Comments on: Auto Industry Running On Empty

By: The Reverend

The Reverend — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:34:03 +0000

I'll defer to those who worked directly with low-income mortgages.

That in no way changes the fact that F&F and sub-prime didn't cause this problem.

And if they didn't….why do I keep reading stuff from the right that says they did? Why?

By: Da King

Da King — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:59:38 +0000

throgue,
That's exactly what I witnessed in the banking industry. The banks were making bad loans, and knew they were bad loans. There was so much pressure on them to make them that they went ahead anyway. If they didn't, they were punished by the government in a variety of ways. Then the banks used primarily Fannnie/Freddie to securitize those bad loans. It was a scheme that was destined to fail, and the majority of the government denied reality until it was too late. Barney Frank, head of the House Financial Services Committee, was saying Fannie Mae was in fine shape in June 2008. Ditto for another Financial Services Committee member Maxine Waters, who said critics of Fannie/Freddie were racists. It was all planned, and now the government acts like it had nothing to do with it.

By: throgue

throgue — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:03:05 +0000

Rev, I was a top agent in real estate for 10 yrs. I understand the process.

A personal friend of mine was in a position of authority with Freddiemac. About 3 yrs. ago she started rejecting 30% of the paper that crossed her desk because the terms were so outrageous. She was given an option. Buy them anyhow or draw your pension. She resigned and at that point became my personal hero of the year. She could easily have put in another 10 years. Since she was also one of the most politically liberal people I know, her action speaks volumes!

By: Da King

Da King — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:40:44 +0000

No, I do not agree with "my" conservative experts like Greenspan, who are trying to cover their own butts. In fact, I think Greenspan was part of the problem.

Rev says, "Secondly, it is not true…..not one bit of it…..that mortgage sellers were forced to give loans to people who couldn't possibly afford them"

I've given you all the examples I can of how the bankers were forced into making lousy loans, but you persist in denying the truth. So, I am reduced to saying this about your statement that the banks were not forced (and I worked in the banking industry for fifteen years. You didn't) – Bullcrap. Quit peddling it.

Your essential problem in looking at the financial crisis is this – you are forever attempting to exonerate Democrats and excoriate Republicans, due to your nonsensical partisan loyalty. That is dishonest, and no matter how much spin you engage in, it remains dishonest. As long as you continue to do that, you will never be more than half right.

The federal government (almost all of it), engineered the financial crisis from the beginning. Then Wall Street ran with the ball.

By: The Reverend

The Reverend — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:19:23 +0000

For the umpteenth time…..while subprime paper contributed to the problem…..conservative guru, Alan Greenspan, said that F&F and subprimes didn't create the financial meltdown. Do you agree with your own conservative experts, or not?

Secondly, it is not true…..not one bit of it…..that mortgage sellers were forced to give loans to people who couldn't possibly afford them. So far, not one example has been set forward by conservatives proving otherwise. Mortgage sellers, mortgage buyers, real estate appraisers committed systemic fraud….that's what happened.

Thirdly, the biggest foreclosure problem came from SPECULATORS. Those who thought they could "flip" a house quickly and make a killing. That's why specific regions in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California saw home prices double and triple in such a short time…..speculative bubble inflation.

What the feds are guilty of is keeping interest rates too low, too long…..deregulating the paper shuffling industry…..and standing by while a rogue president Bush told the SEC in 2004 that paper shufflers could extend their leverage rules to 30-1 from 12-1.

This….

" If a law is passed that says lenders must write loans that don't meet standard underwriting practices so that more people can buy property"

…is way off the mark.

By: Da King

Da King — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:05:11 +0000

Excellent argument, DumbRedNeck. I bet you were on the debating team in high school.

Where do you think subprime loans came from ???? The banks didn't create them. The government LEGISLATED them into existence. They were ILLEGAL prior. How about Fannie/Freddie ? The government created them too. Check the Monetary Control Act, the Community Reinvestment Act, the Community Reinvestment Act update, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, etc, etc, etc. Government is up to it's ears in this financial crisis. The ENTIRE idea to construct creative ways to give loans to unqualified persons came via government mandates.

But your HAHAHAHA argument is compelling too. You got the Reverend to agree with you.

By: throgue

throgue — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:15:11 +0000

For those of you that don't understand why the congress is at fault: If a law is passed that says lenders must write loans that don't meet standard underwriting practices so that more people can buy property
and that Freddie and Fannie will buy these loans and that if the lenders don't write these loans they will be sued in federal court, then who's at fault?

By: averagejoe5

averagejoe5 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:10:03 +0000

You guys can cover your eyes all you want but govt is the problem. Govt through legislation allowed and encouraged them to do what they did. This whole thing is their fault.

By: The Reverend

The Reverend — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:00:24 +0000

I'm with Red.

By: Dumb Red Neck

Dumb Red Neck — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:45:58 +0000

LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"Politics mixing with business is why the financial industry got so out of wack in the first place."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah that's what happened

By: Da King

Da King — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:16:08 +0000

Politics merging with business. What could possibly go wrong ?

Except for everything. Politics mixing with business is why the financial industry got so out of wack in the first place.

By: averagejoe5

averagejoe5 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:55:42 +0000

"Obama appointed GM's Chief Operating Officer as the new CEO. His first name is Fritz. Can't remember his last name. The Obamans also kicked out the CEO's of AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac when they took over."

Does anyone see a problem with this practice?

By: Da King

Da King — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:18:34 +0000

Obama appointed GM's Chief Operating Officer as the new CEO. His first name is Fritz. Can't remember his last name. The Obamans also kicked out the CEO's of AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac when they took over. It's all for show, especially so in the cases of Fannie and Freddie, whom the government was directing to act as they did. I've heard that the government wants to replace the entire GM board.

Now, Fedzilla is pushing legislation through Congress to regulate the pay of ALL employees of companies that receive government assistance.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Beyond-AIG-A-Bill-to-let-Big-Government-Set-Your-Salary-42158597.html

By: averagejoe5

averagejoe5 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:42:20 +0000

We will be seeing a lot of ACORN in the news, King. They will be protesting and the media will be covering them as the peoples voice even though they are the voice of George Soros and the liberal political machine. The scarey thing is if you ask the average America, they don't care nor do they understand what is happening or the resaon behind the protests. Another aspect of the people that Marx relied upon when grooming the people of russia for communism. Many are learning and they won't go down without a fight.

Barack Obama asks a GM CEO to leave? Is he appointing his own guy to take over? Especially since the reason they lost so much is because of govt actions that caused low consumer sentiment and the unions unwillingness to bend to make their companies competative. How long has the Big 3 been offering early retirement programs? Why? To trim their budgets and to help their employees. But instead of taking advantage of the huge favor the company wanted to give them(ie: education, thousands of dollars etc) those sheep just kept walking toward to the cliff even though the writing was on the wall. This is a mess. But Obama will get us through, praise him(church music in the background)