did republicans deliberatly crash the economy

[Truthmatters]

Did Republicans deliberately crash the US economy? | Michael Cohen | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk


Beyond McConnell's words, though, there is circumstantial evidence to make the case. Republicans have opposed a lion's share of stimulus measures that once they supported, such as a payroll tax break, which they grudgingly embraced earlier this year. Even unemployment insurance, a relatively uncontroversial tool for helping those in an economic downturn, has been consistently held up by Republicans or used as a bargaining chip for more tax cuts. Ten years ago, prominent conservatives were loudly making the case for fiscal stimulus to get the economy going; today, they treat such ideas like they're the plague.

Traditionally, during economic recessions, Republicans have been supportive of loose monetary policy. Not this time. Rather, Republicans have upbraided Ben Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve, for even considering policies that focus on growing the economy and creating jobs.

And then, there is the fact that since the original stimulus bill passed in February of 2009, Republicans have made practically no effort to draft comprehensive job creation legislation. Instead, they continue to pursue austerity policies, which reams of historical data suggest harms economic recovery and does little to create jobs. In fact, since taking control of the House of Representatives in 2011, Republicans have proposed hardly a single major jobs bill that didn't revolve, in some way, around their one-stop solution for all the nation's economic problems: more tax cuts.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Republicans fought every effort to rein in Fannie and Freddie

 

[Katzndogz]

obama crashed the economy. And, he did it deliberately.

 

[California Girl]

No.

Hope that helps.

 

[California Girl]

obama crashed the economy. And, he did it deliberately.

No, he didn't.

And no, he didn't.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Republicans fought every effort to rein in Fannie and Freddie

oh, sorry, I meant Democrats fought every effort

 

[Rshermr]

obama crashed the economy. And, he did it deliberately.

Really. Please tell us all how.

And how he did it before he took office.

 

[Rshermr]

Republicans fought every effort to rein in Fannie and Freddie

oh, sorry, I meant Democrats fought every effort

Freudian slip?

Any proof, or just more blather?

 

[California Girl]

Republicans fought every effort to rein in Fannie and Freddie

oh, sorry, I meant Democrats fought every effort

Freudian slip?

Any proof, or just more blather?

Actually, there is plenty of proof that the GOP at least tried to rein in Fannie and Freddie... unfortunately, the Dems didn't want to... according to Franks 'there was no problem' with Fannie and Freddie... of course, he was fucking an exec at Fanny Mae at the time.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Republicans fought every effort to rein in Fannie and Freddie

oh, sorry, I meant Democrats fought every effort

Freudian slip?

Any proof, or just more blather?

"These two entities—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—are not facing any kind of financial crisis," -- Barney Frank

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Traditionally, during economic recessions, Republicans have been supportive of loose monetary policy. Not this time. Rather, Republicans have upbraided Ben Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve, for even considering policies that focus on growing the economy and creating jobs.

And for purely partisan reasons. In their irrational hatred of Obama, they’re willing to allow millions of Americans to continue to suffer for some perceived political gain.

 

[itfitzme]

In the end, does it really matter if it is intent or ignorance?

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Republicans have made practically no effort to draft comprehensive job creation legislation.

OMG!!!! Too stupid!!! Republicans believe in capitalism not legislation to create real jobs. Explaining things to a liberal is exactly like talking to a child who has flunked 1st grade 3 times.


as a liberal you lack the IQ to understand capitalism so like a child believe in magical legislation.

 

[Rshermr]

Republicans have made practically no effort to draft comprehensive job creation legislation.

OMG!!!! Too stupid!!! Republicans believe in capitalism not legislation to create real jobs. Explaining things to a liberal is exactly like talking to a child who has flunked 1st grade 3 times.


as a liberal you lack the IQ to understand capitalism so like a child believe in magical legislation.

Ed, You seem to think your opinion holds some weight.

so, again ed, my boy:
What are repubs trying to do and what are the proposed acts?
When did a similar act ever work?

And ed, you should not get into a war of wits with liberals. You do not have sufficient ammunition.

 

[BakshisMouse]

I do not think that the current Republican obstructionism can be chalked up to just misguided political beliefs. I think that they are scared that a truly massive and well thought-out stimulus effort by Congress and the Federal Reserve could possibly restore productivity. If that did happen, they would lose a lot of credibility.

Of course, we'll find out how much credibility they have at the point when they have the Presidency and both houses of Congress again.

(Which by the way, may be 2012 or later. We can never be sure, so don't pretend like you know anything about future election results.)

 

[bigrebnc1775]

I predict this will be another failed thread of TM

 

[BakshisMouse]

I predict this will be another failed thread of TM

Yeah, most of them are pretty dumb. It's a shame I wasted my skills in a thread that no one takes seriously.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Republicans fought every effort to rein in Fannie and Freddie

oh, sorry, I meant Democrats fought every effort

Freudian slip?

Any proof, or just more blather?

"balther' framed in his usual idiotgram.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

oh, sorry, I meant Democrats fought every effort

Freudian slip?

Any proof, or just more blather?

"balther' framed in his usual idiotgram.

Rep. Frank: I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision]. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing. . .

Pelican Parts:
Mr. Mozilo and Fannie essentially were business partners in the subprime business. Countrywide found the customers, while Fannie provided the taxpayer-backed capital. And the rest of the industry followed.


Bloomberg 12/21/11 on SEC action:

The truth is that Fannie and Freddie engaged in far greater financial-reporting abuses, which couldn’t have happened without the government’s knowledge and cooperation.
Fannie and Freddie continued to maintain they were adequately capitalized, as did their regulator, until they were placed into conservatorship in September 2008. This farce wouldn’t have been sustainable had the two companies been forthright about their earnings and asset values.

:
WSJ/12/21/11 on SEC action against Fanny Freddie

Fanny degraded its underwriting standards to increase its market share in the sub prime loans... Fanny led private lenders into the sub prime market loans... by the mid 2000's other mortgages lenders developed other similar reduced documentation loans.....Fanny hid the risk of sub prime loans to investors... Fannie said its Alt. A exposure was 11% of its portfolio, when it was closer to 23% - a 341 billion difference...Dallavecchia told investors that Fanny's sub prime exposure was
"immaterial".... we see part of our mission to make mortgages available to people who don't have perfect credit...the Freddie record was similarly incriminating...private lenders could never have done as much harm if Fan and Fred weren't providing tens of billions in tax payer subsidized liquidity to lend on easy terms to borrowers who couldn't[t pay it back...Congress created the 2 mortgage giants as well as their affordable housing mandates.

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.): I, just briefly will say, Mr. Chairman, obviously, like most of us here, this [Fanny Freddie] is one of the great success stories of all time. And we don't want to lose sight of that and [what] has been pointed out by all of our witnesses here, obviously, the 70% of Americans who own their own homes today, in no small measure, due because of the work that's been done here. And that shouldn't be lost in this debate and discussion. . . .
Rep. Waters: However, I have sat through nearly a dozen hearings where, frankly, we were trying to fix something that wasn't broke. Housing is the economic engine of our economy, and in no community does this engine need to work more than in mine. With last week's hurricane and the drain on the economy from the war in Iraq, we should do no harm to these GSEs.[Fanny Freddie] We should be enhancing regulation, not making fundamental change.

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. Everything in the 1992 act has worked just fine. In fact, the GSEs have exceeded their housing goals. . . .

Rep. Frank: Let me ask [George] Gould and [Franklin] Raines on behalf of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, do you feel that over the past years you have been substantially under-regulated?

Mr. Raines?

Mr. Raines: No, sir.

Mr. Frank: Mr. Gould?

Mr. Gould: No, sir. . . .

Mr. Frank: OK. Then I am not entirely sure why we are here. . . .

Rep. Frank: I believe there has been more alarm raised about potential unsafety and unsoundness than, in fact, exists.

* * *
Senate Banking Committee, Oct. 16, 2003:

Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.): And my worry is that we're using the recent safety and soundness concerns, particularly with Freddie, and with a poor regulator, as a straw man to curtail Fannie and Freddie's mission. And I don't think there is any doubt that there are some in the administration who don't believe in Fannie and Freddie altogether, say let the private sector do it. That would be sort of an ideological position.

The Washington Post reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with Herb Moses, an executive for the now-government controlled Fannie Mae. The column revealed the two had split up at the time but also said Frank was referring to Moses as his “spouse.” Another Washington Post report said Frank called Moses his “lover” and that the two were “still friends” after the breakup.

Frank was and remains a stalwart defender of Fannie Mae, which is now under FBI investigation along with its sister organization Freddie Mac, American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) – all recently participants in government bailouts. But Frank has derailed efforts to regulate the institution, as well as denying it posed any financial risk. Frank’s office has been unresponsive to efforts by the Business & Media Institute to comment on these potential conflicts of interest.



While the relationship reportedly ended 10 years ago, Frank was serving on the House Banking Committee the entire 10 years they were together. The committee is the primary House body which along with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) has jurisdiction over the government-sponsored enterprises.



Just a month before, Frank had aggressively thwarted reform efforts by the Bush administration. He told The New York Times on Sept. 11, 2003, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s problems were “exaggerated,” a gross miscalculation some five years later with costs estimated to be in the hundreds of billions.


“These two entities – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” Frank said to the Times. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

. J. Bridges says:

Beginning in 1992, Congress pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase their purchases of mortgages going to low and moderate income borrowers. For 1996, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave Fannie and Freddie an explicit target -- 42% of their mortgage financing had to go to borrowers with income below the median in their area. The target increased to 50% in 2000 and 52% in 2005.

For 1996, HUD required that 12% of all mortgage purchases by Fannie and Freddie be "special affordable" loans, typically to borrowers with income less than 60% of their area's median income. That number was increased to 20% in 2000 and 22% in 2005. The 2008 goal was to be 28%. Between 2000 and 2005, Fannie and Freddie met those goals every year, funding hundreds of billions of dollars worth of loans, many of them subprime and adjustable-rate loans, and made to borrowers who bought houses with less than 10% down.
Warren Buffett: "There are significant limits to what regulation can accomplish. As a dramatic illustration, take two of the biggest accounting disasters in the past ten years: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. We're talking billions and billions of dollars of misstatements at both places".

Now, these are two incredibly important institutions. I mean, they accounted for over 40% of the mortgage flow a few years back. Right now I think they're up to 70%. They're quasi-governmental in nature. So the government set up an organization called OFHEO. I'm not sure what all the letters stand for. [Note to Warren: They stand for Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.] But if you go to OFHEO's website, you'll find that its purpose was to just watch over these two companies. OFHEO had 200 employees. Their job was simply to look at two companies and say, "Are these guys behaving like they're supposed to?" And of course what happened were two of the greatest accounting misstatements in history while these 200 people had their jobs. It's incredible. I mean, two for two!

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
By STEVEN A. HOLMES NYTIMES
Published: September 30, 1999
Sign In to E-Mail
Print
Single-Page
In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

 

[Dot Com]

yes