So how are we able to do all these things, without all the "advantages" the USA has ? Why is a country that's so rich and powerful (compared to us) unable to ?

How come two countries who share a common border differ so greatly in quality of life ?

And why has an administration that blows it's horn so loudly over it's wonderful plan of tax reductions to the wealthy leading a nation into debt and recession ?

I want to know why the Democrats who promised us lower gas prices last fall haven't delivered..

The mortgage debacle was not Bush's fault but he's getting blamed for it of course.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime
How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.

Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.

What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.

Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

Let me explain: 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.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/
AR2008021302783.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

I do appreciate the extra refund checks he's giving out..

I want to know why the Democrats who promised us lower gas prices last fall haven't delivered.. The mortgage debacle was not Bush's fault but he's getting blamed for it of course. I do appreciate the extra refund checks he's giving out..

Wielding tree shears and a chainsaw, banking regulators and trade association officials took aim June 3 at a two-foot tall, 9,000-page stack of regulations that will be scrutinized as part of an interagency effort to cut red tape.

The act symbolically kicked off the once-a-decade review of federal regulations mandated by the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996. The initiative was unveiled at a news conference hosted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and joined in by representatives of all five federal financial regulatory agencies plus industry trade associations
Poised for Pruning: America's Community Bankers second Vice Chairman Harry Doherty (center) joined forces with banking regulators and trade association executives at a news conference to kick off the regulatory relief effort. Also on hand were (left to right) Office of Thrift Supervision Director James Gilleran; James McLaughlin of the American Bankers Association; FDIC Vice Chairman John Reich; and Kenneth Guenther of the Independent Community Bankers of America.

America's Community Bankers pledged its support for the effort. "Reducing the regulatory burden will free up funds for our institutions to invest in our communities and better serve our customers' financial needs," said Harry Doherty, ACBs second vice chairman, and chairman and chief executive officer of $6.9 billion-asset SI Bank & Trust, Staten Island, N.Y

"We are calling on bankers to help us determine how to improve and streamline the regulatory process," Reich continued. "We are serious about this effort, we are committed to it, and we intend to achieve results." he said the three-year time frame would allow sufficient time to solicit "substantial and significant" input from bankers as well as consumer groups and other interested parties.

3 execs step down from SI Bank & Trust
by Staten Island Advance
Monday April 07, 2008, 9:45 PM

Three top executives of SI Bank & Trust, a division of Sovereign Bank, have resigned amid mounting pressure on all employees to generate product sales to combat stock losses....................

The top-level departures are a sign that regional banks -- not just Wall Street investment giants -- are feeling the pressure of the mortgage crisis. It's also an indicator that one of the borough's most provincial lenders, the 144-year-old SI Bank & Trust, may be losing its small-town touch. ................
One executive in particular, Frank Besignano, has been the public face of SI Bank & Trust ............
Forbes reported earlier this year that Sovereign wrote down $1.4 billion in value during the fourth quarter of 2007,

Because American politicians have essentially zero to do with world market oil prices ?

I want to know why the Democrats who promised us lower gas prices last fall haven't delivered..

Because American politicians have essentially zero to do with world market oil prices ?

Post hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for "after this, therefore because (on account) of this", is a logical fallacy (of the questionable cause variety) which states, "Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one." It is often shortened to simply post hoc and is also sometimes referred to as false cause, coincidental correlation or correlation not causation. It is subtly different from the fallacy cum hoc ergo propter hoc, in which the chronological ordering of a correlation is insignificant.