After taking withering criticism for the Department-of-Motor-Vehicles pace of its initial efforts to keep struggling borrowers out of foreclosure, the Obama administration proudly announced last week that it had hit its goal of 500,000 trial loan modifications almost a month ahea …

1

1

What do you get when you combine the worst economic downturn since the Depression with the first black president? A surge of white racial resentment, loosely disguised as a populist revolt... Despite the sense of white grievance, though, blacks are the ones who are taking the br …

1

2

Anyone else out there find himself doubled over laughing after reading Goldman, Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein's "apology" for his bank's behavior leading up to the financial crisis? Has an act of contrition ever in history been more worthless and insincere?

1

1

Wells Fargo, Ms. Jacobson said in an interview, saw the black community as fertile ground for subprime mortgages, as working-class blacks were hungry to be a part of the nation's home-owning mania.

1

2

You have to be rich to be poor. That's what some people who have never lived below the poverty line don't understand.

4

0

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS Published: May 14, 2009

14

27

Surprise, surprise. The response to this new report by the banking lobbyist is laughable and predictable. See, the banks who are now inhaling billions to stay afloat and live the high life are really victims.

3

3

Canada envy is spreading.

2

3

This is a news story from 1999 that points the finger at the culprits of our current problems. Guess what, the same bunch of idiots are running things now.

3

1

The Global "Decession": How We Got Here

As the world goes deeper into what some economists are referring to as a "decession", the International Monetary Fund's global outlook can best be described as bleak:

27

64

The global financial system was teetering on the edge of collapse when President Bush and his economics team huddled in the Roosevelt Room of the White House for a briefing that, in the words of one participant, "scared the hell out of everybody."

17

50

The two government-sponsored mortgage giants have long maintained they were merely unwitting victims of a financial act of God. That is, while the rest of the market went crazy over subprime and "liar" loans, Fan and Fred claimed to be the grownups of the mortgage market.

4

6

The documents, which the committee has not yet released but were obtained by The Washington Post, show that Fannie and Freddie, two linchpins of the nation's mortgage market, continued to push into new, risky markets despite internal debate over whether the efforts were prudent.

8

7

This is the real "Code Red." As one banker remarked to me: "We finally found the W.M.D." They were buried in our own backyard — subprime mortgages and all the derivatives attached to them.

34

12

We are in a once in a lifetime Credit Tsunami? Maybe a Hurricane?

I watched the House of Representatives hearings a week ago Thursday in utter disbelief! I could not believe the testimony I was hearing from former Federal Reserve Chairman (1987 - 2006) Alan Greenspan. This testimony included the following statements:

2

4

Until 1991 the word 'subprime' meant something eminently desirable and worthy of aspiration. But it has suffered a surprising and unusually rapid evolution.

5

5

This article from 1999 speaks volumes.In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times.

6

9

In recent weeks, Republicans in Congress have been blaming a lot of things, besides themselves, for the subprime mortgage debacle.

1

0

'You've got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989.

1

0

If you think our current economic difficulties are all about subprime mortgages, securitization, the drying up of credit, falling house prices and the like, think again. That's not how the rest of the world sees it. Yes, all of these problems are on the list.

6

6

I'd like to apply for a loan. I hear you're in the business now. What kind of rates can I get? If it's anything like my credit card, 30%, forget it. Oh, I'm sorry 29.9%. Anyway, I hear you're good with loans for failing businesses.

0

0

Greed, selfishness, and lack of ethical behavior contributed to financial crisis. Is anyone surprised? Article by David R. Francis

4

5

WASHINGTON — With no end in sight to the turbulence in the housing and financial markets, the chairman of the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday morning that it would issue new lending rules next week to restrict exotic mortgages and high-cost loans for people with weak credit.

1

0

The NYT Editorial reads: The ongoing bailout of the financial system by the Federal Reserve underscores the extent to which financial barons socialize the costs of private bets gone bad.

1

0