Economic Bail Out Article

baylian

Cathlete
Tripped upon this and found it interesting . .



The cause, in a nutshell:

1. Congress (under Jimmy Carter) passes a bill making it illegal for banks to “redline” (that is, they can’t ignore poor neighborhoods because that would be discrimination).

2. In 1992, Clinton can’t get elected by saying “Vote for me and I’ll give $250,000 in tax dollars to all poor people so they can buy a house” so he instead says “I feel your pain” to get into office.

3. Clinton changes the rules so that banks are faced with $10,000 fines (or 1% of assets, whichever is less) per-loan-application if they discriminate against the poor. In other words, the government FORCES banks to make bad loans.

4. To soften the load, Clinton reduces the Fannie Mae “reserve requirement” to an astoundingly low 2.5%! (They need to keep only $2.50 in cash for every $100 loaned!) Banks, faced with $10,000 fines, respond by making bad loans and immediately dumping them on Fannie Mae.

5. Clinton rule changes also require banks to count WELFARE CHECKS AND FOOD STAMPS as “income” for loan applications!

6. Senate Democrats demand that Fannie Mae buy more bad loans to “help the poor become homeowners.”

7. Radicals Islamists attack the U.S. on 9/11. To keep the economy from tanking because of the terrorist attack, the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates artifically low - to stimulate the economy. These low interest rates make it even easier for people to get mortgages.

8. Because Fannie Mae is buying up bad loans like candy, banks keep making them.

9. Conservatives see the handwriting on the wall and start complaining.

10. Fannie Mae CEOs James Johnson and Franklin Raines “cook the books” to give themselves, and other former Clinton buddies at Fannie Mae, bigger bonuses.

11. Raines (like, Johnson, later an Obama advisor) is forced to resign and pay back millions.

12. Because many poor people entered the housing market, there are MORE buyers chasing the same number of houses available. That makes prices go up - much faster than the inflation rate. (Duh! If more people want the same house, the seller can charge more!)

13. More conservatives warn Congress of trouble ahead. Barney Frank (D-MA) and other Dems say “Don’t worry, be happy.” Maxine Waters (D-CA) says Republicans are racists for wanting to rein in Fannie Mae to prevent poor blacks from buying houses. Waters praises the crook Franklin Raines.

14. John McCain submits a Fannie Mae reform bill in 2005. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CN) gets his fellow Dems to promptly vote against it; it never leaves his banking committee and thus never gets voted on by the full Senate. Dodd gets a boatload of cash from Fannie Mae for his campaigns, more than any other Senator (Obama is in second place).

15. Everything explodes in 2008.

16. Secretary Paulson (a Democrat) persuades a non-functioning President Bush to go along with a bailout.

17. At a White House meeting, Dems feed their talking points to Obama so he can look good. He screws up, and lambasts the Republicans - angering them enough so that they have no desire to help.

18. Frank, Dodd, Reid, Pelosi blame the Republicans. The media piles on, ignoring the real cause of the crisis, in an effort to elect their socialist pal Obama. They all know the Dems caused the problems, but why burden Americans with the truth?

19. Conservatives in Congress say NO to socialism.

20. Americans say NO to socialism.

21. Democrats say THIS IS CRITICAL, WE MUST ACT! and then take a day off for a Jewish holiday. (Better to risk destroying the economy than lose Jewish votes in November 4.)

22. McCain - foolishly - supports the bailout, reprising his role as the “Democrat-lite” candidate.

23. Sarah Palin will hopefully expose the Dems for their part in the mess during her debate with Biden.

24. Americans are screwed, no matter what happens.

The full details at:

http://colony14.net/id46.html
 
This seems like a highly-charged and biased article with lots of blame-placing. Its objectivity is questionable.

But thanks for sharing. :)
 
Biased or not - there are many true facts in this article. Cast aside some of the sarcastic points and keep the factual points.
 
It is slanted toward the Republican viewpoint, but honestly most of the other threads have been very slanted the other way. The Republican's were on board with making loans to the poorer sector as well as the Democrats. And now both parties are too busy bickering to really study it and get what needs to get done, done.
 
Baylian, I really don't want to get into an argument with you, so don't take it as a personal attack but just as a different point of view but there are factual errors in this that I want to respond to.

1. The ban on redlining is part of fair housing and it was a good thing. All it does is preventing banks, insurances, etc. from discriminating against minorities based on where they live - this has nothing to do with the current foreclosures and economic crisis

2. I feel your pain - don't see a problem with that, actually I think the mantra was It's the economy, stupid!!

3. Discrimination is against the law, but I am not sure what you are referring to

4. It is a little more complicated than that, but yes, it was part of a bill that was written by Phil Gramm, chief economic advisor of Sen. McCain and likely treasury secretary in a McCain/Palin administration, the one who said a few months ago that we are going through a "mental recession" and that we are a country of whiners. And yes, it was passed by the Republican Congress and signed by Bill Clinton 11/99

5. not sure about that one

6. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don't buy bad loan, they had underwriting requirements if those were not met, banks made subprime loans at higher interest rates and sold those to other investors

7. Not the low interest rates but deregulation of the mortgage industry made it possible for anyone who could fog a mirror to get loans even above the value of their home

8. Fannie Mae was founded as a government agency in 1938 but was converted into a private corporation in 1968

9. Conservatives cry for more deregulation and got it in 2004. Conservatives believe that government is always the problem, never the solution, and that regulation of private business is always bad. Lenders and brokers who fell outside of federal regulations made most of the sub-prime and predatory loans

10. Can't respond to this, don't know enough about it

11. Raines was never an Obama advisor, Jones was briefly involved with the Obama campaign in charge of VP vetting but resigned after a few weeks.

12. The problem was not that poor people entered the market, deregulation of the mortgage industry through conservative republicans made it possible for anyone who could fog a mirror to get a loan through unregulated sub-prime mortgage products

13. Not sure what this is referring to

14. In 2005, the Senate Banking Committee, then under Republican control, adopted a strong reform bill, introduced by Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole, John Sununu and Chuck Hagel, and supported by then chairman Richard Shelby as well as Sen. McCain and did not pass

15. That is a very accurate description

16. Hank Paulson is not a Democrat, it is a staunch Republican, always has been

17 - 24 Sigh, partisan gaggldigoo, says I ;):D both parties in the US House of Representatives should be tarred, feathered and hung upside down for their stupidity and the Jewish holiday is observed by both parties and I would have hung the Jewish holiday in a moment of crisis but I am not a politician and that's for good reason:D
 
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Tripped upon this and found it interesting . .



The cause, in a nutshell:

1. Congress (under Jimmy Carter) passes a bill making it illegal for banks to “redline” (that is, they can’t ignore poor neighborhoods because that would be discrimination).

I bought a house in (and live in) a poor neighborhood and make good money. My house only cost $59,900. Why should I have been turned down for a home loan when my loan was considerably less risky than a $400,000 home loan for a house in a much "nicer" neighborhood? Further, people who buy homes in poor neighborhoods and work hard to make them wonderful draw others of the same ilk to the neighborhood and, ultimately, raise-up blighted areas. This is a bad thing? How? Many neighborhoods in my city of Columbus Ohio were once a humiliating rat & roach-infested embarrassments to the image of my city but are now the loveliest, most desirable places to live, proving to be very good investments for banks. This is only bad if you can no longer afford a house in a neighborhood because it's improved to such an extent that the re-invigorated neighborhood is now beyond your means. I'm for nearly(*) anything that brings up blighted areas.
 
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I know several hard working decent people, whose parents were enslaved by slum lords, rich people who bought the substandard housing and charged rents that made it impossible for people who earn the minimum or slightly above wage (like my mom, who worked 50 hours a week to pay it, working as a social worker with the kids of the drugged out middle and upper class bunch)

The policy made it possible for people with little income to buy a home.....Millions upon millions since the 1930's DID just that and helped keep America a thriving middle class system....

Very stupid article to "blame" the Democrats for keeping us from becoming an imperial society as the Bush/Cheney camp has led us into in 8 years...Republicans have controlled the House and Senate for 10 and its the worst since 1929....and its TAX LAW not just sub prime mortgages that have catapulted us in this mess....NO WAR TIME president has ever been STUPID enough to give a tax cut during a war...but the public did not support this war....that's another story...
 
Yeah right and where did that article come from. Republican Congress for 6 years, republican president for 8 years and Paulsen is Secretary Treasury under a Republican administration. You want to go back to blaming Carter?! Give me a break!
 
John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, has received over $2 million in lobbying funds from Freddie Mac, including $15,000 per month up through August of 2008.

So, which candidate is beholden to the corrupt mortgage giants?

Here's the link to the NYTimes article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/us/politics/24davis.html

According to the Los Angeles Times, Obama is the recipient of the largest individual money contribution from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

There's blame enough to go around, folks. For every Rick Davis and Lindsey Graham there's a Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. They all made out like bandits, and until we get past this "he said/she said" approach to fixing our economy we'll just be spinning our wheels.
 
Whatever the outcome, the position of the United States of America as a super power global player has changed for good. Never trust ever what a politican states.
 
Thank you Carola!!!!!!! Wow the Republicans don't do anything wrong ever huh?? Yeah they have only controlled everything for 8 years now and what a great state we are in!!!!!! Wouldn't it be so nice for them if all the poor people just went away? Uh, yeah, its 2008 now people, get over going back 30 years and blaming and just admit this whole administration is WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!!!!! Eight years ago I had a life, now I have nothing, Thanks W!!!!!!!!!
 
When posting an article that's allegedly full of "true facts" (wasn't aware there were other kinds of facts but, oh well) it's usually a good idea to include the source.

Unless there's some reason you don't want to?
 
According to the Los Angeles Times, Obama is the recipient of the largest individual money contribution from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

There's blame enough to go around, folks. For every Rick Davis and Lindsey Graham there's a Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. They all made out like bandits, and until we get past this "he said/she said" approach to fixing our economy we'll just be spinning our wheels.

Well said, Sparrow. I just wish the politicians would stop with the blaming and get back to the work we "hired" them for!

Carrie
 

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