I'm started to hear this argument alot (Blaming Clinton for current situation)

[JonLP24]

That it's Clinton's fault for lowering the standards on which the approve someone on a loan to get poor people into homes. I doubt this is the cause as job losses has resulted in more people becoming poor.

I can't believe the blame Clinton would last this long. It's definately de-regulation bills from the late 90's and 2000's in which majority of republicans including McCain supported.

Oh wow!! One caller said it was "TOO MUCH REGULATION" is why we are in crisis :crazy:

Note to self: Turn the channel when freeper calls on CSPAN are on.

[PVnRT]

1. It was the Republican Congress who deregulated everything

People seem to want to forget 1994.

And let's forget how Reaganomics set the stage for all of this...

[bunkerbuster1]

2. Shorter Wingnuts: "It's the n*ggers and the n*gger lovers"

They blame the Big Shitpile on poor, decent bankers being "forced" to lend to minorities (this is the clean, for public consumption version.)

Thus it's the "n*gger lovers" like Clinton who forced this mess upon us.

I know it doesn't pass the smell test, but it's all they've got.

[JonLP24]

4. I've heard that too

This caller didn't say those words but supports the same idea as the likes of Ann Coulter who says they approve loans based on whether you have a good jump shot

[bunkerbuster1]

10. You know how we're accused of looking for racism where none exists?

This is one of those times when we should be looking for and finding racism, and exposing it to the light of day. Early and often.

[NNN0LHI]

3. The loan officers I know who gave these loans are pushing this lie

Because the loan officers I know personally who wrote some of these notes should be in prison right now. And they know it too. And not one of these loan officers I know are black.

Don

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

5. Too much regulation . . . HA Ha heh, ahem

The current situation is a direct result of Reagan-era policies. I'll readily blame Clinton for the garbage free-trade agreement and for thinking with his joystick, but the same dusty old wizards that propped up Bonzo have been right here with us all this time.

[JonLP24]

9. Yes!! I do blame Clinton for that

[MadHound]

6. All of the presidents over the past thirty years are at fault, to one degree or another

Carter started this whole deregulation mess, Reagan/Bush really accelerated it, Clinton indeed helped it along, Bush II threw gasoline on the fire. This is the culmination of thirty years of fuckups. That's the historical reality of the matter.

[nashville_brook]

7. Arguably, the repeal of Glass-Steagal created the environment for the orgy of bad $$ instruments

[RC]

8. Phil Gramm, Bill Clinton Key Culprits in Subprime Meltdown

When Bill Clinton was President in 1998, Citibank, by then called Citicorp, was trying to merge with Traveller's group (the investment firm with the ads with the red umbrella). Under the Glass-Steagall Act, this was prohibited. Way back in 1933 FDR and Co. were wise enough to know that commercial banks shouldn't own investment banks, it leads to all sorts of illegal shenanigans.

But years of bribing, er, lobbying Congress had done it's trick, and Citicorp's CEO Sandy Weill said he was assured by Federal sources the merger would be approved, which it was in 1998. (Technically the merger was illegal in 1998 as the law wasn't repealed until November, 1999.) Renamed Citigroup after the merger, they have gone on to purchase other investment firms.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (called the Financial Services Modernization Act at the time) repealed 66 years of consumer protections and paved the way for financial mergers and the introduction of new investment products. The Act was written by Republican Senators including Phil Gramm, and early voting was split down party lines until President Clinton forced a rewrite of the bill.

Clinton vowed to veto the Senate version of the bill unless it was re-written to include "requirements that banks make loans to minorities, farmers, and others who have had little access to credit." The new version passed 90-8 in the Senate, passed the House, and Clinton signed it into law. Clinton's required reworking of the bill should be studied closely to see what role, if any, it played in illegal, often racist, subprime loans at higher rates than Caucasian borrowers were offered.

http://www.ickypeople.com/2008/04/bill-clinton-major-part-in-subprime.html

[madinmaryland]

11. Ahh yes. The old blame the Clenis game.

:rofl:

[Philosoraptor]

12. The last legally elected, beloved president is the vessel of all that is evil.

[screembloodymurder]

13. Balance of Power Between Congress and the Presidency

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/l/bl_party_division_2.htm

Check out the table. The Democrats haven't had any real power since 1995.

[judasdisney]

14. Wall $treet lobbied hard to allow Sub-Prime as a market -- they made billions, nobody forced them

Jesse Jackson didn't force Congress to allow a Sub-Prime Marketplace.

This "Clinton did it" bullshit is the racists looking for a hook to hang their racist hat upon.

[adigal]

15. NO, NO, it is all those blacks who wanted mortgages

That is the Hannity/Savage/Limbaugh line. Seriously. And that Obama knew someone from Freddie Mac. They are running for cover!!