Senator Obama's reaction to Wall Street news (vote, security, democrat)

[Bob The Builder]

Originally Posted by NewToCA

Actually, your blame is generally inaccurate. In fact, much of the financial crisis that exists today can be traced to actions initiated under Bill Clinton, by Andrew Cuomo when he was at HUD:

Andrew Cuomo, the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history, made a series of decisions between 1997 and 2001 that gave birth to the country's current crisis. He took actions that—in combination with many other factors—helped plunge Fannie and Freddie into the subprime markets without putting in place the means to monitor their increasingly risky investments. He turned the Federal Housing Administration mortgage program into a sweetheart lender with sky-high loan ceilings and no money down, and he legalized what a federal judge has branded "kickbacks" to brokers that have fueled the sale of overpriced and unsupportable loans.

In 2000, Cuomo required a quantum leap in the number of affordable, low-to-moderate-income loans that the two mortgage banks—known collectively as Government Sponsored Enterprises—would have to buy. The GSEs don't actually sell mortgages to borrowers. They buy them from banks and mortgage companies, allowing lenders to replenish their capital and make more loans. They also purchase mortgage-backed securities, which are pools of mortgages regularly acquired by the GSEs from investment firms. The government chartered these banks to pump money into the mortgage market and, while they did it, to make a strong enough profit to attract shareholders. That created a tug-of-war between their efforts to maximize shareholder value, which drove them toward high-end mortgages, and their congressionally mandated obligation to finance loans for those who needed help. The 1992 law required HUD's secretary to make sure housing goals were being met and, every four years, set new goals for Fannie and Freddie.

While many saw this demand for increasingly "flexible" loan terms and standards as a positive step for low-income and minority families, others warned that they could have potentially dangerous consequences. Franklin Raines, the Fannie chairman and first black CEO of a Fortune 500 company, warned that Cuomo's rules were moving Fannie into risky territory: "We have not been a major presence in the subprime market," he said, "but you can bet that under these goals, we will be."


http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/541234

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Just this morning I was thinking about Raines and how much he walked off with. I did not know he had taken this position. Too bad he wasn't forceful enough to JUST SAY NO.

[WillysB]

Barack Obama is the second biggest recipient of political money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the last ten years. And he’s only been in Washington for four

[SGrey]

Originally Posted by Bob The Builder

Stan

Don't get me wrong. I sold out in 2005. I saw this coming back in 2003. The homeowner sitting at the conference table was not the smartest person in the room and those others who pulled nice fees and commissions had a fiduciary duty to protect them.

I agree with this though I don't believe it is all the fault of the companies. Both parties are at fault. The mortgage companies who lets face it, couldn't quite resist the temptation to reel in as many people as possible, and the borrowers who didn't have enough sense to either try to educate themselves before signing or to seek a second opinion on what they were about to sign. When you add in some of the bait and switch tactics that were used in the subprime area its no wonder we're in a bloody mess.

[tluv00]

Originally Posted by stan4

I get that it would have been preferable to some people to have the government policing these people better (though these same "screwed" people would be the first to get pissed if the government ever tried to tell them how to spend their money), and I understand that Bush encouraged people to follow the dream of home ownership, but I still don't get how the home buyer sitting at the desk in the bank with the papers in front of him isn't ultimately to blame for getting in over his head buying something he couldn't afford.

Encouraging people to own a home is not the same as telling them to make poor financial decisions and not read their contracts. People tell me to buy stuff all the time - it doesn't mean I listen to them.

Yes....the home owner is to blame somewhat as well. But the professional in the room.....the one who has been trained for this....the one who does this multiple times daily...the one who is getting a bonus off of this is the facilitator of these bad deals.

The owner is shown a "calculator" showing them how easy it is to afford a home. Not all costs are taken into effect when talking about debt to income yet that is the factor that lenders use to "qualify" people.

It's funny how the ones who are supposed to be professionals are getting bailed out while the ones who were "taken advantage of" are being left out in the cold. Help both or help none.

[my54ford]

Originally Posted by songgirl

I agree 100%. It was predatory lending which is causing these banks to collapse. Plain and simple.

Oh wahhhhh.... bullsheit! Untill they were pressured by the Dems to ease up on lending restrictions there weren't giving loans to all the dopes with bad credit buying 400k houses. they brought it upon themselves

[Bob The Builder]

Originally Posted by SGrey

I agree with this though I don't believe it is all the fault of the companies. Both parties are at fault. The mortgage companies who lets face it, couldn't quite resist the temptation to reel in as many people as possible, and the borrowers who didn't have enough sense to either try to educate themselves before signing or to seek a second opinion on what they were about to sign. When you add in some of the bait and switch tactics that were used in the subprime area its no wonder we're in a bloody mess.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for the second home people or the people who blew 300k and way up for a home. I do have a lot of sympathy for the family who overpaid for sub 100k houses. They have to have a roof over their heads. They were most likely far from being the smartest guy in the room. If this silly easy money did not happen, the house they bought would probably be priced far less than they paid.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by tluv00

The owner is shown a "calculator" showing them how easy it is to afford a home. Not all costs are taken into effect when talking about debt to income yet that is the factor that lenders use to "qualify" people.

It's funny how the ones who are supposed to be professionals are getting bailed out while the ones who were "taken advantage of" are being left out in the cold. Help both or help none.

You're right about the bail-out.

Maybe I don't really know what went on in those rooms, but it seems pretty straight-forward to me. You know how much money you make every month. You know what your other debts/expenditures are. You can go to a million web sites or to the library and find a calculation that will tell you how much a 30 year fixed mortgage will cost you per month.

You know that every single seller on this planet is trying to get you to buy and is not particularly concerned with your best interests (whether it's a car salesman or a mortgage broker).

Hell, I have been looking at purchasing a home lately, and every real estate agent I talk to tries to upsell me - it's how they make money. But I know my budget, my future goals, and how much I want to and can spend. I also didn't decide to buy until I had 20% to put down.

Good financial decisions and how to save and how to buy a home...these are not big financial secrets! They are common sense and there are TONS of publications to teach you this stuff. If you don't like to read, just tune in to Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey on tv.

If these homebuyers were truly cheated or lied to, throw those mortgage bastards in jail!

However, I think that this whole crisis is another symptom of the new American lifestyle of spending money you don't have on crap you don't need. And that's not the fault of the banks or the credit card companies - it's on the people who want to act like and be treated like adults but then cry "stupid" when someone pulls a fast one on them.

[SGrey]

Originally Posted by my54ford

Oh wahhhhh.... bullsheit! Untill they were pressured by the Dems to ease up on lending restrictions there weren't giving loans to all the dopes with bad credit buying 400k houses. they brought it upon themselves

As I've said, there is plenty of blame to go around. The idiots buying 400k homes have a lot on their heads right now. But so do the mortgage companies. Lets face it, greed trumped all because I certainly know that if my poor, trashy neighbors down the street came and asked me for even 200 bucks I'd say no. Doesn't matter if they might actually pay it back. I'm not stupid enough to take the chance. When you're in business the whole goal is to make money. The mortgage companies chose the seemingly quick buck over the intelligent one. Its simple math. If a person has a history of not making their payments perhaps its not the best idea to loan them money and still expect to get that money back instead of ending up in the hole.

[Bob The Builder]

I guess the point is, is Obama right to lay it on Bush?

[SGrey]

In the way of the current president always gets the blame for the ills of the country, yes. Beyond that, no. Its shortsighted and untrue. But I bet McCain will come out and say the same thing...

Then again, my spouse just called and said McCain said, this morning, that the economy is fundamentally strong despite Leahman's just declaring. Fox news then came out and said he was wrong, surprisingly enough.