The collapse of the US housing/financial system.

[03_SHOOTER]

I thought I had posted this before, but apparantly I failed to do so. Thanks to BillyD for reminding me.


The collapse of the US housing and financial markets, or how the Democrats intentionally engineered the coming Socialist/Communist government.

1933-FDR sworn in as POTUS with a solid Democrat majority Congress

1934-As part of FDR’s “New Deal”, the FHA is created to insure mortgages of borrowers with less than 20% down.

1935-The Social Security Act (literally a Ponzi Scheme) is signed into law by FDR. It not only called for old age, retirement, and death benefits, but also included federal aid to the States for the aged (Title I), Unemployment Insurance (Title III), AFDC (Title IV), maternity and child welfare (Title V), public health services (Title VI) and the blind (Title X)

1937-The first payroll taxes were collected to support Social Security, and the first lump-sum death benefits were paid out to 53,236 beneficiaries.

1938-Fannie Mae created to buy FHA mortgages.

1939-Congress passes the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and changes the original Social Security funding mechanism to the alleged “pay as you go” system. Lump sum death benefits eliminated.

1940-The first monthly payment was issued on January 31, 1940 to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. In 1937, 1938 and 1939 she paid a total of $24.75 into the Social Security System. Her first check was for $22.54. After her second check, Fuller already had received more than she contributed over the three-year period. She lived to be 100 and collected a total of $22,888.92. She received nearly 1000 times as much from the system as she paid into it, and nobody questioned the wisdom of this???

Total Social Security benefits paid out exceeds $35 million ($512 million in 2007 dollars).

1947-The Housing and Home Finance Agency established

1949-As part of Harry Truman’s “Fair Deal”, the American Housing Act of 1949 is enacted. It authorized providing federal financing for slum clearance programs associated with urban renewal projects in American cities (Title I), allowed the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure mortgages (Title II), extending federal money to build more than 800,000 public housing units (Title III), and permitted the FHA to provide financing for rural homeowners.

1950-Total Social Security benefits paid out in excess of $960 million (more than $8 Bn in 2007 dollars).

1956-Social Security withholding increased to 4%, and disability benefits added.

1960-Total Social Security benefits paid out in excess of $11 Billion (more than $93 Bn in 2007 dollars)

1961-Social Security withholding increased to 6%.

1965-As part of LBJ’s “Great Society” HUD is created as a Cabinet level position by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act.

Johnson signs into law the Medicare Act as an Amendment to Social Security.

1966-Medicare budget is $64 million ($404 million in 2007 dollars)

1968-Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited the practice of “redlining” in the decision making process in the issuance of mortgages. While noble in it’s purpose, it completely ignored the fact that the areas that were “redlined” were done so for specific and financially sound principles due to the general lack of ability of those within the “redlined” areas to pay their mortgages.

The Johnson administration adopts the “unified budget” and includes surplus in the Social Security “trust fund” in order to conceal the amount of the National Debt.

1969- The Brooke Amendment establishes that low income families only pay no more than 25 percent of their income for rent or mortgages. This Amendment to the federal housing assistant programs artificially kept housing prices low.

1970-following legislation passed by the Democrat controlled 90th Congress in 1968 under the Johnson (D) Administration, the original Fannie Mae’s name changed to Ginnie Mae, and the new “Fannie Mae” was created. The “new” Fannie Mae, unlike it’s predecessor of the same name, became a publically traded company, and was permitted to purchase riskier conventional mortgages, with an implicit, but not an actual guarantee from the US government. At the same time Freddie Mac was created to package Fannies mortgages into bonds, or as they are more commonly known as “mortgage backed securities” (MBS), to sell them to investors. Ginnie Mae issues it’s first MBS.

The average single family home in the US is valued at $26,000.00, median household income is $8,734.00

Fannie’s original 1970 charter allowed it to buy up to 100% mortgages provided that the amount over 80% was insured.

Total Social Security benefits paid out equals nearly $32 Billion (more than $169 Bn in 2007 dollars)

Medicare budget at $6.2 Billon ($32.8 Billion in 2007 dollars)

1971-Freddie Mac issues it’s first MBS

1972-Congress passes the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Act, and increases the monthly SS benefits. It also allows immigrants who never paid any Social Security to draw benefits at age 65,

1975-Congress implements COLA on Social Security tied to the CPI, but an error in the calculations actually resulted in benefits increasing at double the inflation rate which wouldn’t be fixed until 1977. The COLA being tied to the CPI rather than wages meant that benefits changed with prices instead of wages, thereby effectively driving down wages.

1977-Congress passes the Community Reinvestment Act mandating that any lending institution receiving FDIC coverage “help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods”. The Act provides no specific criteria for compliance with CRA, leaving the interpretation of the banks records as to whether the lending institutions actually are in compliance entirely up to the discretion of the reviewer. It further required that the same lending standards be applied to all of a banks branches, regardless of where the bank had branches. What this meant was that a bank with 20 branches in a city, hundreds of branches in a state, or even thousands of branches around the country were required to apply the same lending standards to all of it’s branches, regardless of the particular financial realities of a particular part of a community, state, or region of the country it had other branches in.

The Carter Administration passed legislation touted as guaranteeing that Social Security solvency was secure until at least 2030.

1978-Fannie permitted to buy multi-family, second mortgages,

1980-Cap for Fannie purchases at $108,300.00

The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 granted all thrifts, including savings and loan associations, the power to make consumer and commercial loans and to issue transaction accounts, but with little regulatory oversight of competing banks; also exempted federally chartered savings banks, installment plan sellers and chartered loan companies from state usury limits

Average new home price $76,400.00
Average household income $17,710.00

Total Social Security benefits paid out in excess of $120 Billion (more than $298 Bn in 2007 dollars)

Medicare budget at $32 Billion ($79 Billion in 2007 dollars)

1981-Fannie Mae permitted to buy ARM’s and issues it’s first MBS

1982-A study reveals that Social Security will be bankrupt in less than a year and that Social Security would be unable to pay out benefits

1983-Alan Greenspan chairs the National Commission on Social Security Reform (NCSSR) and determines that a 6 month delay in COLA, changing the tax rates between 1984 and 1990, imposing an income tax on Social Security benefits for higher income tax payers, including more people in mandatory Social Security withholding, and the retirement age being increased would be necessary if Social Security was to be saved. With the enactment of the 1983 Amendments, Social Security and portions of Medicare were exempted from any budget cuts.

(Continued Below)

[03_SHOOTER]

(Continued from above)

1989- In the wake of the S&L crisis of the 1980s, the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 was enacted by the 101st Congress and signed into law by President Bush right before leaving office.

Freddie Mac becomes a publically traded company in the hopes that wider holding of the company's shares would enhance the value of the shares then held by the ailing S&L industry and thus strengthen the balance sheets of the latter.

1990-Average new home price $149,800.00
Average household income $29,943.00

Total Social Security benefits paid out in excess of $247 Billion (more than $387 Bn in 2007 dollars)

Medicare budget at $98 Billion ($153.7 Billion in 2007 dollars)

1992-OFHEO established under President GHW Bush to “ensure the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” James B. Lockhart III first director.

1993-President Clinton signs the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act requiring Fannie and Freddie to devote a percentage of their lending to support affordable housing.

1994-The Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 repealed restrictions on interstate banking, allowing out-of-state banks to compete for mortgages which spawned the spate of mega banks that eventually led to the national, rather than a local or regional, mortgage meltdown.

1995-Calls began to go up for the repeal of the CRA as it was recognized that the regulations imposed under it had little or nothing to do with the stated goals of the act, and in fact were weakening the financial well-being of banking institutions.

Fannie Mae allowed to receive affordable housing credit for buying subprime securities with the expectation that Fannie and Freddie would impose high lending standards on subprime lenders, under the belief that subprime lending benefitted borrowers who did not qualify for conventional loans.

1996-Republican led Congress tries to amend the Brooke Amendment provisions and allow Public Housing Authorities (PHA’s) like HUD housing projects and Section 8 to increase rents of their tenants to more than the allowable 30% of their incomes provided that tenants earning less than 50% of the area median income would not be charged more than 30%.

1997- First Union Capital Markets and Bear, Stearns & Co became the first companies to offer publicly available securitization of CRA loans which were “guaranteed” by Freddie Mac.

1998-44% of mortgages bought by Fannie and Freddie are from low to moderate homeowners.

1999-President Clinton appoints Armando Falcon to head OFHEO.

President Clinton signs the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which removed the limits of the Glass-Steagall Act and allowed banks to begin offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services in order to expand CRA.

Fannie Mae comes under pressure from the Clinton administrations HUD Chairman to expand it’s purchases of mortgage loans of more low and moderate income borrowers to account for at least 50% of it’s holdings by 2001. In response, Fannie began purchasing sub-prime mortgages in order to satisfy the Clinton administrations agenda.

2000 to 2008-Fannie fed the housing bubble by increasing their loan amounts to match the increase in housing prices.

2000-Cap for Fannie purchases at $252-700.00

House Banking Subcommittee holds hearings on Fannie Mae due to concerns with it’s business and accounting practices.

Fannie Mae Announces Pilot to Purchase $2 Billion of "MyCommunityMortgage" Loans; Pilot Lenders to Customize Affordable Products For Low- and Moderate-Income Borrowers.

Fannie Mae announced that HUD would soon require it to dedicate 50% of its business to low- and moderate-income families.

Social Security Budget at $409 Billion ($488 Billion in 2007 dollars)

Medicare Budget at $197 Billion ($235 Billion in 2007 dollars)

2001-Fannie backing $2.5 trillion in mortgages

Bush administration originally expressed concern about Fannie and Freddie in April.

2002-First Bush budget request specifically calls for stringent oversight of Fannie and Freddie, noting that they were a “potential problem” and could “cause strong repercussion in financial markets”.

2003- The director of OFHEO, Armando Falcon, issues a report declaring that Fannie and Freddie had effective auditing and internal controls immediately before Fannie and Freddie disclosed shortcomings in it’s accounting resulting in billions if misstated earnings. Falcon was asked to resign by the Bush administration in February of ’03 for gross negligence and failing in it’s oversight role of Fannie and Freddie.

The Bush administrations immediately called for increased regulation of Fannie and Freddie, which went completely ignored by the heavily Democrat influenced House Financial Services Committee and the also heavily Democrat influenced Senate Banking Committee

In '03 the Bush administration began calling Fannie and Freddie a "systemic risk" warning that it could spread beyond the housing sector, and by the fall of '03 were pushing for far more oversight of Fannie and Freddie, and even going to the extent of suggesting a new agency might be necessary to focus strictly on them, but Barney Frank who was the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee claimed that they were "not in a crisis", and even went so far as to suggest that Fannie and Freddie should be doing more to get low income families into homes.

September-Treasury Secretary John Snow and HUD Secretary Mel Martinez recommend in hearings before Congress that Fannie and Freddie should be removed from HUD oversight and placing them under Treasury Department oversight. During their testimony, Barney Frank said "the more people, in my judgment, exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the treasury, which I do not see, I think we see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and um, withstand some of the disaster scenarios, and even if there were a problem the federal government doesn't bail them out, but the more pressure there is there, then the less I think we see in terms of affordable housing." The legislation was blocked by the House Financial Services Committee, at Barney Franks behest, and never even reached the floor for a vote.

2004-OFHEO released report alleging widespread intentional accounting fraud by Fannie and Freddie.

2005- In February of 2005, following the discovery of the bookkeeping debacle with Fannie and Freddy, Alan Greenspan said "Enabling these institutions to increase in size, and they will once the crisis in their judgment passes, we are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk." At another hearing on the subject of increasing legislation on Fannie and Freddy, he further stated "if we fail to strengthen GSE regulation, we increase the possibility of insolvency in crisis.", but Democrats including Chuck Schumer refused to see reality and said in April of '05 "I think Fannie and Freddie over the years have done a incredibly good job and are an intrinsic part of making America the best-housed people in the world....if you look over the last 20 or whatever years, they've done a very, very good job." In the same hearings following the bookkeeping debacle, other Democrats continued to deny that they had any concerns at all. Maxine Waters (D) said "Through nearly a dozen hearings where frankly we were trying to fix something that wasn't broke. Mr. Chairman we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac and in particular at Fannie Mae under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines." Gregory Meeks (D) have the temerity to say "...as well as the fact that I'm just pissed off at,...OFHEO...,because if it wasn't for you I don't think that we'd be here in the first place, and now the problem that we have, and that we're faced with is maybe some individuals who wanted to do away with GSE's in the first place you've given them an excuse to try to have this forum so that we can talk about it and maybe change the direction and the mission of what the GSE's had which they've done a tremendous job has been nothing that was indicated was wrong with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac has come up on it's own and the question that then presents is the competence that your agency has with reference to deciding and regulating these GSE's and so I wish I could sit here and say that I'm not upset with you, but I am very upset because what you do is to maybe give someone a reason, as Mr. Gonzales said, to give someone heart surgery when they really don't need it." As if it's not bad enough that the Democrats were too invested in their own agendas to even acknowledge that there was a problem, then we were all treated to people like Lacy Clay (D) preemptively throwing down the race-card card and saying "this hearing is about the political lynching of Franklin Raines". When asked about the rather ‘liberal’ standards Fannie and Freddie had been using, he stated "these assets are so riskless that their capital for holding them should be under 2%" when banks aren't allowed to get below 4%!

(Continued below)

[03_SHOOTER]

(Continued from above)

2006-Cap for Fannie purchases at $417,000.00

US Treasury Department released a report noting that between 1997 and 2005, mortgage fraud increased by 1,411%, primarily due to Clinton era deregulation of Fannie and Freddie.

OFHEO reports that Fannie Mae senior management manipulated accounting, reaped maximum underserved bonuses, calling it an “arrogant and unethical corporate culture”, and noted that Fannie engaged in excessive risk taking and had poor risk management. Fannie Mae was fined $400 million for accounting violations and was forced to restore earnings from 2001 to 2004. Regulators file 101 civil charges against former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines, CFO J. Timothy Howard and former Controller Leanne G. Spencer in order to recoup more than $115 million in fraudulent bonus payments and an additional $100 million in fines and penalties for their roles in intentionally engaging in fraudulent accounting practices in order to maximize their bonuses.

John McCain co-sponsored new Legislation for the regulation of Fannie and Freddie, saying "For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing markets...the GSE's need to be reformed without delay.", but the vote went straight down party lines with the Democrats voting, en masse against it, so the proposed legislation never reached the floor for a vote.

Freddie Mac fined $3.8 million by the Federal Election Commission for making illegal campaign contributions, primarily to members of the House Financial Services Committee, between 2000 and 2003.

2007-January, Democrats take control of both houses of Congress, promise to fix “everything”.

Fannie backing $5.0 trillion in mortgages

Fannie finally presents it’s financial “restatement” as required. $6.3 billion in profit had disappeared and is unaccounted for.

By the second half of 2007, 90% of all mortgages were backed by Fannie and Freddie

July 2007, the US mortgage market begins to unravel, and the Democrat controlled Congress attempts to prop it up with the severely weakened Fannie and Freddie.

Fannie Mae begins feeling the pressure from their sub-prime purchases.

3rd Quarter “earnings”-$1.4 billion loss

4th Quarter “earnings”-$3.5 billion loss

By the end of 2007, many investment groups were acknowledging that it was only a matter of time before Fannie and Freddie would need a bailout.

Social Security budget at $586.1 Billion

Medicare Budget at $375.4 Billion

All Federal “Means Tested Entitlements” including Medicaid, Food Stamps, AFDC, SSI, child nutrition programs, refundable portions of EITC and HITC, child tax credits, welfare contingency fund, child care to States, temporary assistance to needy families, foster care and adoption assistance, SCHIP, and Veterans pensions equals $366.6 Billion dollars.

Total expenditures on Social Security, Medicare, and Means Tested Entitlements alone equals $1.328 Trillion dollars, or 49% of the $2.73 Trillion dollar budget for 2007.

2008-Cap for Fannie purchases at $730,000.00

Over the previous 10 years, Fannie Mae had spent nearly $200 million for lobbying and campaign contributions.

In the first half of 2008, 81% of all mortgages were backed by Fannie and Freddie. The US mortgage market has now become nationalized with the US government owning the mortgages.

1st Quarter “earnings”-$2.2 billion loss

2nd Quarter “earnings”-$2.3 billion loss

During this time, capital resource minimums were continually lowered from 38% to 20% to 15%, and Fannie and Freddie repeatedly told the press that their capital resources were within regulated minimums.

Fannie Mae’s leverage (Liabilities/Shareholder Equity) including on and off-balance sheet items, was at 78 to 1. Bear Sterns was at 33 to 1 when they imploded.

Fannie Mae’s mortgages, 21% were at over 80% of the original home value.
15%-20% of their loans were sub-prime

Year over year foreclosures were at $4.7 billion in 2008.
1st Quarter of 2008, liabilities exceeded it’s assets by $5.2 billion making it insolvent

In an interview in late 2008, former President Clinton said "I think the responsibility the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in Congress or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little bit on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac..."

Notable Senators and Representatives who directly benefitted
from Fannie and Freddie
• Chris Dodd (D), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee- Received $165,400.00 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mack.
• Barack Obama (D), Member of the Senate Banking Committee-Received $126,000.00 from Fannie and Freddie in less than 3 years.
• John Kerry (D), Member of the Senate Committee on Finance-Received $110,000.00 from Fannie and Freddie.
• Paul E. Kanjorski (D), $96,000.00
• Jack Reed (D), $78,250.00
• Harry Reid (D), Senate Majority Leader, Senate Rules Committee-Received $77,000.00 from Fannie and Freddie
• Hillary Clinton (D), need I say anything else?-Received $76,050.00 from Fannie and Freddie.
• Nancy Pelosi (D), again, need I say anything else?-Received $56,250.00 from Fannie and Freddie.
• Barney Frank (D), Ranking Member and now Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee-Received $42,350 from Fannie and Freddie as well as having his "wife" appointed to an Executive position at Fannie in 1991 where he was responsible for writing many of their rules, bringing in an additional HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS A YEAR into their household!
• Dick Durbin (D), Senate Appropriations Committee-Received $23,750.00 from Fannie and Freddie.
• Chuck Schumer (D), Senate Finance and Senate Banking Committee-Received $24,250 from Fannie and Freddie
• Franklin Raines (D), Head of Fannie Mae took home over $50,000,000.00 in bonus payments after cooking the books.
• Jamie Gorelick (D), Executive for Fannie and Freddie, took home over $26,000,000.00 in bonus payments from cooking the books.
• Jim Johnson (D), CEO of Fannie May, took home millions in bonus payments.

[MP_Girl]

Okay...so let me see if I understand this..

The reason why our economy and housing market is suffering so badly right now is because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decided to stupidly give all these people loans, and because they got themselves so badly in debt, they raised the APR on houses that had loans through the banking system and in return caused the housing market to go way downhill and plummet into all these foreclosures because people couldn't afford the payment of their loans on their houses?

So the reason why every state agency that gives any sort of assistance and anything like medicare/medicaid/food stamps/cash assistance/tanf/wic/ssi/ssdi is being cut is because of these people also? So in essence, we all have to suffer as a result of the consequences of stupid spending, and lending?

so in other words because people spent their money stupidly..and took out these loans they couldn't repay ect ect..we all suffer? in other words there is no solution to fixing the current state of the economy..because were so badly in debt that even the potus cant do shit? am I understanding this right?

So some people might say "Well we can fix the banking system" if these facts are really truth, why would we want to bail the same two stupid people out of their own mess? Who is to say they wont do the same thing again? We start over from scratch? Whats the point? I honestly don't think that the economy will bounce back from such a financial problem at this point..not with those figures..I mean come on..the stock market is going to crash eventually..

and who is it all in thank to? FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC?!

[space3math]

Okay...so let me see if I understand this..

....So some people might say "Well we can fix the banking system" if these facts are really truth, why would we want to bail the same two stupid people out of their own mess? ...

and who is it all in thank to? FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC?!

While I agree with much of the frustration and disappointment in your comments, may I just respectfully point out that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren't actually people? :)

[03_SHOOTER]

Okay...so let me see if I understand this..

The reason why our economy and housing market is suffering so badly right now is because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decided to stupidly give all these people loans, and because they got themselves so badly in debt, they raised the APR on houses that had loans through the banking system and in return caused the housing market to go way downhill and plummet into all these foreclosures because people couldn't afford the payment of their loans on their houses?

Sort of. What happened is that Congress, in order to be "fair" to poor people, mandated that banks and other lending institutions, if they wanted to keep their FDIC insurance (and they wouldn't have been able to operate without it) make loans to those same said poor people, regardless of the fact that everyone knew that they'd never be able to pay back those loans. In order to make it 'legal' though, they had to have Fannie Mae buy those loans from the banks, and in turn Fannie Mae bundled those mortgages into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS's) and sold them to Freddie Mac (thereby taking money out of one pocket, and putting it in another), who then bundled those and sold them to private companies like Bear Sterns, AIG, and others. To put it simply, Barney Franks, Chris Dodd, and all the rest of the members of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee intentionally inserted bad paper into the financial system.

So the reason why every state agency that gives any sort of assistance and anything like medicare/medicaid/food stamps/cash assistance/tanf/wic/ssi/ssdi is being cut is because of these people also? So in essence, we all have to suffer as a result of the consequences of stupid spending, and lending?

That's about right. Now of course we all need to understand that the biggest problem is that SS/Medicare/Medicaid/Welfare/Food Stamps/WIC/TANF/HUD/Section 8 and all the rest are completely unconstitutional in the first place, and the federal government had no business getting involved with them in the first place. As none of them are withing the powers authorized by Article 1 Section 8, or anywhere else in the Constitution, they are properly left to the States to provide, or not, as they wish.

so in other words because people spent their money stupidly..and took out these loans they couldn't repay ect ect..we all suffer? in other words there is no solution to fixing the current state of the economy
because were so badly in debt that even the potus cant do shit? am I understanding this right?

I'm afraid not. There are a multitude of things that can be done to jump start the economy, but with the Dim-O-Craps running Congress and the illegitimate Kenyan illegal immigrant in the White House, well, let's just say that history has proved that when faced with two options, the Dim's will invariably choose the WRONG ONE!

So some people might say "Well we can fix the banking system" if these facts are really truth, why would we want to bail the same two stupid people out of their own mess? Who is to say they wont do the same thing again? We start over from scratch? Whats the point? I honestly don't think that the economy will bounce back from such a financial problem at this point..not with those figures..I mean come on..the stock market is going to crash eventually..

The banking system can be easily fixed; 1) get the federal government out of the banking system, and 2) stop allowing banks to work across state lines! If they go under, they go under. Banking Institutions that are in good shape will buy the ones that are in bad shape.

and who is it all in thank to? FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC?!

Thank the DIM-O-CRAPS!

[MP_Girl]

Sort of. What happened is that Congress, in order to be "fair" to poor people, mandated that banks and other lending institutions, if they wanted to keep their FDIC insurance (and they wouldn't have been able to operate without it) make loans to those same said poor people, regardless of the fact that everyone knew that they'd never be able to pay back those loans. In order to make it 'legal' though, they had to have Fannie Mae buy those loans from the banks, and in turn Fannie Mae bundled those mortgages into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS's) and sold them to Freddie Mac (thereby taking money out of one pocket, and putting it in another), who then bundled those and sold them to private companies like Bear Sterns, AIG, and others. To put it simply, Barney Franks, Chris Dodd, and all the rest of the members of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee intentionally inserted bad paper into the financial system.



That's about right. Now of course we all need to understand that the biggest problem is that SS/Medicare/Medicaid/Welfare/Food Stamps/WIC/TANF/HUD/Section 8 and all the rest are completely unconstitutional in the first place, and the federal government had no business getting involved with them in the first place. As none of them are withing the powers authorized by Article 1 Section 8, or anywhere else in the Constitution, they are properly left to the States to provide, or not, as they wish.



I'm afraid not. There are a multitude of things that can be done to jump start the economy, but with the Dim-O-Craps running Congress and the illegitimate Kenyan illegal immigrant in the White House, well, let's just say that history has proved that when faced with two options, the Dim's will invariably choose the WRONG ONE!



The banking system can be easily fixed; 1) get the federal government out of the banking system, and 2) stop allowing banks to work across state lines! If they go under, they go under. Banking Institutions that are in good shape will buy the ones that are in bad shape.



Thank the DIM-O-CRAPS!

Thanks for clarification. It has enlightened my viewpoint on what the heck is wrong with the economy..

[HairyEyeball]

At the risk of being called a 'conspiracy theorist', I would posit that there is nothing 'wrong' with the economy that wasn't intended to be 'wrong' with the economy: An outright socialistic grab of the government would be destined to complete, humiliating failure and possible mass executions. A forced dependence on the government, however: Socialist insecurity and government created 'jobs', guaranteed 'preference' for specific groups, the manipulated 'need' for the government to 'purchase' controlling interest in banks, heavy industry, etc. has allowed the electorate to be duped into supporting the slow erosion of the republic into a socialist state.

Stupid people do not rise in government (except as figureheads, 'beards' for 'the power behind the throne'). We all know who put an undocumented alien puppet in the White House, and what their intent is for the nation. Nothing happens by accident in politics - or, to quote Ian Fleming: "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is enemy action"...and some of us do not believe in 'coincidence'.

[HairyEyeball]

Aw, and I so wanted to answer that one.

Don't know who or what this 'Ipecac' (or whatever) is, but I detect a strong odor of troll...

[03_SHOOTER]

Aw, and I so wanted to answer that one.

Don't know who or what this 'Ipecac' (or whatever) is, but I detect a strong odor of troll...

Considering that you and I as well as the rest of the Mod staff have access to his rather ill conceived missive, by all means, if you wish, you are more than welcome to "un-delete" the post in question, and then issue a well deserved literary A$$ WHIPPING on this little turdlet.

The only reason I 'deleted' it was due to the fact that you, being otherwise engaged, weren't available to defend yourself last evening when it was posted, and I had absolutely no intention of having such unwarranted and blatant slander stand against one of the finest men it's been my pleasure to know.

[OBOOT]

cONSUMRS AND lENDERS SHAIR THE BLAME. tHEY ALL NEW BETTER AND ARE NOW STEWING IN THAIR OWN JUCIES

-jAYMES

[HairyEyeball]

Without commenting on your sub-third grade 'literacy', your absolute ignorance of history is appalling. It was a democrat congress and president who extorted banks into offering mortgages to people who could never repay them that began the problem, and a democrat congress and president who hatched the ponzi scheme that crashed the market.

[OBOOT]

Without commenting on your sub-third grade 'literacy', your absolute ignorance of history is appalling. It was a democrat congress and president who extorted banks into offering mortgages to people who could never repay them that began the problem, and a democrat congress and president who hatched the ponzi scheme that crashed the market.

i HAVE 8TH GRADE LITERACY THANK YOU VERY MUCH. i DROPPED OUT IN THE 8TH GRADE!!

[03_SHOOTER]

i HAVE 8TH GRADE LITERACY THANK YOU VERY MUCH. i DROPPED OUT IN THE 8TH GRADE!!

That much is obvious, which would also explain why you're a liberal.

[OBOOT]

That much is obvious, which would also explain why you're a liberal.

What is so Liberal about me?

[HairyEyeball]

Gee, that's a hard one...your sig line? Your views?

[OBOOT]

Gee, that's a hard one...your sig line? Your views?

Sig line is a joke.....I'm mocking you with it. The fact that you fell for it is a true testament to just how narrow minded you might be. I was a volunteer on John McCain's campaign last year. Met the man in person and got a nice little gift from him and Cindy including a thank you letter hand written by L/CPL McCain in Iraq. Hows that for your razor sharp intuitive skills. Also met Palin in person and helped on her campaign...even though I think she's a joke.

What views? Because I won't stop using Google and label them as the enemy? That's a bit thin. I just joined yesterday and I'm already the enemy and a liberal.

Maybe you should ask questions instead of trying to have all the answers. My experiment worked.