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Title: “Is Standard and Poor’s Manipulating US Debt Rating to Escape Liability for the Mortgage Crisis?”
Source:
Naked Capitalism
URL Source: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011 ... y-for-the-mortgage-crisis.html
Published: Jul 30, 2011
Author: Scarecrow and Jane Hamsher
Post Date: 2011-07-30 10:17:00 by lucysmom
Keywords: None
Views: 7020
Comments: 15
It’s not the default that strikes the most fear in the White House and Congress these days. It’s the downgrade As Robert Reich notes, Standard and Poors is the “biggest driver in the deficit battle.” Why would anyone care what the corrupt and disgraced organizations who quite nearly brought down the world economy think about anything at this point? And yet, that is where elite opinion is focused right now: [W]hat really haunts the administration is the very real prospect, stoked two weeks ago by Standard & Poor’s, that Barack Obama could go down in history as the president who presided over his country’s loss of its gold-plated, triple-A bond rating. [] Financial analysts say such a move would hit Americans with more than $100 billion a year in higher borrowing costs, but it’s not just that. It would be a psychic blow to a nation that already looks over its shoulder at rising economic powers like China and wonders, what’s gone wrong? And it would give the president’s Republican rivals a ready-made line of attack that he’s dragging the country in the wrong direction. This rumbling has been coming from Capitol Hill for a while, which made us start asking questions about what was really going on with Standard and Poors. It felt like there’s a story-behind-the-story driving S&P’s actions in the debt ceiling debate, which appear inexplicable at face value and go way beyond what Moody’s or Fitch have done. And the more we looked at the timeline of events, the more we wondered how the intertwining dramas of a) S&P downgrade threats, b) the liability that the ratings agencies may have for their role in the 2008 financial meltdown, and c) the GOP’s attempts to insulate the ratings agencies from b) are all impacting each other. Timeline of Events On July 21, 2010 President Obama signs Dodd-Frank into law. Prior to Dodd-Frank, the courts found that credit ratings are expressions of opinion that were protected under the first amendment, subject to a demonstration of actual malice: The Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act stripped away those protections, so that CRA’s were now subject to the same expert liability as an auditor or securities analyst, and required only a “knowing” or “reckless” state of mind for liability, rather than proof of scienter. It also repealed Section 436 of the Securities Act of 1933, which granted “safe harbor” for ratings, which were part of a prospectus.
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#1. To: mcgowanjm (#0)
I think you will appreciate the comments.
Well he ran up the debt with his bullshit. The moron and his followers actually believed his health care bill would lower the deficit. Anyone who believed that is really really stupid.
Single payer is the way to go, but it had no chance of passing.
So if I live a healthy life and eat right and exercise. I get stuck with the bill for some California faggot that had the aids virus shot up his ass? By definition millions of people will get ripped off that way. Why do you want something for nothing?
Remember Arthur Ash? By definition millions of people will get ripped off that way. Why do you want something for nothing? What I want is the best value for my tax dollar. We already are paying more per capita than any other country in the world for health care with inferior outcomes. We are being ripped off.
#8. To: lucysmom (#6)
If that's true then why do you back what load of crap your "Fearfull Leader" passed.....
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#2. To: lucysmom (#1)
W]hat really haunts the administration is the very real prospect, stoked two weeks ago by Standard & Poor’s, that Barack Obama could go down in history as the president who presided over his country’s loss of its gold-plated, triple-A bond rating.
#3. To: A K A Stone (#2)
The moron and his followers actually believed his health care bill would lower the deficit. Anyone who believed that is really really stupid.
#4. To: lucysmom (#3)
Single payer is the way to go, but it had no chance of passing.
#6. To: A K A Stone (#4)
So if I live a healthy life and eat right and exercise. I get stuck with the bill for some California faggot that had the aids virus shot up his ass?
Replies to Comment # 6. What I want is the best value for my tax dollar. We already are paying more per capita than any other country in the world for health care with inferior outcomes. We are being ripped off.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 6.
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