WHY WE ARE IN THE FINANCIAL MES WE FIND OURSELVES TODAY!

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” —Ronald Reagan

THE MESS THAT IS THE MORTGAGE BANKING BUSINESS began in 1992 with the Garn-St.Germain Act.Legislation that liberalized investment policies for savings and loan associations in the United States, leading to substantial losses covered by deposit insurance in the late 1980s. IT ALONE DID NOT CAUSE THE DEBACLE IN THE SUB-PRIME MORTGAGE BUSINESS, BUT IT LIT THE FUSE THAT EXPLODED THE ECONOMIC BOMB JUST BEFORE THE NOVEMBER ELECTION!

The Act as introduced, created a fund for loans to those troubled banks and savings and loans institutions that would have to be put into receivership if their condition deteriorated to a small degree from the bill’s qualifying requirements. The provisions are as follows:
Amendments to the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (which regulates the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FDIC), the National Housing Act (which regulates the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, FHLBB), and the Federal Credit Union Act (the National Credit Union Administration Board, NCUAB) so that the regulated bodies can guarantee the net worth of qualified insured institutions. This "poked a hole" in the economic damn.

Prior to this Congress passed The Net Worth Guarantee Act passes the House of Representatives on May 20, 1982, with amendments that extend the coverage to qualifying State-chartered commercial banks, and qualifying national banks whether or not they are members of the FDIC; that added investment in residential housing co-operative stock and mortgages on multifamily rental projects to the qualifying activities for sustaining the guarantee; that altered the exit path from the program; that add compliance with community credit provision requirements under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977; that make the Treasury senior to holders of existing subordinated debt of any guaranteed bank that later winds up in receivership; and that clearly give the sunset date as September 30, 1984. [Library of Congress, 5/14/2008; Library of Congress

The Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 (Pub.L. 97-320, H.R. 6267, enacted 1982-10-15) is an Act of Congress, that deregulated the Savings and Loan industry. This Act turned out to be one of many contributing factors that led to the Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s.[1]

The bill, whose full title was "An Act to revitalize the housing industry by strengthening the financial stability of home mortgage lending institutions and ensuring the availability of home mortgage loans," was a Reagan Administration initiative.[2]

The bill is named after its sponsors, Congressman Fernand St. Germain, Democrat of Rhode Island, and Senator Jake Garn, Republican of Utah. The bill had broad support in Congress, with co-sponsors including Charles Schumer and Steny Hoyer.[3] The bill passed overwhelmingly, by a margin of 272-91 in the House.[4]Source: Wikapedia

But the real damn buster was the The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

The Act was intended to reduce discriminatory credit practices against such neighborhoods, a practice known as 'redlining'. The Act requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage regulated financial institutions to meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered, consistent with safe and sound operation.

To enforce the statute, federal regulatory agencies examine banking institutions for CRA compliance, and take this information into consideration when approving applications for new bank branches or for mergers or acquisitions.Thus our government put quotas on lending institutions the same as they did in all forms of big business where government mandates that a percentage of managers, directors, VP and Supervisors go to ethnic classes or else!

And do not tell me it was not so, because I was a person who saw it at work first hand!

Now the Democrats have managed to convince a dumbed down public that it was the Repupulicans, particularly Presidedent Bush, who caused the financil mess, and Obama will bring his version of Socialism to Washington.
But wait, the "soft bigotry" of lowered expectations has already begun. It will continue like a tribal drum beat throughout his Presidency. The "GD" Republicans caused such a mess it will take at least eight, maybe more, years to CHANGE the mess!

Talk about the fox gaurding the hen house or the camel poking his nose under the tent flap! The principle beneficiary of the Freddie largesse, Senator Dodd will still be in the position as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee! God help Us!

PROPAGANDA FOR OBAMA's SECOND TERM HAS BEGUN!

The associated Press' Cheerleader for "Depression" is at it again, Jeannie Anusa was a member of the Main Stream Media team that managed to take a recession caused by Democrat policies into the battle cry for an Obama election.
Last August she wrote an article distorting the financial facts that were refuted by News Busters.

The following is an excerpt from that post: "The Associated Press's Jeannine Aversa "creatively" and selectively rounded figures presented in today's Monthly Treasury Statement from Uncle Sam. That Treasury report, released this afternoon, covered monthly and year-to-date receipts and spending in the federal government.

By doing what she did, Aversa made sure we know that year-to-date receipts are down, but at the same time made Congress's overspending look less serious than it really is.Here's the paragraph in question from her "Budget deficit up in first 9 months of budget year" report:

Spending of $2.2 trillion so far this year is up from $2.1 trillion reported for the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, revenues of $1.93 trillion are down from $1.945 trillion a year ago.
Because Aversa rounded off the spending numbers to the nearest $.1 trillion while not supplying percentage changes, the average reader might think that spending is up a bit less than 5% so far this year.But then we would never want the voting public to know that Congress is a profligate spender beyond OUR means!


After telling readers in March `08 that "Dangerous cracks in the nation's job market" are "ominous signs that the country is falling toward a recession or has already toppled into one," Aversa had the gall to report Wednesday, "The bruised economy limped through the first quarter of this year at a six-tenths of a percentage point growth rate as housing and credit problems forced people and businesses alike to hunker down."

But the wire service, and virtually every media outlet in the nation had been telling Americans that we're already in a recession. A government report comes out saying that we're not, and this is how she slanted her article covering the surprising announcement?

Mission accomplished, They got their candidate elected, so now the MSM and particularly columnists like Ms. Aversa need to begin explaining that Obama will not be able to wave his magic wand and part the recession seas to allow Americans to pass into solvency in just one term!

Todays news has this hyperbole about the current state of the USA financial slow down. Although the Fed has ratcheted down rates and taken a flurry of unprecedented actions to arrest the worst financial since the Great Depression, deep problems remain. Credit is still not flowing normally in the U.S. and overseas, hobbling not only the domestic economy but also the global economy, which many believe is edging toward recession.

Let me remind the expert about some Econ 101 facts!I believe it is particularly important since she wrote the following for todays news.
"It's no longer a question of recession or not. Now it's how deep and how long. Workers' pink slips stacked ever higher in March as jittery employers slashed 80,000 jobs, the most in five years, and the national unemployment rate climbed to 5.1 percent. Job losses are nearing the staggering level of a quarter-million this year in just three months."

For the benefit of Ms. Aversa, let's once again go over the definition of the term "recession. A recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. We are not even positive that we have had one such quarter as of yet.

Aversa's lack of consideration for the facts in her reporting is a bit disheartening to this Blogger, but perhaps the AP will reprimand her and suggest that next time she try to appear a bit less jubilant in regard to the prospect of a severe economic slowdown. But do not hold your breath for that!

And for her information; The most important of the international recessions that occurred in the post-war years of the twentieth century was the global recession of 1973, triggered by the sudden rise in the price of oil, and an Asian recession in the 1990s triggered by the bursting of a real-estate buble and the consequential development of the Asian banking crises!

The following is a list of the recessions of the Recessions of the 20th Century
Date Duration
Sept. 1902-Aug. 1904 23
May 1907-June 1908 13
Jan. 1910-Jan. 1912 24
Jan. 1913-Dec. 1914 23
Aug. 1918-March 1919 7
Jan. 1920-July 1921 18
May 1923-July 1924 14
Oct. 1926-Nov. 1927 13
Aug. 1929-March 1933 43
May 1937-June 1938 13
Feb. 1945-Oct. 1945 8
Nov. 1948-Oct. 1949 11
July 1953-May 1954 10
Aug. 1957-April 1958 8
April 1960-Feb. 1961 10
Dec. 1969-Nov. 1970 11
Nov. 1973-March 1975 16
Jan. 1980-July 1980 6
July 1981-Nov. 1982 16
July 1990-March 1991 8
March 2001-Nov. 2001 8
source: NBER ( This group has 16 of the last 31 Nobel Prize winners for Economics as members)

ANOTHER TRAVESTY ON THE BANKS OF THE HUDSON

The United nations has had many conferences that were absurd in their intended purpose and in those who attended them. The "Oil for Food" program is just one debacle to come out of this distopian body.

So now they are having a Conference on Religious Tolerance at the UN next Wednesday.
And guess who the august head of the UN has chosen to Chair this conference. Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich Islamic kingdom that forbids the public practice of other religious faiths, will preside Wednesday over a two-day U.N. conference on religious tolerance that will draw more than a dozen world leaders, including President Bush, Israeli President Shimon Peres and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

In the history of the World there has not been a more intolerant Country of religions other than the Muslim faith, than Saudi Arabia!

Saudi Arabia has zero tolerance for non-Muslim religions. In the entire country, no churches, synagogues, temples, or other non-Muslim places of worship are permitted. It is illegal to read Bibles or utter a non-Islamic prayer even in the privacy of the home. In its role as the keeper of global Islam, the Saudi Arabian government does not tolerate any practice of religion other than Islam--either by its own citizens or by foreigners. Special religious police, muttawa, enter homes forcibly, searching for evidence of non-Islamic behavior.

A full quarter of the population are foreign workers, many of whom are not Muslims; most frequently, this community is targeted. Last summer 30 foreigners were found to be practicing Christianity in a private home and were imprisoned until, under international pressure, they were deported. In 1997, two Filipino Christians were reportedly executed for praying, and a third was imprisoned and flogged. Source:Wikapedia

There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia. With the exception of Wahhabi Islam, all other religions are banned from public life. In principle, Saudi law allows members of other confessions to worship in the privacy of their home, but in practice, this is not the case.

Lest we forget, many Shiites and Sufi* practitioners are also languishing in prison, not to mention some Saudi Muslims fighting for democracy and the respect for human rights. (Source: AsiaNews.it

Despite this fact King Abdulla of Saudi Arabia will be Chairman of this international "Joke"! In the past Abdullah would not even come into a room that was occupied by Jews, especially Simon Peres of Israel. I guess he saves face by his sitting at a separate table form Peres?

The whole thing is just another sham perpetrated on the World community at a very high price. I guess we can expect allot more of these types of"conferences" that president-elect Obama can showcase his "One World" views in the future.

The latest figures I can obtain show that in 2006 the USA contributed $423,464,855.00 to the United Nations budget of $1.9 Billion, or 22% of their total budget. Communist China contributes 2.55% and Russia gives a paltry 1.10% of the total budget.

I believe it is time to close the UN down, brick by brick, and send it to Geneva where it is no longer a "stick in our collective eye" for the absurdities and atrocities it commits in the name of bringing Peace to the World.

THE ROARING SOUND YOU HEAR IS THE AMNESTY RUN AWAY TRAIN COMING YOUR WAY!

The last election saw many states swing to Obama that were previously in the "camp" of President Bush. The reason being, that this election saw 110.5 million Hispanics vote!
And now they demand payback for their support in the election of President Obama, and they want it now!
Fair Immigration Reform Movement(FIRM), and National Capital Immigrant Coalitition(NCIC) are planning a massive rally in Washington the day after Obama is sworn in as President. President Jesse Alvarez of NCIC told AP News that " they expect just and humane immigration reform and a pathway to legalization. With Amnesty and Citizenship for illegal immigrants."

It is a little publicized news item that over 700,000 illegal aliens, one of them is Obama's aunt, were ordered to leave the Country in 2008. But, since there is not follow-up or deportation of those ordered to leave. Most have stayed here!

Even President Bush aided their illegal stay when he ordered that no deportation be undertaken during the 5 days prior to the election! Whether he did this to save embarrassment of the deportation of Obama's Aunt, who has stayed here illegally while living in Public tax payer paid housing in South Boston is not known.

At the same time, FIRM and NCIC members said they expect Democratic leaders in Congress to “(use) the power of the new majority to get immigration reform done.”

“Together with a moratorium on raids, we ask Congress and (the next) administration to institute a number of administrative reforms to reverse anti-immigrant Bush administration policies that involve detention policies, family back laws, no-match letters, and foreign worker injustice".

A spokesperson for FIRM said one of their demands is that “everyone, including newly elected leaders, create a more respectful environment for the immigration debate” and that “anti-immigrant extremists” should “not be allowed to sway the debate.”

“President Elect Obama is fully expected and is called on to make immigration a winning issue for all Americans”. My comment is that this is a totally biased comment, as open amnesty will grant citizenship to many criminal and terrorist people along with those honest people who seek refuge, and the USA will be worse because of any kind of Amnesty!

Never the less, Hispanics voted for Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden over Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin by a margin of more than two-to-one in the 2008 presidential election, 66% versus 32% Latino youth, just as all youth nationwide, supported Obama over McCain by a lopsided margin - 76% versus 19%." Thus, Obama and his cadre will respond in kind, knowing full well that Amnesty can bring even more voters for 2012 into the Obama Camp!

A new infusion of foreign-born Hispanic voters will tilt this block even further left, and it isn't hard to understand why. Most such people have a socialist political orientation, which is why governments in Mexico and much of central and South America also tend have one. And the proof is in U.S.-election results also, for instance, in the 1990s, first-time Hispanic voters cast ballots for Bill Clinton by a ratio of 15 to 1. People's passions don't change simply because they set foot on American soil.

Obama said during the primaries that American children needed to learn Spanish, and he will continue to send the message that he is sympathetic to the Latinization of the U.S. These messages will be downplayed by the mainstream media but emphasized in the Spanish one, which was in the tank for Obama even more than the former. People in the "Beltway" also expect him to appoint an large number of Hispanics to posts in his administration. Source : American Thinker

President elect Obama, has already set the stage for his second term when he spoke immediately after his election. he said it will take more than a month, a year or even a term to do what he has promised. The willing Media has supported this notion by saying: "The last eight years have destroyed the nation, and it will take a long time to repair the damage." How long might this be? For as long as leftists can delude the still remaining public that believes this is a Republic that as created for individual rights, not collectivism!
Obama and the Media will use all the diversionary tactics to deflect attention from their misbegotten policies. God help Us if they succeed!

VETERANS DAY TRIBUTE

On this day there should be a flag on every bldg.and house in honor of those who have served our Country so that the people who did not serve could protest the actions of these brave few that have or are wearing a uniform of the United States Military.More than a million men and women stand ready, or are actively defending our nation today. These men and women were not drafted into service, but volunteered to serve.They deserve our honor and gratitutude!



It is also a day to remember that yesterday was the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. God Bless the Marines and the sacrifices they have contributed to our Freedoms!
The following is a poem I have copied from the Patriot Post:" On 10 November 1775, the Second Continental Congress resolved to create two battalions of Continental Marines for the War of Independence from Britain. In 1798, President John Adams signed the Act establishing the United States Marine Corps.

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus [or community] organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag".

-- Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC

Semper Fi!

Unfortunately we have a large portion of our population , in cluing many in political power in Washington, who have animus for the military. Despite their disdain for those in Military Uniform, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines put their lives on the line for ALL of Us when the put on the uniform, and they do their duty honorably.

All Americans should take a moment today to thank God, Allah, "I Am Who Am", Buddha or whomever they pray to, to give thanks that we have men/women in uniform that are defending what so many of US take for granted each day.
If you are an agnostic or atheist then set aside time and reflect on the sacrifice of our Patriot veterans and those serving today, and honor them accordingly.

On this hallowed day it is appropriate to remember the words of the "Gipper" who had this to say about Veterans.
"It's been my responsibility, my duty and very much my honor to serve as Commander in Chief of this nation's Armed Forces these past eight years. That is the most sacred, most important ask of the Presidency. Since our nation's founding, the primary obligation of the national government has been the common defense of these United States. But as I have sought to perform this sacred task as best I could, I have done so with the knowledge that my role in this day-to-day-to-day effort, from sunrise to sunrise, every moment of every hour of every day of every year, is a glancing one compared to yours. ... But it's not just your fellow Americans who owe you a debt. No, I believe many more do, for I believe that military service in the Armed Forces of the United States is a profound form of service to all humankind. You stand engaged in an effort to keep America safe at home, to protect our allies and interests abroad, to keep the seas and the skies free of threat. Just as America stands as an example to the world of the inestimable benefits of freedom and democracy, so too an America with the capacity to project her power for the purpose of protecting and expanding freedom and democracy abroad benefits the suffering people of the world." --Ronald Reagan

God Bless President elect Obama, an may he follow the example of the gipper in his devotion to the men and women he commands!

CHICAGO SMOKE FILLED ROOM POITICS COMES TO WASHINGTON

Despite the fact that President elect Obama vowed to carry out an open and transparent Campaign. Now that he has been elected he appears to have reverted to the back room deals of Chicago politics!
Lost amid all of the jubilation of the Obama victory was the announcement by the Obama transition team that it had set up a separate transition program beyond the one that is paid for by the American taxpayer. Called the "Obama/Biden Transition Project," it is a 501(c)4 tax-exempt organization, with no limits on the contributions it can receive and no requirements to divulge the names of individuals or organizations that give it money. source: The American Spectator

It is believed in expert political circles that this is the first time in Our history that an incoming President has employed such deception in fund raising after he is elected.
Many believe that the nonprofit may also serve as a haven for Obama supporters and campaign loyalists who for one reason or another can't be employed by the Administration or in the federal government. "There are some people who have been with the Obama campaign from the beginning who are clearly political liabilities or who won't be able to qualify for a job,apparently because they can't get a security clearance". source: unidentified member of the Transition Team
At any rate, Obama campaign officials say there is no intention of shutting down the 501(c) 4 Project after the transition is over. I guess this is part of Obama's "Spreading The Wealth Around"!

It appears to this blogger that Obama and company are establishing a slush fund that can be freely and anonymously contributed to by people or groups who get favors from the new President. Not unlike some notorious foreign countries!
When Chicago elected Harold Washington as Mayor of Chicago in 1983.What ensued was called "Beirut on the Lake or Council Wars". By 1989 Richard M Daley was elected mayor. He is now destined to supplant his father, Richard J Daley (1955-1976) as the longest serving mayor in Chicago's history. Simply put, Chicago is Daley's town and has been for over 50 years. There have been eleven presidents elected in that span, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43 and now Obama. Presidents come and go, the Machine lives on.

Do not believe it when democrats tell you Obama is a Hyde Park Liberal politician. He is cut from whole cloth of Chicago politics, as eveidenced by his slection of "pit bull" Ram Emanuel as Chief of Staff.A Mayor Daly operative for years.

Since the Democrats have been out of power for eight years, with the last Democratic President having left office in an ethical cloud of Biblical proportions (Monica Lewinsky, the perjury conviction, the last minute pardons for assorted lowlifes etc. etc.). Not so good for a city yearning for federal handouts. Even worse, during the Clinton administration various Clintonistas had been absorbed into the Daley Machine and vice versa. Some common names are Bill Daley and Rahm Emanuel.

So much for OPEN GOVERNMENT!