What They Didn't Tell You - The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
By Numerian posted by Michael Collins
What America really needs is a Commission of Truth, that would outline how Selfishness became triumphant, how it has devastated our country, and what we as a community and as a nation must do about this
What’s it like spending two years doing thankless work that, in the end, is going to be ignored by the very people who asked for your services? The members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission have just found out. Their 662 page report is sinking rapidly into oblivion in official Washington, and is now destined to be of interest only to historians. This was fully predictable. The Commission was given a charter by Congress to tell us who, what, when, and where about the financial crisis, but they were not allowed to explain why. To understand why this crisis occurred would be stepping on way too many powerful toes in Washington, and for this reason the Commission was told not to make any policy recommendations to Congress that would help prevent such a crisis from occurring again.
PermalinkIt's all good! Party on like there's no tomorrow
By Numerian posted by Michael Collins
"The US financial system is close to collapse - The deliberate public relations campaign by government, politicians, and business leaders to assure us that “all is well” when it comes to the banking system is unraveling. The dry rot that is destroying banks keeps eating away at the foundations of finance, the latest example being the revelations regarding the foreclosure process. The ugly, life-threatening reality that no one in banking wants to talk about is that the biggest asset class of the industry – home mortgages – may be severely compromised because the mortgages themselves may be uncollateralized. ... The simple fact that the banks have failed for twenty years to keep the borrower’s note connected to the mortgage document, and have both registered with local recorders of deeds, means that banks cannot really prove they are the legal lender with rights to foreclose."
Why do we hate the banks so?
By Numerian posted by Michael Collins
"The deadbeat accusation against defaulters says Americans should have known how much debt they were taking on and what the risks were for themselves if disaster should happen to them. The problem with this argument is that millions of Americans did know and did ask about these risks, but were given false assurances, or their concerns were brushed off by the banker. In some cases the banker outright fraudulently changed the consumer’s application when it came time to process the loan for approval. This was not a process where caveat emptor applied, because the buyer was from the start at a disadvantage to the bank. " Numerian
The Devil's in the Details - Foreclosures
By Numerian Posted by Michael Collins
It seems, therefore, that millions of foreclosures that have occurred in the past two years may be invalid. Investors who were part of the $8,000 tax credit program may not have valid mortgages and may not legally have the right to live in their home. Title insurance companies have stopped accepting mortgage titles from GMAC and other financial firms implicated in this situation. Numerian
The Checking Account Scam - How Wells Fargo Gouged Its Customers
By Numerian posted by Michael Collins
We’ve often talked here about the bank practice of extracting equity from customer accounts. Now comes a 90 page ruling from Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California against Wells Fargo Bank, showing in detail exactly how the bank engaged in “gouging and profiteering” when it managed customer checking accounts. Nor is this one of those polite judicial rulings where the judge waits to the end to conclude whether or nor the defendant engaged in bad behavior. Judge Alsup is biting and nasty throughout his ruling, barely able to hold his disgust at what he concluded was a deliberate attempt by Wells Fargo to profit off a system that trapped customers into overdraft hell.
How the System Was Rigged to Create Overdrafts
Prior to 2000, Wells Fargo did its best to minimize overdrafts in customer accounts. Its computers processed all credits to the account first, followed by ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases, followed by checks and then Automated Clearing House transactions (the ACH is used by banks to process debits such as PayPal charges or monthly mortgage or rental payments where the customer has agreed to an automatic debit). In every step, Wells Fargo used low to high sequencing; the smallest debits would go first and the largest would go last. This entire process mimicked the way the consumer managed their account using a traditional checking account balance, which ranks all transactions in chronological order. When an overdraft occurred on the bank’s records, the consumer would have known had they been keeping their checkbook balance up to date.
Understanding the US Financial Crisis, Why Banking Regulations are a Temporary Fix
Part #3 of Understanding Capitalism and Socialism
by Joaquin
With the great financial crisis of 2007-2010 all over except for the screaming and yelling; and the yelling and screaming is over because oil spilled all over it; and with the oil spill all over because someone parked a SUV with toy timers on it in Manhattan; it's time to understand how the financial crisis was solved; so let's get started. By the way, aren't we all glad the financial crisis is over? Well except in Greece and maybe Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and the UK; don't forget California and other bankrupt states, counties, municipalities, and your parent's pension; not to mention a giant national debt that is ballooning out of control; but yeah otherwise the financial crisis is over. How do we know its over? Well, just turn on the financial news anywhere and you will hear that the recovery is in full swing except for people having jobs and buying houses. The crisis is so over that it has been over and over. I mean if you Google "housing market has bottomed" you can find out that the housing market has bottomed out constantly since 2006.
What to do About the Banks
Those who should be leading this country, and contributing to its development, have spent the past 25 years joining the parade of looters and predators who have found ways to extract wealth from the middle class and the poor in this country. Numerian
By Numerian posted by Michael Collins
"Capitalist Tool"
Just a few cynics doubted the magnificent procession of then Senator Barack Obama to the highest office in the land. He was the redemption of our past sins, the proof that we were a better nation than we had been. After all, race has been at the center of American politics since Bacon's Rebellion was crushed in 1667 but we were moving beyond that. And we did. Race was set aside for most of those who voted.
As it turned out, the campaign wasn't about redeeming anything other than the bill that Wall Street presented to the citizens of the United States in October, 2008. The financial system was grinding its gears, about to flame out in a series of big investment bank failures. The Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, told a private session of Congress that absent immediate aid, the financial calamity would be so devastating that Congress should prepare for riots by outraged citizens.
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