In article
,
Nickname unavailable wrote:

With the strengthened position of Wall Street following the 2008
bailout and the tepid 2010 banking reform bill, the US is far from
nationalizing its mega-banks now. But a committed homeowner movement
to tear off the predatory mask called MERS could yet turn the tide.
While courts are not likely to let 62 million homeowners off scot-
free, the defect in title created by MERS could give them significant
new leverage at the bargaining table.

The bill that ultimately repealed the Glas Steagal Act was introduced in
the Senate by Phil Gramm (Republican of Texas) and in the House of
Representatives by Jim Leach (R-Iowa) in 1999. The bills were passed by
a Republican majority, basically following party lines by a 54*44 vote
in the Senate[12] and by a bi-partisan 343*86 vote in the House of
Representatives.[13] After passing both the Senate and House the bill
was moved to a conference committee to work out the differences between
the Senate and House versions. The final bill resolving the differences
was passed in the Senate 90*8 (one not voting) and in the House: 362*57
(15 not voting). The legislation was signed into law by President Bill
Clinton on November 12, 1999.[14]

The repeal of Glas-Steagal allowed investment banks to create
derivatives, which were back by bad loans. Sec. of Treasury, Hank
Paulson, under "W" purchase the derivatives at face value.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/...sec_paul_craig


October 17, 2008


JUAN GONZALEZ: What about this issue of the government¹s bailout being
aimed primarily at the financial institutions rather than the homeowners
who‹and the defaults that are at the root of the crisis?

PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS: Yes. Well, it suggests that the bailout is either
incompetence or fraud, because the problem, according to the government,
is the defaulting mortgages, so the money should be directed at
refinancing the mortgages and paying off the foreclosed ones. And that
would restore the value of the mortgage-backed securities that are
threatening the financial institutions. If the value was restored, the
crisis would be over. So there¹s no connection between the government¹s
explanation of the crisis and its solution to the crisis.

- Paul Craig Roberts,
former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department in the Reagan
administration and a former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal.
He has taught at Georgetown University and Stanford University

I'm not trying to deflect guilt from Obama, who certainly has his share
of the blame, but this all started under the Bush Administration.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/m...515308172.html