Bill Clinton's Role in the Mortgage Crisis

[hedgehog]

"Many Democrats wish Bill Clinton still occupied the White House. However, before you put him in Mt. Rushmore, you might want to investigate his role in the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

The chief aim of what I have termed the Republican Counterrevolution has always been to roll back the New Deal. Anti-gov'ment rhetoric hides this as surely as states' rights hid racist segregation. Of all the New Deal legislation the GOP has sought to overturn, one that has always been at or near the top of the list is the Glass-Steagall Act. Ironically, a Democratic president repealed this for them."
.....

Billionaire Sanford I. Weill, who according to Louis Uchitelle made "Citigroup into the most powerful financial institution since the House of Morgan a century ago," has what I call the Wall of Me leading to his office, which he has decorated with tributes to him, including a dozen framed magazine covers. A major trophy is the pen Bill Clinton used to sign the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, a move which allowed Weill to create Citigroup. Fittingly, Citigroup is a major contributor to guess which current Democratic Presidential candidate?



More at

http://www.progressivehistorians.com/2007/11/bill-clintons-role-in-mortgage-crisis.html

[aquart]

1. Yes, he did.

I remember screaming at the time.

[spag68]

2. Citi

His friend Rubin is a leader at citi, and they have just taken over aeromexico for practically nothing, with the Mex. govt. doing the financing. Citi may be bigger thieves then Halliburton.

[Armstead]

3. I'd forgotten that....

but now that you reminded me, it's just another of the reasons I wish people would think twice before putting another Clinton in the White House.

Wall St. already has one political party. They don't need two.

[tammywammy]

4. Interesting, thanks for posting this

[Reno.Muse]

5. Here are the assclowns who sold people down the river on the bankruptcy bill in 05

snip...

Thursday :: Mar 10, 2005
Harry Reid and 17 Other Democratic Senators Sell Out Consumers To Pass Bankruptcy Bill Today

by Steve Soto

The sell-out is complete. The bankruptcy bill just passed.

With 18 Democratic votes. And our Minority Leader was one of the culprits.

Democratic senators just voted to throw consumers overboard for banking and credit card companies in order to collect more campaign contributions from people who will still bankroll opponents against them anyway. There was a far more effective counterstrategy available here, like fighting predatory lending practices and reinstating usury laws. But the Democrats never went near that. But at least they tried to point out how the bill favored the wealthy. Even if it was going to pass anyway, Democrats didn't need to help it along and could have used this against the GOP next year as part of a larger pro-consumer plank in the 2006 midterms. They can't do that now, especially with their "leader" selling out also.

Some of these folks did it to collect cash and because they were afraid for their reelections next year. Others, who are safe, did it for no good reason except money and ambition. And none of them thought long and hard about consumers.

Let Dick Durbin have the caucus. Harry Reid lost me today with this vote.

These are the Democrats who sold out consumers today for their pieces of silver. May each one of them rot in hell.

Blanche Lincoln-Arkansas (kiss off 2008 you piece of garbage)
David Pryor-Arkansas
Ken Salazar, Colorado (not up for reelection until 2010)
Joe Biden-Delaware (kiss off 2008 you piece of garbage)
Tom Carper-Delaware (owes his ass to MBNA)
Bill Nelson-Florida (up for reelection next year)
Daniel Inouye-Hawaii
Evan Bayh-Indiana (kiss off 2008 you piece of garbage)
Mary Landrieu-Louisiana (forget anything national, lady)
Debbie Stabenow-Michigan (I had my fill of you too)
Max Baucus-Montana (he'll cave now on Social Security)
Ben Nelson-Nebraska (up for reelection next year)
Harry Reid-Nevada (let Kerry or Durbin have the caucus)
Jeff Bingaman-New Mexico
Hillary-abstaining (Bill's in the hospital)
Kent Conrad-North Dakota
Tim Johnson-South Dakota (owes his ass to Citibank)
Robert Byrd-West Virginia
Herb Kohl-Wisconsin (up for reelection next year)

snip ...

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/003879.php

Clever how Hillary missed the vote or, er, abstained.

But she was there in 2001 when bankruptcy reform was first started:

"Among Senate Democrats who may vote for the bankruptcy bill are Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), whose state is home to a Citigroup Inc. credit card operation in Sioux Falls that employs several thousand people. Daschle has received $45,000 in political contributions from Citigroup in the last six years." -- Washington Post 3/11/01

The Associated Press is calling it a big win for Bush and "the second business-friendly measure to pass both houses of the new Congress".

And they wonder why Ralph Nader got so many Democratic votes?

The Sell Outs:

Daniel Akaka (Hawaii) [e-mail]
Max Baucus (Montana) http://www.senate.gov/~baucus/EmailMax.htm
Evan Bayh (Indiana) http://bayh.senate.gov/webmail.html
Joe Biden (Delaware) [e-mail]
Jeff Bingaman (New Mexico) [e-mail]
John Breaux (Louisiana) [e-mail]
Robert Byrd (West Virginia) [e-mail]
Maria Cantwell (Washington) http://cantwell.senate.gov/mailform.html
Jean Carnahan (Missouri) [e-mail]
Thomas Carper (Delaware) http://carper.senate.gov/
Max Cleland (Georgia) http://www.senate.gov/~cleland/webform.html
Hillary Clinton (New York) [e-mail]
Kent Conrad (North Dakota) [e-mail]
Tom Daschle (Sorth Dakota) http://daschle.senate.gov/webform.htm
Byron Dorgan (North Dakota) [e-mail]
John Edwards (North Carolina) http://www.senate.gov/~edwards/contact.html
Dianne Feinstein (California) [e-mail]
Bob Graham (Florida) [e-mail]
Fritz Hollings (South Carolina) http://www.senate.gov/~hollings/webform.html
Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) http://www.senate.gov/~inouye/webform.html
Tim Johnson (South Dakota) [e-mail]
Herb Kohl (Wisconsin) [e-mail]
Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) http://landrieu.senate.gov/webform.html
Patrick Leahy (Vermont) [e-mail]
Carl Levin (Michigan) [e-mail]
Joe Lieberman (Connecticut) [e-mail]
Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas) [e-mail]
Barbara Mikulski (Maryland) [e-mail]
Zell Miller (Georgia) http://miller.senate.gov/email.htm
Patty Murray (Washington) [e-mail]
Ben Nelson (Nebraska) http://www.senate.gov/senators/ben_nelson.html
Harry Reid (Nevada) [e-mail]
Chuck Schumer (New York) [e-mail]
Debbie Stabenow (Michigan) [e-mail]
Robert Torricelli (New Jersey) [e-mail]
Ron Wyden (Oregon) http://wyden.senate.gov/mail.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0316-03.htm

[hedgehog]

6. I think you need to re-post that info. nt

I'd like to find out how the bill changed from 2001 to 2005.

[cali]

7. So how do you feel about your candidate voting for it in

2001? Wasn't he a sellout too? Why shouldn't he "rot in hell" ?

And by the way, I think the rot in hell line is just ridiculous. And criticizing Clinton for being with Bill while he had heart surgery is silly.

John Edward's hardly has anything to boast of from his 6 years in the Senate.

[hedgehog]

8. The bill may have changed between 2001 and 2005. If not, the

candidate may have changed. If someone says they made a mistake, I can go along with that. If someone denies that they made a mistake or pretends that something never happened, that's a different story.

[cali]

9. from what I understand the bill was lousy in 2001

And I can accept apologies- to a point.

[hedgehog]

10. I can also accept that someone may have looked around and gotten disgusted

enough to quit working with the system and gamble everything on a chance to change the system.

[cali]

11. I can too, but the fact that Edwards worked part time for

Fortress- a sleazy Hedgefund- in 2005, argues against that point.
And he got a fat paycheck for lending them his name.

[hedgehog]

12. I think it's more important that he is working to change the situation

than that he may have taken advantage of it at this time. Warren Buffet got rich working the system, but he's dumping his money into improving life for third world people.

[slipslidingaway]

15. Edwards voted against the Wellstone amendment in the 2001

Bankruptcy bill which would have provided more protection for people seeking relief from medical bills as well as voting for the bill itself. In 2005 he said that his 2001 vote for the Bankruptcy bill was a mistake, and voting against the Wellstone amendment???

Wellstone Pushes To Protect Americans Hit by Huge Medical Bills From Unbalanced, Unfair Bankruptcy ‘Reform’ Bill

http://www.commondreams.org/news2001/0307-13.htm

"...We know that in the vast majority of cases bankruptcy is a drastic step taken by families in desperate financial circumstances and overburdened by debt. Specifically we know that nearly half of all debtors report that high medical costs forced them into bankruptcy – this is an especially serious problem for the elderly,” Wellstone said..."


April 2001

http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/25/10/nelson2510.html

"...Consumer advocates say the bill unfairly deprives many heavily indebted, low-income Americans of their only protection against financial ruin, and fails to hold creditors accountable for the high interest rates and predatory lending practices that force consumers into bankruptcy in the first place. What's more, they argue, the new code would make filing so complicated that it would require the help of an attorney, making bankruptcy unaffordable for those most in need of protection..."


Edwards also voted for the bill mentioned in the original post.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00354

[eridani]

16. The good news is that the 2005 list is way shorter than the 2001 list

We still have work to do, obviously.

[slipslidingaway]

13. Senate and House votes on this bill

House vote
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h1999-570


Senate vote
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s1999-354

or

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00354


Votes related to S. 900 <106th>
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes.xpd?bill=s106-900



http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Democrats+Bow+to+the+Megabanks-a058726437

"...Few politicians bothered to consider the effect these megabanks will have ion the concentration of economic and political power in America. Senator Paul Wellstone, Democrat of Minnesota, was one of the exceptions. He warned his colleagues: "This is the wrong kind of modernization because it encourages the concentration of more and more economic power in the hands of fewer and fewer people. This concentration will wall off enormous areas of economic decision-making from any kind of democratic input or accountability.

It is too bad that the President and the Democratic leadership of both the House and Senate did not heed Senator Wellstone's words..."

from the PBS link in your article

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/wallstreet/weill/demise.html

"After 12 attempts in 25 years, Congress finally repeals Glass-Steagall, rewarding financial companies for more than 20 years and $300 million worth of lobbying efforts. Supporters hail the change as the long-overdue demise of a Depression-era relic...

...Just days after the administration (including the Treasury Department) agrees to support the repeal, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, the former co-chairman of a major Wall Street investment bank, Goldman Sachs, raises eyebrows by accepting a top job at Citigroup as Weill's chief lieutenant. The previous year, Weill had called Secretary Rubin to give him advance notice of the upcoming merger announcement. When Weill told Rubin he had some important news, the secretary reportedly quipped, "You're buying the government?"

[KoKo]

14. K&R....Lots of folks don't know what Glass-Steagall Act was about and why we should worry about it..

and what overturning it has done. Think about what the Media De-Regulation Bill of '96 has caused us with the Faux Media and you get an idea. Both done under "Big Business DLC Clinton."