Who Knew? (Part 3)

Elizabeth Warren, thats who. (tbm)
I am half-assedly posting about articles I've seen that point out those annointed few who not only saw, to some extent, financial collapse coming, but had the balls to try and fight it publicly, up front. See also, part 1 (Iris Mack), part 2 (Byron Dorgan))Please comment to this or any Who Knew? post when you see one of our 'Almost Heroes, if the system wasn't built to keep those in charge, in charge.

Starting in 2003, Elizabeth 'Save the banks heck, Save the people!' Warren was tasked with figuring out why the bankruptcy rates were higher in these 'prosperous' times than they were during the Great Depression. Of course, the banks stonewalled her efforts, so she turned to federal household surveys and determined that in order to be 'successful' the average American family is forced to borrow from the banks. Raising children, taking care of your health, and putting a roof over the heads of your family have become impossible without delving into the unregulated and generally unfriendly whims of the banks.

In 2005, when our government decided that they would rather bail out banks than the citizens, she fought the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. James Sensenbrenner and a host of other congressmen, whose mission it is to 'represent' the people, decided and announced that the people they 'represent' were gaming the system. Due to our moral flaws, we went out of our ways to run up mountains of debt with the sly plan to file for bankruptcy to avoid paying off their debts.
A year after she was laughed out of the congressional hearings on bankruptcy, she introduced the idea of a 'run on the consumer'. This beautiful phrase describes how one late payment can send any one of us on a downward spiral which destroys our fragile financial eco-system. Miss a payment, your interest rates get hiked. Your credit score drops. Credit becomes more expensive. Banks on a whim can increase your rates further, cut your credit, etc. etc.
(Summary: Yes, bankruptcies have skyrocketed, though not because Americans lack the moral fiber to pay off their debts. Its because we have become so dependent on the banks that when one loses a job that one now goes into default on a home, a car, and all of the other things they needed to take loans out for to enjoy their standard of living. Lose your job in the 1930's you have to sell your car. Lose your job in the 90's and you can't afford to keep paying on your car. With this in mind, our government chose to fix the scenario for the banks while turning their backs on the people. It was easier than reforming a system running out of control...)
(read this wonderful report written in part by Elizabeth Warren, its worth your time to read such gems:
Subprime lenders have learned that when inflation is low, lending out at 18%, 22%, or 34% can be extraordinarily profitable even if a substantial portion of borrowers ultimately default on their loans. The math is nothing short of stunning. At a time when the wholesale cost of money is 4%, for example, a subprime lender who places a $10,000 loan at 26% has by year four earned back everything the debtor borrowed plus more than $7000 in profit, and the borrower still owes more than half of the loan)

Then in 2008, instead of those gaming the bankruptcy system, now its us 'whiners' who have been gaming the sub prime system. So, once again, we turn to the bankers in charge to fix things by giving billions upon billions upon billions of dollars to the banks to help save them from us evil doers. With former bank heads and employees like Hank Paulson, Timmy Geithner, Larry Summers, etc. etc. in charge, they used vauge threats of worldwide economic collapse to ensure they and their buddies were safe. Much like the christians use hell to make sure there is a steady stream of income from their fearful worshippers. As we all can tell and be thankful for, the economic collapse they warned us of has been averted and everything is smooth sailing. Or was it their ridiculous TARP billions of taxpayer's dollars going straight into the richest of pockets that caused our collapse?

Thanks for seeing it coming and doing your best to keep them honest. Too bad Obama seeks to continue the obviously failed Bush policies of giving wall street whatever they want...
(She is in charge of the TARP now. But Timmy Geithner doesn't return her calls and she is generally ignored. Which is only right, after all, she seeks represent the people, not the banks.)

Bailing out the victims of my excess...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.