Dodd Frank
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The Republican presidential candidates are blaming Dodd-Frank for everything from the failure of mortgage servicers to provide loan modifications to the inability of small businesses to get credit. These arguments, of course, are specious at best and willfully misleading at worst, but they continue nonetheless.
For some of my Republican colleagues, the truth has never gotten in the way of bold pronouncements that ignore the fact that the collapse of our economy actually preceded the Dodd-Frank financial reforms by two years. For them, Dodd-Frank is their bęte noire ? the cause of all of our economic disruptions. If only someone would repeal the Dodd-Frank law, unemployment would fall to 5 percent, 401(k)s would rise in value, underwater homeowners would be able to refinance their loans and housing prices would increase to pre-2005 levels.
Now, if you got your information only from Republican talking points ? and the lobbyists that prepare them ? you?d think Dodd-Frank not only crippled our economy but also ended the financial services industry as we know it. But that couldn?t be further from the truth. According to data from the Commerce Department, the financial sector?s share of gross domestic product was about 8.4 percent last year, actually exceeding the peak hit in 2006. In contrast, in 1950, the financial sector accounted for just 2.8 percent of GDP.
Unfortunately, pointing out the truth about the state of our financial services industry leads to accusations that one is anti-bank, anti-profit, even anti-American, as if any limits on dubious forms of ?financial innovation? will cause the U.S. to fall behind the rest of the world.
We saw firsthand how unchecked, rampant speculation led to the crash of 2008. As former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said, ?unjustified faith in rational expectations, market efficiencies and the techniques of modern finance? fueled a crisis unlike any we had seen in generations.
We witnessed the destruction of more than $10 trillion in household wealth. The typical household lost nearly a quarter of its accumulated assets. Nearly 10 million jobs disappeared. Wage losses totaled more than $3,000 per household. There were 12 million expected foreclosures ? and a 30 percent peak to trough decline in home prices.
None of this is good for consumers, the economy or even the banks themselves. I happen to think that banks have a right to be profitable. But when that profitability comes at the expense of the well-being of their customers, investors, themselves and the larger economy, that?s when I believe government must intervene. That?s when we need the comprehensive financial regulations included in Dodd-Frank.
Without them sponsoring a bill in the 90's we wouldn't be in the mess. Thank you Dodd/Frank and all the other liberal bleeding hearts. We may never get out of this.
BO wants to charge the rich companies --- THis means that government will get more money, also means companied will not pay that bill, you and I will. Another smooth liberal move.
bęte noire is what Ms. Waters is.... to try to KEEP the HEAT off herself and Barney Frank and the OTHERS that have moved on UNpunished.
On November 25, 2008, following Frank?s intervention, the Treasury Department awarded $12,063,000 in bailout funds to OneUnited, which is Waters husbands BANK that he was a director in.
She didn't have ONE question about the "little people"....who had money IN OneUnited just as "Chuckie" Schumer didn't care one iota about IndyMac.
OneUnited was under attack from its regulators for poor lending practices and .....executive pay abuses including owning a Porsche for its executives' use and an ocean front massive Condo for their use.
Politicians in positions of authority today had an opportunity to prevent this fiasco when it was set up under Clinton but did nothing.
They abused their power including Waters, Barney, Dodd, "Chuckie" Schumer, Cuomo. and ALL their friends who made MILLIONS off the taxpayers and funnelled funds BACK to those politicians.
Fannie and Freddie are the creation of the Democrats and the Clinton White House, designed to make mortgages available to more people and, as it turns out, people who couldn?t afford them and they knew it.
Any bank that wanted to expand or merge with another HAD to show it complied with CRA..... or approval would be held up by complaints filed by groups like ACORN.
"And guess what this member* would be all about? This member would be all about socializing ? er, uh.....Pauses for several moments.. ?. would be about .....pause.... ? basically ? taking over, and the government running all of your companies."...Maxine Waters....
But in a 45 member Democratic caucus that included Barack Obama IN the SENATE and the... at the TIME... Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd.... those votes could not be found.
Policy changes years ago that unleashed the sub-prime mortgage backed securities market, which accelerated prices erratically and invited speculation and loose lending practices which were both condoned and encouraged by existing regulation and carried out by the risk blind executives and politicians using Fannie/ Freddie.
Feb. 12, 2012 - 11:58 PM ESTThis time around, I wonder what kind of hidden Tax Obama and the Senate Democrats will spring on middle-class Americans in order to continue to extend the reduced payroll taxes?
No doubt, another one of Obama's pie in the sky economic recovery policies that showers pennies on the poor today BUT will cost middle-class taxpayers BILLIONS in the future.
For the next 10 years anybody that purchases a house or refinances his or her house will pay dearly for the 2-month payroll tax extension that was enacted by Obama and Senate Democrats in December 2011.
?The $35.7 billion collected in fees won?t go into the Social Security fund to replace the lost payroll tax. It goes to the general treasury where Congress can spend it however they please.?
On Tuesday, January 31 Saturday February 4, and Saturday February 11, the melting pot of America decided who would be the next President of the United States.
November 2012, Romney shall be elected President of the United States and the Republican Party will gain control of the House and the Senate in a historic landslide.
Feb. 13, 2012 - 12:18 AM ESTI had a Fox News Zombie tell me that the Dodd/Frank law was the cause of the housing bubble collapse. Thats interesting, I said, considering that the bubble burst in 2007 and Dodd Frank was passed in 2010. Its more of that faith based reality I guess.
Feb. 13, 2012 - 6:12 AM EST"Back then it took 60 votes to cut off debate in the Senate, and the Republicans had only 55. To close debate and proceed to the enactment of the committee passed bill, the Republicans needed five Democrats to vote with them. But in a 45 member Democratic caucus that included Barack Obama IN the SENATE and the... at the TIME... Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd.... those votes could not be found." First off, the mortgage bubble popped in early 2006. Long before the Democrats took power in January 2007. My question, what were the Republicans doing in the 1990s and 2000s besides Deregulating Wall Street? Sure Fannie and Freddie had there issues but the root of the problem ran deeper then that. The whole market was screwed up over lack of rules...
Maxine baby, your president is an egregious liar. You shouldn't be going around making accusations of dishonesty. There are better examples in your own house. Weren't you the one that arranged for favors for OneUnited Bank in order to line the pockets of your husband, and therefore you, yourself. You're the one that's sleazy and dishonest, right?
An old retiring racist grifter hag like you should stay out of the public light. And if you don't want to have someone speak the truth to you, then don't make accusations.
Feb. 13, 2012 - 6:28 AM ESTNothing like being lectured to by this corrupt clown. My question is, what is happening with her investigation? I get it, she is a black Democrat.
Feb. 13, 2012 - 10:16 AM ESTThe deregulation of the banks was already passed by the repub congress when clinton came to power and they had the votes to over turn a veto. Like the earlier saving and loans brought to us by the bushes and bankster the banks used the lack of rules to fraud people out of their money. The banks did the same thing here they were not forced to loan money to unqualified people they chose to .
Feb. 13, 2012 - 10:49 AM ESTWhat an idiotic headline. Of course they are the blame......unless you are some left wing bias nut! Oops, forgot I was on Politico.....my bad!
Feb. 13, 2012 - 11:27 AM ESTOf course it's not to blame...the bill doesn't do anything. It's a 2300 page roll of toilet paper that Wall Street uses to clean their axes after they go raping and pillaging.
Nothing 'comprehensive' about that law. 'Too Big to Fail' still exists. The regulators in charge of the financial services industry will come from that industry, or not understand what is occurring, the same as happened durring the mortgage backed security bubble.
In other words, if the securities markets and banks collapse again and they don't have the liquidity to bail themselves out, then the taxpayers will be on the hook.
The Democrats turned their backs on the principles of Glass-Steagall. They're as much to blame for this continuing mess as is the GOP.
Feb. 13, 2012 - 11:51 AM ESTThe funniest part of this whole story is that Barney Frank himself acknowledged that the Affordable Housing Act was the root cause of the housing boom and bust which lead to the banks also getting into trouble. None of the factors that took place would have happened had they not interfered with usual banking practices and requirements for loans. Under government threat of prosecution the Fair Housing act created a situation where banks were forced to approve people for loans they knew they could never pay and eventually did not. Now the tax payers who do play by the rules are being penalized for this democratic ploy to increase their voter rolls. To this day they blame republicans and still steal our money to prop up people who should never have been home owners in the first place. I don't say that banks are totally free from any blame for rather questionable ways in which they moved the loans around trying to avoid the eventual melt down that came, but Maxine should know full well the real truth and its not as she is stating in this Election Tainted article.
Feb. 13, 2012 - 12:05 PM ESTAnd now that we know all major news outlets will report the same thing (thanks, Media Matters), from the same prospective (left), with the same goal (manipulate the media to win over voters), how can we possible believe what we read and hear?
Putting woman-abuser Chris Dodd (one of half the waitress-sandwich duo) along with Barney Frank in charge of writing legislation to fix what they caused, and then inviting perennial Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac defender Max Waters to write a column defending this? LOL! ROFL! That's like putting Colonel Sanders in charge of PETA.
Dodd took a sweetheart mortgage deal from countrywide. If a wealthy private citizen had done that, he'd have been prosecuted and sent to prison. Instead, Dodd and Frank sat back and let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac kick-start this mortgage mess. It was these three (including Waters) and insisted banks give mortgages to citizens who wouldn't ordinarily qualify for one, and who couldn't pay it back.
Then these banks come up with these "interest-only" loans, and as long as these unqualified buyers only paid interest, they were fine. When it came time to start paying principle on the loan, these homeowners couldn't pay it, and meanwhile, the value of their homes dropped. Then anyone with an I.Q. over 50 could figure out what was going to happen next. Foreclosure!
Meanwhile Frank, Dodd, and Waters defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the hilt, and clamied racism against those critical of Franklin Raines (who ran Fannie Mae).
The government caused the mortgage crisis with it's fair housing legislation in the Community Re-investment Act. The idea that the main architects of this failure should be writing legislation to fix it is beyond ridiculous. Dodd, Frank and Waters should be in prison for their role in bringing about this mortgage crisis.