DesideriScuri
Posts: 12225
Joined: 1/18/2012 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Owner59 quote:
ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri quote:
ORIGINAL: LookieNoNookie No offense Desidrei....but I don't think Bush EVER asked for an audit. not that it would have actually happened had he done so but....that one escapes me as to history. Know what? You're right. He didn't ask for an audit, just for reform and more regulations of Fannie and Freddie. And, no offense taken. I call bush-shit.....err, bullshit.... Please show us where he called for any of that. What was the reaction from republicans when attempts were made to curb predatory lending or sub-prime mortgage abuses....? Funny that bush had a whole eight years to do something to help but did nothing but deregulate bank rules and/or gutting the oversight agencies to the point of neutering them. In all the hearings after the crash......Fannie and Fredie weren`t blamed by Greenspan or even mentioned. The cons have scapegoated them and has placed the entire financial failure on them to escape their own guilt for leading us into the crash. http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/the-white-house-warned-congress-about-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-17-times-in-2008-alone/ http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2011-01-27-financial-crisis-report_N.htm quote:
Some say its impact will be muted because it was not supported by Republican members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Others say much of the ground it covers was hashed out in previous hearings or reports. The report is flawed, critics say. After more than a year of analysis costing $10 million, the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission could not agree fully on the factors behind the crisis, issuing three different versions of the story told along partisan lines. Yep, party lines were drawn... quote:
"The captains of finance and the public stewards of our financial system ignored warnings and failed to question, understand, and manage evolving risks within a system essential to the well-being of the American public," the nearly 600-page report says. As a result of the crisis, the nation fell into the deepest economic slump in 70 years, sending millions into unemployment and costing taxpayers trillions. The financial crisis was fueled by low interest rates and a booming housing market. As the subprime mortgage market boomed, so did demand for packages of risky mortgage-backed securities. Lenders eagerly made high-risk, subprime loans and sold them into the burgeoning mortgage-backed securities market. When the housing bubble burst, the value of mortgage-backed securities tumbled, taking down some of the nation's biggest financial firms: Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Countrywide Financial and Lehman Bros., among others. ... The report says industry and government players at every layer of the financial system saw brightly flashing warning signs at every turn but chose to ignore or downplay them. The commission singles out the Federal Reserve as "the one entity" that could have stemmed the flow of toxic mortgages but failed to do so. Although the Federal Reserve held hearings on predatory mortgages as early as 2000, it failed to follow through on proposals to require lenders to verify that borrowers could repay their mortgages. "We want to encourage the growth in the subprime lending market," Fed Governor Edward Gramlich said in early 2004. Fed General Counsel Scott Alvarez told the commission: "There was concern that if you put a broad rule, you would stop things that were not unfair and deceptive." Ultimately, the Fed toughened its rules in 2002 but only modestly. Mortgage lenders were aware of the dangers. In 2004 and 2005, Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo e-mailed senior managers that subprime loans could bring "financial and reputational catastrophe" to the company. But that didn't stop Countrywide. Financial giants, meanwhile, were snapping up the loans and packaging them into securities, despite the risks, to keep pace with rivals. "A decision was made that we're going to have to hold our nose and start buying the stated product if we want to stay in business," Citigroup banker Richard Bowen told the commission. American International Group, which sold investors derivatives known as credit default swaps — insurance in case the mortgage securities defaulted — was similarly worried about impending doom. Former AIG CEO Maurice Greenberg told the commission that when the firm lost its AAA rating for the swaps in spring 2005, "it would have been logical for AIG to have exited or reduced its business." Instead, the company issued another $36 billion in credit default swaps. Government-backed mortgage giant Fannie Mae was on a mission to perk up profits. As early as 2005, Thomas Lund, Fannie's head of single-family lending, told colleagues that risk had "accelerated dramatically." Yet, the firm widened its exposure to risky mortgages to compete. The commission, in fact, concluded that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "followed rather than led Wall Street" and so were not a "primary cause" of the crisis. That contradicts the view of some economists and Republican lawmakers who blame the giants, which bought the lion's share of mortgages and were placed in a federal conservatorship in 2008. So, a majority Democrat commission agreed (all the Republican's disagreed in part) with a report that included Fannie and Freddie as part of the problem, but not a primary cause. Get a shovel to clean up your bullshit.
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What I support: - A Conservative interpretation of the US Constitution
- Personal Responsibility
- Help for the truly needy
- Limited Government
- Consumption Tax (non-profit charities and food exempt)
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