Every Vote Counts

" Wow...I love this video. Can't wait to vote for Obama my dear as I strongly believe he's the one who can deal with the economy, forget about national security. Who cares about Al-Qaeda or Wen Jiabao while we can't pay off the mortgages of our homes. And change is all we need ! Surely you'll vote for John McCain right ? "

" No no, I'll vote for Obama too. "

" Really ??? How so as I always thought you're a Republican. "

" Oh I am Independent. "

" Wait a minute I'm confused..."

" Let me explain to you in simple language. During the last eight years, Republicans have done more than enough to clean up the aftermath caused by the Democrats, I honestly think it's time to hand it over. They created it and they must know how to fix it, so to speak. "

" But...I don't get it ? We all know it's the Bush administration should be held responsible ! "

" OK, simple language doesn't work well here. Take some time to read the following, it really truly is self-explanatory. "



In 1999 the Congress enacted and President Clinton signed into law the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, also known as the "Financial Services Modernization Act," which repealed the part of the Glass-Steagall Act prohibiting a bank from offering a full range of investment, commercial banking, and insurance services. The bill was killed in 1998 because Senator Phil Gramm wanted the bill to expand the number of banks which no longer would be covered by the CRA. He also demanded full disclosure of any financial deals which community groups had with banks, accusing such groups of extortion. On signing the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, President Clinton said that, " it establishes the principles that, as we expand the powers of banks, we will expand the reach of the Community Reinvestment Act ".

Consequently the current global economic crisis finds its roots in “The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977.” The CRA was liberalized under the Clinton administration whereby such silly questions as, “Does your income allow you to pay this proposed mortgage?” were considered discriminatory and therefore eliminated. In July 1993, President Clinton asked regulators to reform the CRA in order to make examinations more consistent, clarify performance standards, and reduce cost and compliance burden. Over the subsequent years lending standards became laxer, interest rates fell, housing prices rose, mortgages grew fancier, and the elected officials promoted a sort of financial carpe diem under the mantra that everyone should own a house even if they couldn’t afford it. While many bank-based mortgage officers railed at some of the mortgage loans they were making, they were encouraged to keep doing so because those questionable loans could always be sold to, you guessed it, Fannie Mae (FNM/$1.83) and Freddie Mac (FRE/$2.00). The resulting spider web of financial foolishness hit its zenith in late 2004, causing some rational folks to sound the alarm.

Sources from the Internet

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