Monday, February 13, 2012

Get This, Folks

Even as late as 2007, just prior to the bankruptcy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Mr. Bernanke was actually suggesting FURTHER increases in the percentage of CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) loans to be purchased by Fannie and Freddie (this, in an effort to help fulfill their CRA obligations). Seriously, can somebody PLEASE explain to me why this horse's ass is still employed at the FED?......................................................................................P.S. And, no, I'm not accusing Mr. Bernanke of treason. That, my friends, is strictly Governor Perry's insanity.

15 comments:

Dervish Sanders said...

I think Bernanke can be criticized for not realizing we were in the midst of a housing bubble... so giving more loans to people so they could by over-valued assets wasn't a good idea...

...but the CRA had nothing to do with that. As I've pointed out before, the CRA simply prohibits discrimination in lending practices. The applicant still needs to be credit worthy.

Lisa said...

It's more of the democrats plan to pile on more debt,kick the can down the road and then blame Bush,Reagan and Nixon.
Oh an let's not forget to stimulate the economy with Keynesian economics.

Rusty Shackelford said...

Watch the HBO movie Too Big to Fail.You'll see just how big an idiot Bernanke is.

That crazy bastard Ron Paul is right about Bernanke.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

wd, I'm not saying that the CRI was the only (or even the major - I myself still put the fullest of the brunt on Greenspan) factor in the financial meltdown. Far, far, from it. But it apparently was A factor. This, in that the CRA (admittedly a minor player from 1977-1993) pressured the banks to make loans that they normally wouldn't have made. This occurred because of the new teeth put into the law by Clinton and the Congress which eventually constructed quotas around it (taking discretion away from the bank examiners). Hell, Janet Reno even threatened banks about lending discrimination. Granted, the lowered standards spread all the way to the prime market but this was a GOVERNMENT initiative that really got the ball rolling. Add to this the passage of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act, which established goals for financing of affordable housing and mandated that a certain % of loans purchased by Fannie and Freddie be from lower income neighborhoods and it really does start to look like pretty much everybody in government from 1993 to 2008 had it essentially ass-backwards.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Lisa, welcome aboard. I've really tried to take a bipartisan approach to this fiasco. Yes, I hammer the Democrats for being so clueless for so long on F&F but I also take to task Republicans like Greenspan who so recklessly distorted the market through his idiotic interest rate policy and reputation as a bailout guru. I'm telling ya' here, I'm getting to the mind that I'd really like to through the lot of 'em out.............Rusty, bingo and bingo.

Dervish Sanders said...

Will: ...the CRA ... pressured the banks to make loans that they normally wouldn't have made.

Sounds like a good thing to me. Unless you're Libertarian on this issue and think banks have the "right" to discriminate, I'd don't know what your issue with this is.

Will: ...the lowered standards spread all the way to the...

Lower standards? Actually I think they subjected the banks to higher anti-discrimination standards. Again, sounds like a good thing to me.

I'm not Libertarian on this issue and do not believe the banks have the right to discriminate. They should be required to give loans to all qualified applicants, regardless of the color of the applicant's skin or the "neighborhood" they live in.

btw, don't assume that because Lisa made one comment that you'll ever hear from her again. She commented on my blog, deleted her comment, and I never heard from her again... that was months ago.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Are you saying that Lisa is finicky?

Rusty Shackelford said...

I think she realized she was posting on an idiots blog,got embarrassed and deleted it.

Lisa constantly twists the tails of Sue and her chat room partners.

Dervish Sanders said...

Will: Are you saying that Lisa is finicky?

She's HARD hard Right (delusionally so). Even more Right then Rusty, I believe.

Rusty: I think she realized she was posting on an idiot's blog, got embarrassed and deleted it.

I think that explains why nobody comments on your blog Rusty. They realize the proprietor is an idiot immediately and click away ASAP.

Dervish Sanders said...

So I take it that you're opposed to the government "pressuring" banks to not discriminate? You stand with Ron and Randall Paul who think Civil Rights Legislation should never have been passed?

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

If discrimination can be proved, people should be punished for it. But if think that banks didn't feel the pressure to loan to lower income people who they normally they wouldn't have, then you're flat-out living in a fantasy world. I've personally known loan officers and the fear of the FEDs and community groups like ACORN was palpable. Couple that with the fact that the big banks and Fannie and Freddie know that they would more than likely be bailed out NO MATTER WHAT and, yeah, the government interference here was definitely a factor.............As for the 1964 Civil Right Act, I support it in its entirety and you know it. The conflating of the two of these topics by you is disgusting.

Dervish Sanders said...

Will: But if [you] think that banks didn't feel the pressure to loan to lower income people who they normally they wouldn't have, then you're flat-out living in a fantasy world.

I don't believe it. Also, I didn't do any conflating. That's what the CRA says. The purpose of it is to address redlining in the banking industry.

I think you assigning blame to the Right-wing boogeyman ACORN is evidence that you're flat-out living in a fantasy world.

dmarks said...

WD said: "Sounds like a good thing to me. Unless you're Libertarian on this issue and think banks have the "right" to discriminate, I'd don't know what your issue with this is."

Pressuring banks to make loans due to skin color is as racist as denying loans due to skin color.

That is not "pressuring banks not to discriminate"

By the way, ACORN is a leftist crime organization, not rightist.

Dervish Sanders said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dervish Sanders said...

dmarks: Pressuring banks to make loans due to skin color is as racist as denying loans due to skin color.

Then you should be happy to know that didn't happen. The CRA says banks can't discriminate. I support it. I'm perplexed as to why anyone would oppose it.

dmarks: That is not "pressuring banks not to discriminate".

That's exactly what it is. The CRA is anti-racist. Those opposing the CRA are being pro-racist, IMHO.

dmarks: By the way, ACORN is a leftist crime organization, not rightist.

I said ACORN was a Right-wing boogeyman, NOT that ACORN was affiliated with the Right. They were actually non-partisan, and also completely cleared of any wrongdoing (I've previously given you a link to the report that said this).