Popeye, T-Town (3/24/2009 7:52:56 PM)

Another article in the TW today spelled out, in simplistic terms, what actually led to the debacle we're mired in: Sub-prime mortgages, their predictable failures and the false demand they infected the economy with that led to the housing valuation bubble.

Let's face it: it was Carter, Clinton and countless other vote seeking whores that forced lenders to speculate in a market of mullets. Now, after forcing lenders to ignore time proven lending practices at the risk of punitive federal actions, the entire country is paying for the actions of past liberal administrations.

This isn't government, this is blackmail.

One only need to look at the efforts of N.Y. AG Cuomo: his threats to expose the names and addresses of AIG employees that received bonuses (that the government was fully aware of) is another example of government blackmail. Don't think for a second that Obama and Geithner aren't fully aware of his actions and in full agreement to them.

fredsdad, Tulsa, OK (3/24/2009 8:04:55 PM)

Popeye,

Which article?

Ignatz, Broken Bow (3/24/2009 8:40:56 PM)

Popeye, that simply is not true and flies in the face of every, credible independent evaluation of the current situation, starting with the findings of the Federal Reserve Bank blaming unregulated derivative trading among financial institutions.No regulation has been the linchpin of Republican policy since Reagan. W Bush himself announced that every American should be able to get a mortgage and own a home. More people will probably have mortgages foreclosed because of job loss than variable rate acceleration.

fredsdad, Tulsa, OK (3/24/2009 9:27:14 PM)

Ignatz,

As you may recall, I have researched this a bit. The bubble started leaking in late 2006 when housing supply and demand began to equalize, and price escalation slowed or stopped. It accelerated rapidly in 2008 when energy prices went up, and those barely holding on could either pay a mortgage or buy gas. Also in 2006 & 7 credit began tightening, and many banks arbitrarily reduced credit lines on credit cards, lowering peoples credit scores. In 2008, along with higher energy, many ARM's took the maximum adjustment. Even those who might have afforded to keep their homes could not when the rate maxed out. They could not refi because their credit scores and appraisals had gone down. The major wave of foreclosures began before unemployment began to rise.

AIG's problems were arguably due to a lack of regulation, but they were pretty well insulated from regulation through their political contributions - mostly to Democrats, but with a generous share going to well placed Republicans. It was mostly a mentality of "the good times will never end". Unfortunately for us all, they always do.

Bush, incidentally, made 13 different attempts (per NY Times) at reining in the fm's and their securitized products. Every effort, some admittedly half-hearted, was blocked by ranking Democrats on the financial and banking committees in Congress.

Popeye, T-Town (3/25/2009 1:07:38 AM)

Tulsa World, 3/24/09, Page A3: Origins of financial meltdown, plans to resolve it are explained.
"It started in early 2007, when the mortgage crisis hit and defaults on subprime home loans, those made to borrowers with tarnished credit histories, began to climb. That gutted the value of the mortgage-backed securities -- subprime mortgages bundled together and sold on Wall Street to investors -- listed on the books of the big banks."

Eagle 4, Tulsa (3/25/2009 7:14:28 AM)

Blind Party loyalty is what the Fat cats of Washington count on to keep the American people divided and helpless while they plunder our National assets.
Wake up! Those most strident in defense of their Party are the blindest, regardless of their cut and paste abilities.
A monster is consuming us and the blind people are arguing over the size of its teeth, the foulness of its breath and length of its claws. How sad.

justiceawaits, Claremore (3/25/2009 8:20:38 AM)

Well said fredsdad.
Eagle 4 is also correct.
We need to follow the money, not the political affiliation of those involved.
Regardless of how it started, we need to let these Polititions know we are watching them now.
Geither asked Dodd to insert the langage into the stimulus Bill that allowed AIG to kep their bonuses.Congress signed the bill.
Did they not read the bill they were signing,Are they to stupid to understand what it said, or is it as I suspect, a whole lot of them have AIG political contributions in their pockets also and simply have not been "outed" yet?

DonInTulsa, (3/25/2009 3:21:35 PM)

AIG dug their own grave when they issued Credit Default Sweep protection on those bad loans without having the assets to back them up. Lose your AAA rating, and boom suddenly you have to pony up the cash. This whole mess is because the banks and mortgage lenders made stupid loan decisions, then pawned them off on someone else, leaving them holding the bag. Warren Buffett warned in 2003 that these derivatives were weapons of financial mass destruction. Government was also complicit in this, encouraging bad lending and not providing oversight as these companies bet the farm and lost. The banks lied about how safe the CDOs were and the rating agencies went ahead and rubber stamped them AAA. I must say, this whole process has been very educational for me. I didn't realize there were so many ways to screw the American people and innocent investors. Bernie Madoff would be proud.