Ironic that you tell others to "read the bill," but admit your opinion is based upon "what you've heard."

Saying the government caused the crisis is like saying a faulty valve was the only reason for the oil disaster in the gulf. Yes, both are a catalyst that play a part. But the government is merely one player in a sea of oil spills. Meaning, that if not for BP, the other companies, greed, bad regulation, bad safety standards, and yes, a faulty valve, THEN the disaster doesn't happen.

Similarly, if not for greed, corruption, lobbyists, bad regulation, etc... this banking bill wouldn't need to exist. But since all those thing DO exist, to sit back and do nothing is merely adding to the list of things that are wrong with the situation.

You must live on another planet. Regulation was gutted by the Republicans for eight years. Regulators were told that if they enforced the laws on the books, they would lose their jobs. The Big Banks and The Wall Street Investment houses did as they pleased for eight years until the whole house of cards came crashing down. Regulation works when it is allowed to work. That is the American tradition, dating back to Teddy Roosevelt and the first anti-trust laws.

The government caused all this mess???????

You think maybe $600,000,000,000,0000 in bets might have had something to do with it?

I knew Congress was owned by the banks but THIS is ridiculous!

I think you are quoting major Republican talking points more than anything here and I feel from your comments you have not read the law either. Anyone who thinks government was the sole cause of the financial melt down is badly misinformed and out of touch with reality. Greed in the banking and financial sector was the real culprit here, they were the ones pushing for even more deregulation than they got and look what they did with it. It wasn't the government that went running to the banks for a handout because they messed up and were going bankrupt, it was the banks who came running to the American public for the hand out and dire predictions if they did not get their way. What should have happened is all the banks should have been told, 'sorry you created the mess now die with hit and then allowed all of them to go bankrupt then the problem would have been fixed because they would have seen there was no public bail out of their over speculation.

We know Fannie/Freddie were at the very core of this meltdown, yet they are given exempted status from these new regulations? Talk about selective punishment and rewarding the new politburo...this is ridiculous!

We need to get to the bottom of the whole Fannie/Freddie thing. The Dems in Congress and the Obama administration exempting Fannie/Freddie from these new regulations is nothing more than pure political cover and does nothing to answer the questions surrounding the two GSEs. The question is why are these two entities getting SO MUCH cover from the Dems? We need to know and it will never happen with the Dems in charge. This is why it is absolutely necessary to change the balance of power in the House and Senate in 2010.

Fannie and Freddie, and Community Reinvestment Act caused overinflationof Housing prices and increased demand by putting people into houses they couldn't afford (all under the guise of "compassion" as a tool for re-election). If you were involved in Banks and wanted to grow, (kinda important) you responded to the Government dictate and made loans you would not have if you based your decisions on business principles.

Don in Iowa, most of the banks did not want the money because it made them look like they were in bad shaped when they weren't. Yet they were forced to take the money by the government. So, no, a vast majority did not come with their hands out. Please educate yourself on this.

I do agree with you on one thing though. The few that were really in bad shape should have been allowed to fail. All this country seems to do now is reward bad behavior from the banks that made the loans, to the states who overspend, to the home buyers who bought more than they could afford, to the...

Excuse me?

Mike in SA The banks only decided they did not want the money when they found out the government wanted to stop their ludicrous bonuses and outlandiesh salaries then they back pedaled like crazy trying to distance themselves from any money at all but before that they all had their hands out and thier pockets open, they wanted all the taxpayer money they could get their hands on but they didn't want anyone to tell them they could not take it to Vegas and keep up the stupid crap they were doing, they wanted taxpayer money with no strings.

The government caused this mess?! Bull!!!

I don't understand you people, I really don't - what on Earth do Wall Street and other financial institutions have to do before you're willing to hold them accountable for anything?

I have never seen such delusion on a mass scale - were you people even present in 2008?! It has been well documented that Wall Street derivatives and ARMs caused this mess but, unbeliveably, you people keep making excuses for the risky, selfish and yes greedy behaviour of these institutions and any attempt to hold these "people" (and I use this term loosely) accountable for their actions you people go "oh my god!, they want to hold a corporation accountable for its harms against society, that's socialism!"

I don't know how you people were raised but I was raised to believe that greed & selfishness are a sin. That wrongdoers should be punished and that people are responsible for their own messes. I also learned that people will always, always abuse their position for their own personal gain & exploit others unless others are there to keep them honest - its one of our flaws as a species.

Apparently you people believe that businesses should operate entirely free of government control and oversight - how on Earth are you so naivee!?! Do you honestly think that if government wasn't there to ensure that businesses didn't have to comply with basic standards regarding safety precuations, financial operations, environmental protection, basic wages and benefits, etc. that they actually would? Give me a break!

If they didn't have to comply with these standards, why on Earth would they?! Out of the goodness of their hearts?! HA! Do you really want to return to the dark days of the industrial revolution, where employers ruled over their employees like gods? No minimum wage, no safe work places, no basic health benefits, no quality control of products, no hold on risky practices that place society at risk, more environmental disasters, etc. If that's what you people want, then why don't you go to Somalia or some other backwards third world nation, you might like it there, government will leave you completely unmolested.

The right often accuses the left of being hopelessly naive but if you people can't see what's right in your face than frankly, there's no hope for you. You're just a tool of your corporate masters.

You haven't read it but want others to? The banks did create this crisis! It was all the bad loans with not enough money to back them all up!

Don in Iowa, there are several documented cases of the Treasury effectively forcing banks to take the money. This is just a sample: http://www.businessinsider.com/uncovered-tarp-docs-reveal-how-paulson-forced-banks-to-take-the-cash-2009-5

This article deals specifically with Wells and JPMorgan: http://seekingalpha.com/article/117285-cramer-s-mad-money-two-banks-that-don-t-need-tarp-funds-1-28-09

This was from the very outset of the TARP, well before any legislation was passed regarding pay restrictions, etc.

In response to the truly greedy...

That's right, blame the Republicans for the eight years of screw-up's while that dumbo Bush was in the Whitehouse. But, all you greedy Democrats (wanting nothing but to live on the backs of the middle & upper class) forget that the Democrats owned and controlled Congress for more than the past six! It is DEMOCRAT regulation (NOT republican regulation) that got us where we are today; and, all we are getting by those same vermin (now with the Whitehouse also controlled by democrats) is the same at 100 times the accelerated pace!

Good bye freedom, good bye liberty, good bye property. Turn your pockets inside-out; for, the reward for working harder than your neighbor is punishment -- a higher tyrannical tax burden for every dollar above the (illegitimate government) status-quo for which you labor.

And, for lack of ambition, risks and perusing your own liberty & happiness, the rest is FORCED, by its evil hand, to forgive responsibility, accountability and the repugnant receiving of other people's "confiscated" HARD-EARNED wealth. As the saying goes, look in the mirror -- "pigs don't know pigs stink!"

This bill was written by the folks who benefit the most from the status quo. One can safely predict it will be as effective in making a positive change as this posting.

InniAudi - Your on the right track, but you stopped short of the goal. The government CAUSED the issues that led to the banking crisis. The way you present it makes for a circular argument where the only solution is to take the "two wrongs make a right" stance, and we all know that does NOT work.

M.F. Lulder is (mostly) correct. They (the last twenty plus years of progressive leadership in the White House) took the steps that brought the nation to this nexus point, and now the Obama administration is working their backsides off to make certain that the nation jumps over the edge of the cliff, like good little lemmings.

Do not just get mad at the "Washington insiders", stop voting based on party lines, and start voting based on what's good for this country. The Independents and constitutionalists are our Nation's only hope!

Never forget.... "That which governs least, governs best"! Stand up....call your Congresspeople and your Senators and stop this from going through!!!

I love all the partisan politics here. I've got news for ya'll. Both parties are to blame. Both parties were perfectly fine with the lack of regulation as long as the economy was booming.

If you want true reform, the pundits in Washington will need to hold themselves responsible as well as Wall Street. They will need to stay away from the temptation to fuel a growing economy with poor market decisions and be willing to slow a growing economy with proper market restraints.

Remember, the Republicans under Bush wanted the housing market to with personal home ownership % because it made the legacy look good. The Demorcats wanted the same because it put more of their voters into homes and into an equity position. Neither party bothered with regulation, such as Gee, you ought to have a job and paycheck prior to getting a mortgage? And they didn't have the foresite to see this coming?

Time to call both parties to the carpet and tell them that every time you point the finger, 3 more are of your own are point back at you. Regulation Yes, but don't just blame the greed on Wall Street. Also blame the Ego of Washington.

The Economist magazine, the required reading of the financial class, concluded in a 2005 report that between 1979 and 2000, real income of households in the bottom fifth grew 6.4 percent while that of households in the top fifth grew 70 percent. Yet the income of the top 1 percent grew 184 percent. That top 1 percent of households held 33.4 percent of all net worth, a concentration of wealth not seen since before the Great Depression.

Fast forward to now. Nearly 35 percent of all income growth in the last 30 years has gone to the top one-tenth of the top 1 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute, while the bottom 90 percent has earned just 15.9 percent. The net effect is a long and persistent squeeze on the middle class.

So, who do you think this "top one-tenth of the top 1 percent" is? It's these bankers and the CEOs of these corporations! And they got that way because of the Republican platform policy of "deregulation" - President Reagan's theme! Deregulation: the concept that allows banking, big-oil, and corporations to operate with little to no government oversight. Are you kidding me?

Our Financial melt-down, and this current disaster in the gulf, can be directly attributed to the concept of "deregulation". Meanwhile, the rich indeed do get richer - as pointed out by the Economist magazine.

I slightly disagree with HRDawg.

The upper 1% kept thier share that they always had. The middle class shrunk because their jobs went overseas. So theirs by % shrunk. Washington helped these stats by allowing Free Trade vs. Fair Trade.

I belive that the answers lie is some sort of reasonable tariff until imports = exports. Use that money to support the social programs such as healthcare etc.

Banks, Government, whatever, so long as there are Republicans there will be greed and wherever there is greed it costs the little man (remember Leona - "only the little people pay taxes"?

For all you lib history revisionists from the NY Times 1999 (before Bush)

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

By STEVEN A. HOLMES

Published: September 30, 1999

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29— In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''

NOTE; Raines was Barney Franks Gay Lover whose policies were defended by Franks in the Senate in 2001 when the Bush Administratioin tried to get regulations reinstated that could have prevented the the economic subprime housing meltdown which began in earnist in late 2006. Less than 9 monhts after the Democrats gained control of the house and senate. By the way the Bush admin and Sen McCain tried again in 2002, 2003, 2004 but were shouted down by liberal congressmen and senators (Dodd & Franks) which decried the attempts at re-regulation as mean spirited and or racist.

Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.

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. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's. ''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry.

the commentary in subtext is mine but the article is all NY Times before Bush was elected so please QUIT BLAMING BUSH! FOR THE DEMS MISDEEDS. I find the items I bolded, particularly the last paragraph, VERY interesting

MTPOLITICO

Just love how lame these questions and answers are. Can't the first answer be NO - not No, "insert left wing message here"?

Awesome! This is the type of intelligent posting we need. I strive to stay focused on the facts, and I appreciate others who help bring even me back to the facts.

Is there more to the whole story than just this one article? Sure. But it's very powerful evidence that the issue at hand is much deeper than "Bush did it." That's why it's can be so frustrating and embarrassing to watch the political posturing and hearings in Washington...when they are seriously the ones that need to be grilled.

I'm being serious..not just political, or conservative, or trying to bash government here. It literally is turning into a crime. It was just mistakes before...but it now becoming an actual crime....obstruction of justice that there is not an internal investigation going on.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the single biggest linchpin to the entire economic collapse. The fact that congressional leaders have deliberately tabled Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac until 2011...after the elections...I think says pretty much all you need to know about how dirty this whole thing really is.

That aside, securitizing these mortgages is the definitely the second big issue here...because of privacy issues. An investor can't look at how an individual homeowner is handling their budget or even if they actually have any income. Owning any other security gives an investor the right to walk into the company's headquarters and request their books, their budgets, their cash flows. You just can't do that with an individual homeowner. So, it makes it incredibly difficult to accurately evaluate these type of securities.

Another nutcake who thinks every attempt to establish reason in the midst of chaos is somehow "socialist". Regulation began in the United States with the anti-trust laws enacted under prodding from Teddy Roosevelt, but not enough was done and we got Hoover and more "freedom" from regulation leading to the Great Depression, when regulation came back and worked well until Ronald Reagan started gutting some of the regs that had worked well. America has always worked best under regulation and it is one of the best features of American capitalism.

I agree, another right wing nut case who only spouts the same right wing rhetoric without trying to understand the real problem, which in this case is out of control greed that led to overspeculation and the push to get deregulated so they couild practice a Las Vegas style of high risk bets that in the end left them with their pants down and their hands out to the taxpayers to bail them out when they got too greedy. Loons like those in the financial sector need someone over them keeping them in line and on a tight leash. If they are going to endanger the whole country by being irresponsible then they need strict public oversight to insure their greed does not destroy us all.

Sorry Former Jarhead, as your name implies you are just another of the real nut cases here in your ignorant support of the very same loons who almost imploded the US and left us in a Depression worse than the one in the 30s, you need to quit watching FAUX News and the lame and illiterate morons who speak there, take time to really check out what is going on and youo will realize you and your kind are the real nutjobs.

Former Jarhead means they scew off the top of your head and pour in what they want you to think, why they call it Jarhead. As for if I think this recession is worse than the depression, No I do not, but I think if we had had the morons McStupid and Failin Palin in office we would be far worse off than we are and unemployment would be 40% plus and there would be no leadership whatsoever. McStupid would be wringing his hands worrying about when his next metamucil was due and Screamin Falin Palin would be screaming ouyt the windows of the WH that the Democrats screwed us over by making sure she was elected. It would be a total nightmare by now and we would be in free fall deflation with no ned in sight.

Blah blah blah... marginalize this, marginalize that. Dem talking point here, demonize there. This all becoming very borning. You know who else didn't think tyranny could happen to them? Venezuela, Cuba, Nazi German...

Don of Iowa, you could not be more wrong if you were two progressive liberal democrats!! This is insanity! The unemployment numbers you "try" to use to defend your point are an illusion. The only reason the unemployment rate isn't over twelve to thirteen percent is because the Obama administration created TEMPORARY jobs. Many of the early "stimulus" jobs will be ending soon, and the census jobs all end between now and October. Let's see what the numbers look like then! What you, and your fellow lib-dems, fail to see is that....just like your own home budget......you cannot spend money you do not have!!! The economy IS in freefall.....they are just pulling the wool over your eyes, and the goofballs on MSNBC and CNN are helping them by hiding the truth from us all.

And everyone has to keep in mind that it was not regulation that keep a good economy here. Greed was always there. Profits are a good thing. They are what is used to hire more people and pay better wages.

China's economy is booming. Our import/export ratio is pathetic. It's the jobs going overseas that is hurting us. As profits are squeezed, the greed doesn't abate. It just creates less for the middle class. Time to enact tariffs baby. Perhaps in the range of 5-15%. Use that money for healthcare and other programs. That is what it used to be used for when we had manufacturing jobs here.

I love it when you talk to a FAUX news follower, you already know that trying reasoning won't work becasuse they do NOT have an original thought in their head, they are all a bunch of Jarheads, their heads have been screwed off, their brains poured out on the gound because they don't know how to use them anyway and then the thoughts FAUX News wants them to quote are poured in and the head screwed back on. Without an original thought of their own how could you reason with them, they are just programed automatons spouting Republican tripe and BS.

Don of Iowa.

Really. Resorting to name calling. And what are you spouting? What do you bring to the table? And to a military person that goes off to a foreign country, leaving their family behind to protect us, and you?

Please stop the name bashing and bring something sensable to the table. Or stay home.

I think Don of Iowa should have stopped drinking the kool-aid after the first sip of the Demorcat's tripe. I'm not a former Marine(Ithank you for your service to out country, BTW). He just can't take off the rose-colored glasses that were given to everyone that voted for Maobama!!

Herb Gray ......

I agree with your statement. People need to go back and read some accurate American history/government books to see the details of what you stated.

We need to come together, as a country, not divide into hate groups pointing fingers at each other, like children.

Find a common ground. Agree to disagree without spreading hate

So let me get this straight, those of you who keep crying about tyranny and all that....if the government tries to tell corporations (banks, health insurers...) what to do, that is tyranny. But if the government wants to tell people (particulary woman and gays) what they can do with their own bodies, that's A-Ok, right? No tyranny there, just good moral leadership?

Give me a break!

You fauxtards don't even know what socialism means. 90% of us would be far better off under socialism, this is nothing more than corporatism at work, same as the last 30 years.

A well thought out response. Everything the government "controls" turns to crap. Sure the banks have a high greed content and did contribute to our financial crisis but the governments control and oversight of Freddie and Fannie and the push for "everyone should have a home" is as big a contributor to the meltdown as any other issue including the banks and brokerages overvaluing their derivatives. Obamas continued push for the expansion of Fannie and Freddie loans (up to 400 billion by 2012) is irresponsible. Vote all these knuckleheads out including Obama.

Those guys weren't in charge when it hit the fan. They started in the majority in 06 and this mess was already in deep dodo by then.

The real morons responsible for this mess was the illinformed and misguided Republicans who for the last 8 years have answered in lock step to the lobbyists of the financial sector to deregulate everything they could so the financial sector could run themselves like Las Vegas and we see where that got us. If it had not been for the Government bail out we would be in a Depression far worse than what happened in the 30s and unemployment would be at 45% instead of 10.

Once again Don of Iowa, you are short sighted and have bought their lies hook, line, and sinker. The Republicans alone did not do this! Progressive Republicans and Progressive Democrats both.....since Ronald Reagan left office.....have set this up. It took a long time to get the government to this point, to get the economy to this point......anybody that thinks that the GOP or the Dems did this by themselves is blind to the real issues. You are not "seeing the forest for the trees".

Herb Gray ......

I agree with your statement. People need to go back and read some accurate American history/government books to see the details of what you stated.

We need to come together, as a country, not divide into hate groups pointing fingers at each other, like children.

Find a common ground. Agree to disagree without spreading hate.

Don and Herb Grey read post 1.19 and explaine to me how this is Bushes fault. And sleepless2 you appear to be somebody that would rather rewrite history rather than cite it. Those who refuse to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.

MTpolitico.... REALLY?

Did ya read any of that? Seems like the question asked has to do with ... making some changes to what was 'acceptable' IN THE PAST on Wall Street'!!!!!

Got it?

Sleepless2 you really should get some sleep. It might help you think. Got It!

MT.... you ARE empty when it comes to your political comments.... or lack of them. GOT IT???

Seems like you are looking for an argument.... keep looking cuz I will not feed your freakin need to ... criticize for the sake of attention....Waaaa! Grow up!

Oh sleepless you are so clever, Not. 1.19 presented facts not just opinions or arguments. However when presented with facts trolls like you cover your ears and make personal attacks. Personally I could care less about your baseless BS. If you would actually look at the history of the financial crisis instead of parroting your liberal heros you might not have to resort to comments like

Seems like you are looking for an argument.... keep looking cuz I will not feed your freakin needto ... criticize for the sake of attention....Waaaa! Grow up!

but intelligent dialog doesn't fit into your blind acceptance the of false blame placed on the people that were not responsible for this mess. Bushes biggest failure as president was his not responding to the idiots, Dodd and Franks when they lied in Senate hearings, and pounding their pansy asses into political obscurity. Dodd and Franks were complicit in the policies that brought our nation to the financial brink and had Bush and McCain drug those two jackasses into the light of day in 2001 we wouldn't have had the crash we had. 9/11 came along and Bush switched his priorities to trying to prevent another attack. Dodd, Franks and other opportunistic parasites of both parties took advantage of the cover provided while the country was still in shock. This allowed the worst offenders of domestic socialistic treason to continue their efforts to redistribute the wealth using liberal buzzwords like fairness and compassion to paint Rosy pictures of the scenario that pushed the economy over the edge into the abyss. Look at who were the biggest recipiants and what agenda they were pushing while raking in contributions from the worst corporate offenders. The truth hurts when you get smacked in the face and discover your rose colored glassed didn't keep you from getting your nose broke. I don't need attention. I need to see action by our incompetent government that doesn't drive the final nail in the coffin of the American economy.

If you can't see where we've been you certainly have no idea where we are going. So piss and moan about the other party all you want. But you and your ostrich buddies better pull your collective heads out of the sand and take a look at the truck that's bearing down on you, and all the rest of us, before we all get creamed by the Obama express. There is no way we can trust the authors and sponsors of the bill that was passed today. Their history paints a different picture than their gloating self love and lies. They have no conscience and could care less about true reform. Their agenda is not what they parade before the ignorant masses. Take a nap and when you wake up maybe you can make another attempt at intelligent dialog.

Do you agree that something had to be done to reign in the excessive practices of Wall Street? Or are you one of the "wealthy class" who says " I don't care one bit about how Wall Street's greed has affected the country and even the rest of the world....as long as I make my millions!"?

I hear constantly about the fact that if the government restricts how people make their wealth, that we'll never rebound from this recession, because it's the wealthy that create jobs. What actually is happening is that businesses are employing fewer people, because "it brings more money to the bottom line".....that's GREED, people!! For the wealthy, it never seems to be enough money out there. They seem to think they need to make more for themselves, instead of doing the right thing and sharing the wealth of their companies with the rank-and-file workers.

Yes, I agree that if Wall Street could police itself, we should have no need for government interference. But that's like asking the rat to not eat so much cheese!! They just can't control their lust for more money, more wealth, more...more...MORE!!

Trickle-Down Economics....what a joke!! You need ethics and morals for that theory to work, and Wall Street has none of this!

You need ethics and morals for that theory to work,

If your shopping for ethics and morals, I suggest you not shop in the government store. They are a members only shopping club.

Devils Advocate. There's a good deal of truth in what you say about greed and wall street. But what's the difference between them and our countries leadership. Our politicians (both dems & repubs) pander for their next election the minute they take office. Is Obama and his team or the idiots in congress on a higher moral level. If the government enforced the existing laws much of the greed in wall street could and would be controlled. But that won't happen because it's easier for Obama and the congress to continue to confuse the issues and scare the hell out of everyone. We're headed for a major crisis alright and it's not going to be just a financial one this time. It's time for the people to take back our country by finding capable replacements for the sefl-serving bastards that continue to suck the life out of this country. And we better do it soon.

The American public has been hurt by both Wall Street and the Government. When they began they had a few proposals that had some teeth in them but the financial sector lobbyists have seen to it that those things have been completely dismantled or so weakened as to be laughable. We have been failed by both sectors and it is because money speaks in Congress and until we can end that we are all held hostage to the greed and selfishness of the big banks and big corporate interests, the American public does not stand a chance.

Although I do not completely side with either the Reps or the Dems (although this particular Congress is as greedy as ever), it was not only the Reps who caused this housing crises - it's just not that simple people! To prove my point, please read this from the NYT (yes, the holly Times, the house of worships of the liberals). http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/11/business/new-agency-proposed-to-oversee-freddie-mac-and-fannie-mae.html?pagewanted=1

The evil Bush monster was actually trying to regulate Freddie and Fannie, while Barney Frank was against it, claiming it will hurt the poor -those are the facts, as stated in 2003. Our bias-beyond-all-recognition liberal media has since tried to effectively re-write history at every turn, and has managed to convince a good portion of the gullible masses that white is black and black is white. It is very frustrating that most people simple regurgitate what they hear on CNN or MSNBS, and do not bother to research any further.

Oh, but you get the unvarnished "truth" from Faux News, with Glenn Beck as the messiah of everything righteous and good.

Yeah, right!! I don't think there is such a thing as "truth in reporting"...all of the media is biased in one way or another.

Hey Devil - did you bother to read the article? That would require effort, whereas it's so much easier to spew the garbage being fed to you daily - you are the reason the media can and do get away with so much. And for the record, I DID NOT make a claim for what you call Faux News, Beck or any other specific news source - all I am saying is make an attempt to get facts from more than one source, research what you're reading, and don't be a wh*re to the media. And for your own sake, the article I quoted is from your own Bible, the NYT - the truth must hurt, but you'll never admit it.

Here's another article from the same source, the Times, which explains why and how Fannie and Freddie got so out of control (hint, his name was Clinton and he wanted to make housing affordable for everyone, including those who cold not afford it!). http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/30/business/fannie-mae-eases-credit-to-aid-mortgage-lending.html

A bit touchy, aren't you, K-452484? All I was trying to say is that you can't put all of your trust in ANY of the media outlets available to us. Who's to say that any of what you are reading in the NYT, or hearing on MSNBC or Faux News, or reading in your own local newspaper, is the actual "truth"? All you can do is digest the facts as they are presented, and come to your own conclusions.

It's a fact that the majority of right-wingers and tea-baggers believe that they only get the "truth" from Faux News. It's a fact that libs get their version of the "truth" from MSNBC, CNN, NYT, etc.

The real "truth" is that nobody knows, really, what's fact and what's conjecture. All of it is tainted in one way or another.

Thanks K-452484. the link you provided in post #4.8 is the article I cited in post # 1.19. Sadly there's no interest in the truth when you're distracted by a little liberal tingle running up and down your leg. While the liberals are celebrating today's "glorious" victory the country will continue the death spiral they are oblivious to. They just don't get that the hole they are digging leads to China but we'll all burn up before we get there. Next up, Cap & Trade.

EXACTLY, the financial sector has proven time and again they cannot regulate themselves because of their overriding glee of greed. The only way you can keep these clowns under control is make regualtions so tight they have to log every time they take a crap and where they did it at or otherwise they will screw the pooch again and come running to the taxpayers who they majorly screwed for another huge bail out.

Dim witted Don - Who do you think is really going to pay these new fees, the banks? Get serious. If we can't enforce the regulations we have now do you believe they will be enforced with the new legislation? How, through devine intervention - or is Obama busy making another speech blaming somebody for something. These are complicated problems that neither Democrats or Republicans have been ablr to solve and certainly this isn't going to do it. Enforce our existing laws, put the clamps on Freddie and Fannie, stop pandering to the unions and elect thoughtful people to the congress and then to the presidency in 2012.

By taxing the morons who make derivatives an dputting taxes on the earnings of derivatives which go mainly untaxed at present. The one thing we really need is nutcases like McStupid and Failin Palin so we could have 40% plus unemployment and be in free fall deflation. After the mess Shrub the Stupid and Cheney the moron with the most ignorant Republican Congress in history made we are all lucky we do not have it even worse than we do. Anyone who thinks unchecked and unregulated greed and selfishness is the answer just needs to bend over and grab their ankles, the banks and financial sector are already well warmed up and ready to give them all they deserve.

Dim Don in Iwon

You must turn off Rachal Madcow and Overbitter............they are Not reporters or Journalist....like Obama read a teleprompter and say what thaey are told to say( Probably by the same people ), and get some Real news........Your Arguments have been disproved over and over.....

If you are a paid blogger please follow the law and say so...

If only you knew not one so called journalist of the yellow kind on FAUX news is allowed to have an original thought of their own or they get fired, that is why Failin Palin is there, she never had an original thought in her life so she was immediately made SUPREME Journalist at FAUX News. They come in, are told what to think as their heads are screwed off and the crap speaking points of the failed Republican party is poured in and then their heads are screwed back an and like little puppets they go out to spew crap all over the place like Hannity the oblivious moron and Beck and Hitler praising ignorant idiot.

Take a breath Don, get rid of the campaign slogans, dump the bumper sticker talking points and chill. Your shrieking is proof positive that both sides of the political equation have mindless, thoughtless panderers to the party line. Give it a rest.

The 1950s was not meant as a commentary on social issues but on the financial sector, is like trying to compare apples to oranges.

The banks got everything they wanted! $600,000,000,000,000That's 600 TRILLION!!!!!!!!

The whole world isn't worth that!

You think they don't need regulation?

The banks need regulation but this law was not it. This law is so flawed it won't stop anything, the lobbyists for the financial sector got everything they asked for. This bill lacks teeth so badly it is in major need of a full set of dentures, there is not one tooth in the whole law. It is one of the falsest pieces of crap to come out of Congress since they passed deregulation of the financial sector under the failed moron GW Bush, the drunken president who drove the country into the ditch and got out laughing.

Who were the committee chairmen when this started? 2003 -2006?

I can't stand Dodd and Frank but they were not in the majority then.

Let's be accurate.

smcho - Any Senator, majority party or not, can propose a bill and drive it through Congress if everyone else blindly goes along with it. It WAS Dodd and Frank that pushed for Fannie and Freddie to lower their standards for loans. Anyone going against that back then would be made to look prejiduce or elitist... something no politician wants on their resume come election time!

Regulation in moderation is a GOOD thing. Everyone needs to stop sqwauking about "greed" because most of you would like to earn more than you make now, I'm sure. What you call "greed" is the same drive that grew our country. Again, regulated within reason, everything finds balance.

Problem is, the government (no political party in particular) seems to find it difficult to actually enforce regulations and laws on the books. Many of the regulations needed to prevent some of the economic problems right now already existed... they were NOT all eliminated by Reagan, Bush, etc. They just weren't enforced... by either party. Stop crying that the Dems didn't control congress until 2006. I certainly didn't see any Democratic Senator standing up in 2007 and crying foul! In fact, both GW Bush and McCain stated numerous times in the years leading up to this crisis that the current system was in trouble. Go to you tube to see the video for yourselves on the warnings.

When we can all stop thinking solely on party lines, maybe we can find some real solutions.

Sadly, so true!

seewolf right on the money! They are stealing the wealth before our eyes. The same people our ancestors left behind in Europe that enslaved them are now here ready to enslave the general population for generations to come. The Bilderberg's are the ring leaders and they have the world under their thumbs now!

Mayne, The purpose of gov't is to protect it's people not "CONTROL" them like this corrupt administration is doing. Get your fat head out of the sand and look what is happening!

Obamacare will never be realized. It is a pipe-dream that will remain just that. Why do you think they put off the meaty parts until 2014? Dems rammed a bunch of paper thru Congress, Obie signed it, they all claimed victory and yelled 'hurrah', and a few years from now, when they're all kicked back, enjoying their lifetime, full retiremenet packages and cadillac healthcare, you'll still be wondering WTF, because that kid down the street w/ diabetes (from eating too much effin' crap, by the way) will still be w/o care, and granny will still be eating dog food so she can buy her meds. What are you, the new guy? Are we talking about the same institution? - the good ol' US government?

If we had McStupid and Failin Palin we would be in a deep Depression we would not get out of for a good 20 years, we would have 40% plus unemployment and all we would hear is Failin Palin screaming about how Obama who lost the election ruined the country because she would have no one else to blame it on as McStupid walked back and forth wringing his hands trying to figure out when he was due for his next metamucil!

For the record, the brown guy and his party have been in charge or had significant control of the Senate since April of 2001, for all intensive purposes.

You can look at Tom Daschle's comments in Newsweek's "History Altering Events," if you want the facts on that.

A Democrat (Max Baucus) has been the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee 6 of the last 10 years!

Democrat (Christopher Dodd) has been in charge of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs since 2007! When did the Housing market start crashing....hmmm..... This committee has also been run by a Democrat 6 of the last 10yrs.

....and the four years they weren't in direct control the filibuster technique was used more times than the rest of United States Senate history (including the threats of filibuster).

Democrats have controlled the House of Representatives since 2006! Okay technically since January of 2007, but there is no question they had Republicans on their heels and were in charge of direction longer than that.

The president does not write legislation! The president does not make laws! Ask that you are talking about. He keeps trying, and the Supreme Court has to keep reminding him of what the constitution says.

Party politics are for the birds. Facts are facts. Let's all learn them so we don't need a nanny state to take care of us, or to blame, and we can all just deal directly with our neighbors and our local communities. Get to know your neighbor, go down the street, and help the kid who has type 1 diabetes yourself, instead of complaining on a forum that someone else isn't doing it.

Don of Iowa, where did you buy your crystal ball that says if our president was different, we'd have 40% unemployment, etc.?

Comment after comment you make on here are so party line, head-in-the-sand ignorant, that your comments are laughable. You attack others that don't back up their comments with fact by making your own guesses and estimates on what YOU think would be happening! Thinking like yours will never solve a problem... but I am guessing you have no interest in solving problems... that you just enjoy finding a place to vent. Better here than in the "real world" iI guess.

Simply put, your not in control if a simple majority cannot pass law. So your point of dems being in control is moot. Second, it took years of deregulating for this to develop, not a sudden change in "power." Those who think change (good or bad) happens in an instant are fools. Do you wake up thin one day and 150 pounds fatter overnight? Even over 1 year, I don't think so, and congress is design to work even slower than that.

How did this get to be a race issue. I don't dislike Obama because he is of color I dislike him because he is a liar and a bad president. I voted for him because I wanted to believe in what he said so as a life long middle of the road rebublican I took a giant step - and I thought McCain, who I respected, was too old and Palin was a joke. I dislike Obama because he constantly pnaders to his base at the expense of the country. I dislike Obama because he has turned out to be and empty suit who gives great speeches. Bush was an idiot who was bad for our country, Obama is very intelligent and is bad for our country. Has nothing to do with him being a "brown guy"!

WOW. history books have been rewritten so we crossed out the truth and made up fables to take thier place. I am sure a lot of people would love to know Democrats controlled Congress since 2001, it was a real eye opener for me, who would have thought, I figured when the majority was Republican in both houses they controlled the Congress, guess they are dumber than even I had thought.

I love it when a bigot who claims to not be a bigot speaks out and shows their true idiocy, don't you? Way to go Betty Boop, guess we can surely call you a bigot now can't we? Typical Repugnant!

Don...

April of 2001 is when a politician who was elected as a Republican switched alliances...Jim Jeffords. Democrats, who had already been given half of the chairmanships after the close 2000 election gained majority control of the Senate. You can read it in Tom Daschle's own words on Newsweek top historical moments. He said he said he believed it was a Great American Moment, because he and the Democrats were able to prevent Bush's policies from going through.

He became Senate majority leader at that point. So, Bush had both houses on his side for like 60days. More importantly, no legislation gets voted on until the chairperson of that committee wants it voted on. So Democrats have controlled the committees involving Banking, Finance, Housing, and Urban Development for 6 of the last 10 yrs. Yes Republicans regained control, then lost it again...but to say that anybody had complete control until this last election is erroneous.

It's true you don't really have control as long as a filibuster threat. The point is, you and numerous others have wandered around for years with the belief that Republicans have been in control of everything for the past 10 years...and its just not true. It has been gridlock. Washington failed. Bring the power back to communities and states, and let Washington simply mediate between them instead of trying to run a centrally planned economy. We aren't even set up for a centrally planned economy.

that's a bit far fetched, dontcha think? There is more to freedom than the right to trade in risky derivatives or to deny someone health insurance because they get sick.

There is the right to speak freely against an illegal war without being called un-American. There is the right to love who you love, even if they happen to be of the same sex as you. There is the freedom to chose to not have a baby, or to not say "Merry Christmas" when you work at Wal-Mart. These are the freedoms I want my daughters to have.