Greenspan Didn't See Subprime Crisis Coming: Warning Bell Would Not Go Over Well With Congress

Former head of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, and husband of NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell, said he didn't see the subprime crisis coming. He must have been looking left.

Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell

That was in 2007. In 2009 Greenspan said he was "mystified" by the Subprime market. Once he got a clue, however, he admits he could have done something to stop the certain disaster:

While Mr. Greenspan acknowledges that he could have done something to avert the housing crisis, he contends his hands were tied.

"If we tried to suppress the expansion of the subprime market, do you think that would have gone over very well with the Congress?...When it looked as through we were dealing with a major increase in home ownership, which is of unquestioned value to this society -- would we have been able to do that? I doubt it."

Mr. Greenspan said that if he had taken steps to prevent the crisis, the outcome would have been painful.

Greenspan should have handled Congress, which demanded the Community Reinvestment Act  (CRA) providing loans to people who could not afford them. The Federal Reserve is set apart from, and is independent of, Congress. The truth is, by doing his job, Greenspan would have alienated his uber liberal wife from her progressive high-profile friends. Can you imagine NBC or MSNBC forced to report that Andrea's husband was trying to shutdown loans to minorities? What Greenspan allowed to happen to this country should have him behind bars.

While president of the Federal Reserve, Greenspan's pertinent responsibilities, and those of his successor, Ben Bernake, were the following:

...influencing monetary and credit condition in the economy to achieve maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates

...regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation's banking and financial system, and protect the credit rights of consumers

...maintain stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets

Both Greenspan and Bernanke failed miserably in their duties to the American people, and yet Bernake still heads the Feds. The outcome of the crisis has been beyond painful, especially for those who refused to pay inflated prices for their homes and refused to sign a loan they could not afford - yet find no money available to them for their own business ventures or home improvements.

Read about the Democrat agenda in the Community Reinvestment Act:
Tracking the Mess of Fannie and Freddie

Maxine Waters: Bailout Bankers Grilled

Linked by An Ol' Broad's Ramblings - Thank you sweet friend!

The Genius of Maxine Waters: Is Maxine Waters as Dumb as She Seems?

CBS asks "is Maxine Waters Really as Dumb as She Seems?

CBS? Did they really ask this? Did they really say the following? Is CBS racist? Is this a hallelujah moment?

Please watch this video of Congresswoman Maxine Waters - in it, she demonstrates that there is obviously NO intelligence requirement necessary to be named to the House Financial Services Committee.

Maxine Waters and Ben Bernake

I actually pitied Bernanke as he attempted to remind Ms. Waters the difference between the discount rate and the fed funds rate. Doesn't she have anyone on her staff who could have prepped on the material? It's not as if these are difficult concepts.

The more Waters talked, the worse it got. These are the very people who think they are better equipped to want to be entrusted with auditing the Fed. Now that's a scary concept.

H/T Hot Air

Bernake Paulson Lies: Barofsky Exposes Bernake Paulson TARP

Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky tells us what most of us already know: TARP money went to losers. According to IG Barofsky, institutions receiving money in the first round of redistribution of taxpayer's wealth, were not sound institutions and should not have qualified for the funds.

Henry Paulson

 Ben Bernake

"These are healthy institutions, and they have taken this step for the good of the economy," Paulson had declared at the time.

Barofsky said that the fact that Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. soon required billions in additional assistance highlighted the inaccuracy of that claim and raised questions about the whole effort. In addition, Merrill Lynch, which was also in the original nine, was in the process of being acquired by Bank of America because of its weakening financial position.

"Statements that are less than careful or forthright -- like those made in this case -- may ultimately undermine the public's understanding and support," the report said. "This loss of public support could damage the government's credibility and have long-term unintended consequences that actually hamper the government's ability to respond to crises."

Note that this report gives Paulson and Bernake no out. The statements were "less than careful." Secretary Paulson's announcement on television, with George Bush standing by his side in September 2008, is one of those moments I will always remember. In my kitchen, looking out over the kitchen bar to the TV, my husband and I listened and couldn't believe what we were hearing.

Anyone believing this whole thing was not contrived, is not paying attention. Usher in Barack Obama.

The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation also joined in the deception. Nevermind that the FDIC was soon claiming that they were underfunded and couldn't cover the claims coming their way.

Barofsky's report says "the government did not have the time needed to get the toxic asset program up and running," and that is why Paulson changed horses mid-stream, didn't buy up toxic assets as first planned - and just "injected capital" (gave money to the banks to enable them to lend out so that you and I could purchase a home or start a business, which didn't happen).

 Henry Paulson and Ben Bernake led the drive to bailout AIG. Paulson engineered the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddit Mac. Remember that Paulson had complete control - the last and only say about these funds. King Henry Paulson was granted unprecedented authority by Congress - historic in it's stark negating of Congress' own powers. It was Paulson who told bankers they would take the government money, whether they needed it or wanted it.

Goldman Sachs, of which Paulson is a previous CEO, benefitted from at least $12 billion of the bailed-out AIG funds.

IG Barofsky has exposed this insider-scam (that left Bush an outsider) that, in my opinion, put Barack Obama in the White House, and put the future of our grandchildren and great-great grandchildren in the trash heap of un-American history. Ben Bernake continues today as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve - an Obama nomination.

Ben Stein Booted: New York Times Boots Ben Stein Column

What in the world is the New York Times thinking? Ben Stein booted over an endorsement for a credit reporting company? So he writes a business column. There is no claim that he pitched the company in his column. Could it be his politics? See video below. Thank you to ChicagoRay.

Ben Stein

This blog is giddy that Stein is gone. "Scuzzy" it calls Stein's pitch for a free credit score. The company apparently will give you your credit score, but will not show you report without payment. So a young adult wants to buy a car, and wants to know her/his credit score before getting to government motors. They get the score from the company Stein pitched for. They can buy the credit report if they don't like the score, and attempt to repair whatever info is contained therein, or take advantage of the government requirement that gives you one free credit report and score annually from elsewhere. Really, it is a choice. If the score is good, maybe that is all that is needed. He/she takes the clunker to government motors with the full faith and confidence of knowing his/her score and having a qualified clunker to add to the deal...or not. It doesn't matter. What matters is that this young adult picked the company. If they don't want to buy the full credit report, they do not have to. What happened to choice? Stein said he has never written about the company or credit scores and did not know he had posed a conflict when he signed on to do the advertisement. No, what's going on here is Mr. Stein's tendency to lean to the right and his problem with evolution.
New York Times Boots Ben Stein Column