Upcoming Foreclosures

Should the government be bailing out the housing industry, foreclosures, etc.?

What financial deregulation created these problems? Wasn't it done during both the Clinton and Bush Administration? What is happening with mortgage cram-downs?

Public Comments

1. Clinton signed the Community Reinvestment Act. That caused Fannie and Freddie to rewrite underwriting guidelines and that created a bunch of hybrid mortgages that failed under the Bush administration. So when the default rates went up it closed hundreds of lenders and and even some Wall Street firms. Clinton does not claim any involvement as he is the teflon man but he started the whole mess as there was sub-prime that worked for many many years before Clinton. Bush should have repealed the act but he too failed in this. So both are to blame
2. I believe it all started with Clinton, though Bush did nothing to stop it. Clinton passed ALL these ridiculous laws basically allowing anyone to buy a house, regardless of credit score, or income. So, those people ... as predictable as it might have been...ended up not being able to afford their homes, thus creating this real estate market crisis that we are in. I think something needs to be done about it. I didn't vote for Obama, but I like the new Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae refinance programs. These are going to help A LOT of people. However, the stimulus package has some very ridiculous things involved that are unecessary. The Obama Administration should straighten out some of their priorities, such as saving the spotted snake and STD education -- not necessities in a financial crisis if you ask me!
3. If you want a specific bill research the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. I wrote an intense article regarding it and explaining how it has lead to our current crisis. In short, the bill repealed the Banking Act of 1933 which separated commercial banks and investment banks. They could be one but not the other. Once this was repealed, banks were able to open up investment branches or buy investment banks and start doing the underwriting on their own securities, such as mortgage backed securities. Read my article as to why this was a bad idea. Check out the other article about Citi and Bank of America too.