Shareholders Get Left Behind In Fannie and Freddie Rescue - WSJ.com

Shareholders Get Left Behind In Fannie and Freddie Rescue - WSJ.com:

It was the lobbyists on capital hill from the banks that held these mortgages that were partially to blame for pushing the GSEs to take these riskier loans - and now we pay the price, and the brokers and executives that came up with this garbage are vacationing in the Tahiti or skiing in the Pyranese.

"Then came the mortgage and credit crises. Most financial institutions responded by tightening their standards. Fannie and Freddie should have done the same, or at least held to the status quo. Instead, with Congress's encouragement, the mortgage buyers loosened theirs. Jumbo mortgages (and bigger risks)? No problem. Alt-A mortgages? Bring 'em on. The companies have an estimated $80 billion in what were once considered nonconforming mortgages -- and are now considered toxic waste -- on their balance sheets. As for the higher capital requirements meant to reassure investors, they were reduced.

All this was done in the name of propping up real-estate values, a strategy that has been a manifest failure as home prices continue to plummet in most parts of the country. This was the flip side to Fannie's and Freddie's Faustian bargain with the federal government."

Concord Monitor - Consider Paul, Barr and Kucinich

Concord Monitor - Consider Paul, Barr and Kucinich: "It is time for a D.C. house cleaning. A few names that one may write in for president in November to begin that house-cleaning would be Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Republican Ron Paul, who both were blacklisted by the war-mongering, fascist mainstream media.

Your choice, America: real change or just believing a pack of lies talking about change. It is sad to see the American people duped by the lies. Please, wake up, America."

Why I can't vote for Obama (does not mean I am voting for McCain)

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com: "Obama voted along with all Republicans for cloture. Hillary Clinton voted with 25 other Democrats against cloture (strangely, Clinton originally voted AYE on cloture, and then changed her vote to NAY; I'm trying to find out what explains that).

With cloture approved, the bill itself then proceeded to pass by a vote of 69-28 (roll call vote here), thereby immunizing telecoms and legalizing warrantless eavesdropping. Again, while Obama voted with all Republicans to pass the bill, Sen. Clinton voted against it.

Obama's vote in favor of cloture, in particular, cemented the complete betrayal of the commitment he made back in October when seeking the Democratic nomination. Back then, Obama's spokesman -- in response to demands for a clear statement of Obama's views on the spying controversy after he had previously given a vague and noncommittal statement -- issued this emphatic vow:

To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.

But the bill today does include retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. Nonetheless, Obama voted for cloture on the bill -- the exact opposition of supporting a filibuster -- and then voted for the bill itself. A more complete abandonment of an unambiguous campaign promise is difficult to imagine."

Asia Times Online :: A tale of two downturns

Asia Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs:

I think Britain and much of Europe are 6 to 18 months behind us in this recession. We will see what happens when all of the worlds largest economies are down - how will to people react?

"One reason for Britain suffering a deeper recession than the US is that its house prices got more out of line. Whereas in the United States, the house price to income ratio peaked at 4.5 times, against a long-term average of about 3.2, in Britain in 2006 that ratio peaked at around 5.5 times. Housing is more tax-advantaged in the United States, since mortgage interest payments are tax deductible, unlike in Britain. Hence the equilibrium British house price to income ratio would appear to be about three times, marginally above the 2.7 times level of 1970, when the British housing market was close to equilibrium. That implies that an average fall in real British house pieces of 45% is needed to bring the market back into equilibrium, considerably larger than the 29% drop needed to bring the US market into equilibrium.

Those figures may seem startlingly high but remember: the average Tokyo house price dropped by no less than 70% between 1990 and 2005, as Japan's 1980s stock and real estate bubble deflated. Thus a 45% drop is perfectly within the bounds of possibility. The US housing market appears well on its way to the necessary 29% correction, with the Case-Shiller house price index already down 18% since late 2006. Conversely, the British market has only just begun to drop in price, with current"

Welcome to the Surveillance State

Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com:

"August 8. That is the day in 1974 when Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office for his lawbreaking and surveillance abuses. That day illustrates how far we have fallen in this country in less than 35 years, as we now not only permit rampant presidential lawbreaking and a limitless surveillance state, but have a bipartisan political class that endorses it and even retroactively protects the lawbreakers. ...

"give us the powers we want and immunize our lawbreaking or be killed by Terrorists." That's how our country has been "governed" in the Bush era -- with heavy-handed, authoritarian decrees that we must comply with our Leader's secretly-formed judgments if we want to survive -- and it's likely how it will continue to be governed. ...

The political class has made as clear as can be that it is intent on supporting a limitless erosion of core constitutional liberties and the creation of a two-tiered justice system that exempts the political elite from the rule of law. Neither the "opposition party" nor the establishment media are the slightest bit interested in, or capable of, stopping any of that. Battling against that is the responsibility of citizens who find these political trends dangerous and intolerable."

Support the Strange Bedfellows coalition by pledging to donate to the Accountability Now PAC on August 8th. You can pledge to donate here -- or by clicking on the logo below.

The Raw Story | Kucinich to bring single article of impeachment for misleading US into war

The Raw Story | Kucinich to bring single article of impeachment for misleading US into war:

"Kucinich to bring single article of impeachment for misleading US into war"

There can be no greater responsibility of a Commander in Chief than to command based on facts on the ground, and to command in fact and in truth. There can be no greater offense of a Commander in Chief than to misrepresent a cause of war and to send our brave men and women into harm's way based on those misrepresentations.

There has been a breach of faith between the Commander in Chief and the troops. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or with Al Qaeda's role in 9/11. Iraq had neither the intention nor the capability of attacking the United States. Iraq did not have weapons of Mass of Destruction. Yet George W. Bush took our troops to war under all of these false assumptions. Given the profound and irreversible consequences to our troops, if his decision was the result of a mistake, he must be impeached. Since his decision was based on lies, impeachment as a remedy falls short, but represents at least some effort on our part to demonstrate our concern about the sacrifices our troops have made.

What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Tuesday

What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Tuesday:

"In the video below, I talk about what every American needs to know — and do in the next 24 hours — about the new FISA (Federal Information and Surveillance Act) amendments."

Mr. Ellsberg from the Pentagon Papers fame:


What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Wed., July 9th from Tim Ferriss on Vimeo.