"Weapons of Mass Deception" are the lies about how the housing crisis is the fault the poor minorities who got loans they couldn't afford. But let's be real: the mortgage companies didn't want to give up their racist practices and are trying to punish the regulators with shifting the blame now, when the real blame lies with them.
I got my first mortgage through the ACORN program. I am white, educated, and got no family help for my first home purchase. The ACORN program helped me get that condo and I paid that mortgage in full when I sold it four years later. Let's not blame ACORN.
When I refinanced my house six years later, the interest-only loan was practically shoved down my throat. I still said 'No'. I'm not Econo-Girl for nothing. The mortgage broker assured me "they" won't let the interest rates get too high. In the end, I got a fixed rate thirty year mortgage. But if someone wasn't as informed as me, they would have taken it, thinking it was a no-brainer.
What the free-marketers, bankers, and mortgage lenders hate to admit: they live or die based on the will of the voters. So if we say so, that's it. Jump, boy, jump. Higher.
Showing posts with label mortgage crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mortgage crisis. Show all posts
10.18.2008
10.09.2008
Capitalism Has Failed
Our capitalist economic system has failed. Recognizing this, and not willing to be the unthinking arm of tragedy, Cook County sheriff Sheriff Thomas J. Dart is no longer evicting people in foreclosed properties in Chicago.
I would like to meet anyone who says our financial system is working. But in a sense, it is. It's just that the outcome of our current capitalist system is politically unpalatable.
Sheriff Thomas J. Dart's refusal to throw people on the street acknowledges a breakdown of our system of economics and its political implications for the banks. The rhythmic chanting about the marketplace that we've been subjected to for years depends on the enforcement of those mores by society at large.
We, as a society, are no longer willing to adhere to the pure marketplace ideology. The inherent unfairness of allowing bankers and others to make up financial instruments and letting others suffer the consequences is not being tolerated.
This being America, the fancy financial whiz kids can expect to be indicted soon. That will be fun to watch.
So now, following Great Britain's lead, the United States is considering an ownership stake in these wayward banks. NOTE: We are officially Socialists when that happens.
Not that I'm against it. Obviously, we can't let these money guys stray too far from the barn. They can't keep out of trouble. For a group of people who pride themselves on thinking, the financial geniuses need a tutorial on how the world works. They'll find out. All is fine in America until you screw up. And you took capitalism with you this time.
I would like to meet anyone who says our financial system is working. But in a sense, it is. It's just that the outcome of our current capitalist system is politically unpalatable.
Sheriff Thomas J. Dart's refusal to throw people on the street acknowledges a breakdown of our system of economics and its political implications for the banks. The rhythmic chanting about the marketplace that we've been subjected to for years depends on the enforcement of those mores by society at large.
We, as a society, are no longer willing to adhere to the pure marketplace ideology. The inherent unfairness of allowing bankers and others to make up financial instruments and letting others suffer the consequences is not being tolerated.
This being America, the fancy financial whiz kids can expect to be indicted soon. That will be fun to watch.
So now, following Great Britain's lead, the United States is considering an ownership stake in these wayward banks. NOTE: We are officially Socialists when that happens.
Not that I'm against it. Obviously, we can't let these money guys stray too far from the barn. They can't keep out of trouble. For a group of people who pride themselves on thinking, the financial geniuses need a tutorial on how the world works. They'll find out. All is fine in America until you screw up. And you took capitalism with you this time.
10.04.2008
Fannie Mae Forgives Loan of Woman Who Shot Herself
The woman was ninety years old. Now you know what's going to happen. People all over America are going to shoot themselves when the sheriff comes to evict them.
What is not being taken into account is the human toll of misery resulting from the credit crisis.
And the American people were lulled into the credit lifestyle to support, falsely, the economy.
What is not being taken into account is the human toll of misery resulting from the credit crisis.
And the American people were lulled into the credit lifestyle to support, falsely, the economy.
5.06.2008
Mortgages, Defaults, Refinancing, Bankruptcy, Prison - Meltdown
Hell hath no fury like a politician looking for a scapegoat. Mortgage companies that lie, steal, and encourage others to do the same are just fine until their actions lead to economic instability. Then the FBI is sent after them.
Where was the special FBI task force when all of this lying was being done openly? Why was no one concerned then? This is not a case of sneaky documents being signed in the Cayman Islands. Mortgage companies competed for business by creating "liar loans" that required no income verification.
Now that there is political pressure from someone in Congress, the FBI springs into action. Where were they before? Why is it a crime worthy of their focus at this time, and not when the practice started to happen? And why does it take a crisis for anyone in Congress to decide there's a problem?
The financial interests of the mortgage companies put pressure on Congress such that they didn't want to see an obvious problem. Mortgage companies donate to political campaigns, after all. And they hire constituents who vote for politicians. So Congress was content to turn a blind eye towards a systemic problem.
But wait! The entire system is melting down! I might get thrown out of office! Let's get an investigation going so people associate me with vengeance instead of greed.
And that delivers us to where we are today: hunting down the mortgage lenders and giving the cowardly national leaders a pass.
Where was the special FBI task force when all of this lying was being done openly? Why was no one concerned then? This is not a case of sneaky documents being signed in the Cayman Islands. Mortgage companies competed for business by creating "liar loans" that required no income verification.
Now that there is political pressure from someone in Congress, the FBI springs into action. Where were they before? Why is it a crime worthy of their focus at this time, and not when the practice started to happen? And why does it take a crisis for anyone in Congress to decide there's a problem?
The financial interests of the mortgage companies put pressure on Congress such that they didn't want to see an obvious problem. Mortgage companies donate to political campaigns, after all. And they hire constituents who vote for politicians. So Congress was content to turn a blind eye towards a systemic problem.
But wait! The entire system is melting down! I might get thrown out of office! Let's get an investigation going so people associate me with vengeance instead of greed.
And that delivers us to where we are today: hunting down the mortgage lenders and giving the cowardly national leaders a pass.
3.23.2008
Katrina and the Housing Crisis - A Conservative Philosophy
The disasters of Federal policy seen in the handling of Hurricane Katrina and the mortgage crisis have one common origin: the faulty belief that there is no Federal role in the national affairs of the United States. It's time to admit it. There are issues that are too big to be left to one state or the short-sighted greed of our financial community to manage.
The Bush Administration's "let the state handle it" philosophy did so poorly by the residents of New Orleans that even third world survivors of a tsunami felt bad for them.
Now the stability of our nation's economy is in jeopardy because we had a Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, who believed in the same limited role of government. Coupled with a President content to experiment with state's rights at the expense of our poorest residents, and these disasters are the result.
Have we had enough of "I believe in the free market" and "I believe in state's rights" as an excuse for greed and inaction? Probably not. Because as soon as their interests are hurt, people will find a sincere big-government liberal in their souls.
The Bush Administration's "let the state handle it" philosophy did so poorly by the residents of New Orleans that even third world survivors of a tsunami felt bad for them.
Now the stability of our nation's economy is in jeopardy because we had a Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, who believed in the same limited role of government. Coupled with a President content to experiment with state's rights at the expense of our poorest residents, and these disasters are the result.
Have we had enough of "I believe in the free market" and "I believe in state's rights" as an excuse for greed and inaction? Probably not. Because as soon as their interests are hurt, people will find a sincere big-government liberal in their souls.
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