALREADY collapsing in 2006. #1 person people blame for the economic collapse is the banks, #2 is Bush. People need to be reminded that Bush was a REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT.

[Lasher]

105. This is Obama's fault for creating this bullshit commission.

And it will be his fault when the new GOP House lavishes funding on them to exist forever. Line up, boys and girls, for taxpayer-funded daily news spots that would make Ken Starr blush.

[eleny]

106. They'll suggest bringing back work houses and the reversal of child labor laws

Bet they would if they thought they could get away with it.

[klook]

107. MediaMatters has the straight dope on this

See their article Myths and falsehoods about the purported link between affordable housing initiatives and the financial crisis (October 2008).

But the suggestion that the financial crisis was caused by banks lending irresponsibly to comply with the CRA is widely discredited. According to housing experts, a large number of subprime loans were not made under the CRA, which applies only to depository institutions. A study released earlier this year by a law firm specializing in CRA compliance estimated that in the 15 most populous metropolitan areas, 84.3 percent of subprime loans in 2006 were made by financial institutions not governed by the CRA. Moreover, Janet Yellen, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, stated in a March 2008 speech that "studies have shown that the CRA has increased the volume of responsible lending to low- and moderate-income households" .

Everyone needs to memorize some of these facts in case that right-wing brother-in-law starts mouthing off with some of the standard housing crisis lies over the holidays. :hippie:

[AlbertCat]

109. Republicans voted in favor of banning the phrases "Wall Street" and "shadow banking"

... and the words "interconnection" and "deregulation"

And replacing them with "rainbows", "puppies", "warm cookies" and "pie". (although 2 Republicans objected to the word "rainbows" as being too gay.)


It's the Feds pushing Fannie Mae!

The banks and Republicans gave you this:














Yet another example of playing bipartisanship.... alone.

[lovuian]

110. The Corruption and amounts are breathtaking even for them

they don't want to be part of it

[On the Road]

113. This is the Claim I Would Like to More About

"the explosive growth of subprime mortgages and the heavy role played by the federal government in pushing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase and insure them"

Maybe this did happen, but a lot of on the details -- who, what, when, and why. Most of this happened under the Bush administration. Blaming a Democratic Congress seems far fetched. Generally the executive branch is much more involved in dealing with industry.

One way the Republicans have screwed up politics and government is by misrepresenting issues and diverting discussion onto useless side streets. The whole concept of the two-party system is having two opposing philosophies involved in the process. That might be valuable, but instead we get this useless posturing that just allows the status quo to continue.