Who are the banks now going to blame for being FORCED to write bad mortgages?

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One less obnoxious, hypocritical, partisan, power hungry parasite. Good riddance. Couple hundred more to go, now, from both parties.

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Bob

No banker ANYWHERE is or was or will be required to write any loan.

That is all the biggest scam. The Devil Made Me Do It!!!

Don't let the massive derivative gamblers fast talk you.

Just as Lu Hardin's wife did not force him to be a lunatic MegaSlots addict. Don't swallow his blame game deal either.

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Sure, everyone knows that bankers have historically gone out of their way to make loans to people who couldn't pay and would later have to default. They don't like to waste time checking on people's income, credit, etc. Bankers love to lose money on loans. That is how they make money.

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If you couldn't get a mortgage broker to offer to loan you more money than a home was worth, your phone must have been dead.

What did the banks care? They simply bundled the bad loans, called them good, sold the bundle, then shorted it so they could make money when the truth came out and the house of cards collapsed.

Turning bad loans into taxpayer-backed derivatives is WAY more profitable for a bank than making a good loan at 3%.

You are correct in that if small locally owned banks were the ones doing the mortgages and had to live by the results of the money they loaned, the bubble would not have happened. However, financial deregulation allowed the thieves of Wall Street to take over the economy and housing market.

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The US Government DID in fact require banks to make a certain percentage of loans each year. This caused banks to make bad loans.

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>>This caused banks to make bad loans<

Ha Ha Ha Hah, rolling over laughing my friggin ass OFF! CRA was around and working for 29 years, millions of 18 and 20 yr mortgages granted and paid off and suddenly Community Reinvestment Act is the culprit...you would swallow anything.

In 4 easy minutes...the housing meltdown (notice the date):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjoS8…

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Of all the ridiculous, fly-in-the-face-of-logic crap that the Bush Republicans have tried to hide their failed policies behind, this idea that the housing collapse was caused by poor folks MAKING bankers give them loans they couldn't afford is the most insane. (I wish poor folks had that much power...if they did I'd channel that power into putting Elizabeth Warren in charge of cleaning house.)

Once Wall Street figured out how to buy enough politicians to ensure financial success regardless of actual success, we were screwed. And once they figured out how to make money every time a mortgage changed hands, the housing market was screwed. But 'everyone' knows the answer is to give them more tax breaks and remove ALL regulations. (I didn't know there were any regulations governing our corporate masters, I thought Bush et al removed the handful that still existed.)

I love and respect Barney Frank; and his Republican legislative brethren aren't qualified to wipe his ass.

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Hey Republicans...please keep whining about why our corporate masters/rich folks need more tax breaks, less regulations...and please keep telling us why Obama's payroll tax (which benefits everyone who works for a paycheck) isn't worthy of your support and why long-term unemployment checks should end for those lazy folks who 'just need to get a job'...and please keep selling the likes of Newt. Obama will laugh his cute ass all the way BACK to the White House.

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"The US Government DID in fact require banks to make a certain percentage of loans each year. This caused banks to make bad loans."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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Maybe he won't get his own cable show, but here's hoping he becomes a paid consultant. Rachel Maddow will keep him busy.

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"The US Government DID in fact require banks to make a certain percentage of loans each year. This caused banks to make bad loans."

This wasn't a political statement by any means. Barney Frank did some good things, and some bad things, just like most politicians who stay too long.

I forget I am arguing with liberal arts people on here most of the time.

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>>I forget I am arguing with liberal arts people on here most of the time.<<

Uh Huh. You didn't have the balls to watch the video I posted did you.

P.S. what you're attempting to express is liberal arts=reality community.

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Yeh, Frank is the Poster Child for the Democrats - Somebody to look up to! Had sex with a male prostitute, (Stephen L. Gobie) and subsequently hired Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used Barney's Washington apartment for a prostitution ring. It gets better, Frank tried to help his paid lover boy, by using his House privilege in waiving 33 of Gobie's parking tickets and wrote a memo that attempted to end Gobie's probation for a prior infraction.

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"Uh Huh. You didn't have the balls to watch the video I posted did you. "

I watched Bush stumble through that six minute infomercial. Do you really think this policy all rests on Bush's administration? You can probably throw some Clinton, Bush 1, Reagan in there as well.

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"This wasn't a political statement by any means. Barney Frank did some good things, and some bad things, just like most politicians who stay too long.

I forget I am arguing with liberal arts people on here most of the time."

Don't blame us if your words don't really convey what you're trying to say. It sounded/smelled and looked like a political statement given that it's one of the favorite excuses for the Bush Presidency's collapse of WS/Housing Market...(that banks were forced to make bad loans to poor folks).

No, government did not make banks hand out BAD loans; government did remove any legal impediments to bankers bundling loans and making money EVERY TIME they changed hands. And government did remove the Glass-Steagall Act which screwed the entire banking industry.

Bottom line: IT'S THE BANKS THAT ARE THE CAUSE OF 98 PERCENT OF THE MORTGAGE MARKET. People, even people with horrible money skills/poor judgement, don't have the power to make the banks DO ANYTHING.

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Did not Arkansas Panic.

No bank was told by gov't to write any loan without checking the ability of the borrower to repay.

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I see "Orville" has been reading National Enquirer, again.

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If only Rupert Murdoch's sins were trying to squash parking tickets!

I hate to see old Barney go. He proved that gay people aren't sissies. He batted down every wingnut that got in his face. He makes sense every time he opens his mouth. He votes the right way damn near every time and America is better off because Barney Frank was in our Congress.

If all 6 of Arkansas's representatives to Congress were gay and had 1/16th the intelligence and convictions of even one of Barney's large testicles, Arkansas might amount to something someday.

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>>Do you really think this policy all rests on Bush's administration? <<

I'm assuming you meant "this policy" as the policy George W. Bush laid out in the
video link I posted.

Yes, I do think that Bush and the Republicans by doling out $468 BILLION to used as "down payments" for "low income" homeowners played the major role in bringing on the housing crash.

"After all, how can people buy a home if they don't have a down payment?"

"Spread the dream"..."make it shine in ALL neighborhoods".. "make it more FULL." Yes, that was your ex-hero in Chief.

For years Republicans claimed that government doesn't work then they get elected and prove it.

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Panic

I am not a liberal arts grad.

My degrees are Marketing/Finance and then additional math/eng.

I was a securities trader in the 80's (bond daddy selling corporate, munis, and agency bonds-such as FNMA ) but let my SEC licenses expire then went back to school for the math/eng classes and have been in manufacturing and management ever since.

If you wish to keep from being duped I suggest you read "The Short" by Lewis. He is the same guy that predicted the S&L colapse back in the 80's with his first best seller.

I have a copy of "The Short" that I would gladly send you if you would read it. I am a numbers/eng type guy but Lewis writes well so that it is readable by non-CPA readers.

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Besides all that DBI, he was the funniest, by intention, member of Congress. Many of them are hilarious but not because they are trying to be. I saw representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee on "Up with Chris Hayes" and he's pretty funny, too. Maybe he will assume Barney's mantle.

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BANKS....cartoon

http://allhatnocattle.net/blog7/wp-content…

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Looks like Occupy LA and that Kansas teen are hanging tough. Good on both of them!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/28/o…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/27/e…

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Glad Barney gave 'em he'll and told it like it is!

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Elwood, you are such a dumbass! I know the truth hurts, but its true about your buddy Barney. Well documented in hearings, etc.

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I applaud Barney for telling it like is regarding the House Republicans all either acting like Michelle 'Bat Shit Crazy' Bachmann or being scared shitless that they might lose their re-election bid to someone just as Bat Shit Crazy as Michelle Bachmann.

'Tis what happens when you let the Fundies enter the house of Government - thanks to the GOT Party these Lunatics now have a seat at the Table.

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I hate to see him go, because we are losing someone with 32 years of experience, and a person who knows the legislative process inside-out. He has done so much to improve the lot of most Americans. He is courageous enough to let everyone know who he is really is and win the approval of the electorate by doing so. He is smart, he is funny, he is tough. Fortunately, his district probably will elect a Democrat to succeed him.

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So glad to know BF will not be running ! Thank you Lord!

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Citizen1, a slight correction. Michael Lewis' book is titled "The Big Short". His newest is entitled "Boomerang", which focuses on how Ireland, Greece, Iceland, and finally California got into their respective messes. Plenty of stupidity from business (particularly money center banks), and government (all parties, not just progressive or conservative ones). These are complicated problems with multiple "causes". Those attempting to ascribe the problems a single cause, person or party do not advance the discussion.

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