Bush administration, financial industry thwarted efforts to curb greed
Printable View
I wondered why the NYS AG, Spitzer, in his better days, didnt do more to head off the Vegas gaming played on Wall Street. I know his staff stopped some more obvious criminal activity, like the investment mills etc. I suppose that stupidity and risk-taking with other peoples' money is not the crime it once was.
well, as previously speculated, the 'next shoe' of the mortgage debacle is about to drop ... Commercial Real Estate !
(snip)"From the St. Petersburg Times: BayWalk owner proposes deal to surrender deed, walk away
Hoping to avoid drawn-out foreclosure proceedings, BayWalk owner Fred Bullard said Friday he is negotiating a deal to simply surrender the deed to the downtown entertainment complex and walk away.
Under the proposal, a bank would take control of the retail and restaurant portion of BayWalk and appoint a trustee to run the complex until a suitable buyer is found.
And good luck pursuing him for any penalities:
The technical owner of BayWalk, STP Redevelopment, has no other assets and was created solely to own BayWalk.
As I've noted before, CRE owners are much more willing to just walk away than residential owners."(snip)
I would add that this one single case of 'jingle mail' will stiff the mortgage lender for over $14 million dollars. That's equal to 100 residential 'subprime' mortgages.
I would also add that, as more and more retailers are forced to close marginal performance stores, and as more and more businesses in general face impending bankruptcy, the 'vacancy rate' at strip malls / office buildings / industrial parks / shopping malls is moving higher and higher. While the figures are a full quarter old, mall owners were already facing an 8.4% vacancy rate. No rent coming in means no mortgage payment going out !
Now throw in state and local tax increases on commercial properties as local politicians attempt to cover their rising costs of social welfare programs, unemployment insurance payouts etc. without pissing off too many residential property owners ( = registered voters).
White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire
There you go...Quote:
There are plenty of culprits, like lenders who peddled easy credit, consumers who took on mortgages they could not afford and Wall Street chieftains who loaded up on mortgage-backed securities without regard to the risk.
But the story of how we got here is partly one of Mr. Bush’s own making, according to a review of his tenure that included interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials.
From his earliest days in office, Mr. Bush paired his belief that Americans do best when they own their own home with his conviction that markets do best when let alone.
He pushed hard to expand homeownership, especially among minorities, an initiative that dovetailed with his ambition to expand the Republican tent — and with the business interests of some of his biggest donors. .But his housing policies and hands-off approach to regulation encouraged lax lending standards.
^ Very interesting article. Sort of moderates the conservative blame given here to almost entirely to Clinton's policies.
It gives part of the story. Bush certainly deserves a fair share of the blame as do his appointees but the fact remains that he and Snow and some Congressional Republicans DID try to rein in Fannie and Freddie and were stymied by the Dems.
It's all on You-Tube for everyone to see and hear.
^^ I'm sure they did. Actually I did too, far as that goes.