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Tim and Barney - Adios!
When the history books are written and the causes of the problems that
we face are discussed and debated one conclusion will be inescapable.
The mortgage Agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were central to the
economic collapse of 2008. It would be unfair to blame all our ills on
F/F. There were many bad actors in this show. But I don’t think the
explosion that occurred in 2008 and the crisis in the economy that
ensued would have been anywhere near as severe as it has been had it
not been for the terrible decisions that were made at every level
regarding the D.C. mortgage lenders.
I bring this up because quite frankly I am mad this evening. Two
important things took place today regarding the Agencies. Both of them
upset me. In the fray of a three-day, 5% drop in the market; I think
the implications were lost.
The first came from our gutless Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner who said of the Agencies future:
"I don't think we're going to be able to legislate that
until that process can start, until next year, because it's just a
complicated thing to get right."
That is not true. The Treasury Secretary has been telling people in the
press for months now that the problems with the Agencies were going to
be addressed in the first half of 2010. As of today that time frame has
been pushed back a year. The reason is politics. The Agencies need the
mother of all bailouts. They have already cost us $100 billion. They
need another $400-500 to write their portfolios to a level that would
make them viable. After this week’s election there is no support for
another big bailout. Geithner knows he can’t go to Congress and say we
have a permanent loss of a half trillion dollars.
Washington has been pounding the table of late saying, “We are going to
get the people’s money back!” They have been beating up all the TBTF’s
with one plan after another to show that they are getting tough. But
when it comes to a problem in their own back yard they conveniently
push it off another year with the excuse that it is, “Just a complicated thing”. That is a shameful statement. Geither has lost any credibility that he may have had left after this move.
The other oracle that spoke today was Congressman Barney Frank. He also said something brilliant. His words:
“His committee will be recommending abolishing Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac in its current form and coming up with a whole new
system of housing finance.”
I have been studying the Agencies for nearly a decade. I started in the
days of Franklin Raines. I knew he was lying about the books. I wrote
everyone that I could that he was playing fast and lose. I was proven
right. I saw their demise two years before it happened. I know the
history of these two and how they became as powerful as they did and
how they have played a critical role in the housing imbalances that
have brought us to where we are. From my perspective there is no single
person who has been as influential and central to the colossal blunders
at the GSEs as Congressman Frank.
For Mr. Frank to now suggest that his Committee has concluded that what
has been done for the past twenty years was a mistake and that his
Committee would be “Coming up with a whole new system” is galling.
Mr. Frank is right; our system of housing finance is critically broken.
An entirely new one is needed. But Congressman Frank should have
nothing to do with the future of America’s mortgage finance system. His
hands are dirty from the past. He has to accept his share of
responsibility for the blunders that were made.
We need new leadership. It is not clear to me that we can recover from
the mistakes of the past, but what is very clear is that we can’t
repeat the mistakes of the past and have a chance of surviving.
The people of Massachusetts have done the country a favor with the
recent election. They woke us up. They shook the tree. Now those same
citizens have more work to do for the rest of us. They have to vote
Barney Frank out of office.
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I dink she means Carly Simon.
-Arnie
Not that I am a big fan of Barbara Boxer, but is Carly Fiorina the best that can be offered by the Republicans? Her track record at HP does not give me hope that she will do well with the balance sheets of the USA. What qualifications does she present for a run for office, excepting the fact that she is presently unemployed...?
"Not that I am a big fan of Barbara Boxer, but is Carly Fiorina the best that can be offered by the Republicans? "
Anony, it is called "The Idiot's Dilemma"
Party A screwed me, vote for Party B.
Party B screwed me, vote for Party A.
Party A screwed me, vote for Party B.
Didn't we just learn in the 2008 election that voting for one then the other for change just gets you sodomized AGAIN?
It is time to form and/or vote for and support third parties. If you are conservative, find and support libertarians. Screw corporate owned bitch Republicans.
If you are left leaning support progressive or green or something other than worthless corporate owned bitch Democrats.
Vote out ALL incumbents all the time until you affect change.
please, friends, do not vote for a single republican OR democrat, until both parties are minorities. this is the ONLY choice, today, for freedom. we would be better off with 5 democrats, 5 republicans, 5 socialists, 5 fascists, 5 anarchists, 5 communists, 5 libertarians, and 5 greens, than we would ever be with 20-R & 20-D.
+535
Is Scott Brown qualified to be a US Senator? The point is to throw out the addicts who are addicted to Wall St money and influence. Politicans must realize they answer to The People and not Wall St.
"Is Scott Brown qualified to be a US Senator? "
Well, I am from MA. I and my family, at my request, have voted for Scott Brown. Do I know anything useful about Brown? The answer is NO. I did listen to Scott's acceptance speech. It was not inspired one.
My vote was not for Scott but it was against the Obama administration and the present Congress.
Obama is totally incompetent for the job. He is a fraud, a lair and an extremist. At the same time, the Republican party is too corrupt and intellectually bankrupt.
My vote was for a political gridlock in America. It is the time to position my family for very challenging and hard times facing America in a not too far-away future. Consequently, I voted for a "delay" to get time to be prepared.
Is Scott Brown qualified to be a US Senator? Of course. Brown is at present certainly more qualified to be POTUS than is the sophomoric head-in-the-clouds Barack Obama.
Early or later, changes will definitely take place. However, they will not be peaceful.
One more observation, "conservatives" are as guilty as liberals. Remember they just all work for different oligarchs of the same ruling elite.
PS
The beauty of any revolution is that it is almost never expected just before it becomes unstoppable.
Great post, but the title is misleading. You wish! But we're stuck w them till we're not. Just as we're stuck w the PTB in perpetuity.
The only thing Barney Frank is expert on is where his next beef injection is coming from. He needs to be in prison for the rest of his life.
All too true. I think the inexorable tide of ongoing events will force some action sooner rather than later. Sitting and waiting for the 2010 elections probably won't be an option.
Barney Franks remains in full denial. It was Barney and other liberals along with Obama who were pushing Fred and Fan to give loans to folks who didn't qualify for a credit card, much less a home loan mortgage. Changing the name is like shuffing the chairs on the Titanic. As long as Barney and the Liberals are in control, the ship is still going to sink. Worse yet, Barney wants to use the paid back tarp money for more of the same BS. Sorry Barney, were not buying it.
Yes indeed. The ownership society what a complete construct of Barney Frank.
Forget what the political puppets in Washington say and look at what is really being done...basically NADA! Publicly they are huffing and puffing, pounding their chests, but they are all wimps who recoil once their Masters tell them to go away and lay low. The perpetual bubble machine must go on at all cost, even if it's bursting at the seams. Thanks Bruce.
Don't forget Obama himself is the one who sued the banks on behalf of Acorn to get the sub-prime ball rolling.
Also don't forget the unlimited, unshakeable support of Franklin Raines by the Congressional Black Caucus in '04.....despite overwhelming evidence that Fannie books were cooked.
All formal ethnic caucuses in the Congress should be outlawed . They are patently illegal and a blatant form of covert discrimination and racism. More proof our lawmakers break the law every day.
"The Role of Government Affordable Housing Policy in Creating the Global Financial Crisis of 2008
STAFF REPORT
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
111TH CONGRESS
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT"
Issa already published a report of the perpetrators in this Staff Report. Not just people like Raines and Molinari and Jamie Gorelick (counsel to Bubba). I downloaded and kept copies of the report expecting one day they'll try to scrub it all away.
Make NO mistake about it. (With all due respect to Albert Edwards) What mystifies is what took so long for people to understand how this Perpetrated Depression came to be. My dog connected the dots in 2007.
Better late than never? We'll see. If I were one of the Kingpins in this Once in a Tricentennial Calamity then I seriously be looking for an exit to Venezuela. Or preferably Spain. ALthough they got screwed just as hard. Perhaps no place will be safe for them.
Here's a link.
http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/7-7-09-housing-crisi...
Read it and get your pitchfork out. Revolting. Perhaps the most revolting events in my lifetime.
....a long but detailed read, Dirtt. Thanks.
Love seeing that dirt under Rahm's fingernails, too. Looks like everybody got some taste.
I've never heard of Acorn or Obama's suit. Could you please fill me in?
google is your friend
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHMZ_enUS321US333&q=obama+ACORN+sub+prime+loans&aq=f&aql=&aqi=&oq=
Google is your friend
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHMZ_enUS321US333&q=obama+ACOR...