Lehman Documents Show Wall Street Arrogance Led To Financial Collapse

[Lakhota]

AlterNet? Oh please.... I suggest you investigate sources that do not have a political agenda, preferably those that provide a balanced, honest assessment of the downturn.

What sources would you recommend? The Alternet article has some good supporting source links, as does the OP article.

I would recommend reading books, by international, non-partisan economists. It's harder than being spoon fed bullshit, but... in the long run... you'll have a far better understanding of the actual issues.

There is some exceptionally good economic research about the global downturn... I have yet to find one that blames Bush... but these are rational economists, not partisan hacks and drooling fools.

I offer the following for your consideration as referenced in the OP link:

Index of Pre-Collapse Lehman Brothers Documents

 

[whitehall]

Wall Street was the victim. The arrogance of the democrat dominated congress caused the sub-prime lending system to collapse. Democrats forced banks to make bad loans or face civil rights litigation but Fannie Mae would make sure the loans were covered. Meanwhile Fannie Mae was a home for political hacks like Frank Raines who cooked the books to show a fake profit and walked away with 90 Million for three years work as CEO. Now he is Obama's financial adviser. Democrat congress(person) Barney Frank was chairman of the powerful House finance committee that had oversight responsibility for Fannie Mae and he looked Americans in the eye and said Fannie was solvent while it was on the verge of collapse. Lehman was blindsided by the biggest October surprise in history when democrats sat on the economic collapse and blamed it on Bush.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Wall Street was the victim. The arrogance of the democrat dominated congress caused the sub-prime lending system to collapse. Democrats forced banks to make bad loans or face civil rights litigation but Fannie Mae would make sure the loans were covered. Meanwhile Fannie Mae was a home for political hacks like Frank Raines who cooked the books to show a fake profit and walked away with 90 Million for three years work as CEO. Now he is Obama's financial adviser. Democrat congress(person) Barney Frank was chairman of the powerful House finance committee that had oversight responsibility for Fannie Mae and he looked Americans in the eye and said Fannie was solvent while it was on the verge of collapse. Lehman was blindsided by the biggest October surprise in history when democrats sat on the economic collapse and blamed it on Bush.

yes and on top of all that the Federal Reserve's liberal monetary policy was designed to flood the market with mortgage money to boost the housing industry and so the entire economy.

If liberals had not interfered with the free market there would have been no crisis.

 

[Mr. Jones]

It's not exactly logical though, is it? Really.... it just isn't. No one thing, or one industry, or one party, or one person 'led' the the financial collapse.

It was many factors but those in control, who did not heed the warnings, and who went against, and lobbied for, and succeeded in repealing the protections that were in place since the 30's, and who promoted those who participated in all of the above, would be a good place to start in doling out punishments, fines and prison sentences in order to at least show that there has to be some accountability to resurrect trust and confidence in the American economy.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

It was many factors but those in control, who did not heed the warnings, and who went against, and lobbied for, and succeeded in repealing the protections that were in place since the 30's,.

what protections exactly??? The fool liberal forgot to say. You are imagining this. When Clinton repealed Glass Steagall he thought doing so protected Americans more, not less. Why on earth do you think he did it??

You have perfect hindsight like all silly liberals

THe ultimate solution is always the free market because then everyone has to be alert to fraud and not assume the government has made the world safe for them. Capitialism is the ultimate protection

 

[Mr. Jones]

It was many factors but those in control, who did not heed the warnings, and who went against, and lobbied for, and succeeded in repealing the protections that were in place since the 30's,.

what protections exactly??? The fool liberal forgot to say. You are imagining this. When Clinton repealed Glass Steagall he thought doing so protected Americans more, not less. Why on earth do you think he did it??

You have perfect hindsight like all silly liberals

THe ultimate solution is always the free market because then everyone has to be alert to fraud and not assume the government has made the world safe for them. Capitialism is the ultimate protection

Sounds like your the fool, that needs to learn a little more about what happened. The government sure made the world safe for the banks and investment houses. You seem to not have a problem with that,..
Glass Steagall enforced the separation of commercial and investment banking in order to protect depositors from the hazards of risky investment and speculation. Just like what happened in '08. Liberals were all mostly for the repeal, and many now are on President Obama's staff, and so were conservatives that are advising Romney.
Both "party's".. Which is my point, and fools like you insist on pointing fingers as though "your side" had little to share in the blame silly partisan idiot...

According to Wikipedia, many economists "have criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 sub prime mortgage financial crisis. The repeal enabled commercial lenders such as Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by assets, to underwrite and trade instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations and establish so-called structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that bought those securities.
Historically in the business of mortgages and credit cards, banks now would sell insurance and stock.

Of course this paved the way for the bogus sub prime mortgages and predator lending that contributed to the housing market crash.
It was, the 45 trillion dollar credit-default swap market that fueled the housing boom and just as quickly, the bust, when debt obligations on derivatives came due and banks were unable to cover them.
Funny you espouse Capitalism as the solution, government is interfering with Capitalism. True capitalism would have shaken the rug and let the wall street casino gamblers fail, and jailed, instead of the bailouts that enabled the sick payments of fucking bonuses on top of it all! and like Iceland the nation would have turned around with much more confidence in the economy in its rebound, particularly if the GS act was restored entirely, and if they would have listened to and re-enlisted the services of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chair woman Sheila Bair, and former chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Brooksley Born..

Clinton and Bush Officials Should Have Listened to the Female Regulators - Bonnie Erbe (usnews.com)
Instead we have a fascist style bailout, NOT capitalism.

 

[Toro]

Wall Street was the victim. The arrogance of the democrat dominated congress caused the sub-prime lending system to collapse. Democrats forced banks to make bad loans or face civil rights litigation but Fannie Mae would make sure the loans were covered. Meanwhile Fannie Mae was a home for political hacks like Frank Raines who cooked the books to show a fake profit and walked away with 90 Million for three years work as CEO. Now he is Obama's financial adviser. Democrat congress(person) Barney Frank was chairman of the powerful House finance committee that had oversight responsibility for Fannie Mae and he looked Americans in the eye and said Fannie was solvent while it was on the verge of collapse. Lehman was blindsided by the biggest October surprise in history when democrats sat on the economic collapse and blamed it on Bush.

Wall Street was not the victim. That's nonsense.

 

[Toro]

Wall Street was the victim. The arrogance of the democrat dominated congress caused the sub-prime lending system to collapse. Democrats forced banks to make bad loans or face civil rights litigation but Fannie Mae would make sure the loans were covered. Meanwhile Fannie Mae was a home for political hacks like Frank Raines who cooked the books to show a fake profit and walked away with 90 Million for three years work as CEO. Now he is Obama's financial adviser. Democrat congress(person) Barney Frank was chairman of the powerful House finance committee that had oversight responsibility for Fannie Mae and he looked Americans in the eye and said Fannie was solvent while it was on the verge of collapse. Lehman was blindsided by the biggest October surprise in history when democrats sat on the economic collapse and blamed it on Bush.

yes and on top of all that the Federal Reserve's liberal monetary policy was designed to flood the market with mortgage money to boost the housing industry and so the entire economy.

If liberals had not interfered with the free market there would have been no crisis.

Any other bumper sticker slogans you want to add?

 

[Toro]

I beg to differ.

the Bush team refused to fully impliment the protections in the GLB act

Dghtoutvg Boooooshhh ekfheqfy r Bush hedfhef34 Republicans oufewblherf
fjhfb q hlbfhbfljhb hbjhebfq Conservatives!!
ljhewfwejhf fjkwf fuck ewf;f asshole lhewfbwe BOOOSSSHHH!!!

rofl

Now THAT'S funny.

 

[California Girl]

What sources would you recommend? The Alternet article has some good supporting source links, as does the OP article.

I would recommend reading books, by international, non-partisan economists. It's harder than being spoon fed bullshit, but... in the long run... you'll have a far better understanding of the actual issues.

There is some exceptionally good economic research about the global downturn... I have yet to find one that blames Bush... but these are rational economists, not partisan hacks and drooling fools.

I offer the following for your consideration as referenced in the OP link:

Index of Pre-Collapse Lehman Brothers Documents

The problem is that one needs to go back at least a decade - or more - to fully understand the impacts of decisions made decades ago that led us here. If you want to be really honest, look in a mirror... because every American that spent more than they could afford, that used excessive credit..... they're responsible too. That's you - (not me cuz I don't use credit cards, nor do I spend money I don't have)... but, generally, that's what Americans did for decades.

The banks - Lehmans etc - yea, they hold a significant amount of blame... but so do our politicians (both sides) and so do we. That is the reality.

We had a 'perfect storm' of bubbles bursting, fiscal irresponsibility, greed (corporate and citizenry).... a whole bunch of issues that dominoed to bring us here. Stop blaming one person, one party, or one group and be honest.

 

[mudwhistle]

Everyone knows the only people responsible for evil in the world is "The Rich". That unknown entity that exists to give Obama unending intuitive talking-points.


After watching the Obama Administration invent crisis after crisis, wedge-issue after wedge-issue, I think the microscope needs to be put on what they and their donors have been doing in the markets and in elections for the last 10 years.

It's funny how Obama seems to be always in the lead on class-warfare issues, Gay rights, race, and birth control, yet when it comes to everything else, like cutting spending or austerity, and signing away our sovereignty to the UN, Obama is a no-show. Let's attack banks and businesses again, shall we??

If anyone wonders why Obama hasn't created a single job, this BS is the reason. If it weren't for Red States doing most of the private sector job creation Obama wouldn't have a thing to brag about. Texas, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and a couple of other states created most of the jobs the last couple of years. Obama took credit for it. If the right was as insidious and vindictive as the left he wouldn't even have that.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

There is no single entity at fault for the collapse.
Neither political party or party politicians are more at fault than the other.
But people love to think otherwise.

Having said that, there are several primary factors that truly caused it:

1) Government interference in the stock market
2) Government interference in the credit industry
3) Government interference in the mortgage industry
4) Fed Reserve providing essentially free credit to large banks with no strings attached
5) Globalism
6) Consumer greed and self-centeredness
7) Consumers treating debt as income on a mass scale
8) Government and corporate corruption.

A critical note - all of these things still exist. We have learned nothing.

 

[KissMy]

Bill Clinton and many prominent democrats pushed for the killing of "Glass Steagall". Bill Clinton personally signed all the laws that deregulated Wallstreet & turned it into a gambling casino that raises prices on citizens & steals their savings.

Feb 27, 1995 TIME: CLINTON PROPOSES BANKING REFORMS - The Clinton Administration proposed sweeping changes in the nation's banking system that would permit commercial banks to sell insurance and underwrite securities. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin outlined the new proposal, which would allow banks to "affiliate" with Wall Street firms, insurance companies and other financial service providers. It would repeal several federal restrictions, including the Depression-era Glass Steagall Act, which forbids banks from underwriting securities or selling insurance.

September 25, 1998 EIR-Economics: Clinton takes the lead on new financial architecture - “Today, I have asked Secretary Robert Rubin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan to convene a major meeting of their counterparts within the next 30 days to recommend ways to adapt the international financial architecture to the 21st century,” the President said. “If you consider today’s economic difficulties, disruptions, and plain old deep personal disappointments of now tens of millions of people around the world, it is clear to me that there is now a stark challenge not only to economic freedom but, if unaddressed, a challenge that could stem the rising tide of political liberty as well,” the President warned. “For most of the last 30 years, the United States and the rest of the world has been preoccupied by inflation, for reasons that all of you here know all too well,” Clinton said. “But clearly the balance of risks has now shifted, with a full quarter of the world’s population living in countries with declining economic growth or negative economic growth.”

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0k2PmF-o5Q"]Who repealed the Glass-Steagall Act?[/ame]

Nov 13, 1999 New York Times: Clinton Signs Legislation Overhauling Banking Laws - President Clinton signed into law today a sweeping overhaul of Depression-era banking laws. The measure lifts barriers in the industry and allows banks, securities firms and insurance companies to merge and to sell each other's products.

''This legislation is truly historic,'' President Clinton told a packed audience of lawmakers and top financial regulators. ''We have done right by the American people.''

The bill repeals parts of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act and the 1956 Bank Holding Company Act to level the domestic playing field for United States financial companies and allow them to compete better in the evolving global financial marketplace.

''With this bill,'' Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers said, ''the American financial system takes a major step forward toward the 21st Century -- one that will benefit American consumers, business and the national economy.''

Time: 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis - President Clinton's tenure was characterized by economic prosperity and financial deregulation, which in many ways set the stage for the excesses of recent years. Among his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. It is the subject of heated political and scholarly debate whether any of these moves are to blame for our troubles, but they certainly played a role in creating a permissive lending environment.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs3Z2Z2WMJk"]Bill Clinton Admits "I Was Wrong"[/ame]

 

[Truthmatters]

, new rules that will finally implement the bank broker provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999.

Signed by William Jefferson Blythe Clinton.

That erased the Glass-Steagal Act which had kept Deposit Banks and Investment Banks separate.

Name a time when Barry Soetoro has EVER mentioned this? He hasn't and he won't because as you'll never admit, Bush AND Obama are owned by the same International Bankers. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan.

It's no "conspiracy theory", it's the truth.

And anyone who thinks Mitt Romney is gonna' do anything different needs his head examined.

Dear Idiot how did you miss the fact that GLBact HAD protections in it that would have prevented this whole mess?

That is why Clinton signed it, it was how the compromise was made.

Then bush AND HIS sec (SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE) did NOT impliment the Brokers rules written in the bill.

GET IT?

Now what happens when you agree to something and then the person who is by law supposed to allow the law to be implimented DOESNT


They KEPT the law from being implimented you disgruntled brained hack

 

[Truthmatters]

I beg to differ.

the Bush team refused to fully impliment the protections in the GLB act

Dghtoutvg Boooooshhh ekfheqfy r Bush hedfhef34 Republicans oufewblherf
fjhfb q hlbfhbfljhb hbjhebfq Conservatives!!
ljhewfwejhf fjkwf fuck ewf;f asshole lhewfbwe BOOOSSSHHH!!!

rofl

Now THAT'S funny.

yeah real cute.

Now tell us how any of this mess would have happened if the broker rules had been implimented?

I have seen you admitt the damage to our system before in a thread.

 

[Truthmatters]

Bill Clinton and many prominent democrats pushed for the killing of "Glass Steagall". Bill Clinton personally signed all the laws that deregulated Wallstreet & turned it into a gambling casino that raises prices on citizens & steals their savings.

Feb 27, 1995 TIME: CLINTON PROPOSES BANKING REFORMS - The Clinton Administration proposed sweeping changes in the nation's banking system that would permit commercial banks to sell insurance and underwrite securities. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin outlined the new proposal, which would allow banks to "affiliate" with Wall Street firms, insurance companies and other financial service providers. It would repeal several federal restrictions, including the Depression-era Glass Steagall Act, which forbids banks from underwriting securities or selling insurance.

September 25, 1998 EIR-Economics: Clinton takes the lead on new financial architecture - “Today, I have asked Secretary Robert Rubin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan to convene a major meeting of their counterparts within the next 30 days to recommend ways to adapt the international financial architecture to the 21st century,” the President said. “If you consider today’s economic difficulties, disruptions, and plain old deep personal disappointments of now tens of millions of people around the world, it is clear to me that there is now a stark challenge not only to economic freedom but, if unaddressed, a challenge that could stem the rising tide of political liberty as well,” the President warned. “For most of the last 30 years, the United States and the rest of the world has been preoccupied by inflation, for reasons that all of you here know all too well,” Clinton said. “But clearly the balance of risks has now shifted, with a full quarter of the world’s population living in countries with declining economic growth or negative economic growth.”

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0k2PmF-o5Q"]Who repealed the Glass-Steagall Act?[/ame]

Nov 13, 1999 New York Times: Clinton Signs Legislation Overhauling Banking Laws - President Clinton signed into law today a sweeping overhaul of Depression-era banking laws. The measure lifts barriers in the industry and allows banks, securities firms and insurance companies to merge and to sell each other's products.

''This legislation is truly historic,'' President Clinton told a packed audience of lawmakers and top financial regulators. ''We have done right by the American people.''

The bill repeals parts of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act and the 1956 Bank Holding Company Act to level the domestic playing field for United States financial companies and allow them to compete better in the evolving global financial marketplace.

''With this bill,'' Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers said, ''the American financial system takes a major step forward toward the 21st Century -- one that will benefit American consumers, business and the national economy.''

Time: 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis - President Clinton's tenure was characterized by economic prosperity and financial deregulation, which in many ways set the stage for the excesses of recent years. Among his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. It is the subject of heated political and scholarly debate whether any of these moves are to blame for our troubles, but they certainly played a role in creating a permissive lending environment.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs3Z2Z2WMJk"]Bill Clinton Admits "I Was Wrong"[/ame]

listen to Bill talk about the SEC , you will see he agrees with me

 

[Toro]

Dghtoutvg Boooooshhh ekfheqfy r Bush hedfhef34 Republicans oufewblherf
fjhfb q hlbfhbfljhb hbjhebfq Conservatives!!
ljhewfwejhf fjkwf fuck ewf;f asshole lhewfbwe BOOOSSSHHH!!!

rofl

Now THAT'S funny.

yeah real cute.

Now tell us how any of this mess would have happened if the broker rules had been implimented?

I have seen you admitt the damage to our system before in a thread.

Yes, it would still have happened but it would not have been as bad had the SEC not allowed the investment banks to lever up their balance sheets, especially given that Lehman was allowed to fail.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Bill Clinton and many prominent democrats pushed for the killing of "Glass Steagall". Bill Clinton personally signed all the laws that deregulated Wallstreet & turned it into a gambling casino that raises prices on citizens & steals their savings.

Besides Glass Steagall, it was during the Clinton administration that "the path to destruction" was laid down.
Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin are in-arguably the grand architects of the system than led to 2007. And President Clinton played several key roles himself.
Clinton was a globalist and desperately wanted the economy to improve in his first term. He was willing to sell his soul to make it happen, and essentially he did just that by allowing the deadly trio to do pretty much whatever they wanted.
The mortage debacle begin in Bush Sr.'s term when F&F were redefined and mortgage-backed securities began to take off. However during Clinton's term was when the result of this came to fruition and the mortgage bubble began to expand exponentially.

All of the Booooooosh folks like TDM don't have a clue and are to be ignored like the court jesters they are.

 

[Papageorgio]

Gee, here we go with the blame game.

You can go back 80 years and watch both parties contribute to riding bubbles until the final bubble burst in 2008.

In the mid 90's, we saw people refinancing their home at 125% of the value and it went on and on. We as a nation had overextended ourselves. Corporations, banks, the rich, the poor, the middle class, government, all could not be in debt deep enough. That is a very risky position and the house of cards tumbled.

Democrats and Republicans contributed and guess what, they government is still stupid enough to try to spend it's way out of it.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Bill Clinton and many prominent democrats pushed for the killing of "Glass Steagall". Bill Clinton personally signed all the laws that deregulated Wallstreet & turned it into a gambling casino that raises prices on citizens & steals their savings.

Besides Glass Steagall, it was during the Clinton administration that "the path to destruction" was laid down.
Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan and Robert Rubin are in-arguably the grand architects of the system than led to 2007. And President Clinton played several key roles himself.
Clinton was a globalist and desperately wanted the economy to improve in his first term. He was willing to sell his soul to make it happen, and essentially he did just that by allowing the deadly trio to do pretty much whatever they wanted.
The mortage debacle begin in Bush Sr.'s term when F&F were redefined and mortgage-backed securities began to take off. However during Clinton's term was when the result of this came to fruition and the mortgage bubble began to expand exponentially.

All of the Booooooosh folks like TDM don't have a clue and are to be ignored like the court jesters they are.

you are so proud of your perfect hindsight aren't you? What a fool you must be?

the only consistent and purposive regulation is capitalist regulation. If we had had it instead of liberal Fed. easy money, liberal Fanny/ Freddie, liberal CRA mentality there would have been no crisis.