Hi readers, here’s something I received by email today from a very upset friend, guess it’s making the rounds, but it’s full of good info…unless some of it isn’t correct…read and decide, comment if any of it isn’t true. And if it is, be sure it influences your vote!

The following is a condensation of a series from the “Investor’s Business Daily” explaining ‘What Caused the Loan Crisis’:

1977: Pres. Jimmy Carter signs the Community Reinvestment Act into Law. The law pressured financial institutions to extend home loans to those who would otherwise not qualify. The Premise: Home ownership would improve poor and crime-ridden communities and neighborhoods in terms of crime, investment, jobs, etc.

Results: Statistics bear out that it did not help.

How did the government get so deeply involved in the housing market? Answer: Bill Clinton wanted it that way.

1992: Republican representative Jim Leach (IO) warned of the danger that Fannie and Freddie were changing from being agencies of the public at large to money machines for the20principals and the stockholding few.

1993: Clinton extensively rewrote Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s rules turning the quasi-private mortgage-funding firms into semi-nationalized monopolies dispensing cash and loans to large Democratic voting blocks and handing favors, jobs and contributions to political allies. This potent mix led inevitably to corruption and now the collapse of Freddie and Fannie.

1994: Despite warnings, Clinton unveiled his National Home-Ownership Strategy which broadened the CRA in ways congress never intended.

1995: Congress, about to change from a Democrat at majority to Republican, Clinton orders Robert Rubin’s Treasury Dept to rewrite the rules. Robt. Rubin’s Treasury reworked rules, forcing banks to satisfy quotas for sub-prime and minority loans to get a satisfactory CRA rating. The rating was key to expansion or mergers for banks. Loans began to be made on the basis of race and little else.

1997 - 1999: Clinton, bypassing Republicans, enlisted Andrew Cuomo, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, allowing Freddie and Fannie to get into the sub-prime market in a BIG way. Led by Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd, congress doubled down on the risk by easing capital limits and allowing them to hold just 2.5% of capital to back their investments vs. 10% for banks. Since they could borrow at lower rates than banks their enterprises boomed.

With incentives in place, banks poured billions in loans into poor communities, often ‘no doc’, ‘no income’, requiring no money down and no verification of income. Worse still was the cronyism: Fannie and Freddie became home to out-of work-politicians,=2 0mostly Clinton Democrats. 384 politicians got big campaign donations from Fannie and Freddie. Over $200 million had been spent on lobbying and political activities. During the 1990’s Fannie and Freddie enjoyed a subsidy of as much as $182 Billion, most of it going to principals and shareholders, not poor borrowers as claimed.

Did it work? Minorities made up 49% of the 12.5 million new homeowners but many of those loans have gone bad and the minority home ownership rates are shrinking fast.

1999: New Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, became alarmed at Fannie and Freddie’s excesses. Congress held hearings the ensuing year but nothing was done because Fannie and Freddie had donated millions to key congressmen and radical groups, ensuring no meaningful changes would take place. ‘We manage our political risk with the same intensity that we manage our credit and interest rate risks,’ Fannie CEO Franklin Raines, a former Clinton official and current Barack Obama advisor, bragged to investors in 1999.

2000: Secretary Summers sent Undersecretary Gary Gensler to Congress seeking an end to the ’special status’. Democrats raised a ruckus as did Fannie and Freddie, headed by politically connected CEO’s who knew how to reward and punish. ‘We think that the statements evidence a contempt for the nation’s housing and mortgage markets’ Freddie spokesperson Sharon McHale said. It was the last chance during the Clinton era for reform.

2001: Republicans try repeatedly to bring fiscal sanity to Fannie and Freddie but Democrats blocked any attempt at reform; especially Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd who now run key banking committees and were huge beneficiaries of campaign contributions from the mortgage giants.

2003: Bush proposes what the NY Times called ‘the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago’. Even after discovering a scheme by Fannie and Freddie to overstate earnings by $10.6 billion to boost their bonuses, the Democrats killed reform.

2005: Then Fed chairman Alan Greenspan warns Congress: ‘We are placing the total financial system at substantial risk’. Sen. McCain, with two others, sponsored a Fannie/Freddie reform bill and said, ‘If congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial sy stem and the economy as a whole’. Sen. Harry Reid accused the GOP ;of trying to ‘cripple the ability of Fannie and Freddie to carry out their mission of expanding home ownership’ The bill went nowhere.

2007: By now Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee over HALF of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. The mortgage giants, whose executive suites were top-heavy with former Democratic officials, had been working with Wall St. to repackage the bad loans and sell them to investors. As the housing market fell in ‘07, subprime mortgage portfolios suffered major losses. The crisis was on, though it was 15 years in the making.

2008: McCain has repeatedly called for reforming the behemoths, Bush urged reform 17 times. Still the media have repeated Democrats’ talking points about this being a ‘Republican’ disaster A few Republicans are complicit but Fannie and Freddie were created by Democrats, regulated by Democrats, largely run by Democrats and protected by Democrats. That’s why taxpayers are now being asked for $700 billion!!

If you doubt any of this, just view the videos below and listen to your lawmakers own words. They are condemning!

Postscript: ACORN is one of the principle beneficiaries of Fannie/ Freddie’s slush funds. They are currently under indictment or investigation in many states. Barack Obama served as their legal counsel, defending their activities for several years.

I just finished watching the video honoring Hillary preceding her speech, and wow, after the build up today, it really is all about her tonight. The video brought all the memories and feelings back of her campaign, I don’t know how those who voted for her, and still want her to be the Democratic Candidate can come away not being recharged. There’s Bill, in tears in the audience, and saying “I love you”, the applause is not stopping!

It’s a bit hard to read Michelle Obama, she stands to applaud each time the mention of uniting the party is given, but I haven’t seen a smile yet. Ah, there it is, she smiled at “Barack Obama is my candidate”. Now it’s back to “you and me”, focusing on herself. Oh my, is it ever about herself, all the “I will always remember…..” memories from her campaign. Then back to Barack. I guess you could say she’s flip-flopping back and forth between promoting Barack, and herself. Well I suppose she has a right, she did win many, many delegates, and even if I don’t agree with everything, she is a gifted speaker.

Well I’m going to take in the rest of the speech now, and we’ll see how tomorrow night goes…will the 100’s of Clinton supporters that are outside the Pepsi Center holding Hillary signs and saying vote McCain cause a little trouble during the delegate count? Stay tuned…this is getting fun! Oh, the hubby-into-politics I’m married to? He went to bed, has to get up early, and will listen to the details tomorrow on Rush Limbaugh.

One more thing, hubby had a few good laughs at the following video…lines from Hillary that just keep on giving if you’re a Republican:

I’m sorry, just kidding, it’s late and I’m tired, but wouldn’t it be funny if that’s the text message everyone received on their cell phones, those that are going to receive the message, that is.

Hubby and I were talking tonight, and we aren’t Democrats, but can see that with how close the race is, having Hillary as Barack’s Vice President would make living at the White House a LOT more hopeful than it is now, right? Or are we wrong?

Maybe…because I think that if John McCain picks Mitt Romney as HIS running mate, we’d have close race once again.

I haven’t gotten into the “Veepstakes” talk much…where did the word “Veepstakes” come from anyway? …because it’s dragging on and on, and who wants to hear more, but since the first VP selection should be known by this time tomorrow, thought I’d give it a go.

Wouldn’t it be funny to wake up and find out I wasn’t kidding in title after all? (No it wouldn’t be :-))

I know, I know, the negative beat goes on by many people and many in the media, but I don’t care, I voted for George W. Bush, and I’d do it again. I know that posting this will set me apart, slot me, put me in a category…and guess what? I don’t care about that either. Here’s a bit of background, and the first reason why I’d vote for Bush again…the war.

About 9? 10? years ago when the candidates were just beginning to be named, when I heard George W. Bush was on the list, lets just say I had a feeling, call it woman’s intuition, a sixth sense, or just something resonating in my spirit (I like that last choice), I knew he would be our next President. There was really no reason for that feeling, I wasn’t one to follow politics back then…until then. I’m afraid I don’t have any sense about who will win the next election, but I did then.

Almost as soon as he became President he was under attack…and then on September 11th we were under attack. I still find it surreal to think that about an hour from my home planes crashed into two beautiful buildings that graced the horizon on many of our travels; that a plane headed for Washington DC crashed in PA; that a plane crashed into our Pentagon; that people died from letters that contained Anthrax. The mind doesn’t like to remember such things, we want to block it out and get on with our spoiled American lives, but we can’t, we shouldn’t.

At that time we were a united Nation, and wanted one thing, to get the people that got us. And President Bush lead us into war first in Afghanistan and then Iraq, and the rest is history. Oh, I know that every single decision made was not perfect, who has ever heard of a perfect war? War is never, ever pretty, and no leader has ever handled every decision with perfection…read your history books…not the ones altered by the new wave of “revisionist history”, the old history books. Some new history books and biographies are good too, but keep a close, and skeptical, eye out for the spin.

I do believe this is a necessary war, and am so thankful that President Bush was in office during that time…and President Clinton was out. President Bush is determined and not swayed by negative press, he isn’t a people-pleaser. You can’t be a people-pleaser and lead a Nation at war, especially in our spoiled Society. (Yes, I know that not everyone reading this is spoiled, I am generalizing.)

And the economy….what do you people who think that it’s all the “present administration’s fault” whenever anything happens expect during a time of war? What time in history when we have been at war have we not had to make sacrifices? Spoiled, spoiled Americans, that is what we have become.

Thank you, President Bush, for not swaying, thank you for spending time on your knees before God throughout your Presidency, thank you for the emotional sacrifices that I’m sure you have made by sending young men to war, and most of all thanks to the people who have willingly made sacrifices.

As we look ahead to the next election, think, what is more important, “change”, or staying the course? What will you sacrifice in this “gimme-gimme” society? Perhaps this is why McCain is closer in thinking to Bush when it comes to our involvement in the war (please don’t be ashamed of that, McCain…stand for what you believe!) and perhaps this is why we see Obama slowly changing some of his positions on the war in Iraq (flip-flop away, as long as you flop in the right place).

I have watched all day as the delegate count increased for Barack Obama, bringing him to the magic number by the time we were ready to sit down to dinner. Then had to run out to vote at our very local primary, then back home to watch the speeches.

First McCain…I know he can do better, and know he will. I though that he spent a lot of time focusing on the negative aspects of Obama…believe me I’m not a political strategist by any means, but thought it might be better to NOT list every issue he has that opposes Obama from the start…drag it out a bit, don’t give “the enemy” your position from the start so he knows how to respond where it hurts.

Then there was Hillary….the word “I” was the main focus of her speech, I …. I… I, it was an “all about me” speech, given with a brilliant smile, and no indication that she’s finished campaigning…there was a time that I admired her persistence, but at this point it borders on…no, it’s moved over the border to the point of ridiculous. But should it? I guess if I’d won the popular vote, and as many states as she has, I’d find it hard to give up too…we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Obama, I have to say that he gave a commanding speech…I don’t agree with all of it, and as you know I’m usually a republican voter, always have been, but am a little bit confused about what I am this election. My hubby keeps reminding me that I’m a Republican, so I’m going to just have to be happy I have him to guide me, and hope things become a lot clearer for me personally in the days to come.

So here we are…at last.

The end is finally here…sort of…at least the end of the Democratic primary campaign season.  After adding to the number of delegates that Obama and Clinton would need to FINALLY finish the ongoing democratic battle with the decision about what to do with those Michigan/Florida delegates, Obama is closer than he was before the decision to having the number of delegates needed.

Is Hillary going to concede in her speech tonight?  Will she finally realize that it’s time to stop and let the process go on?  Can she let go of her dream?  We’ll see when she makes her speech tonight.  It’s all over the media today…generally believed she will concede that Obama does have the delegates…but at least at this typing, will not give up the ongoing competition with Obama.  We’ll see…more later!

At least not in November.  Yes, Hillary gets some delegates…from Puerto Rico?  What’s with that?  I really DO NOT get what is going on with the democratic party, but will say it’s made for some great entertainment, that’s about all…but don’t listen to the news every day, it’s kind of like a soap opera, the story doesn’t change a lot and progresses VERY slowly.

I probably got my explanation wrong yesterday about the DNC decision about what to do with Florida and Michigan…after all, I am “married to politics”, hubby is supposed to know more about this, and does, and when I go off and try to explain some things on my own, it can be dangerous.  Anyway, nobody came out a winner on the deal, but as I said, great entertainment!!

So is this all going to finally end sometime this month? And are we going to get on with the REAL campaigning?  I’m hoping so!