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The Truth and Nothing But... |
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When 50% of our society is presented with news that is either spin, lies, or
propaganda while the other half is presented with the truth, the result is
major conflict. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As of 03/03/2009, I am sure that
there are least two news worthy stories that every American has heard about from
their personal source for news information. The first is the Worldwide Economic and
Financial Market Meltdown. The second is the Subprime Mortgage and
Derivative Debacle. Both events are
touching millions of people all across the world, from the poor, to the
outrageously wealthy, no socio-economic group is unscathed. The two linked events are
currently being presented by the national radio and TV media as two separate
stories. It may be occurring
this way because the magnitude of the crisis is still beyond comprehension. How do you wrap your head around a
figure that could be double, triple, or four times the total GDP (Gross National
Product) for the entire world? The
world’s GDP was estimated in the year 2000 as 30 trillion dollars, of which 1/3
of that figure is accounted for in the United States. How do you talk intelligently, about
that amount of money?
Millions of people, old and young, will be affected by these interrelated
events in one way, shape, or form within their lifetime.
The
single event that has worldwide economies and financial markets all over the
planet reeling, actually begins as a concept that was conceived to unravel the
Savings and Loan financial crisis of the 1980’s and 1990’s. They were called derivatives or
collateralized debt obligations (CDO’s) or swaps and they were developed by William Seidman, former chairman of the FDIC and
the Resolution Trust Corp.
The vehicle solved the crisis at the time, but it opened a Pandora’s Box
that is just being felt today. Alan
Greenspan the Federal Reserve
Chairman at the time, made duplicate keys that allowed the plague to be grown
artificially, outside of the box, for use in the free market. He embraced the new concepts and passed
the plague to financial institutions and Wall Street. William Seidman warned Alan Greenspan
that these derivatives should be regulated, but his words fell on deaf
ears. It is now documented that the
CDO’s created from other CDO’s were also responsible for the 2000 credit crisis
and dot-com bubble. These concepts
unregulated would become the engine that would drive the world economies into
turmoil. In comments made in USA Today on May 8,
2003 by Alan Greenspan defended derivatives in response to Warren Buffet’s
warnings:
"These things do go by," he
said, "but that's not to take away from the fact that this is the worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression. In one sense it's
worse than the Great Depression, since it's far more complicated for governments
to handle."
Seidman then went on to list
the main reasons (in no particular order) for the economic crisis and financial
meltdown:
Read complete Seidman Article
Creating CDOs from other CDOs
creates enormous problems for accounting transparency since it allowed large
financial institutions to move debt off their books by pooling their debt with
other financial institutions and then bringing these debts back on to their
books calling it a Synthetic CDO asset. This has not only allowed financial
institutions to hide their losses, but has allowed them to inflate their
earnings. This has the unfortunate
effect of doubling potential losses book-wise.
A
better analysis of CDO’s is provided
by the following two articles:
1. Standing Armies in Modern
Finance
In effect, the CDO’s were acting
as the financial engine that was driving a ton of very dangerous cylinders that
were being fueled by toxic Predatory sub-prime mortgages. The warning bells that were rung by
Seidman and Buffet through 2003 were muffled by Allan Greenspan and the Bush
Administration.
If I was to tell you that the whole event had been solved by the efforts of Eliot Spitzer back in 2003, would you believe me? That is a loaded question and the simple truth was published by Eliot Spitzer on February 14, 2008 in the Washington Post. In addition, if I told you that shortly after the article ran in the newspaper, Eliot Spitzer resigned from his post as Governor of New York, would you believe me? Is it possible that there is a link between the two events? Here is the story by Eliot Spitzer that appeared in the Washington Post.
Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime by
Eliot Spitzer
On September 26, 2003 the Bush
Administration and the OCC retaliated against the 50 state attorney generals’
and the state banking superintendents.
In an article published by the USFN in the Summer of 2003 they stated the
spin that would be used by the attorney’s representing the Mortgage Industry to
begin the proceedings that would reverse the work that was done and spearheaded
by Eliot Spitzer.
http://www.favoritethings.com/ State_Based_Legislation
In addition the OCC put the final
touches on legislation and published a 73 page document, Docket No.03-16; Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking, 68 Fed. Reg. 46119 (2003). This hogwash set the Federal Regulatory stage for the reversal
of Predatory Lending legislation that was already in place across the United
States. Interesting reading, but lengthy:
Final OCC Ruling, Overturning of State Laws on Predatory
Lending
Appendix on OCC Ruling that Overturned State Laws on Predatory
Lending
In response to the OCC in 2004,
Eliot Spitzer started his own legal proceedings to try and stop the OCC from
reversing the legislation done by the states on Predatory Lending. The article is from the Dyersberg State
Gazette with input from the Wall Street Journal.
New York lawsuit may revise national bank rules; affect lending
practices
In addition to Eliot Spitzer’s
efforts, on August 26, 2003 a conference was convened by the State Bank
Supervisors (CSBS). Their premise
at the conference stated that, “Federal
law does not preempt state authority to license and regulate mortgage lenders
for purposes of consumer protection.”
Supported by 35 attorney generals
and 43 state bank commissioners they filed an amicus brief in support of
Connecticut Banking Commissioner John P. Burke in Wachovia Bank N.A. and
Wachovia Mortgage Corporation v. John P. Burke, Civil Action No. 303 CV 070738
(JCH). The suit was started in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Connecticut.
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors is the professional association of state officials responsible for chartering, supervising, and regulating the nation's 6,000-plus state-chartered commercial and savings banks, and more than 400 state-licensed foreign banking offices nationwide. The news release by CSBS in 2003 reads as follows:
35
States File Amicus Brief in Wachovia Vs. Burke Case
Over the next 1 ½ years Eliot
Spitzer tried to reverse the OCC regulatory meddling. In an article at Consumeraffairs.com published
on June 17, 2005, he tried to publicize the important facts to the public.
http://www.favoritethings.com/Spitzer Charges Feds
Conspiring on State Consumer Laws
In a blog during this two year
period posted at http://www.uslaw.com/library/Banking_Law/Eliot_Spitzer_Idiot.php?item=50310
and I quote:
Someone needs to hit Eliot Spitzer with a
Thorazine dart, slap a straight jacket on him, and strap him to a gurney before
his Bush Derangement Syndrome causes his head to explode. Not that if that
happened, any bystanders would be splattered with gray matter, but when a vacuum
is breached, the concussive effects of the implode can be devastating. Ask
anyone who saw Britney Spears on Rodeo Drive last Saturday sporting an English
accent.
Spitz's latest meltdown is a doozy. His
opinion piece in todays edition of The Washington Post tips over into the abyss
of downright falsehood.
After laying out the contention that he and
"49 other" state attorneys general several years ago saw an increase in
predatory lending practices so vast that those practices "threatened our
financial markets," he alleges that
the Bush administration not only looked the other way, it actively campaigned to
protect predatory lenders by thwarting Eliot Mess and the rest of the
Unmentionables in their pursuit of the bad guys.
Eliot Spitzer, State attorneys’
from around the country, State bank commissioners and supervisors could not stop
the Bush Administration, The U.S. Treasury, or the Feds Allen Greenspan from
continuing to fuel the toxic CDO’s that Bill Seidman had warned about after the
Saving Loan Debacle.
Financial firms on Wall Street and AIG continued to participate in the
greed and hysteria that encircled the derivative marketplace by insuring each toxic vehicle. Unregulated, the banks, arm in arm with
the investment firms continued to drive the limo that was heading at 140 mph
toward the precipice.
It should be noted that the Bush
Administration changed the mandates for the OCC, not only using the Patriot Act
in 2003, but it also used an obscure 1863 National Bank Act. This allowed the OCC to issue the formal
reversal that stopped the states from doing their own regulating and
discouraging predatory lending practices. Look at the expanded role that the
Bush Administration gave to this regulatory agency.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
It should be noted that OCC also
served as a director of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. Very weird to say the least, a
government agency having direct ties to the Neighborhoods of America. I wonder if this had
something to do with the sub-prime mortgage
debacle?
Eliot Spitzer rose to prominence
and became Governor of the State of New York by going after Wall Street,
Predatory Lending, and the Bush Administration. As a champion of the public’s interests
you would think that Spitzer would have been given a special commendation for
his service to our country.
Unbelievably, look how the Bush Administration decided to meritoriously
award Eliot Spitzer.
On March 10, 2008, the same
newspaper that published the “Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime”
reported that Spitzer patronized a high-priced prostitution service called
Emperors Club VIP. The report
by the New York Times said, that he met for over two hours with a $1,000-an-hour
call girl, singer going by the name Ashley Rae Maika DiPietro (born Ashley
Youmans). This information was
originally obtained by authorities from an illegal federal wiretap. The damning story also said that Spitzer
had at least seven or eight liaisons with women from the agency over six months,
and paid more than $15,000.
According to other published reports, investigators believe Spitzer paid
up to $80,000 for prostitutes over a period of several years while he was
Attorney General, and later as Governor.
Spitzer first drew the attention
of federal investigators when his bank reported suspicious money transfers,
which initially led investigators to believe that Spitzer may have been hiding
bribe proceeds. The investigation of the governor led to the discovery of
the prostitution ring.
On March 12, 2009 Governor Eliot
Spitzer announced that he would step down as Governor of New York effective on
noon, March 17, 2009. Would you
call that swift retribution? Did
you ever hear about the article he published in the NY Times? Are you seeing how ex-President George
Bush used the Patriot Act and the extended FISA?
It isn’t unusual to note, that
the same OCC that stopped the states from regulating and discouraging predatory
was also involved in authorizing Eliot Spitzer’s bank to spy on his banking
activities. They said, this
would be done because the activity could have something to do with illegal
pay-offs. So Bush’s Patriot Act called the Uniting
and Strengthening America by “Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism Act” of 2001 was actually the act that brought down a
citizen of the United States and then Governor Eliot Spitzer. Convenient…..
As further background on the
Eliot Spitzer case and his resignation as Governor of New York here is an
article by Alan Dershowitz that was in the Wall Street Journal on March 13,
2008, “The Entrapment of Eliot Spitzer.”
The Entrapment of Eliot Spitzer
In March of
2009 John McCain, Senator from Arizona asked for a Congressional investigation
of what caused the financial
market and sub-prime mortgage melt-down fiasco?? Senator McCain, respectfully,
repeal the FCC regulation that allows the news media to hide important news,
while hiding behind their corporate
mirrors.