NEW JOB TITLES FOR BANKING INDUSTRY

Based on the recent collapse of banking system, we should invent a new definition of job titles in the banking sector. Here is my list:
CEO --Chief Embezzlement Officer.
CFO-- Corporate Fraud Officer.
BULL MARKET -- A random market movement causing an investor to mistake
himself for a financial genius.
BEAR MARKET -- A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the
wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.
VALUE INVESTING -- The art of buying low and selling lower.
P/E RATIO -- The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market
keeps crashing.
BROKER -- What my broker has made me.
STANDARD & POOR -- Your life in a nutshell.
STOCK ANALYST -- Idiot who just downgraded your stock.
STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally
between themselves.
FINANCIAL PLANNER -- A guy whose phone has been disconnected.
MARKET CORRECTION -- The day after you buy stocks.
CASH FLOW-- The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet.
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR -- Past year investor who's now locked up in a
nuthouse.
PROFIT -- An archaic word no longer in use

AMERICA NEEDS ALL IT'S PEOPLE

It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed this Union.
When the Constitution took effect in 1789, it did not "secure the blessings of liberty" to all people. The expansion of rights and liberties has been achieved over time, as people once excluded from the protections of the Constitution asserted their rights set forth in the Declaration of Independence. These Americans have fostered movements resulting in laws, Supreme Court decisions, and constitutional amendments that have narrowed the gap between the ideal and the reality of American freedom.
At the time of the first Presidential election in 1789, only 6 percent of the population–white, male property owners–was eligible to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment extended the right to vote to former male slaves in 1870; American Indians gained the vote under a law passed by Congress in 1924; and women gained the vote with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
Susan B. Anthony devoted some fifty years of her life to the cause of woman suffrage. After casting her ballot in the 1872 election in her hometown of Rochester, New York, she was arrested, indicted, tried, and convicted for voting illegally. At her two-day trial in June 1873, which she described as "the greatest judicial outrage history has ever recorded," she was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and court costs.
Anthony took full advantage of the high-profile case to promote the cause of woman suffrage. In a speech delivered repeatedly in 1872–73, she exhorted her listeners to "fight our battle for the ballot–all peaceably, but nevertheless persistently through to complete triumph, when all United States citizens shall be recognized as equals before the law." Women gained the vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, fourteen years after Anthony's death.Rights and freedom have never been easily acquired by anyone at anytime.And today is no exception as the American people are witnessing the erosion of hard won liberties and loss of their financial independence.The question is,will this generation have the courage,strength and unity to fight against the forces which are aligned against us.The survival and quality of life of our children and their children depend on our decisions and actions right now.The culprits are identified and the battle lines are drawn.LET'S ROLL!!! GLENN NUNLEY. NORTH FLORIDA.

BUZZARDS AND VULTURES ARE UNBECOMING

The last two weeks have been tsunami-like for financial markets across the globe. The failure of the US bailout plan to pass in Congress on Monday made things seem worse, as markets reacted negatively to the decision of the house of representatives.In an unusual move they actually listened to the voices of the people and voted against this rescue of the rich and shameless,which is all this little dab of money will do.It will allow a window of opportunity for the players caught flat-footed holding these worthless 'complex financial instruments' to move away from them, to the extent they will be allowed to, at tax payer expense.The true scope of this financial meltdown, which is global, is far beyond the promise of the U.S.GOVERNMENT to pay, based on it's ability to tax the American people. Not to imply that 700Bil. dollars is a small amount of money, but when you consider the tens of trillions of literally bogus assets scattered across the planet, only then can you grasp the financial Armageddon we are all facing. We are only witnessing the buzzards and vultures of high finance jocking over whats left of the hides and hooves,to protect their hatch lings financial future.Never mind how many song birds are starved out.Most of the people in this country still do not know what has happened to them and they will live out their miserable lives in ignorance of the magnitude of the crime or the identity of the perpetrators!! I think today I will refrain from my customary response of describing how some of the ones responsible should be hanged or shot or both and just head on out side to begin planting my fall garden. Maybe this damn ulcer will cool down. GLENN NUNLEY. NORTH FLORIDA.

WORLD WAR III. HAS ALREADY BEGUN

WORLD WAR III. started just like the other two world wars started .No one can pin point a definite event or time for them either. They began as a series of events involving economic and political factors of indeterminate descriptions. Then, just as now, events are occurring, as they are shaped by the ever present struggle and competition for the resources of the world and the political mechanisms which control their distribution.The quality of life of any population is determined by how much force it is willing to expend on it's neighbors and how resourceful they are with the resources they possess. Oil is the dominate resource in demand for the moment. Who ever obtains the most oil will be the dominate power. So this is why the UNITED STATES has projected it's political sphere of influence via. our military into the countries where this resource is known to be.Spreading democracy is just a cover story for a continuation of occupation of these countries.It is the reason why RUSSIA has just recently laid claim to the ARCTIC seabed for it's vast quantities of oil and natural gas reserves,and is sure to be a point of contention in the future.Fortunes are made in private sector industry as they work hand in hand with governments to secure the resources in demand.Collateral death and vast destruction are the unavoidable consequences of this competition which will never end. So you see WORLD WAR III. is really a continuation of all the other wars throughout history.and only at times of massive confrontations that get beyond compromise are they defined by a title and historical demarcation lines. Because of peak oil and other political considerations IRAN will be bombed by ISRAEL,or the UNITED STATES or both working together within the months ahead. It is my opinion this will occur before the presidential inauguration if BARRACK OBAMA wins but may be held off if McCAIN wins.I believe this event will mark the beginning of the last WORLD WAR in mans history.How and if it is chronicaled will depend on the few dazed survivors and the tools and knowledge that will be left to them. GLENN NUNLEY. NORTH FLORIDA.

I HEREBY DECLARE WAR ON THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES

No to the Bailout: We Can’t Let Bankers Try to Blackmail America
“You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.”
Today I turn over my space to Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, who said these fiery words to a delegation of bankers in 1832:
“Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.”
The issue back then was the Bank of the United States, a federally chartered institution—sort of a predecessor to the Federal Reserve—that Jackson, ever the populist, strongly opposed. Today, most people agree that a national bank is necessary, but as today’s vote demonstrates, there is no national consensus on transferring wealth from the middle to the top. Good! Let’s hope that principle holds true for a while longer.
Today, the same as back then, big bankers attempt to blackmail America: If you don’t do things our way, exactly as we tell you, then the roof will cave in.
No sovereign nation should allow itself to be pushed around by finance like that. If it does, the same blackmail threat will be made again, and again, and again. The time has come to say “No!” And to make it stick.
There are plenty of other ideas for helping Main Street, including a plan advanced here last week, not Wall Street; now it’s up to the American people to insist that those ideas get a full hearing. Because otherwise, we know what will happen: The Republican-Democratic elite will combine with Wall Street to worsen the economic situation, as a way of teaching the American people a harsh lesson, and ultimately bringing us to heel.
But maybe this time, we will not be moved. But the sad truth is, we have already been out-flanked by these wily sons of bitches in collusion with the controlled media. While we have been distracted with breaking news about our imminent financial collapse, our illustrious senate handed over the entire known oil reserves of the entire country, to include the Pacific coast,Atlantic coast, the Gulf coast and the natural wildlife preserve in Alaska.These oil reserves represent the last great wealth of the American people and perhaps the revenue of our survival but throughout the stampede to DRILL-DRILL-DRILL did one mention or one discussion come up about the fine print of how this wealth would be used to benefit the people of America.No,in their ignorance they were only led to believe that the fuel needed for their survival would be more affordable.It is a fact that this will not be the case. Take notice: I will not be a complacent slave to your new world order!!! SARAH PALIN; If you by chance read this,go home and form your state militia in preparation for the next 'WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE' I'll see you on the front. GLENN NUNLEY. NORTH FLORIDA.

NORTH FLORIDA COMMON SENSE PLAN RE-VISITED.

Traders were stunned by the U.S. House of Representatives' rejection Monday of a US$700 billion emergency bailout package that would have allowed the government to buy bad mortgages and other sour assets held by troubled banks and other financial institutions. With elections in November, many lawmakers were unwilling to take the political risk of supporting a measure that many American voters see as an undeserved bailout for rich, reckless investment bankers.
Which means the way is still clear for the trickle up economics ''NORTH FLORIDA COMMON SENSE PLAN' is still open. Stock prices rise when consumers spend. If the treasury would start now, we would all have a merry christmas. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 777 points Monday, its biggest ever single-day drop, or nearly 7 percent, to 10,365.45, its lowest close in nearly three years. GLENN NUNLEY. NORTH FLORIDA.

A QUICK HISTORY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Economists may dream of a perfect market where no bubbles, crashes, or recessions occur, but these phenomena are inevitable when the players are human. The Great Depression, one of the worst blows to the world economy, serves as a prime example of how vulnerable markets can be. The stock market crash of 1929, usually cited as the beginning of the Great Depression, was preceded by the Roaring '20s, a period when the American public discovered the stock market and dove in head first. The crash wiped out many people's investments and the public was understandably shaken. When bank failures erased the savings of those who weren't even invested in the stock market, people were shattered. Although the market crash was unavoidable, the bank failures could have been prevented with better regulation. Read on to find out how the Great Depression occurred.The Fickle Fed:Twenty-two years earlier, the panic of 1907 offered a similar scenario, as panic selling sent the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) spiraling downward and led to a bank run to boot. With no Federal Reserve to inject cash into the market, it fell upon investment banker J.P. Morgan to organize Wall Street. Morgan rallied people who had cash to spare and moved that capital to banks lacking funds. The panic led the government to create the Federal Reserve, in part to cut its reliance on financial figures like Morgan in the future. (For more on the Federal Reserve, read How The Federal Reserve Was Formed.)In the crash of 1929, however, the Fed took the opposite course by cutting the money supply by nearly a third, thus choking off hopes of a recovery. Consequently, many banks suffering liquidity problems simply went under. The Fed's harsh reaction, while difficult to understand, may have occurred because it wished to give Wall Street some tough love by refusing to bail out careless banks, a response that it felt would only encourage more fiscal irresponsibility in the future. (For insight on the crash of 1929, see The Crash Of 1929 - Could It Happen Again?)Ironically, by increasing the money supply and keeping interest rates low during the roaring twenties, the Fed instigated the rapid expansion that preceded the collapse. In some ways, it set up the market bubble leading to the crash and then kicked the economy when it was down. Although some people, such as Milton Friedman have rightly suggested that the Fed's mismanagement of the economic situation greatly contributed to the Great Depression, there still would probably have been a minor recession regardless of government involvement. Presidential Blunders:President Roosevelt rode into office by characterizing a "do nothing" attitude. In truth, however, his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, had done far too much to try to halt the recession following the crash. One of Hoover's main concerns was that workers' wages would be cut following the economic downturn. In order to ensure artificially high wages among all businesses, he reasoned, prices needed to stay high so companies would continue producing. To keep prices high, consumers with the money would need to pay more. Yet the public had been burned badly in the crash, and most did not have the resources to overpay for products. This bleak reality forced Hoover to use legislation, the government's trump card, to try to prop up wages. Following in the unfortunate tradition of the protectionists, Congress tried to restrict the flow of foreign goods by passing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Because foreign nations weren't willing to buy over-priced American goods any more than Americans were, Hoover decided to choke out cheap imports. The Smoot-Hawley Act started out as a way to protect agriculture, but swelled into a multi-industry tariff. Other nations retaliated with their own tariffs, essentially cutting off international trade. Not surprisingly, the economic conditions worsened worldwide and the U.S. economy sunk from a recession into a depression. Although Roosevelt promised change when he came into office, he continued Hoover's economic intervention, only on a bigger scale. He created the New Deal with the best intentions, but like Hoover's wage controls, it backfired. With previous recession/depression cycles, the U.S. suffered one to three years of low wages and unemployment before the dropping prices led to a recovery. Responding to this historical trend of a few hard years followed by a recovery, American industrialist and philanthropist J.D. Rockefeller remarked, "These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again." By attempting to immediately recover without swallowing the bitter pill of two hard years, Hoover and Roosevelt may have actually prolonged the pain. New Deal:The New Deal set lofty goals to maintain public works, full employment, and healthy wages through price, wage, and even production controls. The New Deal was loosely based on Keynesian economics, specifically on the idea that government works can stimulate the economy. Occasionally these projects were ideal, but there were just as many cases of mismanagement, political back-scratching and general waste that dogs government-run initiatives. (For related reading, see Can Keynesian Economics Reduce Boom-Bust Cycles?)One of the most heartbreaking results of the New Deal was the destruction of excess crops to justify the artificially high prices, despite the need for cheap food. In fact, many of the agencies created by the New Deal broke up black markets selling cheap goods. This forced factory workers to stop working and generally halted the production that was needed for recovery. Even unemployment remained high because companies couldn't afford to keep large payrolls at the rates set by the government. Eventually, recovery came in the unappealing form of World War II. Although the notion that the war ended the Great Depression is a broken window fallacy, it did open up international trading channels and reverse price and wage controls. Suddenly, the government wanted lots of things made inexpensively, and pushed wages and prices below market levels. When the war finished, the trade routes remained open and the post-war era went from recovery to a bull run in a few short years. ConclusionThe Great Depression was the result of an unlucky combination of factors - a reticent Fed, protectionist tariffs and a Keynesian, government-centered recovery plan. It could have been shortened or even avoided by a change in any one of these. Many supporters of the government's intervention point out that the quick recovery from other depression/recession cycles may not have occurred as rapidly in 1929 because it was the first time that the general public, and not just the Wall Street elite, lost large amounts in the stock market. Similarly, the Fed can avoid fault because it didn't know that the government would pass a trade-crushing tariff and take other questionable measures. For more, read Recession: What Does It Mean To Investors?
by Andrew Beattie, (Contact Author Biography)Andrew Beattie is a freelance writer and self-educated investor. He worked for Investopedia as an editor and staff writer before moving to Japan in 2003. Andrew still lives in Japan with his wife, Rie. Since leaving Investopedia, he has continued to study and write about the financial world's tics and charms. Although his interests have been necessarily broad while learning and writing at the same time, perennial favorites include economic history, index funds, Warren Buffett and personal finance. He may also be the only financial writer who can claim to have read "The Encyclopedia of Business and Finance" cover to cover.

THICK AS THIEVES-----BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER

"We're in this moment, and if we fail to do the right thing, Heaven help us," These are the words of one of our elected representatives in congress,just prior to the house vote for the 'BAILOUT PROPOSAL'which failed in a vote on the house floor today.
The legislation the administration promoted would have allowed the government to buy bad mortgages and other rotten assets held by troubled banks and financial institutions, getting those debts off their books.If the plan worked, the thinking went, it would help lift a major weight off the national economy that is already sputtering. Supporters of the bill had argued that it was necessary to avoid a collapse of the economic system, a calamity that would drag down not just Wall Street investment houses but possibly the savings and portfolios of millions of Americans. Moreover, supporters argued, a lingering crisis in America could choke off business and consumer loans to a degree that could prompt bank failures in Europe and slow down the global economy's.---THE WOLF IS COMING---THE WOLF IS COMING!!!
Opponents said the bill was cobbled together in too much haste and might amount to throwing good money from taxpayers after bad investments from Wall Street gamblers.Something the thieves installed in the U.S. TREASURY and the corrupt FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD/BANK have already done, with Bear Stearn's,Fannie and Freddie and AIG to the tune of 300 billion dollars and counting. After long favoring a hands-off approach and deregulation of the financial industry,EVEN AS THEY WERE ALLOWED TO STRIP VIRTUALLY EVERY CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW FROM THE BOOKS AND TO EVEN STIFLE STATE LAWS ATTEMPTING TO PROTECT IT'S ILLITERATE, IGNORANT POPULATIONS!!! the Bush administration has found itself in recent weeks interceding repeatedly in the private market to try to avert one calamity after another and to conceal the mechanisms of theft being perpetrated on the middle class. This unbridled greed is starting us on a slippery slope towards socialism. My understanding of socialism is less freedom and less self determination. Sen. John McCain, who interrupted his campaign to deal with the crisis, claimed—via his surrogates—that he wielded great influence in improving the deal and making it palatable TO 'AN IGNORANT POPULATION'many of which, for the first time in years, may actually vote. Then he left town as it collapsed. A congressman who shows up for a fundraiser in Manhattan this week is likely to get tarred and feathered. But at the same time they can maybe count on the support of the people in their districts, that put them in office to begin with.Was the bailout bill killed by collective fear by the congress of the American voter,their sudden desire to do the right thing or by incompetence? It's hard to argue against incompetence, since it has been so rampant, especially on the Republican side of things in Washington. but then all things are relative too. If you consider that within just the eight years of the Bush administration, the largest transfer/theft of national wealth in the history of this country has occurred, and is still happening. Then,whether are not they are incompetent depends largely on which corporation you are invested in. But for the health,welfare and over all good of the American people, there can be no doubt that the most powerful bureaucrats in Washington are immoral,corrupt and criminally involved up to their eyeballs. I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED, GIVEN A FAIR TRIAL AND PROMPTLY HANGED ON PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. I VOLUNTEER TO FIT THE NOOSES. GLENN NUNLEY. NORTH FLORIDA.

terrorpatriot

let's lighten up a little

POWER FUELED BY GREED ---- A POOR REPLACEMENT FOR HONEST GOVERNMENT

LISTEN CAREFULLY TO WHAT ONE OF OUR BRAVEST PRESIDENTS IS TELLING ALL OF US IN THIS VIDEO AT THE END OF THIS TIME LINE-------IT COST HIM HIS LIFE




Where Credit Is Due: A Timeline of the Mortgage Crisis
News: A field guide to the loan sharks and politicos who got us into the predatory lending mess

1913: Federal Reserve Act creates national banking system.
1914: Federal Trade Commission Act prohibits unfair or deceptive business practices.
1933: With memories of 1929 stock crash still fresh, Glass-Steagall Act separates "commercial banks" focusing on consumer activities (checking, savings) from "investment banks," which deal with speculative trading and mergers.
1968: Truth in Lending Act requires banks to disclose loan terms & fees.
1970: Bank Holding Company Act Amendments first step toward weakening Glass-Steagall; allow commercial banks, via holding companies, to both accept deposits and make commercial loans.
1978: Supreme Court's Marquette decision gives banks the right to make loans in states other than where they are headquartered; lenders rush to places with the weakest consumer protections, e.g. Delaware and South Dakota.

1980: After interest rates rise 13 percentage points in 2 years, President Carter signs law further hollowing out Glass-Steagall. The measure—pushed through by Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah), a former insurance executive—demolishes usury caps for mortgages and raises bar for prosecuting lenders.
Jan 1981: Sen. Garn becomes chair of Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee with fellow deregulation advocate M. Danny Wall as majority staff director. American Banker exults that "lobbyists here view Mr. Wall's promotion as a gift swept to shore by the [GOP] tide last election day."
1982: Sen. Garn coauthors Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, which deregulates savings and loan industry.
1984: S&Ls start crashing in Texas as oil boom peters out. More than 1,000 thrifts nationwide will fail between 1986 and 1995; debacle will cost $500 billion, including $124 billion in taxpayer money.
April 2, 1987: Sen. John McCain meets with federal regulators to discuss investigation of Lincoln Savings and Loan. The thrift's owner, Charles Keating, was the senator's business partner and campaign contributor, and flew McCain around on his private jet.
Sept: Drexel Burnham Lambert, home to "junk-bond king" Michael Milken, creates "collateralized debt obligations" (cdos)—securities made up of myriad loans and bonds with different risk levels.
Dec 9, 1988: Silverado S&L collapses, leaving $1.3 billion taxpayer liability; board members include Neil Bush, who engineered loans to friends in what federal Office of Thrift Supervision will call "multiple conflicts of interest." Bush later tells Congress a few of his deals may have looked "a little fishy."
Feb 6, 1989: President George H.W. Bush bails out S&L industry; among those helped is his son, Jeb, as government takes over most of a $5 million second mortgage on his Miami office building.

Sept 30, 1995: Congress enacts Truth in Lending Act "reform," easing regulations on creditors; bill powered through by Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.), a key recipient of finance, insurance, and real estate (fire) donations ($136,000 in 1993-94).
Dec 22: As part of Newt Gingrich's Contract With America, Congress enacts a measure making it more difficult to sue companies for securities fraud.
Aug 2, 1996: Office of Thrift Supervision issues rule preempting almost all state laws regulating S&L credit activities.
1997-1998: fire sector spends more than $200 million on lobbying and $150 million on political donations; top agenda items include repealing Glass-Steagall to facilitate mergers.
March 4, 1998: First Union acquires The Money Store, nation's 5th-largest subprime lender (and home to ex-Yankee broadcaster Phil Rizzuto's commercials).
April 1998: Citicorp and Travelers announce biggest-ever corporate merger ($70 billion); transaction technically illegal under Glass-Steagall; ceo Sandy Weill launches $12 million campaign to repeal law.
June 1998: Conseco purchases mobile home lender turned subprime powerhouse Green Tree in $6 billion deal.
July 1999: North Carolina General Assembly bucks deregulation trend, passing landmark measure to curb predatory lending.
Nov 1999: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act guts Glass-Steagall, setting off wave of megamergers among banks and insurance and securities companies. Driving force is Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), who has received $4.6 million from fire sector over previous decade.


June 20, 2000: Treasury and hud urge Fed to investigate subprime units of major banks. No Fed action follows.
June 26: First Union closes The Money Store, takes $2.8 billion write-down.
Dec 14: As Congress heads for Christmas recess, Sen. Gramm attaches 262-page amendment to an omnibus appropriations bill. Commodity Futures Modernization Act will deregulate derivatives trading, give rise to Enron debacle, and open door to an explosion in new, unregulated securities.
Dec 27: American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act makes it harder for consumers to get out of lender-required insurance. National Association of Realtors lobbies hard for it, spending $9 million, plus $4 million in contributions.
March 6, 2001: ftc sues Citigroup and its subsidiary Associates, nation's 2nd-largest subprime originator, charging "systematic abusive lending practices" involving 2 million borrowers; 18 months later Citigroup settles for a paltry $215 million.
April 6: Fed chair Alan Greenspan signals concern with "abusive lending practices that target vulnerable segments of the population and can result in unaffordable payments, equity stripping, and foreclosure."
July 27: "'Predatory' is really a high-profile word with no definition," Ameriquest chairman Stephen W. Prough tells Congress, urging rollback of subprime regulations.


April 22, 2002: Georgia's new anti-predatory law signed; Ameriquest helps lead campaign against it and announces that it won't do business in Georgia until law is changed. Standard & Poor's refuses to rate Georgia mortgage securities, choking credit supply to state's home buyers; law gutted within a year.
Oct 7: Swiss investment bank ubs announces that Sen. Gramm is joining it to "advise clients on corporate finance issues and strategy"; he will also lobby Congress, Treasury, and Fed on banking and mortgage issues as industry pushes to eliminate predatory-lending rules.
Dec 18: Conseco files for bankruptcy, mostly due to its purchase of subprime lender Green Tree. In all, 13 banks have failed during 2002—most, according to a Fed report, because of bad loans and "improper accounting related to the securitizing of assets."
March 2003: hsbc acquires Household Finance, nation's 4th-largest subprime lender.
May 1: New Jersey's anti-predatory-lending law signed. Again, Ameriquest and other lenders launch campaign to kill it and Standard & Poor's says it won't rate certain New Jersey securities; law gutted within a year.


2004: Ameriquest employees give total of $200,000 to Bush campaign; founder Roland Arnall and wife Dawn give more than $5 million to pro-Bush pacs. Arnall later appointed ambassador to Netherlands.
Jan 7, 2004: Federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issues final rule to preempt states from applying most of their credit laws to national banks and their subsidiaries.
March 2005: Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio)—who will later go to prison on corruption charges related to Abramoff scandal—introduces Responsible Lending Act, billed as an anti-predatory-lending measure but in fact designed to preempt stronger state laws. Key supporters include New Century Financial, nation's 2nd-largest subprime lender, which has contributed nearly $50,000 to Ney's campaign. Consumer advocates call it "Loan Shark Protection Act."
April: Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act makes it far harder for consumers (but not businesses) to discharge debts. Chief sponsor, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), has received $2 million-plus from fire sector since 1989.
Sept 1: As housing bubble begins to deflate, administration economist Patrick Lawler announces, "There is no evidence here of prices topping out. On the contrary, house price inflation continues to accelerate."
Sept 22: Illinois Supreme Court hands mortgage lenders a victory, blowing away a 3% cap on fees for loans with more than 8% interest.

Jan 23, 2006: Ameriquest settles 49-state investigation into deceptive subprime practices for $325 million.
April 27: Fed chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledges "signs of softening" in housing market, but says a "sharp slowdown" unlikely.

July 10: Henry M. Paulson Jr. sworn in as Treasury secretary, leaving job as Goldman Sachs chairman and ceo. In 2005, Goldman securitized $68 billion in residential mortgages and $23 billion in "other assets" primarily related to cdos.

Jan 2, 2007: Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) assumes chairmanship of House Financial Services Committee. fire sector tops his list of contributors, with total of $746,000 for 2005-06 cycle.
Jan 29: Paulson tells Congress, "One of the pleasant surprises I had coming to government has been the strong economy we have today."
Feb 22: hsbc's head of mortgage-lending business resigns. Its losses reach $10.5 billion.
Feb 28: Bernanke tells House Budget Committee the housing sector "is a concern, but at this point we don't see it as being a broad financial concern or a major factor in assessing the course of the economy."
Feb 28: New-home sales reported down 20.1% from previous year.
March 12: Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign announces that Sen. Gramm will join it as cochair and economic policy adviser.
April 2: Subprime giant New Century Financial files for Chapter 11 after being forced to repurchase billions of dollars of bad loans.
May 3: ubs shuts down Dillon Read Capital Management, its US subprime arm. GM's finance unit announces deep losses on subprime mortgages. sec task force begins meeting to examine Wall Street's handling of subprime loans.
June 9: In Wall Street Journal interview, former Fed governor Edward Gramlich accuses Greenspan of blocking a 2000 proposal to increase scrutiny of subprime lenders. Greenspan responds there are "a very large number of small institutions, some on the margin of scrupulousness and very hard to detect when they are doing something wrong."

July 16: Jim Cramer, host of cnbc's Mad Money, says the subprime "lending thing" is "completely meaningless...It has no relevance whatsoever." Less than 3 weeks later, Cramer will have meltdown on air, pleading with Fed to cut rates and save Wall Street.
July 19-20: In congressional testimony, Bernanke cuts growth forecasts for 2007 and 2008, blaming problems in housing market; warns that subprime crisis could cost up to $100 billion.
Aug 6: American Home Mortgage, one of the largest US independent home-loan providers, files for Chapter 11.
Aug 16: Countrywide, biggest US mortgage lender, narrowly avoids bankruptcy by taking out emergency $11.5 billion loan.
Aug 31: Ameriquest goes out of business.
Sept 14: Rep. Barney Frank in Boston Globe: Mortgage crisis "was in large part a natural experiment on the role of regulation." Sept 20: Treasury secretary Paulson tells House Financial Services Committee that "fundamental reappraisals in the pricing and appetite of risk have taken place numerous times...We are in the process of another such reappraisal."
Sept 30: ubs announces 3rd-quarter losses of $690 million.


Jan 2008: Number of homes facing foreclosure up 57% compared to same month of previous year. US unemployment rises sharply.
Jan 10: Cleveland files lawsuit against numerous financial institutions alleging that their activities in connection with securitization of subprime mortgages created a "public nuisance." (Litigation still pending.)
Jan 15: Citigroup reports $9.8 billion loss for 4th quarter and writes down $18 billion in subprime losses.
Jan 22 & 30: Fed makes biggest rate cut in 25 years—1.25 percentage points, to 3%.
Feb 6: Longest period of decline in nationwide house prices since 1990.
March 7: Former bosses of Merrill Lynch, Countrywide, and Citigroup questioned by a congressional panel about the $460 million in compensation they received between them during 5 years of subprime boom.
March 16: Bear Stearns announces takeover by JPMorgan Chase in Fed-engineered bailout; measure approved by Fed Board of Governors with fewer votes than required by law, under a post-9/11 "national security emergency" exception.
March 25: In speech on housing market, Sen. McCain calls for easing crisis by "removing regulatory, accounting, and tax impediments to raising capital."
April 18: Jerry Bowyer, chief economist for financial services firm Benchmark, says in New York Sun op-ed that fault for subprime crisis "lies with the small army of hard-left political hustlers who spent the early 1990s pushing risky mortgages on home lenders. And the fault lies especially with the legislators that gave them the power to do it."
April 29: Foreclosure activity reported up 112% from first quarter of 2007.
May 6: Bush announces he will veto legislation directing $15 billion to neighborhoods ransacked by foreclosures. Also threatens to veto legislation to provide $300 billion for struggling homeowners (and force lenders to renegotiate some mortgages) because it would be a "burdensome bailout" that "opens taxpayers to too much risk." I will extend this Time line soon. GLENN NUNLEY.