…Because the Feds and state attorneys-general drafting this deal have come up with terms so pitifully weak that these negotiators make Nevil Chamberlain look like Scott Boras by comparison. That’s why.
Kafka couldn’t have concocted the scenario that led to this. Millions upon millions of families foreclosed upon, and not even knowing who ‘owned’ their homes. No deed records to provide even the slightest bit of information to go on. The single biggest financial scandal in our nation’s history with an incalculable human toll. Deliberately engineered by the most gluttonous financial institutions imaginable.
Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times spills the beans on the paltry proposed sanctions(you may need a subscription to read this):
Cutting to the chase: if you thought this was the deal that would hold banks accountable for filing phony documents in courts, foreclosing without showing they had the legal right to do so and generally running roughshod over anyone who opposed them, you are likely to be disappointed.
Which is why Beau Biden, along with attorneys-general from New York, Massachusetts, and Nevada, abandoned the proposed settlement to seek justice in their own jurisdictions. They were concerned about the settlement:
It looks as if they were right to worry. As things stand, the settlement, said to total about $25 billion, would cost banks very little in actual cash — $3.5 billion to $5 billion. A dozen or so financial companies would contribute that money…
The banks contend that they have seen no evidence that they evicted homeowners who were paying their mortgages. Then again, state and federal officials conducted few, if any, in-depth investigations before sitting down to cut a deal.
Of course the banks don’t have any evidence because MERS was concocted by the banks to try to make sure that there was no evidence. Yet here we have the Wall Streeters who comprise Obama’s economic team and a bunch of co-opted and/or over-their heads AG’s rushing to settle this without any of the real facts.
How stupid is it to cut a deal before you even know the extent of the fraud? Don’t bother to answer, it’s a rhetorical question. Oh, and just look at the generous relief being offered to the victims:
One of the oddest terms is that the banks would give $1,500 to any borrower who lost his or her home to foreclosure since September 2008. For people whose foreclosures were done properly, this would be a windfall. For those wrongfully evicted, it would be pathetic. Roughly $1.5 billion in cash is expected to go into this pot.
Got that? If you were truly delinquent, you get $1500 you don’t deserve. If you were a victim, you get $1500 which won’t do you any good in getting your home back. And that’s assuming that the banks or whomever have a really good program for tracking down people living out of their cars somewhere. That’s because nobody has any clue as to who was foreclosed upon either fairly or unfairly. The United States of America in the 21st Century, ladies and gentlemen.
I could quote this entire article as the rest of it is all every bit as outrageous. Suffice it to say that this article (read it, subscriptions are free for up to 20 articles a month) demonstrates why OWS Wall Street is essential. If you are immune to the cynical putting-lipstick-on-a-voracious-pig, then luxuriate in your Greenville Chateau, shovel down some foie gras, wash it down with some Sauternes, and retire to your vomitorium.
If you’re as outraged as I think you should be, let your elected officials know that they can’t countenance this behavior with impunity (I’m talking about you, Jack Markell, Tom Carper, John Carney, Chris Coons…). And thank Beau Biden for having the sheer human decency to do what’s right. Which, come to think of it, shouldn’t be too much to ask of a public official. He’s doing his job. In so doing, he demonstrates why officials like Biden are essential to the success of the OWS movement. Both need and deserve our support. And neither can succeed without the other. Or without us, for that matter.