Sub-prime mortgages to people who shouldn't have had them. (This was also a huge mover in the housing bubble--both it's inflation of home prices and their current crash.)
Why were they offered mortgages?
Who wanted to reign in the program? And who didn't.
If you read the current papers and listen to the current Democratic leadership...you are hearing the wrong answers repeated over and over again.
Snopes.com, however has reported on two emails going around that expose the truth.
Read the whole thing to get the facts.
The Community Reinvestment Act (passed by a Democrat controlled House and Senate and signed by President Carter and later expanded by a Democrat controlled House and Senate and signed by President Clinton) paved the way for risky loans to those who might not be able to repay them. Even punishing lending institutions if they did not comply.
It was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 1999 that wanted more lending. (The head's of those agencies cooked the books to award themselves huge bonuses. And are currently advising the Obama campaign on financial matters.)
It was the Bush administration that wanted to install more regulation of the two because of the shaken ground upon which they were built. It was Democrats in the House and Senate that swore that things were fine and no added regulation was needed in 2003. These same Democrats (specifically Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd) had pocketed tens of thousands in campaign contributions from the two agencies and were given sweetheart mortgage deals from affiliated lenders. It was Sen. Barack Obama who pocketed more money than any other Senator or Representative when calculated as dollars per years in office.
Pass this along.
UPDATE: The newest GOP ad: "What Just Happened?"
1 comment:
This is what my common sense told me the past 10 or so years:
1. The housing prices are (were) inflated. When the market would have enough, the bubble would burst.
2. I know of people who were offered loans up to $200K more than they could really, conscientiously afford. They were smart enough to go with the lower mortgage amounts. However, many dreamers heard the magic numbers and thought their dreams had come true. Sadly, they were being scammed.
Saw the bust coming. It is sad that so many are caught up in it.
What made people think that the housing market would just keep going up and up? Incomes are not unlimited and what goes up, must come down.
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