5
POPSFannie & Freddie NOT included in Obama's Financial Regulations In analyzing the mortgage crisis, economist Walter E. Williams has written: “Starting with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, that was given more teeth during the Clinton administration, Congress started intimidating banks and other financial institutions into making loans, so-called sub-prime loans, to high-risk homebuyers and businesses. “The carrot offered was that these high-risk loans would be purchased by the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Anyone with an ounce of brains would have known that this was a prescription for disaster but there was a congressional chorus of denial,” he added. “The financial collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is not a failure of the free market because lending institutions in a free market would not have taken on the high-risk loans,” said Williams. “They were forced to by the heavy hand of government.”
1
POPSH1N1: Sorry, we don't have a line item for That. Creating ways for healthful lifestyle habits to be the natural first choice for Americans is the goal of a $650 million initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, decrease obesity, and decrease smoking in U.S. communities. And then, on the same day Dr. Frieden was doing his best Oliver Twist before Congress: $120 Million for States Made Available as Part of Recovery Act Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative Now, the H1N1 is one of the more anticipated, slow-moving ‘pandemics’ in history. It hasn’t even really hit and it seems like old news. Surely, some of that $650 million in grants for ’healthy choices’ could have been used to, you know, actually keep people healthy.
10
POPSACORN's Corporate Donors Backing Off Banks and other financial institutions have given millions of dollars and other forms of support to ACORN for decades in response to boycott threats from the organization, as well as accusations of racism and other forms of discrimination in granting personal loans and mortgages. The ACORN campaigns followed passage of the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which was designed to pressure financial institutions to loosen lending standards in order to increase home ownership among poor and minority communities. Legislation strengthening CRA during the Clinton administration greatly encouraged such ACORN activities. Dissident current and former officials of ACORN claim that donations made to AHC and other affiliates are often misappropriated. “There’s no guarantee that any donations are going where they are supposed to be going,” said Ron Sykes, treasurer of the Washington D.C. ACORN and a member of the ACORN 8.
3
POPSAmerican Socialism & Chinese Capitalism
We have urged China to join us in our quixotic attempt to prevent global warming. She has refused, arguing that her per capita consumption of energy is the lowest of any industrial country. Except for the leftist economists, economics tells us that we should let the prices of different energy sources determine when a new source is ready for development. No subsidy would be required if we let the market make the decision. Totalitarian China accepts this approach; free market U.S. takes the Soviet prescription. American firms are currently not investing in the United States. Net non-residential investment is barely enough to replace capital that is wearing out. Instead, billions have been wasted by corporate managers who have been engaging in such foolishness as buying back corporate stock. All this does is increase share prices that will supposedly justify management bonuses when earnings stagnate. Even banks did this throughout the run-up to the financial crisis, . . . . .
5
POPSOn the Fed. and Screwing the Real Economy If you understand that large scale influxes of artificial wealth inflates the bubble that is harmful to us all, you cannot deny that the Community Reinvestment Act put on steroids accomplishes the same results. Additionally, how is it not clear that continued massive intervention into the healing process will only screw it up worse. Especially if they are attempting to maintain levels of unearned property ownership that caused the crisis. You are only worse off when you punish the sector that could return to wealth creation which would bring opportunity to us all. I notice that the more one HONESTLY tries to understand the economics behind all this, the more you have to realize the ultimate anti-capitalistic world Obama and his handlers are striving to put into place. Then recognizing the tactics of strong-arming, propaganda, and suppression it all falls into place.
4
POPSBlv.it or Not! STILL PressuringCommunityBanks to make risky loans. Aw hell. Since it's mandated, we better make the risk acceptable; bundle the risky ones with the more secure and sell them up to Fannie & Freddie; and then other institutions will have to get in on it in order to get a share of the market (only reasonable) , and now there's real money in this, and Congress not only supports it they get downright pissy and stomp their feet if anyone tries to question the process, and they know that when it breaks down they already have picked out their targets for blame, so we better start selling insurance products on these things cause some will go bad but the Congressmen taking money from, I mean "running" FannieMae tell us it's all good so we aren't too worried about carrying enough capital on hand to meet normal insrnce. levels and there's so much $ being made we've ignited the lobe that kicks greed into the driver's seat and who-the-hell cares anymore....and WHAT?
0
POPSCNBC on camera meltdown over Obamanomics I wouldn't call them losers, but other than that I agree. We shouldn't be bailing anyone out. There is nothing wrong with renting until you can meet the banks requirements for the loan.
3
POPSReverse Redlining So sued if you don't, sued if you do. Why not just eliminate the middle men and hand out cash to anybody who is in the approved victim classes and who wants it? Hey - get your free houses here.
2
POPSThe Health Care Bailout of 2018 Instead of universal health care, we need free market reforms that reduce costs, reward individual responsibility, and respect individual rights. Some examples include eliminating mandatory insurance benefits, repealing laws that forbid purchasing health insurance across state lines, and allowing individuals to use Health Savings Accounts for routine expenses and to purchase low cost, catastrophic-only insurance for major expenses.
0
POPSBetter, Not Just More, Regulation A lot of people are framing this current mess as "we had too little regulation, now we need more." I tend to think this misses the point. Sarbanes-Oxley was passed six years ago. That's more regulation. Had Sarbanes-Oxley been just beefed up would it have stopped the crisis? Along with this professor, I worry that the discussion about regulation is going to focus on the size of regulation, rather than its quality.
0
POPSScapegoat for Meltdown is Easy to Hand That's nice ... lend to all ... some will default ... rake in bonus for salesmanship ... never mind the defaulters ... they are in for foreclosure anyway ... not my problem ... govt will look after.
2
POPSAFFORDABLE HOUSING BLAMED FOR CRISIS The facts as they represent themselves are very different. More spin and propaganda convulsions by conservatives to put the blame on democrats. Not that they don't have to take their share of responsibility.
5
POPSSprouting from an Acorn Editorial writers from Little Rock to Buffalo condemned ACORN's action as an affront to both civility and freedom of speech. Editorialists also pointed out that the "spending cuts" the protesters railed against were imaginary - Gingrich proposed merely to slow the growth in some welfare programs and turn control back to the states. Yet ACORN had only just begun. Two days later, 50 to 100 of the same protesters hit their main target - a House Banking subcommittee considering changes to the Community Reinvestment Act, a law that allows groups like ACORN to force banks into making high-risk loans to low-credit customers. The CRA's ostensible purpose is to prevent banks from discriminating against minorities. But Rep. Marge Roukema (R-NJ), who chaired the subcommittee, was worried that charges of discrimination had become an excuse for lowering credit standards. She warned that new, Democrat-proposed CRA regulations could amount to an illegal quota system.
4
POPSBarney is shameless So now Republicans hate black people and poor people? You helped cause this mess- you and your boyfriends- and now you divert the blame by calling others racist and anti-poor? This guy needs to get ran out of town on a rail.
3
POPS Thomas Sowell Opines --- Do Facts Matter? So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, five years ago. Yet, today, what are we hearing? That it was the Bush administration "right-wing ideology" of "de-regulation" that set the stage for the financial crisis. Do facts matter? We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn't. Is that the free market? Or do facts not matter? Then there is the question of being against the "greed" of CEOs and for "the people." Franklin Raines made $90 million while he was head of Fannie Mae and mismanaging that institution into crisis. Who in Congress defended Franklin Raines?
7
POPSDo Facts Matter? "We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn’t. Is that the free market? Or do facts not matter?"
2
POPSfinancial crisis Democrats may finally learn the truth about their leaders in congress and Obama and his crew. Hope all their greed catches up to them. Somehow I don't think they can hoodwink the public again.
3
POPSBash the Bailout: Government is Not the Answer ......banking crisis, they make things worse. This is a long paper, but see p. 4 in particular. 10. One of the oldest forms of government intervention in the financial markets has been deposit insurance. Yet globally it destabilizes capitalism, impedes innovation and makes a bad regulatory regime worse. British economist Andrew Lilico explains how. 11. Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron puts it bluntly: “The fact that government bears such a huge responsibility for the current mess means any response should eliminate the conditions that created this situation in the first place.” 12. Government has been becoming more intrusive when it comes to lending over the years. John Berlau looks at how they want to fingerprint anyone originating a home loan. The bailout bill is now law, but it does little or nothing to solve the problems government created. As long as they persist, the financial markets will be at serious risk. In the end, we may need to bailout the bailout.
1
POPSBush Can Act Unilaterally Without Congress In order to contain the bailout and protect taxpayer dollars, companies should be able to use book accounting for assets deemed by the Treasury as “distressed” 3. Direct the Treasury Secretary to determine that capital basis can be adjusted for inflation by taxpayers. There is a body of legal thought which holds that the Treasury Department can do this by executive action. In order to free up needed capital and unlock frozen assets more easily, the Treasury should make this common sense change to tax rules. If there is a legal brief which details Treasury’s objections to capital basis indexation, it should be released for public dissemination. It’s important to note that all these actions can be done unilaterally by the Executive Branch. There are other reforms which require legislative action (note especially the House Republican Study Committee package), but the above executive steps would do much to alleviate the panic, assure markets, and protect taxpayers.
3
POPSSenator DeMint Has Outlined A Plan For Economic Growth EXPAND ENERGY EXPLORATION • Permanently Repeal Bans on Energy Exploration and Expedite Production: Expedite offshore and oil shale exploration, ensure states share in energy revenues, and prevent endless litigation from frivolous environmental lawsuits. REFORM FAILED GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS • Schedule the GSEs for Privatization: Transition Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a reasonable time period to truly private companies without special government privileges and expose them to real market competition. • Stabilize the Dollar: Repeal the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, which diverts the Federal Reserve’s attention from long-term price stability to short-term economic growth. In an effort to fuel the economy, this additional mandate has encouraged the Fed to keep rates artificially low, leading to economic booms and busts, a rise in inflation and the decline of the dollar.
6
POPSDid the Community Reinvestment Act cause the subprime meltdown? There have been many clips here arguing that the Community Reinvestment Act (legislation forcing banks to loan in areas from which they take deposits, enacted in 1977 and strengthened in 1995) caused the subprime meltdown, because banks were forced to make loans in poor areas. Robert Gordon shows that the CRA could not have been responsible for the subprime meltdown for two reasons: 1. Timing--CRA activity largely slowed down by 2002, yet sub-prime lending continued to intensify. 2. Lenders NOT covered by CRA played a huge role in sub-prime lending. "Half of sub-prime loans came from...mortgage companies beyon the reach of CRA...Most important, the lenders subject to CRA have engaged in less, not more, of the most dangerous lending...Independent mortgage companies...not covered by CRA, made high-price loans at more than twice the rate of the banks and thrifts."
2
POPSYour Average Voter Congress is to blame. Those that voted for the Community Reinvestment Act. But who does your average American voter blame, the current party that holds the presidential office.
4
POPS"Happy Days" Home Buyers Get Mortgages --- Politicians Get Reelected Democrats — and their community organizer “constituencies” — argued that it was “discriminatory” for banks to deny mortgages and business loans to people with poor collateral, poor credit, and dubious ability to repay their loans. Legislators replaced common sense with gouts of political oration about “redlining inner city communities,” “racist banking practices,” and other electioneering formulations that protected incumbency, but shoved bank solvency to the end of a bending limb. The CRA allowed legislators to bully banks into loaning money to people who simply weren’t credit-worthy. The only “collateral” they possessed was electoral: They could repay Democratic lawmakers on Election Day. Now, let’s fast-forward to 1993, when the Clinton administration further liberalized (a.k.a. “reformed”) the already anemic lending restraints of the CRA and created the President’s Community Development Bank, which “…
4
POPSProgressives (that includes Neocons) and the source of our ills "If they don't comply, they are threatened with stiff penalties under the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA, a law that forces banks to make home loans to people with poor credit risks." "The FBI is now investigating 24 large mortgage lenders for alleged abuses. But who will investigate the pols and the lobbyists and the community agitators who made the bad decisions that ultimately forced businesses to make their bad decisions?"
2
POPSThe Community Reinvestment Act and It's Defenders The first two propositions flatly contradict each other, whereas the third is unequivocally false. Fed policy — which is not even mentioned by Gordon in an article that is ostensibly about the cause of the subprime crisis — is the cause of the boom-and-bust cycle that has caused the housing bubble and its bursting. Not "market failure" but Fed policy. Gordon cites Fed bureaucrat Janet Yellen as the source of a "killer statistic" that absolves the government of all guilt: "Independent mortgage companies" which are not covered by the CRA made many more "high-priced loans" to borrowers with bad credit than did CRA-regulated banks, she says. Well, so what? Even if Yellen is correct, that does not mean that CRA-regulated loans have not caused tens of billions of dollars in defaults.
1
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update