Lue C Fur
Evil member
This is a interesting article on our govts push for financial regulation., the timing of the Goldman Sachs SEC charge, and the bank/mortgage meltdown. The full article is at the posted link but i posted some of the highlights.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010...on-obama-sec-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-mortages/
Fraud charges were filed against Goldman Sachs on Friday and the Obama administration is portraying the announcement as an attempt to bring greedy and corrupt Wall Street under control. Yet, the timing of the case looks like more than coincidence with the Senate about to start debating President Obama’s plan for [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]financial[/COLOR][/COLOR] regulation and with the president himself set to kick off his tour to push the bill on Thursday. The charges of fraud look more like the government changing the rules of the game than actual fraud occurring.
Politically the timing could not have been worse for Wall Street," noted Wall Street Journal Reporter Damian Paletta last Friday. "Goldman Sachs case could help Obama shift voter anger," pronounced a headline in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.
Alas, President Obama sits atop an administration that doesn't seem to understand the first thing about financial trades. Markets make profits by minimizing price swings over time or minimizing current differences in prices. Investors make profits by buying low and selling high, not the reverse. That smoothes out price swings. Yet, Mr. Obama demonizes futures trading as increasing market instability and for causing the recent [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]financial [COLOR=blue !important]crisis[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] when the opposite is true.
Ironically, if the administration really wanted to go after mortgage-backed fraud, it needs to look no further than the government. As Alan Greenspan testified two weeks ago before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: "While the roots of the crisis were global, it was securitized US subprime mortgages that served as the crisis' immediate trigger. The surge in demand for mortgage backed securities was heavily driven by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were pressed by the Department of Housing and Urban development and the Congress to expand affordable housing commitments."
Greenspan also witnessed, first hand, this pressure on banks to issue mortgages that they didn't want to sell: "I sat through meeting after meeting in which the pressures on the Federal Reserve -- and on, I might add, all of the other regulatory agencies -- to enhance lending were remarkable."
Amazingly, a financial crisis created by government is being used to demonize private lenders who only gave out risky loans because of government pressure. Yet, Democrats continue to reward Fannie and Freddie with even more funds. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs finds that it is charged with fraud because the Obama administration has changed the rules on what it means to "play fair." It is time for the government to start playing fair.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010...on-obama-sec-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-mortages/
Fraud charges were filed against Goldman Sachs on Friday and the Obama administration is portraying the announcement as an attempt to bring greedy and corrupt Wall Street under control. Yet, the timing of the case looks like more than coincidence with the Senate about to start debating President Obama’s plan for [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]financial[/COLOR][/COLOR] regulation and with the president himself set to kick off his tour to push the bill on Thursday. The charges of fraud look more like the government changing the rules of the game than actual fraud occurring.
Politically the timing could not have been worse for Wall Street," noted Wall Street Journal Reporter Damian Paletta last Friday. "Goldman Sachs case could help Obama shift voter anger," pronounced a headline in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.
Alas, President Obama sits atop an administration that doesn't seem to understand the first thing about financial trades. Markets make profits by minimizing price swings over time or minimizing current differences in prices. Investors make profits by buying low and selling high, not the reverse. That smoothes out price swings. Yet, Mr. Obama demonizes futures trading as increasing market instability and for causing the recent [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]financial [COLOR=blue !important]crisis[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] when the opposite is true.
Ironically, if the administration really wanted to go after mortgage-backed fraud, it needs to look no further than the government. As Alan Greenspan testified two weeks ago before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: "While the roots of the crisis were global, it was securitized US subprime mortgages that served as the crisis' immediate trigger. The surge in demand for mortgage backed securities was heavily driven by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were pressed by the Department of Housing and Urban development and the Congress to expand affordable housing commitments."
Greenspan also witnessed, first hand, this pressure on banks to issue mortgages that they didn't want to sell: "I sat through meeting after meeting in which the pressures on the Federal Reserve -- and on, I might add, all of the other regulatory agencies -- to enhance lending were remarkable."
Amazingly, a financial crisis created by government is being used to demonize private lenders who only gave out risky loans because of government pressure. Yet, Democrats continue to reward Fannie and Freddie with even more funds. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs finds that it is charged with fraud because the Obama administration has changed the rules on what it means to "play fair." It is time for the government to start playing fair.
