Capital New York

jduley commented on Bloomberg: 'Plain and simple,' Congress caused the mortgage crisis, not the banks

The Clinton administration was indeed at the genesis of the problem with pressure on lending institutions to lower lending requirements in order to encourage home ownership for those more at risk to default. Unfortunately, the Bush administration further extended this encouragement with Bush himself stumping for the cause. Here are a few of many speeches he made promoting this insanity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjoS8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqR15H0gNBU Even with all the warning signs flashing red near the end of Bush's term, his administration was in such denial about the coming crash that they completely ignored it until it happened. In my opinion (only), they were so mired in two intractable foreign wars that they didn't keep their eye on the ball - and were more than happen to let the collapse happen on the next guy's watch. Instead, it further tainted an already flawed presidency. Congress, no doubt, has a major share of the blame, too - again, both parties, for their typical reasoning. The Dems wanted to promote housing for all to give minorities (and illegals) the opportunity to own a piece of the American dream, no matter who was impacted. The GOP saw this as great business for the banks, homebuilders and the rest of the housing "machine." Both sides played an equal role in failing this country. Then you have the banks / lenders themselves who clearly skirted the law, took advantage of deregulation and worked tirelessly to extended company and personal profits. Not only did they give away money to folks who clearly were unqualified to buy homes, but they loaned homebuilders more and more money to fund construction projects that never would have qualified buyers unless the banks FURTHER reduced their lending requirements (if that was even possible). As long as they were making money hand over fist, no one worried that the party would come crashing down on all of us - and they were assured by their attorneys that nothing they did was illegal. One of the reasons we haven't seen any of the fat cat bankers tried for crimes is because, technically, they broke no laws - they had plenty air cover from an equally culpable Congress and two presidential administrations. Face it, folks - everyone's hands are dirty in this except the poor slobs who paid through the nose for overpriced houses and now have seen the value of their property plummet.

Posted on November 2nd, 2011 9:09am