From Sen. Obama’s March 2007 Letter to Paulson and Bernanke: “There is grave concern in low-income communities about a potential coming wave of foreclosures. Because regulators are partly responsible for creating the environment that is leading to rising rates of home foreclosure in the subprime mortgage market, I urge you immediately to convene a homeownership preservation summit with leading mortgage lenders, investors, loan servicing organizations, consumer advocates, federal regulators and housing-related agencies to assess options for private sector responses to the challenge. We cannot sit on the sidelines while increasing numbers of American families face the risk of losing their homes.” [via the Atlantic]
Now Hearing- Lauryn Hill – Intro
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- Lauryn Hill – Nothing Even Matters
- Lauryn Hill – Every Ghetto, Every City
- Lauryn Hill – Forgive Them Father
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13 Comments
2007? Not really Nostradamus there. Not sure that anyone could have put that tooth paste back in the tube at that point.
I’m pretty sure that if we’d started working on the problem in 2007, we would have got a better bail-out plan. As it is, Congress, the Treasure, and the Fed took about a week to solve (what they call) the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
I’ll take a year and a half over a week.
You wrote, “As it is, Congress, the Treasure, and the Fed took about a week to solve (what they call) the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.”
That should read: “…about a week to (what they call) solve (what they call) the biggest financial crisis…”
Good point.
All I am saying is that in March 2007 even I knew that this was a mess. At that point there was nothing that could have been done that would of changed anything it was already too late.
I disagree. Congress could have taken steps to forestall the mass foreclosure situation, which would have meant money flowing into the banks, and money flowing back out again as credit.
In March 2007, the word “Recession” only appears in a single NY Times headline (”Why Forecast Recession?“), and that’s in a letter to the editor. A search for “Housing” comes up with a bunch more headlines, but none of them hint at a possible crisis like we’re dealing with now.
Additionally, one of the few articles with “Economy” in the headline is about Secretary Paulson: “Paulson, Warning About Trade Barriers, Says Economy Is Slowing but Healthy.”
Healthy? Maybe if he listened to Sen. Obama, he would’ve at least noticed the symptoms of a growing sickness.
Paulsen can not say anything but the economy is healthy at that point, anything bad comes our of his mouth the market drops.
Forstall the mass forclosures in 2007? Let me see if I understand this forclosure rates climbed every year from 2004 up until now. They jumped 45% from January of 05 to January of 06 and somehow if they listened to Obama they would have been able to go back in time and fix it? The cat was out of the bag by then, and even if the congress stepped in and somehow stopped it from happening in 07 how would that have fixed the credit problems. The banks balance sheets were screwed beyond fixing at that point.
the cat might have been out of the bag… - but… - that’s like saying that if half the population has the plague… - oh well… - might as well wait another year for the vaccine because the cat is already out of the bag…
and i’m not saying that obama had the vaccine or has the vaccine… - metaphorically speaking… - but… - usually… - the earlier you spot a problem… - the better… - that’s just common sense…
So when McCain co-sponsored the “Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005″ and said “I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.”
Would that be a president who predicts problems?
In 05 it was probably too late and this bill probably would not have fixed the problem but still.
Even in 05 it was probably too late.
i’m not talking about who is better fit to be president because of their economic status and who can predict what more clearly… - i was just responding to your cat out of the bag comment…
Maybe cat out of the bag was a bad choice of words, how about we think about it like a burning building. unless you catch it early the result is going to be the same.
Nobody cares?
tumbleweed…