Liberal Democrats say $25B settlement with banks is insufficient

[Dover]

Source: The Hill

Liberal Democrats are pushing back this week against news that the Obama administration is finalizing a multi-billion dollar settlement with the banks that bungled mortgage loans at the expense of homeowners.

The Department of Justice and the 50 state attorneys general are nearing a deal to apply $25 billion in foreclosure-abuse penalties to the nation's largest mortgage servicers — the companies that buy the rights to manage loans from mortgage lenders – according to numerous reports.

But Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, say that figure is a drop in the bucket compared to the wealth homeowners lost when the housing bubble burst, creating the conditions that led to the Great Recession.

The banks, the lawmakers maintain, are getting off much too easy.


Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/1091-housing/191991-liberal-dems-say-25-billion-bank-settlement-is-insufficient

[flor-de-jasmim]

1. That is OUTRAGEOUS news.

[Bluesbreaker]

19. Obama sells out the 99%

The guy's a weasel.

[roguevalley]

22. how about making everyone whole again? Oh wait. It might

prevent him from getting his billion to defeat the GOP idiot. What a stand up guy, giving the people who deliberately harmed others and cast them into the ditch a pass. He is a bastard and a coward.

[SammyWinstonJack]

35. He's a republican...weasel....same difference.

[woo me with science]

29. THEY ARE FUCKING THIEVES. WE NEED A PRIMARY.

GOOD GOD, WHO IS STILL HOLDING THE DELUSION THAT THIS ADMINISTRATION IS EVEN REMOTELY ON OUR SIDE?

[woo me with science]

33. And the headline nastily implies that only "liberal Democrats" would find it objectionable.

Yeah, it's the liberal Democrats objecting in Congress, but people outside of Congress don't know about this.

I'd like to see this as a national poll, with that 25 billion put alongside estimates of the total stolen from the American people as a result of these crimes.

[snappyturtle]

2. Why am I not surprised? nt

[Confusious]

3. Obama will fix this, You'll see!

He's there for us, he's one of us, he wouldn't do this, you're just being a hater, ack, ack ack

Sorry, something came over me. I'm not surprised either.

[Xtraneous]

14. Just give him some time...

no hurry, he has another four years coming, most here are going to vote for him anyway.

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. Don't think the majority of Americans can afford another fours yrs of

Obama. :shrug:


He pulls this crap, knowning full well, most will vote for him.


Well at least enough will for re-election, that is.

[Autumn]

4. The administration needs to back the fuck off on this.

This is nothing more than protecting these fuckers, at our expense. Fuck this shit.

[TBF]

5. What about the $75 trillion in derivative losses that BOA just dumped on the Fed?

Is that included in the "settlement" too?

[meow2u3]

6. No settlement, no compromise, no slap on the wrist for those criminals

Prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, no matter how much they fill your campaign coffers. Bite the corproate hands that poison you. JAIL THE BANKSTERS--OR ELSE FACE POLITICAL DEATH!

[msongs]

7. who gets this $25 bil, the government or homeowners who were cheated? nt

[Scuba]

8. Steal a couple trillion, pay a few billion in penalties. What a racket. n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

9. "Make no mistake: America's bankers have suffered enough."*

People committed perjury. They should go to jail. Instead, they're paying us a fine with money we lent/gifted them.

*For the parody-impaired, that's not an actual quote.

[jwirr]

10. Settlement with the banks - not the ones who lost everything. Don't

they have anyone it that administration that gets it?

[Dover]

11. Has anyone seen any other news stories about this?

I posted the OP but The Hill tends to be very conservative, so would like to see another source.

[Angry Dragon]

13. As far as what??

I have seen stories for over a month that the admin. was trying to work out a deal
to settle for that amount.
That is why some of the state AGs are backing away
I think the one from NY was the first

Have not heard of the dems pushing back before.............

[tpsbmam]

15. From Reuters, 10/18.....

A deal could be reached by the end of the month, according to three people familiar with the talks.

Under the proposed terms of the settlement -- which could total $25 billion -- banks would get a broader relief from potential state civil lawsuits in exchange for refinancing underwater loans, those mortgages where borrowers owe more than their homes are worth, the sources said.

The deal could provide some relief to the battered U.S. housing market and clear up some uncertainty about banks' legal exposure that has been a drag on their shares.

Banks have been holding out on a multi-billion-dollar settlement because they wanted broader legal protection than state attorneys general were prepared to offer.

More at link.


What a load of bullshit. Even if the deal includes some mortgage help, etc, to let these crooks off for $25 billion is obscene. Absolutely obscene.

:grr:

[Dover]

18. Thank you...n/t

[hulka38]

12. How the hell does anyone have any faith in this administration

or the leadership of this party?

[russspeakeasy]

16. JAIL IS THE ONLY ANSWER.

[pennylane100]

17. I thought California had withdrawn from that suit.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-10-01/news/30237303_1_foreclosure-crisis-robo-signing-californians-for-community-empowerment

Is that the one referred in the above article.

[jeff47]

20. Several states have, including CA and NY

So the story is a tad optimistic that the settlement would cover all 50 states. Only way to do that would be to pass something through Congress. Which I have a very hard time seeing happening.

[JoeyT]

21. This is why regulation rarely works now.

Break laws and steal billions? Good grief, you should be ashamed. We'll see how you like being fined a small percentage of what your illegal activity brought you.

The only way to fix it is to bring penalties back in line with the offense. There's a reason we don't punish murder with a fine.

[cstanleytech]

23. Heres an idea. Make the bankers pay the fine out of their own pockets rather than the banks.

[pmorlan1]

24. Big Surprise

No surprise here. They've been twisting the arms of the State Atty. Generals for months. A--hats.

[davidwparker]

25. No jail. Slap on the wrists. They will be back it. n/t

[Citizen Worker]

26. I'm thoroughly confused. Will someone please tell me once again why I should vote for the democrat?

Voting for the republican is totally out of the question and voting for the democrat is rapidly becoming so.

[boppers]

30. Because the republicans would be funding them, not fining them.

Democrats do both.

[pam4water]

27. Don't worry Obama will get rid of those dang hippie liberals and the banks will liver happily XD

ever after.

:sarcasm:

[avaistheone1]

28. Whew. Fairy tales do come true.

:sarcasm:

[No Elephants]

40. No need to distract Obama. The DNC 's been on it for a while, even when Dean headed it,

the Committees charged with coming up with Democratic candidates for the House and Senate were headed by the likes of Rahm.

[jtuck004]

31. They do not care about $20 Bill. What they want is the protection from criminal investigation

and charges, the indemnification this gives them for for current robo-signing, and the ability to continue it in the future without being annoyed by all those handcuffs and jail cells, that this "deal" gives them.

More here

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) would like to deny that, here

Baldfaced theft, and protection. No wonder they laugh at OWS and their fights with police and local administrations. Once this deal is in hand these banks will never again have to worry about criminal charges for this part of their behavior, they keep most of the profits, and they can move forward on foreclosures that have been waiting.

Got house?

[Dover]

37. +1000 A closer look at your links...

What makes these discussions so utterly absurd, so ridiculous, and farcical, is that robo-signing, an abuse the banks have admitted to and claim they’ve ceased, is still going on. The AP reported this in July; mortgage servicers in Nevada have stopped foreclosing because of a law explicitly criminalizing robo-signing. Yes, the banks are asking for a release of claims on acts, or perhaps crimes, that are ongoing. And these abuses are extensive: lying to investors about the quality of the mortgages; violating their own contracts by failing to convey mortgages properly to securitization trusts; charging fees that are impermissible under Federal law and the contracts; making a mess of property records and engaging in deceptive consumer practices through the use of MERS; and engaging in document forgeries and fabrications in foreclosures. All these people trying to give the banks “a settlement” are in fact immunizing banks against acts they are committing and will commit going forward. Only in the future, when a voter complains to his or her state AG, that official will have to explain to that voter that his/her rights have been given away.

We’re talking about an ongoing case of criminal theft of private property by mortgage servicers charging illegal fees and then using fraudulent documents to foreclose. Now, a settlement implies that this practice is over, and that the banks are remediating past wrongs. It isn’t over, but the AGs and Federal regulators are treating it as if it is. Think about this incentive – why should a bank change its mortgage servicing once it has immunity for robo-signing, origination, pyramiding of fees, etc? The last consent decrees weren’t enforced, why would this one be enforced?

This speaks to the basic issue at hand, which is that there has been no serious investigation of the problem, on a Federal or state level. We don’t know how widespread the problem is, or how to fix it. ...cont'd

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/11/matt-stoller-why-a-foreclosure-fraud-settlement-is-a-ridiculous-idea.html

[jtuck004]

38. These people are going to get away with HUGE crime if this goes through.

And maybe (maybe) they didn't personally murder anyone, but I would bet they are responsible for what will be thousands of early, miserable deaths, not to mention decades of poverty and homelessness for millions.

And people we elected appear to be well on their way to wiping it all off the books, in the past, today, and in the future.

Good thing the people that own these banks weren't mostly black. This would never have been allowed. But since they're white, it's alright.

Bill Black wrote a book called "The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, about the S&L crisis. They put 1000 people in jail over that. Here it is in action, but people are falling down on the job of protecting the American people.

[CrackersMcGee]

32. Where will the proposed 25B then go? nt

[GOTV]

34. This is why I no longer listen to, or care, what Obama says. Pretty words, ugly actions.

[slipslidingaway]

39. knr nt

[sarcasmo]

41. Kick!