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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: 7385
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.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
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.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
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?
So you think single payer is the way to go. You admit it wouldn't pass. That means the people didn't want it. So since you folks didn't get what you wanted you just pass something else that busts that bank. Then you claim it will save money. What a load of Obama.
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.
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
But hey, that's what people wanted, right?
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
If that's true then why do you back what load of crap your "Fearfull Leader" passed..... When asked by a Liberal what I bought my Granddaughter for her 1st birthday I replied, "MORE AMMUNITION"!!!! -----------------------------"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
No. You'll get the bill for my Fundy Bro in Law who's an Ex bigwig at Wal Mart and who needs surgery for his knee, but is waiting until he qualifies for Medicare....LMFAO...you xenophobe. The Bottom 90% will not be your serfs....;}
It is obvious – even to many of our ever-somnolent Establishment commentators – that the situation is an entirely manufactured crisis designed solely to impose shock-doctrine “austerity” on the American system, thus completing its long, painful mutation into a neo-feudal oligarchy backed by a militarist police state.
Insurance companies already raise premiums because of both higher medical costs AND because of paying out claims for those who engage unhealthy behaviors.
Yeah for every other kind of risky behavior that is true. But not for CHOOSING to be a faggot. If I'm wrong show me some evidence.
jessescrossroads: " The Real Problem The greatest problems in the report, however, were the massive revisions to past history -- including the very recent past. For both the first quarter of 2011 and the worst quarters of the "Great Recession" those revisions were substantial enough to raise questions about the reliability of any of the recently reported BEA data: -- Data published as recently as 35 days prior had growth rates slashed by over 80%. -- The worst quarter of the "Great Recession" was revised downward by over 2%, with the annualized "growth" rate now reported to be a horrific -8.9%. And the "peak" to "trough" decline in real GDP for the "Great Recession" is now recognized to be over 5%, halfway to the clinical definition of a full depression." Like I said, the depression began after the last gift was unwrapped, Xmas 2007. And it will not end.
And it will not end. According to this article from May 2007, you aren't too far off. Fewer people are trying to sneak across the US-Mexico border. As a result, US border officials are nabbing fewer illegal immigrants – 30 percent fewer for the first quarter of this year compared with the same period a year ago. That's a triumph, says US Customs and Border Protection, of new sophisticated detection equipment as well as 6,000 National Guard troops situated along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. But enhanced security may explain only part of the decline. A slowing US economy, resulting in fewer jobs, is discouraging immigrants from slipping into the United States, according to economists at Arizona State University in Tempe. In fact, falling border apprehensions may be an early predictor of where the economy is headed. If that's true, then Americans should prepare for rough economic times ahead, says Dawn McLaren, a research economist at Arizona State's business school. "...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
;} "As I keep pointing out, this isn’t a budget crisis, this is really the final result of running every system in the red."
#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.
#5. To: lucysmom (#3)
#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?
#7. To: A K A Stone (#5)
So since you folks didn't get what you wanted you just pass something else that busts that bank.
#8. To: lucysmom (#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.
#9. 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?
#10. To: All (#9)
#11. 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?
#12. To: NewsJunky (#11)
Insurance companies already raise premiums because of both higher medical costs AND because of paying out claims for those who engage unhealthy behaviors.
#13. To: lucysmom (#1)
#14. To: mcgowanjm (#13)
Like I said, the depression began after the last gift was unwrapped, Xmas 2007.
#15. To: lucysmom (#14)
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