So many amazing experts warned all of us, that sooner or later, the deep systemic financial corruption and cover up, the financial coup d'état that began with the Bush administration, and then was 'rubber stamped' by President Obama, would without a doubt finally catch up with our nation, and now it has.
Perhaps the greatest advocate for Americans has been Professor William K. Black, who has relentlessly called what has happened in our country, for what it is: the most devastating economic catastrophe and fraudulent cover up our nation has ever experienced.
And now, with the Foreclosure crisis front and center, as innocent Americans are being threatened by local 'thugs' hired by the Banks/Lenders - to be threatened in their own homes, locked out, and terrified and financial and illegally foreclosed upon I keep wondering the same question over and over again. More below...
What was it, or is it, that made our government (Bush et., al) President Obama, Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke, and perhaps the most useless Attorney General in the history of our nation, Eric Holder, actually believe that 'they' were going to get away with allowing these Banks/Lenders to come into people's homes, acting like scummy little Las Vegas Repo men, hired by the mafia, to treat the same American citizens (many of who voted President Obama into office) as if they were 'shit on shingle' and terrorize them?
The simple fact, that AG Eric Holder, or President Obama have remained silent and missing in action, on these recent events speaks louder than anything else, but then so does the non-existent vote, on RS 3803, which is currently sitting right on President Obama's desk waiting to be signed.
Who voted in the House and the Senate on this action, which is essentially nothing more than another way of continuing the cover up, allowing our citizens to be terrorized by the Banks and Lenders, only in a Federal Mandate, instead of a State Mandate?
Let's review what RS 3808 is really about (borrowed from bobswern amazing diary today):
H.R. 3808 is known as the "Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act." It passed the House under a suspension of the rules in April 2010. It requires federal and state courts to recognize any notarization that is lawful in the state where the notary is licensed. Now, in one day, it passed in the Senate.
When I learned of it last Thursday, it sounded innocuous to me, but then I started looking at the timing of the bill. GMAC, owned by Ally, had just suspended its foreclosure actions in 23 states, including Ohio. I had already referred Chase Home Finance, LLC, on August 23, 2010, to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking it to review and investigate Chase's document notarization practices in home foreclosures (18,000 documents per month were being notarized by 8 people, along with other irregularities). I license notaries in the State of Ohio. Even though I don't have the power under state law to investigate or prosecute, I couldn't stand idly by without acting. That's why I'm asking you to email or call the President at 202-456-1111 to ask him not to sign the bill.
Last Wednesday, the day before I announced the DOJ referral, JPMorgan Chase announced it was having third party counsel review its document procedures for foreclosures. Just two days before, the U.S. Senate had rushed through H.R. 3808. Something didn't seem right. Since then others agree with me.
But the one of the points of this diary, is to ask, who in the House and the Senate rushed this bill through faster than probably any bill (expect naming a new local Post Office) in recent history?
The horrible truth is that we will never know.
H.R. 3808 - Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010.
This is a Banking Industry Bill that seeks to legalize electronic interstate notarizations. This bill only has three co-signers and moved rapidly through Congress just as Ally announced that it was halting foreclosures in 23 states. Ally is just one of several national banks (Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) that are under investigation for illegal notarization practices in a number of states.
How they Voted: (So much for accountability)
Apr 27, 2010: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.
Sep 27, 2010: This bill passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent. A record of each senator’s position was not kept.
On the surface, the bill appears harmless. But a closer examination reveals that this bill could cause serious financial harm to consumers. Banks demand we follow every letter of their contracts. We must demand they follow the law. It’s that simple. Please join me in urging President Obama not to sign the bill by sending an email or calling 202-456-1111.
Thanks for working together,
Jennifer Brunner
Ohio Secretary of State
Link to New York Times Article
When I read, that not one House Member or Senator is actually on record, as to who voted for this, (by not giving their names) it was a total wake up call for me.
COWARDS, THAT WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE.
And let's keep in mind, that they are no different than the same 'thugs' that are now being allowed to terrorize people in their own homes, because what they did, by rushing this 'nefarious bill secretly through Congress' was to rush it to the President's desk to protect the Bankers and Lenders who are just the ones that are now, doing the dirty work. Whose hands are dirtier? No difference what so ever.
And you know what this recent turn of events reminds me of? Do any one of you recall when Dubya (aka King Chimpy Bush) overturned a law that has been in place since 1863 that protected Americans from the Banks? I do. I did a diary on it, many many moons ago:
The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.
In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government’s actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.
But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation."
http://www.democraticunderground.com...
We might think that RS 3808 is not the 'same' as the turning over of 140 years of a law from 1863 by the Bush Administration, but both of these pieces of legislation do the exact same thing:
They allow the Banks/Lenders to be Federally protected, from the corrupt practices that have devastated the Middle Class, our entire nation, and that began a domino effect, that spread throughout the entire international world.
So, you will excuse me, please, if I find it somewhat unbelievable, if all of a sudden we are finding Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others asking for an immediate 'investigation' for this latest unraveling of the 'cover up' when, in fact we do not know, (do we?) how they actually voted on RS 3808.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the other California Democrats are calling for an investigation into the foreclosure fraud scandal that has forced the nation's biggest banks to halt foreclosures in 23 states. "It just shows the irresponsibility of the banks, so eager were they to securitize those loans they didn't care almost what they were," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an interview with HuffPost on Tuesday.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Ally Financial (formerly known as GMAC) halted foreclosures in 23 states after employees admitted in sworn depositions that they didn't verify information in thousands of foreclosure documents. The California delegation sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan demanding an investigation into "possible violations of law or regulations by financial institutions in their handling of delinquent mortgages, mortgage modifications, and foreclosures."
In the Senate, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) sent letters to Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, GMAC, and 117 mortgage servicing companies demanding to know what they've done in light of the paperwork scandal. Menendez and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate as well, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sent a similar request to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan on Monday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
To actually 'pretend' that Pelosi and Menendez were unaware of RS 3808, it is the height of delusion, and once again, I must remind you all of this:
Why the silence from President Obama, AG Eric Holder, Timothy Geithner, or Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke on this issue, that is front and center in our nation? It is also 'delusional' to believe that you think all four of these national leaders haven't understood the repercussions of the Foreclosure Scandal and Meltdown. Are they taking any action. NO. They actually believe that somehow they can still 'cover this all up' and ride out the bad times.
How insane is that?
Why the rush with RS 3808 (no different from the OCC law of 1863 that Bush overturned to give the Federal Government power over the States to protect the Banks/Lenders)?
The truth is that this entire 'cover up' is unraveling right in front of our eyes, but I think, at least to me anyway, is the height of entitlement, arrogance, and power of corruption, that has swallowed our entire nation, and the stupidity of the Obama Administration in actually believing they could continue to get away with this 'cover up.' It not only shows, just how out of touch they are with the depth and breath of what this 'economic Pearl Harbor' has cost our nation, but the the simple fact is that the repercussions are now causing a 'backlash' against our own party, and that is of course, one of the reasons we are having to deal with idiots like Christine O'Donnell and others of her 'ilk.'
Corruption always carries a great cost, because sooner or a later, like Jonah and the Whale, the Whale swallows you up, and then spits you out.
Mike Dillon had this to add: "I can't help but think of the most likely hundreds of thousands of families who have already lost their homes to a fraudulent foreclosure. There is a "rule book" that everyone is supposed to play by. The borrowers are being held to those rules despite having had the deck stacked against them for years now. Regardless of whether a borrower is legitimately in default or not, the note holders and servicers need to be held to that same rule book. And that's not just my own opinion. New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Schack feels the same way."
The main problem is that we are dealing with a Congress that has not only given up on the middle class, but continues to assist in its pillaging. Twice since the economic disaster both parties have voted against bills that would have given bankruptcy judges the ability to renegotiate mortgages, also known as cram down. This would have provided needed relief to homeowners and potentially prevented millions of foreclosures. Ironically it would probably also have helped avert many of these investigations and potential fraud suits. The fact that they've shot themselves in the foot is made clearer by the recent announcement that Old Republic National Title Insurance, among the nation's largest title insurance companies, will no longer write new policies for foreclosed homes. Of course, much like the bills Congress passed during the Bush years protecting oil companies from law suits after oil spills and airlines after 9/11 it wouldn't be surprising if they sprang into action to defend the banks. The banks have yet to be held accountable for the destruction they've caused and the lives they've affected on a massive scale.
But as Jamie Ranney also pointed out, "they can try and they probably will, but you can't legislate away fraud."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Mr. Ranny is right, you can't legislate away fraud, just as you cannot ignore it as a leader in our nation, because when when our leaders do, they lose all credibility, the public trust, those voters that put them into office and trusted them to hold their own interests at heart, and to repair a system that has continued to destroy Americans and the Middle Class relentlessly.
It was not just the fact, that Wall St./the Banks ruined our economy and began an international Chernobyl meltdown, it is also the fact that not only did Wall St./the Banks get paid off, on top of their destruction, and were never held accountable for their actions, but also the fact that this corruption, has taken on a new an more horrifying aspect to it:
Americans who were forced to pay Wall St./the Banks off, are now still being illegally foreclosed upon, threatened by 'thugs' in their homes, so the 'domino' affect of this calamity is simply continuing, and is being allowed to continue seamlessly by President Obama, AG Eric Holder, Timothy Geithner, and of course, those in the House and Senate who rushed through RS 3808.
This bill is on President Obama's desk, waiting at this moment to be signed into Federal Law to protect those same 'thugs' hired by the Banks/Lenders who are continuing the cover up, and this cannot stand.
It must not stand, and President Obama, now has one last opportunity to prove to us, who he stand for, and what he stands for. If he signs this bill into law, he is no different from Bush, who overturned, the OCC law that protected Americans for over 140 years, and he is no different from President Clinton, and Phil Gram who signed off on the final death of the Glass-Steagall Act, that protected Americans since the last great Depression. Now we are directly into the next great Depression, and it has just gotten a million times worse because the States are not going to put up with having their own, thrown out their homes illegally, and the cost of all of this is immeasurable. It was a deep moral and political hazard on the part of our nation, and is now directly on the shoulders of President Obama, to simply: stand up and do the right thing for Americans.
Some provisions of the Act, such as Regulation Q, which allowed the Federal Reserve to regulate interest rates in savings accounts, were repealed by the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. Provisions that prohibit a bank holding company from owning other financial companies were repealed on November 12, 1999, by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act. [2][3]
The repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 effectively removed the separation that previously existed between Wall Street investment banks and depository banks and has been blamed by some[who?] for exacerbating the damage caused by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market that led to the Financial crisis of 2007–2010. The potential to make enormous profits trading mortgage-backed securities with artificially high ratings[4] encouraged banks to take on otherwise intolerable risk in the form of bad loans. The ease with which people were obtaining home loans contributed to an artificial housing boom and exacerbated the inevitable decline.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
After Pelosi took impeachment off the table, after President Obama continued the same economic policies as the Rubin-Clinton-Summers-Greenspan crowd, after the war crimes have been covered up and the war profiteering and the 10 year war in Afganistan has become nothing more than a racket, that continues to destroy American lives, with suicide by our own soldiers at an all time high, after the greatest hope for Americans is only obtaining a job is to 'go to war,' after today we know that the Obama administration blocked efforts by government scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could become and committed other missteps that raised questions about its competence and candor during the crisis, according to a commission appointed by the president to investigate the disaster.
And then we have the 'Deficit Hawks'...the Cat Food Commission coming after our last safety net.
How much do Americans have to pay, after everything they have already paid for?
When is enough, enough?
When will the corruption be addressed?
This moment, when RS 3808 is sitting on his desk ready to be signed as a Federal Law to protect those Bankers/Lenders and Thugs and to take away States Rights, is a moment like none other in our history:
This moment is the moment for Elizabeth Warren to come out punching, in full tilt boogie style for the Middle Class. If she does, then perhaps we will find one last person, now in a place of 'the right person, at the right time' to force our own President into understanding that this is indeed:
His moment, his time.
Who voted for HR 3808 in the House and the Senate?
We will never know. They did not even have the decency to give their names. They knew exactly what they were voting for, and like 'thieves' in the night, they thought they could get away with it and all chose to remain hidden and silent. That really disgusts me. Do you feel the same way?
But as Jamie Ranney also pointed out, "they can try and they probably will, but you can't legislate away fraud."
Americans are and have always been willing to do their part throughout our history, but now we have come down to the wire.
I urge you to along with Jennifer Brunner, Ohio Secretary of State, to do the right thing, and do it now, or first thing in the morning because remember this:
How they Voted: (So much for accountability)
Apr 27, 2010: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.
Sep 27, 2010: This bill passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent. A record of each senator’s position was not kept.
Please call President Obama at 202-456-1111 or send him an email requesting that he not to sign H.R. 3808. This bill could cause serious damage to consumers and it provides an "out" for banks that are using electronic notarizations to foreclose on homes without adequate review of the file. Several state Attorney Generals have filed suit against major banks for illegal foreclosures that have been started or completed without adequate review. It is time to hold banks and our elected officials accountable for illegal foreclosures.
The Declaration of Independence ends with a curious phrase : "We mutually pledge to one another our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."
These forefathers stated this: they would give their 'very lives' meaning the would die for it, they would gather all their fortunes, an accumulation of a consistency of national wealth, and their very 'sacred honor' to hold together, what they considered the opposite of an Oligarchy to support a new kind of people and nation? DO YOU GET THAT?
Where is that kind of sacred honor now?
Those who have diverted income streams generated by the hard work of Americans into concentrated private coffers - and then shipped millions of their jobs overseas have certainly violated the clear spirit of the Declaration. Worse than this, they have invited the absolute worse 'extreme elements' into our political body under false pretenses.
There are still great Americans who have been calling for sanity, and the restoration of the most basic laws of trust in our government. I leave you with one of them now. William K. Black who understands exactly why we are where we are today, and why it must be addressed, if we are to survive as a Democracy.
There is only one reason, RS 3808 was rushed through, with absolutely no admission or courage on the part of those House Members and Senators who put it on the President's desk is this:
Once it is signed into law, understand this: It is a simply another way of keeping that 'can of worms' in check to protect all the 'liar loans' and all the systemic FRAUD that all three branches of our government (4 and 5 of course are the silent partners - the Federal Reserve and the Supreme Court) from addressing and demanding accountability for Wall St./the Banks and the Lenders who set our entire nation, and the international economic system into complete collapse and chaos.
President Obama, if he signs this bill, will (if you can believe it) be the only member in our three branches of government to give his good name, out loud, unlike the other cowards who would not. If he does sign it, then god help us all.
For his sake (because I still love my party, and believe in it) and for the sake of this nation, I hope he has a moment of clarity, in understanding what he is doing.
Banks demand we follow every letter of their contracts. We must demand they follow the law. It’s that simple. Please join me in urging President Obama not to sign the bill by sending an email or calling 202-456-1111.
Thanks for working together,
Jennifer Brunner
Ohio Secretary of State
If President Obama does sign this bill, then our only other hope is that Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Grayson, will take up the fight for what is left of the American Middle Class with all the guts and courage they have, because otherwise, we are lost, and this Foreclosure Madness, will not only be allowed to continue, but will be sanctioned by our own President.
I have to wonder this simple question: Can President Obama live with that, the rest of his life?
Thanks as always.