The current mortgage crisis arose because loans were made with virtually nonexistent underwriting standards. There was no verification of income or assets, little assurance of the ability to pay the mortgage, and little or no down payment. So, with rules like these, who wouldn’t have expected defaults? In January, the Federal Reserve stepped in proposing strict regulations on what conditions should be met before loans would be allowed.
Democrats criticized the rules as not going far enough in determining when loans could be made.
But if lending money to people with so little credit worthiness were so obviously such a boneheaded mistake that even non-bankers see it, why would people who had billions of dollars at stake and years of experience lend out money this way?
To critics the answer seems simple: Greed.
Yet, no matter how greedy you are, would you think that loaning money to people who are likely to default with little collateral in their property was the way to riches? Would you lend your money out that way?
Obviously, no.
So, why did they make the loans? Government regulation.
Some of the very people who are now advocating new regulations were the same ones that forced through the regulations over a decade ago that caused the problems that we are facing today.
This all started back in 1992, when a Boston Federal Reserve study claimed to find evidence of racial discrimination. The Fed later used the study to produce a manual for mortgage lenders that: “discrimination may be observed when a lender’s underwriting policies contain arbitrary or outdated criteria that effectively disqualify many urban or lower–income minority applicants.â€Â
So what is on the list of Fed’s “outdated criteria� Such “discriminatory†factors as the borrower’s credit history, income verification, and the size of the mortgage payment relative to income.
But it turns out that the original study was mistaken.
Economists discovered that there were errors in the data the study used. Some minorities were listed as having wealth up to hundreds of times greater than they actually had, making it look like wealthy minorities were being turned down for loans. When the data errors were corrected minorities with the same financial background as whites had been at no disadvantage in getting mortgages.
There was an expected consequence of these easier loans: minorities were hit by higher foreclosure rates. Ironically, people who point to these higher rates as evidence of discrimination don’t understand that the regulations setup to make it possible to get loans without the qualifications also meant that they are more likely to default.
Indeed, two academics, Professors Ted Day and Stan Liebowitz at the University of Texas at Dallas, who criticized the Fed policy back in 1998, warned : “After the warm and fuzzy glow of ‘flexible underwriting standards’ has worn off, we may discover that they are nothing more than standards that lead to bad loans … these policies will have done a disservice to their putative beneficiaries if … they are dispossessed from their homes.â€Â
Note that this article came out in March of this year — well before Barack Obama and the Democrats began circling the wagons, blaming Bushco for the mortgage lending crisis, when it was the Democrats themselves who scoffed at tougher oversight.
Indeed, as Ed Morrissey notes, “it was the Bush administration that wanted to rein in the madness in the credit markets, and the Democrats who wanted to extend the Clinton policies that created the crisis we have now.” As proof, Morrissey points us to this NYT article from September of 2003:
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.
Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.
The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.
The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.
”There is a general recognition that the supervisory system for housing-related government-sponsored enterprises neither has the tools, nor the stature, to deal effectively with the current size, complexity and importance of these enterprises,” Treasury Secretary John W. Snow told the House Financial Services Committee in an appearance with Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, who also backed the plan.
Mr. Snow said that Congress should eliminate the power of the president to appoint directors to the companies, a sign that the administration is less concerned about the perks of patronage than it is about the potential political problems associated with any new difficulties arising at the companies.
[…]
Fannie Mae, which was previously known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, which was the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, have been criticized by rivals for exerting too much influence over their regulators.
”The regulator has not only been outmanned, it has been outlobbied,” said Representative Richard H. Baker, the Louisiana Republican who has proposed legislation similar to the administration proposal and who leads a subcommittee that oversees the companies. ”Being underfunded does not explain how a glowing report of Freddie’s operations was released only hours before the managerial upheaval that followed. This is not world-class regulatory work.”
Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.
”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”
Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.
”I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said.
As with much of their showy populism, Congressional Democrats were more interested in the short term — and wholy self-serving nobility — of being perceived as championing the little guy than they ever were with the long-term effects such socially-engineered practices must necessarily have.
Morrissey compares the Democrats’ posture here as being similar to their posture on Social Security reform. But to my mind, the clearest analog in practice is to race-based affirmative action — where the short term pressure on universities to admit students of various ethnic backgrounds has led to a disproportionately high drop-out rate among those same students.
I’m all for evening the playing fields, be it in education or credit allocation. But simply wanting to do so doesn’t mean we should rely on easy, superficial remedies — particularly if all we’re doing is putting a Band-Aid over a wound that is deeply infected and requires more than a kind of Democratic Christian Science to heal it.
****
More here.
“Democratic Christian Science to heal it.”
We got a Western term for this behavior: Snake Oil Sales(wo)men.
The current mortgage crisis arose because loans were made with virtually nonexistent underwriting standards.
I blame Bush.
Barack Obama:
Democrats love to offer carrots as incentives to voters. Freebie carrots. Paid for with other people’s money.
I wonder if the truth will come out about the Affirmative Action induced collapse of Fannie and Freddie…probably not.
Here is one of the best background sources on this topic. Read that first, then read this. Then cry.
Years ago, when I was a young lawyer, I brought suit against clients of the firm who had not paid. I got the judgments, which were uncollectible. Every asset worth seizing and selling was already owed to another lender. We had the judgments, for what they were worth. Just another creditor getting in line and hoping the guy hit the lottery.
“Fannie Mae, which was previously known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, which was the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation,…”
Federal…..
Implicitly backed by the Federal Government, removing ANY hazard of failure.
Thanks, Democrats, for proving, once again, that TANSTAAFL is a reality.
Thanks for posting this, Jeff. The Fannie/Freddie corruption is bigger than Enron was, replete with accounting fraud and massaging quarterly earnings to meet benchmarks for enormous bonuses. Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick personally enriched themselves to the tune of roughly $100 million and $75 million respectively at Fannie. Fannie, in turn, donated hundreds of thousands to their “friends” in Congress and staved off greater regulatory oversight.
Where’s the call for criminal investigations? Oh…right.
In light of the previous post, this is deeply depressing. Unless and until our propaganda outlets return to journalistic basics, we are well and truly fucked.
Where’s the call for criminal investigations? Oh…right.
Kelly
I guess I was hullicinating, but I swear I thought I did see a report FBI was investigating. Am I confusing the Dems cushy countrywide loans?
In light of the previous post, this is deeply depressing. Unless and until our propaganda outlets return to journalistic basics, we are well and truly fucked.
And since the nutroots base is incapable of admitting or acknowledging their dear leaders malfeasance they’ll wage an ABC like jihad against any honest journalist daring to tell the truth.
Here.
Pelosi/Reid = Corruption of Power
Lying baldly has been demonstrated to take many a Baltimore politician a long way up the mook’s ladder, but none further than Nancy Pelosi nee D’Alesandro. The shame of success will only obtain when she and hers are dead and gone, when the truth will out. Meantime we’ll enjoy her glorious rule, like it, or not.
Then there’s her work at Wilmer Hale (formerly Wilmer Cutler Pickering, where she represented the head of the Islamic Banking Federation; right around the time of her tenure on the 9/11 commission; where she was party
to all manner of discussion of covert policies, money laundering disruption, et al.
Well, Nancy is responsible for the worst congress in 30 years, so there’s that.
As a knowledgeable Catholic, I’m sure Ms. Pelosi can cite St. Augustine for the economic feasibility of loaning money to those who cannot repay.
Oh glorious future: Obama/Reid/Pelosi. Comrades Praise to Our Dear Leader O!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTkaqsHSGYQ
Aldo #5. Thanks for the pointing out both of those articles. Wow. Just wow.
Pablo #9: The most depressing thing about this election cycle, to me anyway, is how most “journalism” is now blatantly owned by the Left. The media no longer tells the truth or simply ignores it’s responsibilities, and this is a real threat to the democratic principles our country was founded on. Good thing the internet is here just on time, and is mostly unregulated for now*.
*I’m sure the Dems will continue to push for the Fairness Doctrine, which at least one FCC commissioner thinks will apply to the Internet as well as broadcast media. How this will work I’m not sure, but I’ll bet it will have to regulate blogging and bloggers for starters.
Insty has a link of Obama lying about writing the stimulus package plan.
So it seems that just as our education was dumbed down, due to alleged bias against minorities, so that more minority and inner city kids could pass and have the same diploma as those that actually earned it; so too has been our financial and banking system.
Results: 1)test scores (Racist SAT and others) flatline at best and mostly on decline…
2)House values declined in several regions in the country, as well as serious credit contraction…
So now we are all paying because the government mandated that loans be made to folks who couldn’t afford it; to redress racist policies that didn’t exist. Likewise, our society is, and will in the future, suffer because a large number of our kids are not properly educated; instead of teaching them reading, math, and science, we spend disproportionate amounts of time hand wringing over the horrors of the middle passage or other shameful elements of our past-at the expense of the meaningful events that took place-and indoctrinating our children in identity politics, phony enforced diversity, and multi-culturalism!
So, just as our diplomas have lost a significant amount of value, so too have our homes…
Thanks Democrats…
I will need hospitalization if it turns out the Donks involved will ever face any trouble. I mean, they still let “Cold Cash” Jefferson caucus with them and Rangel’s still the chair of the Ways and Means committee. The FBI knows damned well that pissing in the Democrats’ pool will get them into a world of trouble.
Jake Tapper
At least Jake Trapper has the stones to report theses things, his counterparts act just like the slimy Democrats who won’t go on the record here and condone their candidates outright LIES.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTIzYjBhNmRmYmExMzIzMmYxMGI5ZWQ4ZDAyYmNhMTM=
The ends justify the means.
For the greater good.
And the march of history.
I will need hospitalization if it turns out the Donks involved will ever face any trouble. I mean, they still let “Cold Cash†Jefferson caucus with them and Rangel’s still the chair of the Ways and Means committee. The FBI knows damned well that pissing in the Democrats’ pool will get them into a world of trouble.
Paging Sandy Berger and his slap on the wrist.
Tapper also reports:
In Vienna, Ohio, this afternoon, McCain said that Obama today “claimed that the Congressional stimulus package was his idea. That’s news to those of us in Congress who supported it. Senator Obama didn’t even show up to vote.”
That’s true. (McCain was there, and he voted for it.)
Moreover, Obama today was guilty of inflating his role in the creation of that bill.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/obama-inflates.html
McCain’s remarks of today ref’d by TSK9.
God grant me the serenity to accept the words I cannot bold,
The strength to bold the words I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Way to go Bob Reed. You’re gonna make it!
Oh NANCY?
Date: Thursday, September 1 2005
Dems blocked ultimately blocked it (Co Sponsor? John McCain)
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/532756-1.html
I remember several instances of people I know floating the idea of home ownership that really hadn’t a clue. One younger couple asked me about 2 years ago if I thought they should take on a 120,000 dollar condo. At the time neither of them were over 10 dollars an hour. Once I explained to them the extra costs of insurance, interest, and taxes, they smartly bailed out and just put their saved up money toward a nice vacation.
I found it amazing at the time that a lender actually even considered them a potential customer. Now I know why.
If you look at ANY foreclosure map I can promise you that the foreclosures are highest in traditionally “poor” neighborhoods and traditionally “up and coming” middle class neighborhoods. And they will be significantly higher. I also tend to wonder if these sort of monetary promises aren’t also the reason why I at times would be in “masters classes” at the local university and have to sit through hours and hours of confused ramblings by inner city black people who quite frankly had no business being where they were since it was apparent they hadn’t mastered English let alone advanced computer math. It’s a shame that we want to put ourselves through this sort of thing as a nation, but apparently a number of our citizens do.
The real question is how to stop it. How to put a band aid on all these false and plainly retarded “hopes”. How can we make people feel as guilty for following dumb policies as the left has made people feel guilty for not “caring enough”?
I’d like to get Mary Rosh’s views on this.
This Fannie May thing is O! taking the hit for Bill C. LOL
I think we’re in the same classes. I was thinking to myself that one day these inner-city blacks seem well equipped to do the time-consuming design work that I used pay Marxist Russians $300 a month to do. What a waste, I also thought to myself while noting the bigoted half-educated whites actually believe themselves monetarily worth so much more than their Marxist Russian brethren that so thoroughly kick their white asses at computer math.
Actually I know a black professor! He wears an untucked t-shirt that hangs over his bloated belly and Air Jordans to class. One of the more knowledgeable computer science teachers, I thought to myself, that I’ve ever watched lecture.
But, like Condi, he doesn’t count. His race isn’t a hindrance. He’s overcome _____.
Oh, and if you’re interested in what actually led to this, rather than just blaming your partisan enemies, google “broker dealer net capital computation” and “SEC alter short selling rules.”
“Comment by thor on 9/16 @ 7:09 pm #”
Moral and Intellectual confusion on display.
google “broker dealer net capital computation†and “SEC alter short selling rules.â€Â
Or you could just google “James Johnson”.
Comment by dre on 9/16 @ 7:15 pm #
Please ignore the thieving talking pile of shit.
Or Nick Leeson! Don’t forget the white boy who brought down Barings!
Hi Thor, I bet I know more black people than you. I bet I have had sex with more black people than you. I bet I AM blacker than you. Unless you are black. Then that statement wouldn’t be true.
Isn’t it wonderful how Thor KNOWS exactly what I am saying and yet pretends to have the upper hand and now can KNOW that I am a hater. Thor, your kind of people aren’t my kind of people. You are wasting your time with me because frankly I don’t care if you or anyone else thinks that what I typed is racist. The reality is that it is TRUE.
Your bullshit is a white man’s fantasy. And I’ve had my cock in some pretty hot darkie twat. Woot!
Thor, you’re a moron, and you just got schooled, but don’t have the class to realize it. Also, you’re a fucking pig. Your daddy must be proud.
The New York Times forgot to Google.
Whoopsie.
Comment by Republican on Acid on 9/16 @ 7:30 pm #
See, it’s impossible to get a rational response from the thieving pile of shit.
A useless exercise even to try.
I bet if I knew you that wouldn’t be true unless you paid for it and I don’t really think your “experienced” enough to have done that. Not sure if you could handle it “morally”. Your world begins and ends at your fingertips. I don’t see much of the real world in anything you type.
“Comment by Jeff G. on 9/16 @ 7:37 pm #
The New York Times forgot to Google.
Whoopsie.”
That’s almost becoming like a symptom with the left, innit?
This is absurd. This catastrophe has little to do with demographics or “social justice.” The Wall Street moneymakers had a jones for hacked up hamburger loans; they made huge fees. The lenders could offload their liability, and churn even more fees. The greedy/naive borrowers lapped up the easy money. Everyone was cynical and blind at once. And the deadbeat Congress and Administration was both complicit and incompetent.
Hence the heartbeat loan qualifications. And now the magic money is vaporizing. You can’t lay absolute blame on Dems or Reps. Both had a stake in keeping the ride going. Ownership society, anyone?
Net capital requirements? If net capital requirements are the same for, say, Goldman Sachs versus Lehman. How’d Goldman not eat the curb too?
Short selling is a good thing. Martha Stewart should do it to herself, matter of fact. The more the better, baby.
All the shorts have to buy eventually, do they not?
As a middle aged white guy with minimal residual athletic ability I’m calling on Congress to level the playing field so that I can partake of that slice of the American Dream know as the National Football League.
So what if I ‘might’ get squashed like a bug by some 300 pound defensive end (might, as in ‘the sun might rise in the east.’) But hey it’s only fair; if people with zero proven ability to pay their debts get loans from banks because the government guarantees them then why cant I be granted an NFL career? Hell, if I don’t survive the first week of play they wont even be out any serious money.
My eyes! Gimme a paper towel. Nice shot, cynn.
It figures you’re a short, thor. Kind of like throwing marbles on a greyhound track.
Ownership society, anyone?
Yes, it is why the Democrats were allowed to win so many seats in 2006. The Republicans were “let go”, because none of them seemed interested in doing what their majority was supposed to allow them to do.
Indeed, I am still frosty about GW getting elected anyway because I KNEW he wouldn’t challenge this mountain of socialism and weird economic trickery that is befalling us.
I wonder if Sarah Palin has ever banned any central market theory books?
Central bank, maybe.
Democrats = Crony Capitalism ask Putin and the Veni Dude
You know what really sucks. My wife is a mortgage broker. During the whole frenzy, she refused to write loans for these morons. She would constantly tell them that they didn’t have the income, credit, or whatever. They’d go elsewhere and get it. Probably threw away a few hundred thousand because, they wouldn’t be able to pay the loans. She just couldn’t do it. I’d have done the loans, I gotta admit it. I love her, and don’t deserve her. I’m a sap huh?
Well, guess what, donald? No recriminations! The Fed has socialized plenty, so you may see that money yet.
You know, there’s two months until the ballots are cast.
A real journalist, or a small but professional team, could take this story and turn 2008 into the Year They Fired Congress.
Really. What is there to lose? Seniority? I am from a small, conservative state that is OWNED by the Feds – something like 85% percent of our land is U.S. Gov’t prop or locked up in monuments/parks/historic areas. I have no beef (much) with Sen. Hatch; Bennett is not my problem, and thank goodness. We already retired Rep. Cannon in the primary.
FIRE these assholes. All of them. You want change? It isn’t going to happen unless the culture changes, and with incumbents winning reelection better than 90% of the time, don’t pretend sending one or two new guys every five or a dozen years is going to make a dent.
There’s two months to work with. The story is all public. The salaries and bonuses, and more importantly the political contributions and the corresponding legislative quid pro quos, all lined up on a timeline waiting for the dots to be connected in one huge story, are all there.
I don’t have the skillz. But if there was a time for New Media to do a vital job that Old Media was clearly incapable of or simply not interested in addressing – and the latter is the case here, make no mistake about it, because of who the major players and the motives involved – then this is the time.
This failure has been decades in the making. I name the Democrats as the prime movers, but the Republicans just made sure the trough was built long enough for them to get scraps, instead of using their majorities AND the Executive to fix the problem.
You think this Wall Street stuff is scary? Try Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid collapsing within the decade. And only Ifni knows when and how many states and corporations are going to to belly up due to their relationships with the firms that aren’t going to survive this initial round of failures.
THROW THEM OUT. And while we are at it, let’s chase down the networks of Friends of Bill or George or Hillary or Joe or John and find out just how much legislation has been paid for, retail, in the last decade or so.
I want perp walks.
THROW THEM OUT. All of them. If they were a military unit, their colors would be cast on the ground and pulled behind the last wagon in the column. They are a disgrace to the offices they are supposed to honor.
…And donald, just remember, they were probably minorities specifically targeted by those civic-minded lenders, driven by a lofty Democratic mandate of inclusion.
The choice to capitalize FNMA and the FHLMC with public equity and the latter events which saw the market wipe out the ability of said to access additional equity had nothing to do with social-engineered lending practices. Period.
That’s a contrived social narrative floating like a turd in a math bath.
And right there is the problem with being a shallow, pretentious dickhead, thor. Even if you are exactly right, nobody gives a fuck. You might as well be datadave.
I’d pay money to see Pelosi’s face upon being informed the Congress of the United States is the target of a RICO investigation.
And
“That’s a contrived social narrative floating like a turd in a math bath.”
But you know people like us Thor, we just believe what we are told.
Agree with TmjUtah and thor on this deal. Don’t swab this shitpile with a raggedy brush and blue paint; you are equity partners, as it were.
I take it you live in Wasilla, Alaska.
“I take it you live in Wasilla, Alaska.”
With ACORN, Bill Ayers, “Rev.” Wright, and Ms. Prikten.
You’re saying I’m not likable enough?
It takes a taste for Ferdinand de … to understand the nuancey why-s of my ways. I’ve always said you’re welcome to come down to SoFlo and scrap or drink with the thormiester. To someday bowl over someone the way Limonov did to me, that’s what I want for myself, namely, for people to remark “the despicable fucker is a solid person if you take the time to know him.”
Not unless you are completely unlike your on-line persona in every way. And even then, that would make you a damned liar.
thor
““the despicable fucker is a solid person if you take the time to know him.—
Man you be beagle crazy!
You had to know when TV was showing people making money flipping houses that the boom was over. It’s like the books telling you how to make big money on eBay, or making money at home with your PC, or Microsoft, or whatever. When people like me know about it, it’s over.
And that was all a Democrat plot.
thor –
To the best of my understanding, the moves to relax the actuarial – defined / common prevailing business practice standards were justified as a mechanism to respond primarily to a race-driven discriminatory lending practices, with the implication that if it wasn’t race it was geography (“red lining”) that demanded government intervention.
However, anybody with more than say, a week, in congress or the senate would have recognized what this relaxing of standard would mean to the volume of cash flowing through the system.
I cannot cite, but I think the regulations governing Freddie’s and Fannie’s board composition and internal auditing procedures were probably overhauled with a confusion blade, beginning at about the same time.
That’s my lack of skillz again.
This whole thing is a scam, and it runs across party lines like I-5 cutting LA in half. And the worst of it is, we are only paying attention because it got too big for even the media to cover up.
Ever wonder how congressmen and senators retire with tens of millions of dollars in the bank?
Now you know.
“the despicable fucker is a solid person if you take the time to know him.â€Â
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nawwwwwww.
He’s just a thieving, lying talking pile of shit.
BTW, who let thor into the adult stacks in the library?
NoBrain, your pugnacious vitriol is astounding. You remind me of that corpulent bully hiding behind the lockers.
In other words, you’re a fat-assed rude boy.
#48 cynn
This catastrophe has little to do with demographics or “social justice.â€Â
Dear, come close, ok, so I can whisper it in your ear and save you further embarrassment
“Community Redevelopment Act”
Yes, don’t be rude to thor. What has he ever done to deserve that?
I SAID GOOD DAY, SIR!
TmjUtah, we’re in agreement. Everyone loves a honeypot, and though Dems and Repubs claim differing reasons for their love they still love that addictive honey equally.
thor as Fez…I can see that.
I’ve always said you’re welcome to come down to SoFlo and scrap or drink with the thormiester.
As I just mentioned in another thread, a part of me can’t help but like you, and I plan on taking you up on that drink offer sometime in the next year or two, I need a vacation bad. Most of my knuckle-headed, anti-social asshole friends have od’ed or otherwise augered in already, I need to recruit some new ones I reckon.
Obama = Fannie & Freddie…
Oh, and he’s a serial resumé puffer too:
It’s about time somebody started tying this hump directly to the crisis he and his party helped to create and – oh by the way – did nothing to avoid.
Vid via HotAir…
Finally Jeff sees things the way they truly are, My Way!
Ban them. Ban them all! Except for cynn and Darleen. Pillows, popcorn and those two, that’s all I’ve ever wanted.
Believe it or not, Darleen Snot-Mistress, I have actually heard of the Act. But believe it or not, I am careening off the path of recieved wisdom and into the ditch of supposition. This fucking act, like so many others, was immaterial to historical events. Get your smelling salts.
“Comment by cynn on 9/16 @ 8:37 pm #
NoBrain, your pugnacious vitriol is astounding. You remind me of that corpulent bully hiding behind the lockers.”
cynn, your blindness is astonishing.
I bet you’re a liberal.
Oh, and I’m pretty skinny. Although I did put on weight after I quit smoking.
We can knock down the mighty walls with our vomit.
You might as well be datadave.
Yeah, he still wouldn’t be a monkyboy.
Thor is like luke warm water.
An actor playing an underdeveloped character imagining applause in the theater of his mind, but having to strain for the sweet, imaginary sound because of the suspicion everyone is as aware as himself that it is all pretend.
A guy working hard at a “look”, decked out in biker gear. Leathers. Head scarf with dangling pony tail. Boots with straps and a wallet on a chain. climbing in a Mazda Miada.
The kid at school projecting a gangbanger attitude. Tough, from the streets, projecting barely repressed violence. Goes home to his parents Beverly Hills mansion and makes the housekeeper sandpaper the ass of his huge jeans so they look like the ones on sale in the Sunday ads.
A complex sort for sure, but not really worth the investment of five minutes worth of concern.
Oh, and so Dick’s irony meter remains intact, this was meant for the regular fans, not the object of my dismissal. Lather, rinse, repeat.
oops, #87 was me…
Thors purpose is to mock, have fun out there!
Joe Biden to the stupid fuckers in Scranton:
Of course, lee. And even when he’s spectacularly wrong, he’s still fabulous.
Kind of like PW’s own political Liberace.
“Your bullshit is a white man’s fantasy. And I’ve had my cock in some pretty hot darkie twat. Woot!”
“That’s a contrived social narrative floating like a turd in a math bath.”
“Who in-the-fuck are you quoting? Are you too pussy to own up to your own words?
FUCK YOU. ASSHOLE.”
“Anyone who doesn’t reject that verbiage is a also a fuckin’ asshole.”
“And no, I don’t always exercise good taste.”
“He’s just raising a welt on the fleshy n*gger lips of Obama’s reputation with his metaphorical horse whip.”
“Down the path of stupidity lies more stupidity. Onward Christian soldiers!”
“Fuck that bomb-tossin’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer too!”
“Does Lisa have to do everything? Her ancestors already plowed and picked the cotton for your lazy ass!”
“Well, Rusty, I think you’re a proud, steamin’ pile of retardation. Sorry to be so blunt, but if you’ll fuck off for a moment I’d like to address Ric, thanks.”
“Please release your bladders onto this illiterate man’s head.”
You were sayin’, cynn?
Honeypot? Nah. You FIND a honeypot.
FM & FM? Think of the scene in “The Producers” where they come up with the idea to create a flop to make a financial killing.
Except that instead of “It’ll close at the end of the first act!” the line was “Shit, we could run this for decades. And then when it finally fails, we’ll say it’s TOO BIG TO FAIL!!!”.
You don’t have to be a confirmed cynic flirting with clinical paranoia to understand the politics of Washington. But that is the only way to go to stay out of a perpetually surprised state.
cynn
This fucking act, like so many others, was immaterial to historical events
You don’t think threatening financial institutions with fines if they didn’t have enough mortgages to people who were, in essense, credit UNworthy is not material to the meltdown of the subprime market?
Wow. And an iceberg had nothing to do with the sinking of the Titanic.
Nobrain? Trying to peel me away. Not happening. I’ll stomp thor when I see fit.
There’s some saucy Promethean lines in there. I’m OK if you borrow ’em too.
Yeah, Dar, despite your voluminous cites the fact remains that it’s a distinction without a difference; people got toxic loans.
Cynn, your lack of self awareness should be of some concern to you.
Start with the concept that others may “see fit” to live in your world.
There is peoples with health insurance and then there’s the scum without – they all ain’t just bleedin’ peoples!
Marxism, Socialism, Communism! Cryptonic plague!
Obama thinks Americans are “basically decent”:
IQ Test material there.
Lee, what do you mean by that? I might disagree with you so that invalidates me, the usual.
I say ignore the those that beat off to an Obama poster. They only comment when their messiah is in disarray.
Cynn is a noble life breeder. Respect her Palinability! Even shoot a lots of moose if she wanted to!
The wheels are coming off Republican capitalism.
Let’s just see how far McCain can ride a wheelie!
I tried to bring just a little of this post over to HuffPo, where Rep. Barney Frank is busy revising the revisions, but he started to get batted about the ears and they closed the comments. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-barney-frank/iwall-street-journali-edi_b_126923.html
“…they listen to the wrong talk radio shows or watch the wrong TV networks…”
Make note to self: Each January 20th, from now until I pass from this mortal coil, mail the transcript containing this quote to Mr. Obama, at whatever D-level mail drop he has after being crushed by the ” Great Landslide of 2008″. If I can find the money, put a codicil in my will to pay an attorney to do the duty until O! slips into history’s pages as well.
“…they listen to the wrong talk radio shows or watch the wrong TV networks…”
Fuck him. Fuck him and the barking mob of tie dyed vegan race pimp nutroot gender challenged Chi town hack liberal plantation suit broke back communist ass wipes carrying his empty suit carcass across the soil of a country for which he hasn’t the faintest respect, honor, or understanding.
No offense, Top, but you do my effort to walk away from Ambien no good at all… do you have the link to that quote, by chance?
cynn
This fucking act, like so many others, was immaterial to historical events
“You don’t think threatening financial institutions with fines if they didn’t have enough mortgages to people who were, in essense, credit UNworthy is not material to the meltdown of the subprime market?
Wow. And an iceberg had nothing to do with the sinking of the Titanic.”
“The wheels are coming off Republican capitalism.”
See, as someone with years in the industry you are both wrong. Cynn so much more than Darleen.
The problems with FNMA and FHLMC are not really from the CRA loosening of standards as they are with the senior management cooking the books to get bigger bonuses – And the government protected them from oversight. It is not a failure of our current system… in fact, it shows that companies with extra help from partisans are more likely to be crooked. Well, surprise, surprise! to thor.
I will post more about the CRA in a sec
cynn
people got toxic loans
Oh. So people who had no business getting loans they knew they couldn’t afford bear no responsibility.
Jaysus H Keeerist …. Are there NO adults in leftyland?
Thanks al…
“The wheels are coming off Republican capitalism.”
Uh, no, thor. In truth, the last sixteen years’ worth of malfeasance will probably be remarkable for the bipartisan character of the conspiracy.
Social engineering, populist political agenda resulting in redistribution of wealth befitting entrenched office holders? That’s a Democratic feature, a Republican bug.
Don’t forget, the Democrats didn’t win a thing in 2006. Republicans stopped being Republican, and their constituents held them accountable.
Now we need to see both sides of the aisle do the same thing – hold them accountable.
I’ll just assume you’re retired Darleen, and leave it at that.
Cynn-what do you mean by that?
OK, I’ll walk you through it.
#Comment by cynn on 9/16 @ 8:37 pm #
NoBrain, your pugnacious vitriol is astounding. You remind me of that corpulent bully hiding behind the lockers.
Here, you are criticizing for being critical, apparently crossing the vitriol line by using vitriol against someone that uses vitriol like you use alcohol.
Next, you get vitriolic:
#Comment by cynn on 9/16 @ 8:38 pm #
In other words, you’re a fat-assed rude boy.
By now, your point has been completely lost.
But yet you persist:
Believe it or not, Darleen Snot-Mistress, I have
Finally, you show that in your opinion, only you are entitled to vitriol:
. I’ll stomp thor when I see fit.
The bolded part was me trying to make clear my reference point. The point being, Cynn, your lack of self awareness should be of some concern to you.Start with the concept that others may “see fit†to live in your world.
susan
certainly it wasn’t just CRA, but when the government makes OUTCOME it’s basic yardstick rather than making sure sound business practices, then the government lays out a huge welcome mat to any flimflam artist that is willing to stick up a Potemkin village to keep the politicos “oohing” and “awing” as they get a shortterm burst in accolades from people who believe in free lunches.
Then the flimflammer lines his/her pocket and leaves town before everyone finds out there’s no back nor foundation to property.
I’ve worked judiciary, you know why con artists can scam victims so successfully? Because in a lot of cases the “victims” figure they are getting something for almost nothing. The con artist uses the victim’s own greed (the lust for the unearned) against them.
I see the segment of the mortgage meltdown, people who KNEW they couldn’t service their loan but signed on anyway figuring they could just sell the house for profit in 2 years, as responsible as the mortgage brokers who winked and nodded at ’em while inflating their paperwork so the mortgage broker could sell it off, collected his fees and skippped town.
I’m awed. Is somebody researching me? Somebody gives a damn? Wow.
The problems with mortgages are not really explained correctly in the press. The CRA type mortgages were always more stringent that subprime. We always verified income for example. BUT, we allowed all kinds of weird income sources like income from a boarder that lives with you. Also, the downpayment restrictions were much lower in certain neighborhoods. Saving money is crucial to home ownership yet, under fear of lawsuits loan officers for bug lenders were not allowed to tell people the truth – you are not responsible enought to afford this loan. We could not give them any advice that might discourage them for fear of a discrimination lawsuit. That is why I get so frustrated with people secong guessing lenders… our role was to get you the loan you wanted, we were not allowed to tell you what you should do, only what you could do. (this does not excuse those that helped people lie about their income to qualify, but those were primarily non GSE loans)
cynn
I’m a working woman. Husband and I bought our home in 2007. We refused to take anything but a 30 yr fixed AND made sure we could service the mortgage. Even as the broker dangled all sorts of fancy ARMs and stuff in front of us.
Why should WE bail out the greedy bastard next door who “bought” 3 homes by speculating and has now just walked away from them? Why is he a “victim”?
“Jaysus H Keeerist …. Are there NO adults in leftyland?”
Nope Darleen, just professional victims.
Cynn’s attempts to dodge what the fed bureaucrats and their Congressional backers were doing are amusing however. Namely, threatening lenders with legal action if they didn’t make bogus Affirmative Action loans, and having Fannie and Freddie underwrite the bogus loans to take the sting off. Stick and carrot. And it worked beautifully–until the inevitable day of reckoning when they could no longer securitize (i.e., conceal the fact that swill in a new financial bottle is still swill).
fear of lawsuits loan officers for bug lenders were not allowed to tell people the truth – you are not responsible enought to afford this loan
susan, I said as much above.
Researching you?
Ah, no. I cut and pasted comments you made in this thread an hour ago.
Seriously, you aren’t the sun…
Darleen,
You are absolutely correct. But I am trying (badly) to say is that the situation you describe is not relevant to Fannie and Freddie (at least on the front end) The ways that people couldn’t afford loans were not so obvious there. They did not do stated or bad credit loans.
But thor is just wrong. FNMA and FHLC were treated differently and that is why they are a mess. No other companies just get a wink from government on their accounting like they did.
Susan, are you saying foreclosures are not the problem, the problem is unrelated creative accounting?
TmjUtah
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjI0NWYxMTBiM2M1MjQ0ZDhjMmEzYmI5OTgzYzQyODA
darleen: I hope you come out OK. Morality has been suspended; you are entitled to pursue the same self-serving actions that the mega-bitches have been profiting from since day one. Do only what makes sense for you, fuck the servicers, your creditors, your inheritors. Nobody is on the hook, and everyone else stands in line until they fall down.
Why should WE bail out the greedy bastard next door who “bought†3 homes by speculating and has now just walked away from them? Why is he a “victim�
Big lady landlord type bought 3 duplexes in our neighborhood using the equity in one to buy the next then on to buy the next. That’s great when you have some cash to back it up or put some money down but her creative financing has 6 families booted outta their homes….she’s got them on all the market.
It’s a little late for this. Do you all follow Calculated Risk or some of the other blogs like Patrick.org? You would have known by now.
Lee, I am saying that the majority of foreclosures due to bad underwriting were not on the part of the government sponsered enterprises. The UW standards of many other investors were way worse – all of the loans for over 417k were not from FNMA or FHLMC but the areas that have these are the most high foreclosure areas.
Yes FNMA and FHLMC shared in those decisions, but buy buying them as mortgage backed securities – not by underwriting them themselves. That is part of them going away from their charter to help people get homes and being for profit businesses without oversight.
cynn
What the fuck are you drinking tonight?
POOR PLANNING ON SOMEONE ELSE’S PART DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A BLANK CHECK ON MY LIFE AND INCOME.
That CLEAR enough?
Your little passive-aggressive juvenile whining “I want a cookie and damn it YOU OWE ME” is a huge part of the problem. You feel as entitled as Raines and Gorelick.
You who are saying that they weren’t offering loans to people who were obviously a risk are flat out lying. I am not sure why you want that lie to persist. It was social engineering from the top down and little else.
People were sold their dreams and took it in the hope they could make ends meet eventually. They rolled the dice and lost. The job of the lender IS to keep the dice out of the wrong players hands. You don’t gamble that much property unless you KNOW you will get the return.
This has Clinton crones all over it and the fact that the Republicans were too stupid or weak minded while they had their chance to reign this sort of shit in is a joke. It makes me wonder what they really will do if they get a majority again. Maybe channel the hospital bed ghost of Ted Kennedy for some sort of visionary way to save us all.
TopSecretK9
#3 daughter has been living in a rented home with 3 other roommates. Landlord was a woman who was snapping up properties during the heyday of 2004-06. Bragged how many houses she had.
Daughter couldn’t get hold of her last month when their rent check went uncashed…
Then the notice of Trustee Sale on the door.
But why should the landlord care. She walks away, her credit gets dinged, and in 3 or 5 years, she’ll start buying again.
Susan. I see. So, who is responsible for allowing Freddie and Fannie to go away from their charter?
Susan, the problem is that if you can’t have a set of standards that apply to everyone then you can’t apply them to anyone. Or is anyone going to claim that the lenders could or should have one set of standards for bros from the hood while trying to have a different one for Bubbas from the trailer park?
This is evident in all kinds of situations. I’ve been in the DoD / Federal / state government contracting game for over 20 years; I couldn’t count the number of 8A setaside companies I’ve seen with exactly one minority (the CEO) for face time with the procurement office and the rest members of male pallor who actually did the work. If the figurehead got uppity, find another who’s happy collecting the check and move on. It’s all a show.
[…] Read the whole thing to find out that leading Dems, at the time, thought Freddie and Fannie weren’t headed for trouble at all. […]
Darleen: Cast the first stone, and take it elsewhere.
A lot of people learned an expensive lesson, but the sad thing is that people who got foreclosed on will be renting for a very long time. It will be a buyer’s market and the people that buy will be generally a much better class of people, but the nonbuyers will be those people in the rent house across the street. Both sets of these people are called neighbors. Maybe we need new words.
Interesting antidote.
Of those duplexes, an African American couple with no children living with them lived on one side, a single white mom with 2 mixed race boys (and no Dads in sight) on the other.
Our kids played frequently on the weekend and we were sorta friendly – took a walk a few times. One day I realized they had moved (her home was around the corner).
Saw her at a little league game and noted that I didn’t know she was moving. She said she couldn’t take it anymore. She complained to the landlord that the lady on the other side of the duplex didn’t like mixed races and taunted her children calling them “Oreo” and “Hey little Oreo, don’t walk on my lawn”and the like.
Complaining to the landlord did nothing, the LLord told her being and African American woman she did not approve of mixed races either, so sorry.
Republican on Acid,
I am sorry, but I am not “flat out lying.” You are flat out uninformed. If we only had FNMA and FHLMC we would not be in a credit crunch. I tell you this as a conservative. The market for stupid loans presented itself and it wasnt through FNMA and FHLMC, at least 90% of it wasnt.
The problem here is that people treat it as different than any other stupid choice a person can make. If you choose to make a stupid financial decision about anything else people say “tough” but on houses, it is sacred. I say bullshit.
And really there are tons of investors in mortgages besides FNMA. They are not going to get bailed out. But they also have WAY higher delinquency rates because of WAY stupider underwriting criteria. It is really not as simple as you want it to be… yet it IS mostly a fault of Democrats and social engineering, but not like you are saying.
I also dont believe it was as foreseeable as people like to claim. It was hard to argue with sucess on the way up – it is just our love for homeownership that keeps us from a realistic view of the downside. It is like any other stupid investment.
Comment by Darleen on 9/16 @ 9:41 pm
I see the segment of the mortgage meltdown, people who KNEW they couldn’t service their loan but signed on anyway figuring they could just sell the house for profit in 2 years, as responsible as the mortgage brokers who winked and nodded at ‘em while inflating their paperwork so the mortgage broker could sell it off, collected his fees and skippped town.
That’s a very high percentage of the cases, Darleen. That and people who bought vacation homes, figuring they’d pay the mortgage with their rental income. I live in Long Beach, NY; right next to NYC. We have the highest forclosure rate on Long Island-even though our property values have stayed pretty flat. But folks took those 125% of the value loans on waaaaaay inflated assessments; pocketed the cash, and walked away whenb the going got tough. In our state, you see, they can’t touch their prime residence, even if one defaults on a seperate mortgage.
Those kind of situations, and flippers who always figured the values would keep increasing, drove the prices to unreasonable levels. Now the bubble is burst, and we’re all left mopping up afterward…
lee, um their management and lack of oversight that all other companies had. but not primarily their underwriting which would lead to foreclosures. Can you see the difference?
people who KNEW they couldn’t service their loan but signed on anyway figuring they could just sell the house for profit in 2 years
Yes. This is what I mean. These people are called bad neighbors I think. They are destructive of community in its most basic, unfreighted sense. They should feel very badly.
PLEASE. DO NOT FEED THE FUCKING TROLL.
See, you made me go all caps lock on your asses. Do not respond to thor, it only encourages it.
Unless you want more of the free-form idiocy, in which case: you’re not doing it wrong.
Susan, what I am asking, is who is responsible for the lack of oversight?
I love the arguing over the cause of the meltdown. All one has to know is that the government was involved, game over. Is there one thing, besides the current military, that the government is involved in that’s worse off because of that involvement?
These are not people you would want feeding your dog when you were out of town. What good are people like that?
Or your turtles.
Susan,
“I also dont believe it was as foreseeable as people like to claim.” Actually this isn’t a big surprise. Almost anyone with any sense would have told you as far back as 2004 or so that this was going to happen. And we also know that Freddy and Fannie were in the cross hairs as far back as 2005. There is no surprise here, just a slow motion bureaucratic mess.
Which for some reason seems to be what all democrats seem to think is a good way to run a country.
Hell, even Soros is complaining about the Feds taking control of them. Not sure why, seems to be what he wanted to happen anyway. I suppose he’ll be ok with it if Obama wins.
Shit, thor, deal with these people; you have my voice. It’s like the damn haflway house got out early.
No shit, and it’s also the Negro man’s fault that the halfway house is getting foreclosed on.
All I know; some one has their house being foreclosed on, it’s their fault for signing where they shouldn’t.
Slart
who?
cynn
what have you against adulthood?
This whole deal is kind of boring. I’m trying to take an interest but honestly the whole thing feels ephemeral and du jour. Things average out over time is really the biggest lesson here. We already knew that though.
Yay! There’s a new post.
No happyfeet, if Sarah Palin is allowed anywhere near the Whitehouse, we will be in a constant and infinite loop of foreclosures and business failure. Because she loves Jesus too much and Jesus don’t like people getting all uppity and buying houses and so on. We neeed to live among the poor! Women stay away from the professional careers! Be a community organizer like the Jesus wuz.
I heard Sarah Palin put foil in her microwave once but took it out really fast and pretended it was an accident.
Did you ever put foil in a microwave in the dark? It is really cool, as long as it ain’t your microwave and you don’t get caught.
OT, but this post is where I happen to be right now.
I am channel surfing, and have stumbled over a Pamela Anderson thingie on E!
It amazes me that her implants are probably smarter than she is…
I remember that report on the news in 92′
Institutional racism was said alot on T.V
If i remember correctly, it got kind of nasty.
Tony
South Haven,MI
http://www.augie.edu/dept/econ/PDF/jua1997.pdf
I just searched on yahoo,and this came up,hav’nt read it yet .so,if anyone is interested.
Tony
South Haven,MI
Fannie and Freddie’s accounting issues have been talked about since I can remember, so that’s around 20 years. There’s even been several short sale runs at their stocks based on those accounting issues… years ago. Everyone knows that they have peculiar books.
FNMA and FHLMC didn’t go down because of the good or bad deals that you sent through your fax machine; they went out because their equity got wiped clean at a time when their ability to raise fresh equity from the markets was nil. With the gov’t bailout they’re able to raise fresh money straight out of your purse and my wallet.
I II live right next to the highest per capita income area in the state of Georgia. I myself am in a small town and could by you Thor. At which point, I’d probably have to shoot you, cause I damned sure couldn’t get my money’s worth out of you. No, it was the real problem in this “crises” of smart people trying to exploit the rules enacted by the Federal government. It would behoove you Thor and Cynn to look where those laws came from.
OhOh, and another thing. It took two to tango on those lones. The lenders and the lendees. As bad as the laws were, and this was my original point. Honorable people just wouldn’t do it. The absolute worst of the worst mortgage brokers are in the minority community. They prey on their own race, using the canard of racism. There are several excellent examples of this in the Atlanta area.
First affirmative action president; first affirmative action financial meltdown. Gosh, it’s great to live in such brave new times. Aggressive social engineering so frequently leads to unintended consequence; like that diet drug that incidentally makes you randomly shit yourself.
Well, Negro-hatin’ hick-boy, I gots some bad news for ya. Ever seen them football games between the Florida Gators and GeeOrgah? The annual Bulldog Beatin’! That’s how I bad I’ll be beat’n your ass if’n you come downs here, boy.
I’ll beat up your huntin’ dogs. Punch out your pick-up truck. Kick down your barn. Finger every woman in your town.
Anything else you’d like to say to me, Donald?
[…] Of course, no Democrat in the most ethical Congress Evah! will have to face the music, because Queen Nancy has already stated that Democrats bear no responsibility. She should learn to use Google, as protein wisdom has. […]
When a hammer is all you have, everything is a nail. You’re pathetic, thor. You’re an embarrassment.
“This has Clinton crones all over it and the fact that the Republicans were too stupid or weak minded while they had their chance to reign this sort of shit in is a joke. It makes me wonder what they really will do if they get a majority again. Maybe channel the hospital bed ghost of Ted Kennedy for some sort of visionary way to save us all.”
That is kind of depressing. And pretty accurate too. Maybe that is why it is so depressing…
Don’t worry, John, Wamu hasn’t even failed yet.
Pablo,
I thought the Typing Telephone Pole list had been revised. If it worked with alphie, it’ll work with the new addition too…
MJ, IIRC, alphie got the boot.
Johnnie, that link on your nickname clicks through to a static page with ads for vacuum penis pumps and such, just so you know.
But, then again, you may already know that, I guess.
[…] Protein Wisdom: Historical revisionism revisionism […]
Like Obama, thor points out what your link is doing Major John, but he has no specific solution.
I think it’s because your address in the link is .blospot.com instead of .blogspot.com.
“Blo-spot” is the name of the bar where Barney Frank hangs out.
Ah, Major JOhn misspelled “blogspot”. “blospot”. Heh. Ought to have been a dead certainty, looking back on it.
I blame the failed policies of George Bush. Do you really want 4 more years of mangled hyperlinks? Can we afford that?
Clearly the out-of-touch fat cats with their spell check and their admitted inability to use a computer are not what this country needs right now.
Everybody knows “penis pump” is code for whitey, thor. I thought better of you than that.
And thor called Major John “Johnnie”. You know, to showcase his likability. It’s like “sweetie” only it’s a name and it was to another dude, who’s an active officer.
I’d have called him Major Dick, but that’s not his name.
[…] Their chickens are coming home to ROOST! […]
thor is an uber-twatwaffle
thor. I take it you’re not with arm’s reach of Major John at the moment.
in
Anyone who has ever followed my commentary here knows that I YIELD TO NOBODY, when it comes to typos!
The right to mispell is part of Freedom of Speach!
So I see a young staffer has fixed your link there Major.
Well, back to losing that war. Making Harry Reid and Michael Moore out to be clairvoyant is going to take some work.
Hey, if we spell correctly, the Terrorists will have ONE!
Sorry for the mispelling, the comment box is only showing about 2/3 of the box, so I wasn’t able to correct spelling. Uh, Thor I’m a Bulldog fan (Look at the over all record, and the times they are a changing, November 1 will be great, I’ll be there), not a hunter and certainly no bigot. Except leeches on society. I hates me some leeches on society, and those who support them. The facts are the facts in the manufactured lending crises. Feel free to check into it. I see it every day. And it’s pretty easy to talk big on the intertubes. I get that, but you’re kinda worthless, and I’m sure would be no help to me, so you’d have to go. And yeah, I could buy you, your house, and whatever else kinda crap you got laying around. Bitch.
Two true, Tmj. Two true.
Well this housing meltdown has led to me being able to afford my first home. The home sold for 319,000 in 2006 but is now going for a cheap 175,000. With VA loan at 6.0 interest which I am going to pay down to a 5.5 rate, my morgage will be under 1400 a month. Very doable.
About those students, not only do they drop out, but they also end up defaulting on their loans. So it’s like a win-win for the Dems.
Disappointed college dropouts with a low income and a ton of federally guaranteed student loans. Sounds like someone I could pander to!
LMC – Are you going down to the Ryder Cup this weekend?
Mr. Pink,
Congratulations on your new home ! See this whole “crisis” works out for some who would otherwise be unable to, prudently, assume the financial obligation of owning their own home.
Hope you spend many good years there, as long as you’d like…
[…] via Jeff, who has a lot more. […]
Besides the assinine over-simplified economic analysis of party-first partisans that goes like this: “it’s all the fault of the last president in party X, regardless of how temporally removed the problems are”, besides this –
YOU GUYS HAD 6 YEARS TO FIX IT! 6 years in total control, and it all exploded at the END of the 6 years! What happened? The idea that the Republicans had nothing to do with this is absurd. There is not 1 person here who wouldn’t be blaming the dems if this happened at the end of the Clinton admin, saying he was there and the problem happened on hos watch. Not 1. And if anyone wants to use the temporally removed “it’s alwasy the pres that came before” econ analysis, IU’d be happy to credit Carter for Reagan’s econ successes. I don’t believe that, I just want to be consistent.
Never admitting that your favorite political party makes mistakes (unless they move to the center) isn’t “political analysis”, it’s fandom.
Read the post, pan. You’ll see this:
And you’ll see both a link to and an excerpt from the article referenced, which explains exactly what happened when WE GUYS tried to fix it.
And yes, they should have done more to push reforms through. They should have named names and exposed the interests blocking reform. They didn’t and that is their failing. But I place more blame on the blockers than I do on those who failed to move them out of the way.
In ugly point of fact, the US Congress is still to this very day piddling around with trivialities rather than seeking practical solutions to pressing problems. Witness the absurd non-drilling drilling bill the House passed last night. Idiots.
pan, you might also want to take a look at where John McCain was on the issue. “Out in front” would be a good description of his position.
Lost in the conversation is the impact of the Credit Rating Agencies. You can make all the reforms you want, but as long as S&P/Moody’s continue to rate shitty investments as “money good” (e.g. Triple A) the probability of future instability remains the same.
In the US media you don’t here much about how the Credit Rating Agencies were driving this mess by valuing sub-prime bundles the same as US Treasury Notes, but the rest of the financial world has sure noticed.
When Greenspan told the world that he was committed to holding interest rates at 1%, this sent signals to the managers of international fund investment vehicles to look elsewhere for returns. What did they find when they went looking? You guessed it, all these new bundles of sub-prime mortgages that just so happened to be rated just like the Treasury Bonds (AAA) they were used to, only these investment vehicles offered “killer” returns.
The demand skyrocketed, the market took over, and Voila! -you get a 48 year old, part-time employed, divorced parent with a garnishment on his earnings, suddenly getting approved for a $500,000 house. Maybe 5 million or more of these loans were made and then repacked into securities that Moody’s and S&P rated as sound investments, they told the world that these investment were a sure thing even in the final days.
There is a lot more, but I’m always late to these things and I doubt anyone is really that interested.
I think it’s good that Morrissey highlighted the 2003 recommendations from the Bush administration, however I think it demands better context than what he provided.
For example, in June 2002 Bush was calling for dismantling the barriers to homeownership, he talked about how the low levels of minority homeowners was evidence that something was wrong with the American Dream.
He stood up and told the mortgage lending institutions that among the barriers that had to be done away with was “burdensome down payments” and the “fine print” of mortgage contracts, implying that these were basically racist barriers that must be abandoned to save the American Dream.
Also I should mention that I skimmed through Karl’s piece that Jeff linked in some earlier post on this subject and I think Karl is making a mistake in dismissing the impact of the “Enron Loophole”.
Without the “Enron Loophole” there wouldn’t be a way for banks like Lehman, AIG, and the rest of the world to purchase these derivative bundles on this massive scale.
This provision in the law allowed for the creation of an entire industry in the private sector where mortgages were bought and repacked into investment vehicles.
These firms would take mortgages and break them down, sectioning off the PMI, the Interest, and principle portions then repackage them into “slices” with funny names that investors could purchase on the open market. You could actually make an investment in the collected PMI portion of a thousand or more loans in one slice, and all of these were rated for credit worthiness by Moody and S&P.
What did you think of Santelli’s point this morning that there is no auction market/price discovery mechanism for these instruments Victor? They are beyond obscure, perfectly non-transparent and hence in the event, perfectly illiquid?
Well c’mon down once you get yourself some courage build-up in in your overalls. Normally you pale-trash Georgia dawgs just come’n to SoFlo to look for your runaway daughters in our tit-shake’n bars or for your lost sons over at the fish chum houses. But you’d look good on the way home to Fagstew, geeOrgah with my knuckles dents in ya redneck nose.
Next up, Morgan Stanley.
Thanks Greenspan.
Dodd lies through his teeth. Why isn’t this guy behind bars? Dem congressman or something?
And here we have the Senate Majority leader gleefully exposing his utter blinkered incompetence, the little stooge. Damn good thing his party doesn’t have some other fraud running for Pres or anything.
By the way, note the happy cavalcade of Democrats attached to Reid’s outfit. I mean, wtf.
Helicopter Bernake coughs up blood. Thanks again, Obi-wan Greenspan.
And so it goes folks. Fiat currency fails. Whaddya mean, 1% over against thin air is a bad idea?
UmpUm, I’ll be in Palm Coast on Sunday.
Bring you beater stick, I hear ’em some tan peoples up thar.
When he said he was lowering interest rates to help recapitalize the banking system I knew exactly that that meant, namely, he’d fuck us all for the sake of a few banks. They are out to kill the middle class.
Fuck Bernanke and Fuck George Bush, shoulder shrugging assholes. Anyone who doesn’t vote those clowns out of office deserves what those dumbasses wrought onto our heads.
Because, you know, Boosh invented the fractional reserve system. Moron.
Maybe get you a copy of the Creature From Jekyl Island or shut the hell up, lying sickle-hammer boi.
[…] Thanks for that. […]
[…] McCain and that part of the GOP who saw this coming don’t get out in front of this credit mess and start hammering away at the blame game the […]
I don’t ever post here but……..
I’ve been working in the real estate bussinees for 25 years and I can can tell you why we’ve all run off the rails.
Accountability
When you’re closing on a property with someone who can’t possibly repay the loan, who’s going to cry “STOP”.
Everyone gets their money up front, the broker, the appraiser, the lawyers, the title insurance company, the surveyor, the homeowners insurance company, hell the local FD for the smoke and CO2 certs. The bank sells the paper in the secondary market, and we all walk away clean. A very profitable enterprise.
[…] The first tack makes sense, provided a resolution can be reached. The second makes little sense, and will do nothing to dispel the media spin already beginning to cocoon Congressional Democrats. In fact, if anything, such a tack, taken in the long term, will strengthen the Democrats claims of a Republican failure — when we know the opposite to be true. […]
[…] this again. Enforced affirmative action — because that’s what it is when the Fed publishes lending guidelines that discourage the use of “arbitrary or outdated criteria that […]
Spare me, this was never pressed. They managed to repeal the estate tax and make those GOP folks happy. Then in 2001 they had the numbers to change whatever they saw fitting. If your in charge and this happens, the buck stops at your desk. Lest we forget the Keating/McCain affair prior?