Oct
13
Broke | Gov. Scott approves $45.6 million loan to keep Florida court system afloat
Gov. Scott approves $45.6 million loan to keep state court system afloat TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott approved a $45.6 million loan to patch a budget hole in the state court system on Tuesday, allowing judges time to scramble for a more permanent funding solution. State courts receive their money from a trust fund supported … Read more
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Oct
12
Abigail Field | Dear Occupy Wall Street: Thank You For Defending the American Principle of Equality
Dear Occupy Wall Street: Thank You For Defending the American Principle of Equality Dear Occupy Wall Street (and all your sister cities): What you have begun is beautiful and powerful, thank you. I will not presume to tell you what to do; you are building good process and setting a good example of how to … Read more
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Oct
11
6:30pm-8:30pm Oct 11 -NY,NY (& Web) Eliot Spitzer & ProPublica Discuss The Wall Street Money Machine
Time: October 11, 2011 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm Location: The Tenement Museum (& streaming web) Street: 108 Orchard Street (at Delancey) City/Town: New York, New York Website or Map: http://propub.ca/pLT1Rr Event Type: discussion Organized By: ProPublica and the Tenement Museum Tenement Talks Investigate This: The Wall Street Money Machine *Please note an RSVP on this … Read more
Related posts:
- The Real Housewives of Wall Street | Why is the Federal Reserve forking over $220 million in bailout money to the wives of two Morgan Stanley bigwigs?
- How Main Street has Destroyed Wall Street
- Happy Hour for Combatants of Illegal Foreclosures – West Palm Beach, FL Thursday April 21st 5:30pm – Duffys on Clematis
Sep
27
Ford pulls bailout-criticism ad after pressure from Obama administration
Whoa.
Remember the Ford ad that featured a new buyer telling “reporters” that he chose Ford because bailouts aren’t “what America is all about?” Hope you watched it while you could, because the video has been removed from YouTube, and the ad has been pulled by Ford, too. The Detroit News’ Daniel Howes reports that Ford [...]
Sep
22
Abigail Field | Dear Representative Issa: Questions for Your Fannie Backdoor Bailout Investigation
Dear Representative Issa: Questions for Your Fannie Backdoor Bailout Investigation Dear Representative Issa: Thank you for investigating Fannie Mae’s purchase of mortgage servicing rights from Bank of America. As I detail below much more thoroughly than I did in my Fortune.com piece that you cited in your letter, the $500 million purchase is a backdoor … Read more
Sep
12
Housing Finance: Role of the Government Guarantee
I'm testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday about the role of the government guarantee in housing finance (a/k/a wtf do we do with Fannie and Freddie). My testimony is here. I expect it will manage to piss off people left, right, and center, but that's the nature of this GSE reform debate.
I'm not thrilled with the prospect of a government guarantee, but I just don't think that there's sufficient the market demand for credit risk on U.S. mortgages for a non-guaranteed system to function. Do we really think that $6 trillion dollars of interest risk investors are suddenly going to decide they want credit risk as well?
Realistically, if it gets hairy enough, the government will bail out the system, Dodd-Frank, Tea Party, and all that jazz aside. We'll keep chanting no more bailouts until we do the next bailout. (Remember the War to End All Wars?) That means that it's better to have an explicit guarantee and price for it.
Put differently, the choice we face is not guarantee or no guarantee. That's just a false dichotomy. The choice instead is between an explicit and an implicit guarantee. The implicit guarantee is a guarantee of moral hazard. The government will bail, but won't price for it. The explicit one certainly has its own problems, but at least it means we are being candid about the risks the government is assuming and trying to price for them and structure the guarantee to mitigate the risk that it will be used.
Sep
02
New plan: Let’s sue all the banks!
Revenuers
Dear Banks, Remember all of that bailout money you received? Sure hope you saved some of it. US authorities are preparing to sue more than a dozen big banks over claims they misrepresented the quality of mortgages sold during the 2006-7 housing bubble. The US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which is overseeing the remains [...]
Aug
23
Conflicts on the New York Fed Board
The regional federal reserve banks are weird, hybrid creatures, both private bankers' banks and public governmental agents. This hybrid existence means that they have conflicts baked into their DNA--they are both supposed to serve and regulate their member banks. These conflicts have been most patent with the New York Fed. During the AIG bailout, it was represented by the very lawyer who minutes before had been representing the private bank consortium that was trying to arrange a bailout of AIG and which benefitted from the public bailout. Yes, a client can waive conflicts and the lawyer probably knew the deal constraints better than anyone else, but that doesn't mean that the conflicts always should be waived.
The latest manifestation of this problem is FRBNY Director Kathryn Wylde criticizing NYAG Eric Schneiderman for having the chutzpah to sue the hometeam over fraud with MBS and mortgage servicing:
“It is of concern to the industry that instead of trying to facilitate resolving these issues, you seem to be throwing a wrench into it. Wall Street is our Main Street — love ’em or hate ’em. They are important and we have to make sure we are doing everything we can to support them unless they are doing something indefensible."
Gee, some might just think that what's going on with servicing fraud is indefensible. What does Wylde want? A trail of corpses? Apparently it's not ok to be hating on the hometeam.
Wylde, of course, is a woman whose salary is paid by the banks. She heads the Partnership for New York City, an influential NYC business booster club. I haven't tracked down their finances, but it's hard to imagine that a fair portion of PFNYC's funding doesn't come from its "partners," which include all of NY's major financial institutions and the law firms that handle their legal work.
Yves has previously riffed about the way in which Wylde is compromised by PFNYC's ties to the financial services industry, but it strikes me that the problem is by no means limited to Wylde, even if her public statements were pretty revealing. Instead, the problem is with all the selections of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (Bernanke et al.) for the Class C directors, who are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve to represent the "public". All three Class C directors have a serious conflict of interest because of their day jobs involve hitting up the banks for donations.
The three--Columbia University President and legal scholar Lee Bollinger, CEO of the Partnership for NYC Kathryn Wylde, and Metropolitan Museum of Art President Emily Rafferty--are all in positions where they are constantly seeking to curry favor with financial institutions in order to get donations. Universities, business booster organizations, and museums, particularly in NYC, are heavily dependent upon the eleemosynary largess of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's member banks. Consider how much more BoA or JPM could donate to Columbia or PFNYC or the Metropolitan Museum if they had to pay smaller settlements on their MBS. $1B less in settlement payments could easily translate into substantial gifts to these institutions.
I want to emphasize that I have no reason to think that this conflict has affected the decisions of Bollinger and Rafferty (Wylde seems to be another matter), the mere appearance of such a conflict is troubling, not least because of the critical role of the FRBNY as a regulatory agent. Put differently, the Board of Governors should really know better than to appoint as Class C governors individuals who need to curry favor with the banks. Don't they have some ethics counsel vetting these nominations? Indeed, I'd be curious to know how the Governors even develop a list of potential Class C directors. My guess is that they get recommendations from the current crew.
I should mention that there's a similar problem with James Tisch, a class B director elected by member banks to represent the public. (Does anyone think that the banks would ever choose a Class B director who truly represents the public rather then the banks? This is asking the foxes to choose the guard to the henhouse.) Tisch is the President and CEO of Loew's Corporation--which looks to the banks for financing. More problematic is that Tisch is also a director of CNA Financial Corporation. That strikes me as posing a conflict with his duty to represent the public to the Fed.
So what we seem to have is a figleaf of independence on the FRBNY Board. There are only 3 Class A Directors (representing the banks), as opposed to 2 Class B and 3 Class C directors, so the banks are nominally outvoted, but the banks choose 5 of 8 directors and all of the non-bank directors are in positions where goodwill from the banking industry is important.
So what is to be done? Given all the brouhaha that Congressional Republicans have made about the composition of the FSOC for its CFPB veto, one would hope that they would also be concerned about the way in which the FRBNY board has been stacked. But the right move at this point would be for Wylde to resign. I would say that it is also the right move for the other class C directors. Bollinger and Rafferty should also both resign. Tisch, the sole Class B director is more complicated, as the very nature of his position is conflict itself. But the persistence of conflicts at the FRBNY is not a situation that should be tolerated.
Aug
22
Fed gave Wall Street $1.2 trillion in 2008 loans
Ugly.
As it turns out, the $700 billion TARP bailout in late 2008 was just an appetizer for Wall Street. Behind the scenes, the Federal Reserve gave out $1.2 trillion in loans to banks around the world, desperately attempting to maintain liquidity in a system that looked headed for collapse, according to Bloomberg News: Citigroup Inc. [...]
Aug
15
David Dayen | Bank of America Uses Attack Dog, Kathryn Wylde, to Smear NY AG Schneiderman
Bank of America Uses Attack Dog to Smear NY AG Schneiderman So having figured out that the Feds cannot come riding to the rescue with another back-door bailout, Bank of America has settled on Plan B. They’ve decided to smear the AGs who are doing their job. And they’re doing it in a very roundabout … Read more
Aug
05
Fannie Mae asks for another $5.1 billion in bailout cash
More taxpayer gruel.
Today brings more great news from the bailout. Fannie Mae, which has already eaten over $100 billion of taxpayer money after being absorbed by the federal government in 2008, took a loss in the second quarter of $5.2 billion — and they want taxpayers to cover it: Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae said it would ask for [...]
Aug
01
Fannie Mae Whistleblower: “HAMP was About the Numbers & Appeasing the Banks
This is a must see video to learn about how wickedly deceptive the loan servicing industry is and what a sham the Obama administration has perpetrated on the American people with all the do-good messages about the HAMP program.
News flash: it was never about the American taxpayer or homeowner. The lies are so bold-faced these days it’s shocking. They literally couch the entire TARP bailout and HAMP program as protecting Americans and our “way of life” and then in the same breath implement programs that do the exact opposite and protect the antithesis of the “American citizen.”
Watch and be shocked (or maybe not so much…)!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
May
26
Guest Post: Max Gardner on Rep. McHenry’s Shameful Treatment of Elizabeth Warren
Rep. Patrick McHenry and His Shameful Treatment
of Our Nation’s Only Consumer Advocate
The conduct of Representative McHenry, the Deputy Republican “Whip” in the 112th Congress, at the hearings of the House Financial Services Sub‐Committee on Government Oversight and Reform on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 was and is a complete and utter embarrassment to all of his constituents in the 10th Congressional District and quite frankly to me as a national advocate for consumer rights. His behavior was simply “shameful” to be kind about it. McHenry’s harsh statements to Professor Elizabeth Warren, including calling her an out‐right “Liar,” were simply beyond the pale.
The late Senator Sam Ervin would come right out of his grave and scold this “little boy” if he could. Senator Sam was as tough as nails on the big banks and the financial elite but was always a gentleman. In fact, the Members of the House are traditionally introduced on the House floor as the Gentleman or the Gentlewoman from wherever. Well, our boy Pat has ended that tradition. I suppose you could say it is the end of the line for Pat’s so‐called “family values” plan as I for one would not want him in any part of my family.
Of course, I might be giving poor old “Pat” the “conservative bull dog” too much credit about his knowledge of the Rules of Decorum and Ethics for the Honorable Members of our House of Representatives. I mean after all he either dropped out or flunked out of Belmont Abbey without a degree and to the best of my knowledge never sold a single home during his short‐lived real estate career. In fact, I believe the only money Representative Pat has ever made consists of the big‐time campaign contributions from all of his banking‐ buddies.
I guess that is why old Patrick voted in favor of the $700 billion dollar bankster‐bailout bill during the Bush Administration. I mean what are friends for, right?
The sad truth of the matter is that we are, and have been, and will remain engaged in class warfare. If you look back to the first Nixon term and then come up to the present I think you will find that all of the policies, laws, regulations and de‐regulations, as well as the “reforms” ‐‐ like bankruptcy “reform”, welfare “reform” and class action “fairness” ‐‐ are much better explained by asking, “what would be best for the top 1/10th of 1% of the wealthy?” rather than asking any ideological or policy questions, such as the silly myths about the Republicans having agendas of any material difference to consumers/homeowners/wage‐earners/borrowers.
The Republicans, God Bless them, have screwed the average working man and woman in this country for the past 50 years while looking them dead in the eyes without even one blink!
What is especially galling is that the Big Banksters and the financial elite have sold the public all of this crap so well. We now routinely see people absolutely convinced that public service employees are at fault for causing huge state budget deficits because of their unsustainable retirement and health benefits.I don’t know about you but I sorta like the idea of our State Troopers and SBI Agents and Prison Guards receiving these benefits. I mean these people are out there on the front lines covering our respective asses every day of the year. So, a little extra here and there for a little medicine and for life support after suffering a near‐fatal criminal attack does not seem like a bridge too far, does it?
Yet, no one seems to ask anymore why American workers in private employment don’t get any similar retirement and health benefits anymore ‐‐ it’s just accepted as faith that you can’t do that because it would make American business uncompetitive. And, so the attack on our President for “Obama Care” even though his plan is virtually identical to the state health care plan of the Republican Pretty Boy from Massachusetts, little “Mitt” Romney and his so‐called “Romney‐Care.” And, of course, never mind the actual evidence from the rest of the world (see Germany’s retiree benefits and Scandinavia’s share of new enterprises in the global economy) about how such benefits enhance the economy for all economic groups.
It wasn’t that long ago when it wasn’t so here in the United States of America. I can remember my father‐in‐law’s pride at finally being able to take his wife to the dentist because his union managed to get the added benefit. And, by the way, he still has lifetime healthcare from his former employer fully paid even though he only worked for them for about 15 years and at a very low position to tell you the truth.
And now we have Brother Patrick McHenry attacking in an outrageous fashion the one and only person in America who is trying to stand up for consumers and to protect us from the Banksters who single‐handedly brought about the biggest financial train wreck since the Great Depression (and hang on because it ain’t over yet!).
Patrick, you are a complete disgrace and a total embarrassment to all of us.
So, why don’t you just resign today and go back to the Abbey and give it your best shot for that heretofore elusive college degree? I’ll tell you what—if you get that degree and show me the “sheepskin” then I will show you the President’s birth certificate. Deal or No Deal?
And, as Senator Sam used to say, “Call your next case!”
O. Max Gardner III
maxgardner@maxgardner.com
Apr
19
A Crush on Matt Taibbi and a Pox on Both Their Houses
I admit it… I’m no different that most everyone else… I’ve got a crush on Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone. In case you’re unaware, Matt writes about many of the same topics I tackle on Mandelman Matters, except he’s younger than me, gets to swear like a sailor in his articles when he wants to, shows up on Bill Maher’s show now and again, lives in or near Hoboken, New Jersey, which is right across the Hudson River from Manhattan, and in general appears to have my dream job.
His recently published book, Griftopia, was one of my favorites of the past year… after reading the first seventy pages while in bed, I threw my copy onto my bed and said out loud… to no one but myself… damn it, he might just be funnier than me. And for a moment, I questioned why I would ever write another word now that Matt was on the job. I’ve since reconsidered, however, coming to the conclusion that while he is in fact clever, and occasionally even laugh-out-loud funny, he’s not definitively funnier than I am, and never breaks into show tunes in the middle of articles on the financial crisis that I’ve seen, so I’m going to continue my soirée with the printed word.
Matt’s also a relative newcomer to the financial and foreclosure crises, at least compared with me, but he does what he does for a living and obviously has resources that allow him to do some real investigative reporting, so when a reader of mine emailed me an excerpt from one of his recent articles, and the headline spoke of Wall Street “housewives” receiving $220 million from the Federal Reserve during the now infamous rich-guy-and-banking-buddy-bailout, well… I felt compelled to take a look at what Matt was describing… and I now wish more than anything that I hadn’t.
Just a few short days back from vacation and after reading Matt’s article, all I want to do is scream at the top of my lungs until I pass out.
You see, Congress has recently forced the Federal Reserve to at least partially open its books and allow the American people to see where some of the trillions in “bailout dollars” actually went. As Matt says in his Rolling Stone article of April 12th:
“It is as though someone sat down and made a list of every individual on earth who actually did not need emergency financial assistance from the United States government, and then handed them the keys to the public treasure. The Fed sent billions in bailout aid to banks in places like Mexico, Bahrain and Bavaria, billions more to a spate of Japanese car companies, more than $2 trillion in loanseach to Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, and billions more to a string of lesser millionaires and billionaires with Cayman Islands addresses.”
Well isn’t that just great to hear? Our government officials… our best and brightest, one would certainly hope… spent a relative dollar ninety-five on stopping the foreclosure crisis that continues to stalwartly impede any sort of economic recovery from mattering to anyone but our Wall Street bankers, and about as much to stimulate job creation to any significant degree.
But, we did help out the rich people and propped up our financial institutions, not to the point of their being able to re-start any real amount of consumer lending, but at least to the point where the Street’s bonuses are as egregious as ever. Absolutely crackerjack work is all I can think of to say, now can we please start making sense again?
Well, Matt’s story is titled, The Real Housewives of Wall Street, and it asks the question:
“Why is the Federal Reserve forking over $220 million in bailout money to the wives of two Morgan Stanley bigwigs?”
Here’s an overview of what Matt’s referring to, you’ll have to read his article in order to really become near suicidal or prone to acts of random violence.
Apparently, back in 2009, Morgan Stanley’s CEO, John Mack and his wife decided to purchase a $13.5 million property located on Manhattan’s tony Upper East Side, a 107 year-old limestone carriage house with an indoor 12-car garage, recently sold by the Mellon family of Robber Baron fame. At the time, Mr. Mack was earning just $800,000 a year in salary, and was declining to award himself a bonus in what was the midst of the worst financial crisis in 70 years.
Now, I assume Mack had plenty of cash with which to buy the property, although I really don’t know the details of the transaction, but I’m thinking $800,000 a year isn’t enough income to shoulder a $13.5 million mortgage. No matter, John Mack and his wife Christy together did purchase the inner-city estate so good for them. (That’s it, just below.)
Matt Tiabbi describes Christy Mack as being: “… thin, blond and rich — a sort of still-awake Sunny von Bulow with hobbies. Her major philanthropic passion is endowments for alternative medicine, and she has attained the level of master at Reiki, the Japanese practice of palm healing.”
Here’s where it gets positively surreal…
Two months before the Macks purchased their Manhattan carriage house with indoor parking for 12 cars, it seems that Christy and her friend Susan, neither of which appear to have any background or education in finance, launched a new investment enterprise that would invest in student loans and commercial real estate, calling it “Waterfall TALF.”
The two Wall Street wives put up $15 million to set things up, and then they received $220 million in CASH from the bailout programs being offered by the Federal Reserve, most of which they used to buy student loans and commercial mortgages.
The loans from the Fed provided that Christy and Susan would keep 100 percent of any gains on their investments, while the Fed and the Treasury… as in, taxpayers… would cover 90 percent of any losses. The arrangement was made as part of a bailout program that was sold as being designed to help Main Street by stimulating consumer lending.
So, the strategy now seems quite clear: Our government decided to address the financial crisis and economic meltdown by handing out hundreds of millions to the wives of Wall Street executives so they could invest in student loans and commercial mortgages on a risk-free basis.
See… when you say it like that it doesn’t sound nearly as stupid as it did a few minutes ago. NO… WAIT A MINUTE… yes it does… it’s the dumbest idea in the history of the world, a complete abrogation of our democracy, and if there’s any justice in the world, those involved will be violently gang raped in prison every day for 50 years, or stricken with palsy.
The TALF bailout program was created just after Obama was elected with the stated purpose of stimulating consumer lending, but instead of just lending the money to consumers, our government… and yes, I’m talking about the Obama Administration here… decided to give the money to the same irresponsible greedy bastards that caused the crisis in the first place so they could lend it to consumers at a huge profit… essentially risk-free.
And the real beauty of TALF is that it doled out dough in the firm of NON-RECOURSE LOANS… the kind you don’t really need to pay back, unless it’s profitable to do so. You get your money from the Fed, you buy your student loans and commercial mortgages, which you transfer to the Fed as collateral for the loan you just got from the Fed. If your investments go down in value, you don’t re-pay the Fed, you just walkaway from the loans you invested in and send the bill to the taxpayer.
Of course, it should go without saying that if your investment increase in value, why then you take your investments and cash them in, repay the TALF loan you got from the Fed, and pocket the difference. Neat-O, don’t you think?
While all of this financial engineering has been going on… accomplishing nothing… people are losing their homes to foreclosure every day and in record-breaking number because servicers are inept and uncaring on a scale historically reserved for our enemies during times of war.
Our government’s incompetence in dealing with the foreclosure crisis has become so apparent and consistent that essentially no one believes that the administration or the legislature has the slightest idea what’s happening, why it’s happening, or what to do about it.
And yet, as I write this… we don’t even have a program on the drawing board that could potentially stop the free fall in the housing markets that continues to erase roughly $10 trillion in consumer wealth each year.
But, I think it was last week or the week before that our government was consumed by a debate about a miniscule amount of federal funding for Planned Parenthood, and now we’re about to start another 18 months of presidential election circus politics, during which time nothing substantive will be accomplished and millions more will lose homes, leaving behind nothing but vacant and rotting structures emblematic of losses all around.
Is this state of affairs okay with anyone?
Mandelman out.
Ergo bibamus!
Apr
14
Let’s Make The Criminals Pay!
The teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR, and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in TARP and bailout money and crashed this economy. Let’s make them pay for what they’ve done by taking back everything they took…..
Oh wait it was the Fat Cats that did all that, they still have billions and no one has the balls to ask them to pay one dollar back.
What a fine country.
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Apr
12
OUTRAGE OF THE DAY- THE FED GIVES YOUR MONEY TO MILLIONAIRE WIVES!
Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?
Most Americans know about that budget. What they don’t know is that there is another budget of roughly equal heft, traditionally maintained in complete secrecy. After the financial crash of 2008, it grew to monstrous dimensions, as the government attempted to unfreeze the credit markets by handing out trillions to banks and hedge funds. And thanks to a whole galaxy of obscure, acronym-laden bailout programs, it eventually rivaled the “official” budget in size — a huge roaring river of cash flowing out of the Federal Reserve to destinations neither chosen by the president nor reviewed by Congress, but instead handed out by fiat by unelected Fed officials using a seemingly nonsensical and apparently unknowable methodology.
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Mar
18
Ex-Asst. Treasury Secretary Herb Allison Back at Beautiful Connecticut Home
Remember years ago how people who worked for the federal government didn’t make a lot of money or, at least generally speaking, have a lot of money? Like, they were public servants and only after someone left their government job, then he or she might get a job in the private sector and start making a few bucks. I remember those times. And I’m not at all sure when they ended, to tell you the truth, but they sure seem to have ended, and I’m starting to think that it’s affecting how things go in this country.
Herb Allison, who was the Assistant Treasury Secretary under Geithner, and headed up the $700 billion TARP bailout fund, followed a slightly different path, and look what happened there.
Herb started out with a B.A. in philosophy from Yale University, which is… oh, I don’t know… funny to me. A Yale philosophy major? I really didn’t know they made those. Maybe it was the philosophy of money and he minored in inheritances? From there Herb did an MBA at Stanford, but big deal… I did my MBA at Pepperdine and although perhaps at one time, I knew my way around an HP 17B II, today I can barely balance my checkbook.
Herb then spent 28 years at Merrill Lynch, including a stint as Director of Human Resources, where I’m sure his background made him an excellent choice for explaining the company’s health plan to a bunch of financial advisors. And after that, he became National Finance Chair for John McCain’s first failed presidential campaign.
Between 2003-2005, Herb somehow managed to become director of the New York Stock Exchange. Now, I don’t remember these being particularly challenging years at the NYSE, so the place probably pretty much ran itself, I would think, because overlapping with that responsibility, from 2002 to 2008, Herb was the shiz at TIAA-CREF. These were some very rough and tumble years for those in the financial services industry, so all in all… very nicely done there.
And, to round it all out, Herb had a cup of coffee at the helm of Fannie Mae back in 2008.
So, what else would you expect someone with that kind of resume to do next? Manage the $700 billion TARP bailout fund? Why, that’s right… that’s what I would have guessed too.
You remember the TARP… the $700 billion decoy bailout fund that had absolutely no accountability built right into it? We handed the money over and then weren’t even allowed to ask where it went or what anyone did with it. Without question, the least transparent tax-payer funded fund in the history of the world. All we really know is what it wasn’t used for… it didn’t buy the toxic assets off of the balance sheets at our too-big-to-fail financial institutions. Yep, that TARP. I wonder what that job is like, managing a fund that no one reports on, asks about, or even knows where was spent.
When Herb announced he was stepping down last fall to return to his home in Connecticut, Herb said that TARP, or the Troubled Asset Relief Program for long, was a proven success… and I don’t see how anyone could have a basis upon to which to challenge that statement, since we’re not allowed to know where it went or for what it was used. He also said that the bailout fund stabilized the nation’s financial system and laid the groundwork for an economic recovery. Um… well, okay… if you say so.
Just writing down all the things that Herb did in his career makes me tired, so it’s easy to imagine that he needed a break, so he bought a place in Connecticut… a cottage by the sea… just somewhere comfortable where he could put his feet up and relax… take stock… reflect on life’s accomplishments.
So, he bought Phil Donahue’s and Marlo Thomas’ $25 million Greens Farms mansion. The estate is three separate lots for a total of 7.7 acres. The home is a 7,379-sq.ft. 1911 wood and stucco Tudor with 17 rooms, including nine bedrooms. There is also a guest house. That’s a photo of the estate just above. Beautiful, don’t you think? Lovely, it really is just lovely.
So, getting back to the point of this article… wait, what was the point of this article?
Oh, yeah… I remember now… I was talking about how people that worked for the government didn’t used to make much money until perhaps they left their government jobs and went to work in the private sector.
You see, it seems to me that our government has become increasingly out of touch with the rest of our society, especially lately, that is to say that the current administration appears to have no connection whatsoever with the American middle class, for example.
The HAMP Disconnect
Neil Barofsky, the SIGTARP, or Special Inspector for the Troubled Asset Relief Fund was fairly critical of the Home Affordable Modification Program over the last six months or so, right up until he resigned from his position a month or so ago.
At one point last fall he made the observation that the administration had established “meaningless” goals for its “flagship mortgage assistance program.” He pointed out that when President Obama introduced the program in the latter part of February of 2009, he claimed that the program would help 3-4 million homeowners, but as it turns out, the program has at best helped… and I use the term “helped” very loosely… about 170,000 homeowners to-date. (This was back in September of 2010, today that number would be just north of 500,000.)
The administration’s response was… and I am not making this up, in fact I wrote about it at the time… that the plan’s goal wasn’t to actually help 3-4 millions of Americans, but rather merely to OFFER to help those millions.
Neil Barofsky replied by stating the incredibly obvious:
“Defining success by how many offers are given can reasonably be perceived as essentially meaningless,” Instead, the program’s goal “must relate to how many people are helped to avoid foreclosure.”
Enter Assistant Treasury Secretary Herbert Allison, just prior to his departure to that lovely cottage on the water in Connecticut. Herb responded to Barofsky’s report in a letter, saying that the statements about the plan’s goals “have not always been precise.” Then he argued that “offers of help” is a meaningful measurement because some borrowers who don’t qualify for the government program would still be able to avoid foreclosure, and I could stop and try to interpret that sentence, but I’m just not going to as I’m not wearing my mouth guard.
Now, you see my point here, right? As Herb is making this inconceivably obtuse point, we as a nation are in the third full year of the foreclosure crisis, the byproduct of the worst economic meltdown in 70 years. Millions of Americans have already lost their homes to foreclosure, and all forecasts point to millions more certain to lose their homes in the next couple of years. Headline unemployment is hovering around 10%, and the administration is clearly scrambling to make the economic recovery take hold somewhere… anywhere.
And Herb Allison, God bless him, is actually arguing that the “OFFER” of help is really what matters, as opposed to the “PROVIDING” of help to millions of American homeowners, as the program promised. Like, to Herb, when it comes to saving homes from foreclosure, the main thing is that we try, not so much that we succeed.
Of course, Herb was spouting this insensitive drivel a month or so before he was off to retire to his 7,379-sq.ft. 1911 wood and stucco $25 million Greens Farms Tudor mansion with the 17 rooms, including nine bedrooms, on 7.7 acres… with the guest house… that
used to belong to Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas.
Are you feeling me here?
See… because in the old days, our public servants, those that worked for the government, seemed to make less money than Phil Donahue or Marlo Thomas. They didn’t used to have 7,379-sq.ft. 1911 wood and stucco $25 million Greens Farms Tudor mansions with 17 rooms, and nine bedrooms on 7.7 acres… with the guest houses. And they used to seem more like the rest of us… more in touch with the lives of middle class Americans.
Maybe, if that were the case again, if our public servants were’t so far removed monetarily from the rest of us, maybe they would see the problems were facing with more clarity, and take them more seriously. For instance, maybe HAMP would have worked better than it did… maybe the foreclosure crisis would have ended by now, you know… if Herb wasn’t a zillionaire who lived in a Phil Donahue’s $25 million mansion on the waterfront.
And, maybe Herb is actually being sincere when he says that trying is as important as succeeding… that offering is as important as providing… because none of it will ever come close to affecting him personally. Herb, I’m fairly certain, isn’t going to lose his $25 million 7,379-sq.ft. Tudor 9 bedroom mansion to foreclosure, in fact, my guess would be that he’s never going to know anyone in that predicament either. So, “we tried”… might be the most we can expect from this government.
Maybe Herb feels about HAMP’s underwhelming performance the same way the rest of us might feel if the capital gains or inheritance tax were to triple next year, and we were charged with preventing that from happening. Like, we might say… look, we tried… and isn’t “trying” what really matters here? The important thing was that we OFFERED to keep the capital gains tax the same… we “TRIED” to keep it the same… and that’s how you really have to measure the success of our efforts, as opposed to succeeding and and actually keeping the tax rates the same.
Like, we might one day say to them: Oh well, we tried and we offered… and that’s what was important about our efforts… your Capital Gains and inheritance tax rates have tripled, however… so… sorry about that… chin up.
Mandelman out.
~~~
Special thanks to Nomi Prins, who is my new favorite author and person. She’s the one who pointed out Herb’s $25 million purchase of Phil’s and Marlo’s waterfront pad to me, and I swear to God, she’s sort of… well, me. Okay, she’s smarter than me, and I’m not sure she breaks into show tunes in the middle of writing about banks and mortgage-backed securities, as I am prone to do, but in an awful lot of ways, she’s Mandelman Matters in a much more attractive package. I’ll be reviewing her latest book, “It Takes a Pillage,” in the next week or two, as I’ve read it so many times at this point that I’ve almost memorized it. You can visit her site here, Nomi Prins… and really… I cannot recommend doing so highly enough.
Mar
10
Republicans Leap to the Aid of Banker-Servicers Over AG Settlement Proposal
Now this is really getting to be down right hysterical… or is surreal is a better word… no, maybe hysterical and surreal… along the lines of “Dr. Bailout… How I Learned to Stop Borrowing and Love the TARP.”
The top Republican on the Senate Banking, Senator Richard Shelby came out swinging, referring to the 27-page Term Sheet proposal that was given to the banks by the 50 State Attorneys General, a “regulatory shakedown.”
It seems he was referring, in large part anyway, to the $20 billion in damages proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which he inexplicably claimed was now $30 billion. Here’s what Shelby said, as quoted by American Banker magazine:
“Under the guise of helping homeowners hurt by improper foreclosures, regulators are attempting to extract a staggering payment of nearly $30 billion for unspecified conduct.”
The use of the word “guise,” I have to admit, I would probably have to agree with, as it is really just a “show”. Twenty billion dollars thrown at the foreclosure crisis is about like trying to stop a charging bull rhino by throwing ping-pong balls at him.
But, if it’s the lack of specificity in the description of servicer conduct that’s got his goat, well then I’d like to volunteer to provide as many specifics as his little heart desires. I’d even be willing to break it down into sub-categories for him, such as LIES, FRAUDS, NON-VIOLENT CRIMES, ACTS OF VIOLENSE, TERRORIST ACTS, BURGULARY, EXTORTION, CHILD ABUSE, ELDER ABUSE, GRAND THEFT, PETTY LARCENY, UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES… heck, if I could get a little help from a lawyer or two, I’m sure we could submit something pretty darn specific to the senator no later than end of business tomorrow, and even sooner if he’d prefer.
Senator Shelby went on, according to the American Banker story:
“Setting aside for a moment the attempt to end run Congress, I question whether removing $30 billion in capital through a back-door bank tax is the best way to jump-start lending. The long-term consequences of this settlement could be even more serious. It would politicize our financial system.”
First of all… a “back-door bank tax,” Senator? I don’t think you’re grasping what this whole thing is about, sir. First of all, there’s nothing “back-door” about it… it’s coming right through the front door, actually. And it’s not a tax, it’s a fine… a sanction… a penalty… punishment… restitution, even… albeit a paltry sum in light of the egregious nature of the crimes that have been committed by servicers, Senator… haven’t you been paying attention to what’s been going on for the last three years. Are you unaware of the role the servicers have played in ensuring our nation’s ongoing economic instability?
And “politicize our financial system?” That’s a good one, Senator. Yeah, we wouldn’t want to politicize our financial system… you know, I hadn’t ever heard you tell a joke before… you’re actually a funny guy, Senator. Senator Al Franken’s got nothing on you, sir.
But, unquestionably, the best part of Senator’s Shelby’s largely unintelligible rant, was when he threw down the “don’t fine them or there’ll be no lending” card. He draws that card like a gun, doesn’t he? He even sounds just like a banker when he does it.
I’m sorry, Senator, but at this point, that threat should leave the vast majority of Americans in absolute stiches. I mean, are you familiar with the story titled: “The Boy Who Cried Wolf?”
Jump-starting lending? Is that what we were in the midst of doing in your mind Senator, because I’m not sure you’re using the right terminology there… you can’t really mean “jump-start,” right? Because to “jump-start,” something actually implies not only that something is being started, but further, that it’s being started in a hurry, and that wouldn’t apply to lending by the private sector, now would it, Senator? See… because there’s precious little of that going on, sir… but I don’t need to tell you that… you’re on the Senate Banking Committee, silly.
This argument about lending goes all the way back to the TARP debate where we funded $700 billion… to make sure that lending started up again… and since then… WITHOUT APPROVAL FROM CONGRESS, OR EVEN ANY MENTION BY CONGRESS… we’ve DUMPED some 13 TRILLION into the banks, all tin an effort to start lending again… and still… there is no lending… the federal government is today the only lender to speak of in this country. Don’t you think pretty much all of us know that, Senator?
There won’t be any lending by private sector banks in this country until… well, until there ARE some private sector banks in this country. As of today, all I can see are a bunch of zombie banks, propped up with virtually unlimited free cash from then Federal Reserve, and by the suspension and modification of accounting rules, and even so, still heavily in debt to the tax-payers… JPMorgan Chase, as of last October, still owed us about $32,837,870,000 according to the very easy to read spreadsheets that author, and ex-Goldman Sachs managing director, Nomi Prins is nice enough to keep updated on her Website.
You see, it’s those darn toxic assets, Senator… the ones that were clogging up the bank balance sheets back in the fall of 2008, you know… when it all came out that the banks had OVER BORROWED to the tune of about 40:1 and much more, and that’s without counting the off-balance sheet crap that you and I both know should be illegal ever since ENRON showed us how much fun accounting isn’t when there are no rules and no trustworthy auditors on the job.
Yes, these toxic assets are… can you guess, Senator? Good! That’s right… even more toxic, that’s correct. And why would that be, sir? Good again… because you guys forgot to do anything to stop the foreclosures from destroying the asset values of our housing markets, and guess what’s toxic about the toxic assets, Senator Shelby… it’s the mortgages, sir. So, every time another house goes down to foreclosure, another mortgage-backed security goes bad, as do all of the derivatives whose values are “derived” from that mortgage-backed security.
It’s sort of a knee-bone’s-connected-to-the-ankle-bone-thing, sir. Maybe you could sing that little ditty to yourself every time this subject comes up… it might help you to remember what the hell you’re talking about, Senator Shelby.
And if you don’t like that idea, sir… perhaps use a magic marker to make a note on your hand, or tie a string around your finger… I don’t care if you have your assistant tickle your testicles to keep this stuff top-of-mind, it would just be gosh darn lovely if once in a while when you opened your mouth, you sounded like you had some faint idea of what you were talking about, Senator Shelby… you know… like maybe if you did it just once, half of the old men in the senate would likely soil themselves.
Yes, those toxic assets we all heard so much about, during the fall of 2098 are for the most part, right where they were way back then on… AND OFF… of the balance sheets of our Too-Big-To-Fail… Too-Big-To-Save and, Lord knows… Too-Big-To-Prosecute banks.
In fact… Shhhhhhh…. please… be quiet. One of the bankers might be resting right now, and as of last week, they are also to be considered Too-Big-To-Wake-Up-From-A-Nap. Thanks for understanding…
So, tell me something, Senator Shelby… if we gave the bankers $13 TRILLION to stimulate lending, and it didn’t accomplish a damn thing in that regard, why would fining the all the servicers combined a measly $20 billion have any effect at all, one way or the other.
Do we all understand “TRILLION” here? It’s okay if you don’t… it’s a pretty big number, after all. Chances are a trillion is not a number you’re going to bump into even if you live to be a hundred and fifty years old… twice. Here’s what I use to help me realize just how large numbers like that truly are…
A million seconds = 12 days.
A billion seconds = 32 years.
A trillion seconds? 32,000 years!
So, if we convert our banking/lending fear mongering example of yours into seconds, we’ve already given the banks 416,000 years, and you’re trying to tell us that if we make them give us 640 of those years back that they won’t be lending as a result? 640 out of 416,000 is a deal killer, Senator?
Man, these seem like some very touchy bankers, don’t you think, sir. If you’re right and the 640 out of 416,000 is, in fact, going to upset their apple cart like that, not that they’re lending now, or that they have any plans to “jump-start” any such thing anytime soon… but, I’d say we need to fire these girls we’ve got running our banks, and get some more resilient types at the respective helms of our nation’s largest financial institutions.
Because, Senator Shelby… that sounds like we’ve got TROUBLE… It sure sounds like TROUBLE… I’m talking real TROUBLE… right here in River City… and look who’s here, sir… why, it’s Professor Harold Hill! Did you order The Music Man, sir? Let’s listen, I love this musical, sir…
Professor Harold Hill: Well… I’d say you’ve got trouble, my friends. That’s right real serious trouble. And it’s right there in your city. Great big trouble… and not just any kind of trouble… it’s the kind of trouble that means you gotta’ stay sharp… Because the trouble I’m here to sing about started with TARP!
Cause you’ve got TARP…. And it’s not at all pretty
With capital T-A-R-P and ‘F’ which stands for FOOL
Oh yes, we’ve got TARP… Chase, Wells and Citi
Their lending got wiped out by those toxic pools.
~~~~
Yes, you’ve got TARP… an idea so shitty…
With a capital T-A-R-P and ‘B’ which stands for BANK.
Oh yes, you’ve got TARP… Chase, Wells and Citi
For the people it was a deal that really stank.
~~~~
You’ve got TARP… terrible, terrible TARP… we bailed out banks you called Too-Big-To-Fail.
Oh, you’ve got TARP, TARP, TARP (yes, you’ve got TARP, TARP, TARP)
Instead we should have sent them all to jail.
Oh you’ve got TARP, TARP, TARP… yes, they call it TARP, TARP, TARP… TARP, TARP, TARP… (Fade out…)
Where are you going, Senator Shelby? Aren’t you going to stick around until the end? It’s awful rude to walk out during a musical, sir… what will your constituents think, sir? Senator Shelby… sir…?
Oh well… he probably had a meeting scheduled… I’m sure he’s busy this week, I’m told tomorrow is “Blow-a-Banker Day” in the District of Colombia. I didn’t even think about that, because in California, we don’t celebrate it until late May.
It’s too bad though, because there was one more area I wanted to cover with him. You see, getting back to American Banker’s article again… Senator Shelby and a couple of the other prominent House Republicans, were also attacking Elizabeth Warren’s involvement in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, because apparently she’s the one asking for the $20 billion from the servicers, wouldn’t you know.
So, it seems the other day good senator came right out and said:
“Just last year, I warned that the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection would prove to be an unaccountable and unbridled bureaucracy. I did not expect to be proven correct so quickly,”
(Memo to Senator Shelby: Don’t worry, sir… you weren’t.)
American Banker got a copy of a letter sent by Shelby, along with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, and Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J), and although they didn’t mention Elizabeth Warren by name, here’s what the letter said, among other things of course…
“Reports about the role played by political appointees in the Treasury Department — including those affiliated with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that does not yet have any regulatory or enforcement authority — raise further question about the process through which the terms of the settlement are being negotiated.”
I’ll tell you what… these Republicans are two things for damn sure:
- Totally in the pocket of the banking lobbyists… and the bankers themselves, of course.
- Really petty people for grown-ups.
They’re actually all upset because of Elizabeth Warren’s new federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Is not yet officially open for business… and doesn’t officially until July… so therefore, she shouldn’t bring up any of her trouble-making ideas until then?
Boys, boys, boys… you just don’t get it do you? The people HATE the bankers for what they’ve done these past two years, and you’re going to find out the hard way what happens to politicians who are so flagrantly on the side of the bankers in the next election. The Dems got shellacked for the same thing last time out, or didn’t you realize? Watch out… I’m telling you the backlash has been building and it’s going to explode…
Here’s Shelby one more time from the article in AB, making his point about Liz…
“The process by which it is being imposed is potentially far more concerning,” Shelby said. “The proposed settlement would fundamentally alter the regulation of our banks. Yet, this would be done without Congressional involvement. Instead, it would be done by executive fiat through intimidation and threats of regulatory sanctions.”
But, you see… that’s what’s so funny, because… well, because lately I’ve come to realize that there are quite a few people that think that TARP was THE banking industry’s bailout… but that’s not true at all… in fact, the $700 billion TARP fund, was actually the smallest of all the banking industry bailouts we provided in the last two years, and there were more before that.
Now, TARP is the one with the most memorable acronym… rhymes with “harp” and “carp,” but the others were funded into the TRILLIONS, as you can see below. The thing is… none of these banking industry bailouts went through Congress either… that is to say that we authorized all of these TRILLIONS in taxpayer dollars… “without Congressional involvement,” to use Senator Shelby’s own words from his quote above.
I don’t recall Senator Shelby or either of the other two House Republicans that wrote the letter to Geithner about the 27-page AG Term Sheet proposal, bellyaching about that, do you? It’s rhetorical… they, of course, didn’t say a word.
Quiet like church mice when we’re giving the bankers trillions, but try to fine the servicers for doing stuff they should really be in joal for, and the bankster politicians come running out onto the floor of the House or Senate every hour on the hour, yelling… Cukoo! Cukoo!
Just below is a list of the less publicized taxpayer funded banker bailout programs from the last two years. I’ll look them all up over the weekend and try to post an article explaining what each one was supposed to be for, and how much was spent to-date… stuff like that.
It pisses me off that they play games like this with all of us… they say… lookie over there… TARP, TARP, TARP… and then while we’re distracted, they spend trillions of our money without going through Congress.
Shelby’s fine with it, however, as long as it doesn’t negatively affect the bankers in any way… or come from The Desk of Elizabeth Warren… the ONLY person in Washington D.C. to even suggest that the servicers be fined as a result of what they’ve done to homeowners for three years… the ONLY one.
But Shelby shouldn’t worry his hypocritical little head over it, because she’ll be gone by July, so yet another win for the banksters… yay.
TLGP – The Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program – $1.5 trillion
GSEP – Government Sponsored Entity Purchases - $1.4 trillion
CPFF – Commercial Paper Funding Facility – $1.4 trillion
TALF – Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility – $200 billion
TAF – Term Auction Facility – $600 billion
AMLF – Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility – $1.6 trillion
FEDS – Foreign Exchange Dollar Swaps – Undisclosed
PDCF – Primary Dealer Credit Facility – Undisclosed
(I’m pretty sure when they say “undisclosed” where the amount goes, it’s because it’s a really small number, aren’t you? Of course you are… Geithner wouldn’t not disclose a really big number, would he? Not Transparency Tim… no way in the world.)
Mandelman out.
HERE’S A COPY OF THE LETTER FROM THE SENATE AND HOUSE REPUBLIC ANS :
Jan
13
The Citigroup Bailout Report…How Taxpayers Shoveled Billions to Citigroup
And what did we get from the Citigroup bailout? Not much from where I sit….but you read the 77 page report and let me know whether you like the idea of pumping billions of taxpayer dollars to bailout the fat cats on the “gut instinct” that such unprecedented intervention was necessary…..billions of dollars, my dollars, on a “gut instinct”…and now….the report
Extraordinary Financial Assistance Provided to Citigroup, Inc
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Jan
09
The Banks Find Yet Another Way To Profit From American’s Misery–
There seems to be no end to the machinations of the banks and their efforts to suck every last drop of economic blood out of the American taxpayers who bailed them out….read on and prepare to be disgusted…..
The Florida securities deal illustrates how financial institutions, including some beneficiaries of federal bailout dollars, are actively creating new ways to profit from the financial distress of homeowners. Acting as surrogate tax collectors, they can help local governments quickly and efficiently bolster their budgets by tens of millions of dollars and in some cases find new owners for dilapidated property. Miami-Dade County, for instance, took in more than $374 million in June 2009 from the sale of about 60,000 property tax liens.
Yet no one is looking out for property owners who suddenly find themselves in debt to the new Wall Street taxman. The growing $5 billion tax lien market goes largely unwatched and unregulated because rules haven’t kept pace with the industry’s flourishing growth in economic hard times, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found in a review of the industry.
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Jan
04
BOMBSHELL- PRINCIPAL REDUCTIONS FOR ALL MAJOR SERVICERS!
Oh, sorry, you thought I meant borrowers were going to be treated fairly and that the man on the street was going to get a break, right? Not so fast folks. This is Amerika after all where those at the top of the pyramid get all the breaks while all of us suffer immensely.
There is a major deal pending that would result in massive principle reductions of the obligations the major banks owe to you and me as taxpayers. But just as with all the previous bailouts, the man on the street GETS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
This should come as no surprise because this is the absolute pattern that permeates the entire crisis from beginning to end. The Wall Street Fat Cats continue to cut billion dollar bailout deals while you and I get left holding the bag…
Bank of America, the biggest U.S. lender by assets, agreed to pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a total of $2.8 billion to settle claims stemming from the 2008 purchase of Countrywide, which was then the largest mortgage company in the U.S. The government-backed entities have been pressuring lenders to make good on so-called representations and warranties, in which they vouched for the accuracy of loan documents.
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Dec
09
I’m a Foreclosure Defense Attorney…..
For years, being a foreclosure defense attorney was a relatively simple affair. Foreclosure meant helping the homeowner through a rough patch then they’d be back on their feet and along their way. A few years ago, that started to change. Things got worse for my clients and solutions were harder to come by.
Over the last two years in particular I noticed that things became much, much worse for my clients and their families…..and the banks offered no help or assistance. Right about that same time a few pioneering attorneys began to dig deep into foreclosures and the whole process and in doing so they began to expose major, systemic flaws that permeated the entire mortgage lending and foreclosure process. As we dug deeper and deeper into the whole foreclosure morass we’ve uncovered problems at virtually every step in the process.
The questions of the not so distant past have led us all into a full blown examination of our entire system of government….from the regulators and legislative, straight up to the executive branch and their failed bailout programs. Today the foreclosure fight is a full blown battle to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. We’re fighting to ensure Due Process under the 14th Amendment, protecting against unreasonable seizures recognized in the 4th Amendment and fighting to ensure that our press and members of the public are able to speak freely, challenge their government and seek redress of the injustices being visited upon them, a right protected by the 1st Amendment.
This fight has exposed the very best qualities in some of the best lawyers in this country. It has brought together neighbors, communities and people from every walk of. The ethical, principled and dedicated attorneys who live and breathe this fight will tell you that serving their clients and fighting this fight is the high point of their careers…it certainly has been mine.
I’m going to keep fighting…for you. For the Constitution. For all of us. It’s what I do….I’m a foreclosure defense attorney. I’m honored to serve all of you and thank you for all your support and encouragement….we’re in this together.
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Dec
02
Our Government Tossed Out Billions of Dollars of Our Money…..
I guess we’ve lost the ability to be angry anymore in this country, but give this a read….
After years of stonewalling by the Fed, the American people are finally learning the incredible and jaw-dropping details of the Fed’s multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and corporate America.
A Real Jaw Dropper at the Federal Reserve
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Read More: Bailout , Ben Bernanke , Bernie Sanders , Fed , Federal Reserve , Greed , Wall Street , Politics News
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At a Senate Budget Committee hearing in 2009, I asked Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to tell the American people the names of the financial institutions that received an unprecedented backdoor bailout from the Federal Reserve, how much they received, and the exact terms of this assistance. He refused. A year and a half later, as a result of an amendment that I was able to include in the Wall Street reform bill, we have begun to lift the veil of secrecy at the Fed, and the American people now have this information.
It is unfortunate that it took this long, and it is a shame that the biggest banks in America and Mr. Bernanke fought to keep this secret from the American public every step of the way. But, the details on this bailout are now on the Federal Reserve’s website, and this is a major victory for the American taxpayer and for transparency in government.
Importantly, my amendment also required the Government Accountability Office to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of all of the emergency lending the Fed provided during the financial crisis to be completed on July 21, 2011, which will take a hard look at all of the potential conflicts of interest that took place with respect to this bailout. So, in many respects, details that the Fed was forced to divulge on Wednesday about the $3.3 trillion in emergency loans that until now were totally kept from public scrutiny, marked the beginning, not the end, of lifting the veil of secrecy at the Fed.
After years of stonewalling by the Fed, the American people are finally learning the incredible and jaw-dropping details of the Fed’s multi-trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and corporate America. As a result of this disclosure, other members of Congress and I will be taking a very extensive look at all aspects of how the Federal Reserve functions and how we can make our financial institutions more responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans and small businesses.
What have we learned so far from the disclosure of more than 21,000 transactions? We have learned that the $700 billion Wall Street bailout signed into law by President George W. Bush turned out to be pocket change compared to the trillions and trillions of dollars in near-zero interest loans and other financial arrangements the Federal Reserve doled out to every major financial institution in this country. Among those are Goldman Sachs, which received nearly $600 billion; Morgan Stanley, which received nearly $2 trillion; Citigroup, which received $1.8 trillion; Bear Stearns, which received nearly $1 trillion, and Merrill Lynch, which received some $1.5 trillion in short term loans from the Fed.
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Nov
24
T’was the Night Before Christmas… 2010
Twas the Night Before Christmas… 2010
Twas the Night Before Christmas, 2010
And as I sat down, to pen this poem, once again,
My mind started thinking about the haves and have-nots
This year, I decided, I’d better pour me two shots.
~~~~~~
For this past year I started without that much hope,
The question was more about how we would cope.
Although it was change for which I was still yearning,
I’d soon learn that I did not like what I was learning.
~~~~~~
So, while stockings were hung by our chimney with care,
My hopes for St. Nicholas, just weren’t there.
I wanted to bring Christmas cheer to each person,
But I couldn’t help thinking our world would soon worsen.
~~~~~~
Some said this past year we would start to recover,
But as stimuli wore off, we would come to discover,
That our housing crisis was not a thing of the past,
As we waited to see Option ARMs that recast.
~~~~~~
As last year began, the earth shook beneath Haiti,
We sent food & money, and a song by some lady.
A month later Chile’s earthquake caused a giant Tsunami,
Then the next one hit China, and I wanted my mommy.
~~~~~~
Around the world wars still raged, and not peace,
But the real news was S&P downgrading Greece.
Soon their streets would erupt into televised riots,
Seems austerity programs don’t keep people quiet.
~~~~~~
The EU would now need a bailout of billions,
But Germany didn’t even want to send millions.
Then Spain was in trouble, and soon there’d be others,
And they could all fail, if some had their druthers.
~~~~~~
But just as we’d done, they came up with the money,
This culture of bailouts was no longer that funny.
Because even with trillions we’d given to banks,
They didn’t modify or lend, or even say thanks.
~~~~~~
Then BP in the Gulf caused an oil eruption,
The media forecasted 100 years of disruption,
But they cleaned it all up, it was ultra-high-tech,
BP off to keep drilling, after writing a check.
~~~~~~
Meanwhile here at home, our homes kept foreclosing,
While politicians responded by smiling and posing.
I knew the Dems would get crushed in the mid-term election,
The only thought that could give John McCain an erection.
~~~~~~
But, for reasons unknown, it had been health care reform,
That took up Barack’s time, as the lobbyists swarmed,
And as I sat writing, dressed warm in my flannels,
I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of death panels.
~~~~~~
This year financial reform, would top Barack’s list,
But with bankers opposed, we got screwed and not kissed.
Prevent the next crisis, was the theme we were drumming,
But what passed wouldn’t have stopped even this one from coming.
~~~~~~
About HAMP, Treasury would spend the whole year in denial,
While Senate investigations would put bankers on trial.
Yes, the acts of the bankers were meticulously tracked,
Our economy, it seemed, had been Goldman Sach’d.
~~~~~~
It was Blankfein and Lewis and Dimon and Pandit,
And Prinze, Stumpf and Mack, that were all in fact bandits.
Dick Fuld was home wondering, Who is John Gault?
He kept right on saying that Lehman wasn’t his fault.
~~~~~~
We found mortgage servicers were not in alignment,
And then we found out, the banks lost all the assignments.
They had robo-signers, to bring fraud on the court.
It seems to banks, a foreclosure was some kind of sport.
~~~~~~
This year lawyers proved, the banks were full of blarney,
And their names were Max Gardner and of course, April Charney.
Without attorneys like them, banks had a clear path to foreclosure,
And finally, thank God, the media gave them some exposure.
~~~~~~
Then November arrived, and the Dems were shellacked,
They’d forgotten who’d brung them, and so were attacked.
Voters cared little about who was a smartie,
In fact many decided to attend a tea party.
~~~~~~
And then up on the roof, there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window, I flew like a flash,
It was Bernanke with six-hundred billion in cash.
~~~~~~
My eyes couldn’t believe it, as I stood there freezing,
Ben said Ho, Ho, Ho, I’ve brought quantitative easing.
But will that help people, from LA to Carolina?
Because one things for sure, it’s gonna’ piss off China.
~~~~~~
He said he had to do something, the economy to spark it,
And this would keep rates low and help the stock market.
And that would in turn mean we’d feel wealth affected,
Which would allow consumer spending to be resurrected.
~~~~~~
Okay Ben, I said, although what I was thinking,
Was that this guy had done just a bit too much drinking.
It wasn’t rates or the market that caused spending to stop,
It was housing prices that did nothing but drop.
~~~~~~
Ben said he must go, for he had many stresses,
He had left Santa running his cash printing presses.
I asked him to give Santa my best regards,
But he said all he cared of, was people charging with cards.
~~~~~~~
Then all of a sudden from out of his sack,
Came Elizabeth Warren, and she gave him a smack.
“That’s enough Ben,” she said, and her voice was quite stern,
“There’s a few things about people that you need to learn.”
~~~~~~
You see Christmas will come, with the sun of tomorrow,
And you’ll see that it’s not about how much you can borrow.
Because Christmas is not what is under the tree,
The spirit of Christmas is something that’s free.
~~~~~~
I wanted to give Liz a great big loving hug,
I wished we could bottle her up like a drug.
She threw Ben in the back and took off in the sleigh,
And she promised to send Santa before the next day.
~~~~~~
I called after her, Liz… where will you go from here?
I wanted to offer to share Christmas cheer.
She said she’d be back, in a few hours at most,
First, she’d visit Geithner’s dreams, in her role as Christmas ghost.
~~~~~~
I wished she’d stay’d longer, as I wanted to thank her,
But I loved her for rattling chains at the country’s top banker.
And I heard her exclaim, as she flew out of sight,
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah… and to all a good night.
~~~~~~
HO, HO, HO…
And I wish the Happiest of Holidays to all!
by Martin Andelman
Mandelman Matters
I write this year-in-review holiday poem every year. To find past year’s versions,
just visit Mandelman Matters and scroll down to the box titled “People Say I’m Funny.”
You’ll also find it in the center spread of the December issue of The Niche Report magazine.
Please click the link below and consider joining your fellow homeowners as they make their voices heard in Washington and across the country. Because only together will our voices be heard.
A Virtual March on Washington
Can you hear me now?
Nov
12
HAMP BAILOUT TRACKER- ANGER AND FURY
For those delusional people out there that think there was any real effort to modify mortgages (I was certainly one of them), have a look at the following report which shows just how obscenely wasteful, unproductive and ineffective the program was…a breakdown of money received….my money, your money, by the servicers, and how few people actually got anything out of if.
I fought Strategic Defaults for a long time, but that’s all changed now…..
SCREW THE BANKS!
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Nov
04
Hot Off the Press – CA Federal Judge Grants Homeowner TRO against Chase
Alright… so not every federal judge in CA is in the tank for the banks. Surprising but refreshing. At least the judges around this country seem to be “getting it” as well. By getting it I mean starting to understand that the banks, servicers and secondary mortgage market players are generally deceptive, dubious, misleading, unfair, immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous – oh my goodness… I’m in adjective heaven here!
Seriously, though, the servicers are bottom-dwellers in every sense of the word and it’s nice to see a judge actually recognize that their collection tactics are oppressive and immoral and, when pleaded with specificity, accepted by the judge as true. In this case, a pro se homeowner went on the offense (as needed in California) and filed a complaint (23 pages) and also motioned for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and a Preliminary Injunction. The judge granted the homeowner’s request for a TRO in her order. All of these documents can be downloaded below as well. Read and Learn… if you’re a pro se homeowner, this is some really good research for you. Way to go Mr. Khast!
Motion for Preliminary Injunction
Memorandum in Support of Motion for Prelim Injunction
Opposition by Chase and CA Reconveyance Company
Oh and by the way, I didn’t know this until I read Chase’s Certification of Interested Parties that JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA actually purchased CA Reconveyance Company. Isn’t that convenient? Our tax bailout dollars hard at work making home seizure even more convenient and easy for Chase. Seriously, if you have any bank account of any sort with Chase, B of A, Wells Fargo, Citi, you have got to be out of your mind. I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE TO PATRONIZE THESE LARGE BANKS AND GIVE THEM ANY OF MY MONEY, PAY THEIR FEES OR LET THEM KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME. YOU SHOULD DO THE SAME. IMAGINE HOW GREAT IT WOULD BE IF WE STARTED A MOVEMENT TO REMOVE OUR DEPOSITORY ACCOUNTS FROM THESE LARGE BANKS!
For over two years now, my banking is done exclusively with a small community bank. You know, the old face to face, relationship banking that used to be the norm. These large banks can kiss my ass. They are horrendous in how they treat their customers. Use the power of choice and abandon the big banks. Start a trend in your neighborhood and community. I would just love to see one of the big banks fail because of a run on their bank deposits.
Oct
07
The Banks Are Burglars- (But They Get Away With It)- Mother Jones Article
The banks are permitted to run wild. Why should we expect there to be any consequences when they kick down your doors and throw your property into the streets, I mean after all, they stole billions from us already and was there a single indictment? No. Was there any punishment? No. Not only did they walk away Scott free, they were paid billions more in bailout money. Not only were they paid billions in bailout money, they were paid $50 billion in mortgage modification money. Not only were they paid $50 billion in mortgage modification money, here in Florida we paid $9.6 million to set up a foreclosure rocket docket to speed up the time it takes to throw a neighbor into the street and hired senior judges who don’t care to be bothered with pesky details like who actually has a right to foreclose.
God Save Us All If We Allow This To Continue….For Now We Must Rely On the Press to Save Us.
PLEASE READ AND COMMENT ON THE ARTICLE BELOW
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Oct
01
Bank of America Suspends Foreclosures- Federal Moratorium to Follow
Search back on this blog and sites like 4Closurefraud.com and Foreclosurehamlet.com. We’ve been arguing for months now that the only legitimate response to the foreclosure crisis is a moratorium.
Our so called state and national “leaders” have not yet taken the chance to show real leadership and do such a thing, but the lenders that caused all this mess are implementing moratoriums on their own.
See the latest Wall Street Journal Article Here.
Type the word “Moratorium” on this blog and see how long I’ve been arguing for it. Now, when the title claims start rolling in. When the title underwriters cannot handle their claims. When the losses for the banks and insurors cannot be covered without a bailout, just calculate how many billions would have been saved if the moratorium would have been implemented back when we all started screaming for it.
Just something to think about.
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Fannie BofA Probe | Letter From Rep Issa to FHFA Director DeMarco
By 4closureFraud | Bankruptcy, Foreclosure Fraud, News for the Patriot
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