Comments on: Behind The Consumer Credit Collapse

CBS Evening News: Some Risky Mortgage Tactics Mirrored By Typical Lenders

[frankfurt200]

So much for trickle down. What a catastrophe. If the consumer isn''t buying, forget it.

[steamed2]

The posting by ThatGuy56 has it right, America shot itself in the foot with institutionalized ''easy credit''. Still, it''s obscene to listen to people like Henry Paulson, one the chief architects of the crisis misleading the public about how and why he''s already spent 350 billion taxpayer''s dollars by giving it to banks and brokerage houses, including his own cash cow Goldman Sachs. This is the guy that in 1999 played a role in repealing Glass-Steagall, a law in effect since 1933 which prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking, and insurance services (can you say conflicts of interest?). In 2004 as CEO of GS he urged Congress to release the major investment houses from the net capital rule, the requirement that their brokerages hold reserve capital (which many blame as a trigger for the meltdown). You want to know owns a big share of responsibility for all the ''easy credit? It''s the guy in charge and his buddies. For some interesting info on Paulson, check out http://www.peak.org/~LW584

[andor3]

"People cannot pay what they owe. How do you borrow you way out of that? You cannot. "

You make a good point! The only way that would work is if people could replace high interest rate debt with low-rate debt from the government program: if the average Joe could sell his debt the same way banks do: refinance everything from cars to credit card debt. But their plan of making credit available to buy more things and increase debt leads nowhere.

[wardoglrs]

Let them fail or the US will die. Your money is counterfeit and they robbed the world with these fake paper dollar''s not backed by any value like Gold or Silver "JUST AIR".

your in danger America the Neo Cons you voted in are about to cut your throat. You have been giving your labor away to a fake Government your entire wealth is built on a unconstitutional counterfeit currency
created by the Federal Reserve Bank which is a private corp created by the corps. It''s called Fractured Banking meaning all dollars are debt base currencies never to be paid back "EVER".
America paying only on the interest not the principal. A Debt you cant ever pay back.

[andor3]

"I am just really anxious to see who the liberals can blame it on this time."

No need to wait: Liberals, Conservatives, Republicans and Democrats remarkably agree on this one: the problem was/is lack of reasonable regulation from the government coupled with strong enforcement. It stems from allowing the market to be shaped by the big players not the regulators as it should have been--relying on a "free market" which never has and never will exist without a regulatory framework.

[yeswedid]

Say what you will about the auto industry--at least they make something useful and tangible--cars. They get you some place.

But no bailout for them, say the Repugs!

Now the Wall Streeters and Bank CEOs--what do they produce? All they do is repackage debt and sell it for a profit. They produce nothing of value.

Half a trillion dollars for fatcat bonuses, say the Repugs and their leader Bushit!

Something smells rotten here.

Posted by jbrown88881 at 07:56 PM : Nov 18, 2008
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I agree something isn''t right here. We can bailout these dishonest Wallstreet crooks so they can go on more weekend retreats, but we will say screw it to hundreds of thousands of workers affected by the auto industry. What the hell is going on in this government??!!!

[roach9703]

When dishonesty was king, all were laughing, and now all are weeping to the bank.
The concept of bundling debt and selling it in unit bonds or CDOs will not disappear, but the future of this industry is uncertain unless integrity returns to the financial world.