The FBI is investigating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG – and their executives – as part of a broad look into possible mortgage fraud.
Earlier this month, FBI director Robert Mueller told Congress that 1,400 individual real estate lenders, brokers and appraisers were now under investigation in addition to two dozen corporations.
“The FBI currently has 26 pending corporate fraud investigations involving subprime lenders,” Kelko said. Previously, CNN has reported that Countrywide is part of the investigation.
And the beat goes on. The beat goes on…
Let me guess:
Two or three execs will be indicted, none will serve more than 18 months at a federal minsec prison.
The rest will enjoy their golden parachutes in anonymity.
Funny how the politicians involved for passing and later strengthening the Community Reinvestment Act get no mention in this investigation.
Afterall, redlining was deemed racist (even though it was based on good financial judgment). Many banks were forced to meet loan approval quotas for low income families who would otherwise not qualify for a home loan.
The government really screwed the pooch on this one and is laying the entire blame on “greedy” executives. I’m not denying the “greedy” executive aspect, but that the government involvement in fostering this situation has largely been ignored.
Obama’s senior econ adviser better leave the country. He’s being targeted by this invest.
# 3: Confusing with McCain?
Freddie’s Friend
Fannie and Freddie made contributions directly – and via lobbyists – to three-quarters of Congress. All part of the Gingrich tune they all danced to – starting with the Contract on America.
Look at those numbers, sometime. The growth was exponential.
#4 “Confusing with McCain?”
No, you’re thinking of the false NY Times article.
I’m referring to James Johnson former CEO from Fannie Mae who headed Obama’s VP search and is a senior econ adviser…
Should probe the GOP – “Fiscal Conservatives” ??? RECORD HIGH DEFICITS, RECORT NATIONAL DEBT, AND ONE FINAL ATTEMPT TO ***LOOT THE TREASURY*** WITH A WALL STREET “BAILOUT” !!! They ought to be INDICTED FOR CONSPIRACY TO LOOT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ***TREASON*** !!!
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=75586
#7 “AND ONE FINAL ATTEMPT TO ***LOOT THE TREASURY*** WITH A WALL STREET “BAILOUT”
So far more Dems are on board for this than repubs in Congress…
You should really research a little before screaming.
One more for the liberals: http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=307061229501695
#6 – O’Furniture
>>No, you’re thinking of the false NY Times article.
False? What “false NY Times article” might you be referring to? Or by “false”, do you mean it wasn’t backed up by the crackerjack reporting on Faux Spews?
#11 “False? What “false NY Times article””
You don’t read the Times? It’s the article saying the McCain aide Davis was currently being paid & in the past lobbied for Freddie & Fannie.
False.
i bet, if they are looking at all those people, that we’re looking at a RECO/enterprise corruption probe. and with RECO, we’re looking at assets being siezed, more than 18 months jail time, etc.
Paddy-O, just because you say it’s false doesn’t make it false.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/us/politics/24davis.html
#14 “Paddy-O, just because you say”
I know the guy. Don’t really care if you believe me or not. No more than I care if you believe that I had eggs for breakfast today.
when they execute these finacial geniuses lemme know..
untill then ,justis will not be served…
16, I agree. Let’s execute the financial geniuses listed in posts 8 & 10 so that justice will be served.
Some hit pieces by World Net Daily and suddenly the world is right? The WND is just another FOX SPEWS type of outlet, no fact checkers, lots of errors, and if there is nothing there, just invent it.
Hey Zeus, and here is Cow Paddy claiming the New York Times is wrong because it doesn’t agree with what he wants to believe. No wonder the Republicans are going down to defeat in the White House, and Congress.
#10–guyver==Nice link and worth the short read but it never reveals how this legislation has lead to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. The only connection is that it encouraged housing in minority communities. I’d like to know what this programs default rate was.
More relevant was the 1999 democrat passage of lowering the lending standards of the Freddies. There may or may not be overlap with this key change to what the CRA legislation did but without the overlap, CRA had nothing to do with the current mess.
After that, the Feds allowed banks to more greatly leverage their assets to loans made down to about 3%. The final step allowed these leveraged (ie under secured) assets to be turned into market securities and sold intenationally.
The basic cause of this meltdown was this separation of reward from risk.
Morning Joe ((good 3 hour program to record and watch the guest segments only bringing the show down to under an hour)) went over all this and Joe made the telling comment==the WSJ should do an article on all the CEO’s who got fired the last 10 years for not making the returns that Lehman Bros did. “When everyone on Wallstreet is dancing, you gotta dance too.” And therein lies the tale.
A strong capitalist system needs a strong regulatory scheme to avoid the excess that will naturally grow otherwise.
#2, Goofy,
Redlining was the practice where institutions would refuse to lend to certain groups simply because of their skin color or sex. The Congress declared that was illegal. Simply put, a bank may not decline to lend to a minority if they do/ or have lent to a non-minority under similar circumstances. It is to curb discrimination in Federally regulated financial institutions.
So why do the right wing nuts claim this is bad? Because of their inborn hate of minorities and the need to feel superior.
#20 – “Redlining was the practice where institutions would refuse to lend to certain groups simply because of their skin color or sex”
Wrong! Redlining was a principle used to not loan to people who could not afford the loan. This is what happens when social engineering trumps financial principles.
Additionally, for all you who foam at the mouth at the mention of Bush, here’s, yet another, nice summary of the multiple times since 2001 that the Bush administration brought up the severe problems with the GSEs, and was stopped by roadblocks put up by the numbskulls in Congress:
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/09/bush-called-for-reform-of-fannie-mae.html
Of course, why blame Congress when you can blame Bush and feel good about yourself. 😉
Now watch how the rabid attack the messenger and the medium while failing to discuss the fact the administration was blocked from enacting the very reforms they’re screaming for.
18, O’Reilly on Fox blames it on “Greedy” executives. I disagree. IMHO the driving force has been the CRA mentioned in the IBD editorial like what Mark Levin has been saying.
Mark talked about it on Sept 19th: http://marklevinshow.com/audio/
He discusses the events that lead to the present situation and who’s hand was in the cookie jar. Lots of Democrats. 🙂
19, bobbo
The Levin link is worth listening to. He discusses what you’re probably looking for (at the very least in a more entertaining way).
#21–geof==when you go out of your way to post nonsense, it makes EVERYTHING you post suspect.
red·line Listen to the pronunciation of 2redline
Pronunciation:
\ˈred-ˌlīn, -ˈlīn\
Function:
verb
Date:
1968
intransitive verb
: to withhold home-loan funds or insurance from neighborhoods considered poor economic risks transitive verb : to discriminate against in housing or insurance
The point of redlining is that banks would identify an area of town (ie==black and/or poor) and not give loans in that area EVEN TO QUALIFIED BUYERS.
Why do you try to hide an objective fact that hardly affects anything else except in your fevered fetid matrix of equivalencies?
#23–guyver==I have clicked and it won’t load. My router is a POS. I listen when I can.
I like looking at root causes and what not. I think going back to 1966 is too early. Why not blame mothers giving breast milk?
And just a thought: stop the partisan hackery. Both parties suck. Congress’ approval is below Bushes.
Whatever anyone thinks one party did, the other party failed to correct.
Votes ALL incumbents out of office. Its the only way to send a message.
#21 – Jeffie
>>Wrong! Redlining was a principle used to not loan to
>>people who could not afford the loan.
To quote you – “Wrong!”
That’s probably what Loofah Pad O’Reilly and Anal Cyst Limbaugh are telling you, but like just about everything else that spews out of their pie holes, it’s nothing but bullshit.
The term “redlining” is derived from the practice of drawin red lines (get it? red lines? redlining?) on a map to demarcate areas where banks would not invest or give mortgages.
Has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not the applicant can afford the loan.
Sheesh. You gotta get out more, and stop filling your head with that right wingnut garbage.
25, bobbo
I don’t have a problem with stopping the partisan hackery.
Both parties have been involved in this mess. That being said, one side has taken the lion’s share (although well intentioned) in this particular case.
I think blaming “greedy” executives is misplaced and is nothing more than Congress playing the CYA game.
#23 – MacGuyver
That link is to a page with many MANY other links. I hope you don’t think I’m going to spend all day listening to a guy who is described by Wiki-whatever thus:
“For many years he was a frequent contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, where Limbaugh referred to him on-air as “F. Lee Levin,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to the famous defense attorney F. Lee Bailey. He was also a contributor to The Sean Hannity Show”.
The references to Anal Cyst and Sean “I’m a Douche Bag” Hannity are enough to turn away even the moderately intelligent listener.
Was there a particular episode we should be listening to, or just go through all these one by one?
Sep 23, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 22, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 19, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 18, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 17, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 16, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 15, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 12, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 11, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 10, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 9, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 8, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 5, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 4, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 3, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 2, 2008: Stream | Download
Sep 1, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 29, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 28, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 27, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 26, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 25, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 22, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 21, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 20, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 19, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 18, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 15, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 14, 2008: Stream | Download
Aug 13, 2008: Stream | Download
May 8, 2008: Stream | Download
May 7, 2008: Stream | Download
May 6, 2008: Stream | Download
May 5, 2008: Stream | Download
May 2, 2008: Stream | Download
May 1, 2008: Stream | Download
April 30, 2008: Stream | Download
April 29, 2008: Stream | Download
April 28, 2008: Stream | Download
April 25, 2008: Stream | Download
April 24, 2008: Stream | Download
April 23, 2008: Stream | Download
April 22, 2008: Stream | Download
April 21, 2008: Stream | Download
April 18, 2008: Stream | Download
April 17, 2008: Stream | Download
April 16, 2008: Stream | Download
April 15, 2008: Stream | Download
April 14, 2008: Stream | Download
April 11, 2008: Stream | Download
April 10, 2008: Stream | Download
April 9, 2008: Stream | Download
April 8, 2008: Stream | Download
April 7, 2008: Stream | Download
April 4, 2008: Stream | Download
April 3, 2008: Stream | Download
April 2, 2008: Stream | Download
April 1, 2008: Stream | Download
March 31, 2008: Stream | Download
March 28, 2008: Stream | Download
March 27, 2008: Stream | Download
#26 Actually ,redlining had to do with geographic areas. At one point red lines where actually drawn on maps to indicate where NOT to make loans due to high default rates. The insurance industry then picked up on this by redlining do to loss ratios.
In CA the legislature prohibited redlining in the ins. industry with the result being higher loss rates and higher premiums for those living in lower risk areas.
#27–mcguyver==ok, you want to stick on partisan. Thats ok lets just identify the sandbox we are playing in and what likely turds will be beneath the sand.
In partisan analysis, it mostly comes down to how you define causation. Is it what remotely stated the ball 40 years ago (dems) or the last clear chance to avoid it/last clear action that was the immediate cause (pubs) or is it the background static that is always present (greedy capitalist pigs).
Go for it. Be Partisan.