REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Re: The Wall Street Deal

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Sunday, February 12, 2012 17:19
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Sunday, February 12, 2012 7:37 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


The one thing I like about the deal cut with the banks, which is otherwise FAR too little and will help FAR too few people:
Quote:

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a lead investigator into the mortgage collapse that wobbled the U.S. economy, hasn't taken the title "Sheriff of Wall Street" that one of his predecessors rode all the way to the governor's mansion.

But he's not backing down, either.

He rejected a settlement with major banks a year ago because it shielded them from future investigations. For his efforts, he got bounced off a committee of attorneys general negotiating the settlement; more than 40 of them wanted to take the deal.

But after digging in, the soft-spoken, 57-year-old lawyer from Manhattan won. The states still got billions in settlement money, and he was tapped by President Barack Obama to co-chair a group to keep investigating. This week, shortly after the announcement of the $25 billion nationwide settlement with five major mortgage banks concerning foreclosure abuses, Schneiderman noted that it preserved authority to investigate and prosecute related securities fraud, authority that he insisted on.

"I am the lawyer for the people of the state of New York," Schneiderman demurred when asked about wearing the "Sheriff's" badge that once belonged to former Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

But after digging in, the soft-spoken, 57-year-old lawyer from Manhattan won. The states still got billions in settlement money, and he was tapped by President Barack Obama to co-chair a group to keep investigating. This week, shortly after the announcement of the $25 billion nationwide settlement with five major mortgage banks concerning foreclosure abuses, Schneiderman noted that it preserved authority to investigate and prosecute related securities fraud, authority that he insisted on.

"I am the lawyer for the people of the state of New York," Schneiderman demurred when asked about wearing the "Sheriff's" badge that once belonged to former Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Schneiderman, in his first year of office, kept Wall Street investigations going and started new ones. He insisted on preserving those, despite pressure from the banks, his fellow attorneys general, the Obama administration and homeowners needing the debt relief the settlement promised.

Former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who lost to Schneiderman in that primary, said there is some value to what he did in the foreclosure settlement but the results remain to be seen.

"I think when California and New York said no, it put some spine in the whole process and they got a better deal," Brodsky said. "The real import here is the ability to continue to prosecute. That all will come clear over time, whether that amounts to anything."

And financial services attorney Chris DiAngelo, counsel to the American Securitization Forum, said there probably are hundreds of lawsuits already involving mortgage-backed securities, some from people with deep pockets who lost a lot of money. He questioned whether new investigative efforts even with "a more energetic guy" like Schneiderman will turn up many new facts or effect much change. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/10/nys-ag-isnt-backing-down-from-wal
l-street-probe/

I don't like the deal, I applaud that they've left it open for further investigation and further lawsuits. Unlike the tobacco deal, it DOESN'T let them off the hook insofar as it's not the end, but only the beginning. I was appalled by the tobacco deal when it happened, since it closed off any further litigation, but maybe they've learned from their mistakes. One can only hope.

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Sunday, February 12, 2012 8:14 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


I'm deeply disappointed with Kamala Harris. About 6 months ago there was a huge email, petition and letter-writing drive to keep her from signing on to the settlement, which she responded to at the time. But once the pot was sweetened and the pressure was off, she did the Obama thing: she caved.

Ugh.

The financials got loaned $8 TRILLION dollars during the height of the panic, they MADE $13 BILLION on below-interest rates at the time... roughly half of the money they are now being fined. This costs them nothing. And the people who were fraudulently foreclosed on? Maybe up to $1800. That's an insult. How does that make a family whole, and pay back the damage that was done? Sheesh. Well, we sure know who's getting their money from Wall Street )Obama) and who's got political ambitions (Harris)

At least somebody's got a spine.

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Sunday, February 12, 2012 12:25 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...


We'll see. I'm going to wait to make a judgment; given how long it took to get anything out of the tobacco companies...and this is the same sort of thing.

It may well come to nothing, or it might be a first step. I DO NOT like the deal as it is, I'm just hoping it's only a first step.

I believe Boxer bought into it, too, in which case, if it comes to naught, I'm pissed at her, too.



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Sunday, February 12, 2012 5:19 PM

ANTHONYT

Freedom is Important because People are Important


Hello,

As to the tobacco companies, I feel that they are only really liable for damages/suffering amongst smokers (and their families) who may have suffered before the packages contained warnings like, "This will make you marry it, and frak you up seven ways from Sunday."

Once such a series of warnings were present, I am dismayed at the people who claim ignorance and victim hood.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

"In every war, the state enacts a tax of freedom upon the citizenry. The unspoken promise is that the tax shall be revoked at war's end. Endless war holds no such promise. Hence, Eternal War is Eternal Slavery." --Admiral Robert J. Henner


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