Lou Dobbs Blames Financial Crisis On Left Wing Groups Like ACORN and the CRA
By Nicole Belle Monday Sep 29, 2008 3:15pm 
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In times of unrest, it's amazing how quickly some people will go to finding some way to scapegoat the least powerful among us. One of the themes reverberating around right wing world is that ACORN and the Community Reinvestment Act are to blame for the sub-prime mess, as this segment on Lou Dobbs echoes here.
It goes back to something known as the Community Reinvestment Act that passed in 1977. The law ordered banks to make loans to low and moderate income people. The Consumer Rights League says ACORN stepped in and used that law to pressure banks to lend to sub prime borrowers, even those who couldn't demonstrate the capability to pay back the loan.
Catch all the barely hidden subtext? It's all these "community organizers" (hmmm....remind me, whose resume has been scoffed at for being a community organizer?) FORCING these poor, hapless banks to lend money to these shiftless low and medium income people, and worse, illegal aliens (Dobbs' personal scapegoat for all things wrong with America). How dare these leftist grassroots groups (tied to the Democratic Party, naturally) cause the ruin of the American financial system with their demands?
It's easy to see how this would appeal to right wingers like Dobbs, Malkin and Savage . Too bad it's not true:
The Community Reinvestment Act caused financial institutions to lend to people who weren't credit worthy. This is crap. The CRA was signed into law in 1977 -- over 20 years before the current crisis. The second problem with this theory is the CRA only applies to banks and thrifts. Most of the mortgage lending during the last boom came from -- mortgage lenders who aren't regulated by CRA. I explained this all in more detail here.
The CRA tried to force banks to keep from redlining neighborhoods to keep minorities out...something I'm sure gets right wingers up in arms. And the charge that ACORN was to personally benefit from the bailout? Lies. It was stricken from the bill the Republicans sabotaged yesterday, as this side-by-side comparison of the various bills shows. Admittedly, ACORN has its problems (though related to voter registration and not home mortgages), but as Rep. Keith Ellison says:
The president told the nation that the crisis is due to "the irresponsible actions of some jeopardizing the financial security of all." There are even lies circulating that blame minorities for the crisis through the Community Reinvestment Act. This is factually wrong -- and repugnantly bigoted. In fact, the root cause of the failures today is the ideological rigidity of the Bush administration, and its conservative friends in Congress and on Wall Street who oppose regulation, oversight and corporate accountability. For eight long years their mantra has been "regulation and oversight is bad" and "the free market is good."
But now, when their policies have failed and the chickens have come home to roost, taxpayers are asked to help them out. We have little choice. We cannot let Wall Street fail, because if we do, Main Street fails as well.
Transcripts below the fold
Well one of the groups at the center of this financial crisis is a so-called community activist group known as ACORN. In point of fact, ACORN is a left wing special interest group now under investigation for embezzlement, voter fraud and providing mortgages to illegal aliens among other things.
The group ACORN lobbied Congress for years to allow more of those risky mortgages that in part led to this crisis. And now, ACORN stands to reap hundreds of millions of dollars from a government bailout of Wall Street. Lisa Sylvester has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (INAUDIBLE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now rallied in front of the Miami Federal Reserve Bank. The group is pointing fingers at Wall Street for causing the financial meltdown. But critics say this community activist group shares the blame.
TOM DILORENZO, ECONOMICS PROF., LOYOLA COLLEGE: They've always lobbied Congress to do everything they could to make more and more or force banks to make more and more loans to low and moderate income people, which is a very noble-sounding goal. But unfortunately they have contributed to the financial ruination of thousands of low income families.
SYLVESTER: It goes back to something known as the Community Reinvestment Act that passed in 1977. The law ordered banks to make loans to low and moderate income people. The Consumer Rights League says ACORN stepped in and used that law to pressure banks to lend to sub prime borrowers, even those who couldn't demonstrate the capability to pay back the loan.
JAMES TERRY, CONSUMER RIGHTS LEAGUE: Back in the early '90s they would stage protests at banks that, you know, they sued them for red lining. They (INAUDIBLE) engaged them in legal action.
SYLVESTER: Enter deregulation in the '90's then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began purchasing these mortgages and selling them to private investors. And the sub prime market took off. Former Clinton administration official Franklin Raines, who ran Fannie Mae amassed $90 million in six year he ran Fannie. Homeownership was up which pleased groups like ACORN and Wall Street made a ton of money until home prices started falling. But ACORN says it's not to blame. It's all about greed.
AUSTIN KING, ACORN: When you look at all the bad sub prime loans that were made in the last five years, three out of four of them were made by institutions that are not governed by the CRA, so there's no way you can blame the CRA on 75 percent of the sub prime loans that were made in the last five years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVESTER: And ACORN which calls itself the nation's largest grassroots organization of low and moderate income families, has come under fire for other issues. At least five states have opened investigations into its voter registration drive. And ACORN employees have been convicted of voter fraud. Still, this group, as you mentioned, stood to benefit from the bailout deal and part of any profit realized from the sale of troubled assets were to go into a fund and that money would be distributed to low income housing advocacy groups including ACORN, Lou.
DOBBS: Now think about this, in the midst of this -- you know everyone talking about a clean bill and the Democratic leadership, let's be clear. This is a straightforward deal for ACORN and other groups, left wing groups, set up by the Democratic leadership of Congress. They're not interested in the bailout per se. They want to spread this out and many people believe that this bailout in part is dear to the Democratic leadership because they want to advance a social agenda here as much as much as an economic bailout of Wall Street.
SYLVESTER: Yeah, Lou, in fact what they did is in prior legislation they actually created these two funds. And now essentially what thy were going to do is try to use this bailout to fund and put money in those funds in order to benefit groups like ACORN and in order to advance some other causes as you mentioned including their voter registration drive, Lou.
DOBBS: It's -- this is pitiful in the fact that, of course, this Congress is fully supportive of this nonsense is all the more disgusting, so voters right now, all of us as citizens have a lot to be disgusted with on Capitol Hill. Thank you very much, Lisa -- Lisa Sylvester reporting.
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Fuck Lou Dobbs. Good job calling him out on this though :)
cnn stole that story from fox! i surfed by fox earlier and -they- had that 'story' floating.
fishing for racists, whatta life you live lou...
What was that about Dobbs not being a racist, again?
Part of me thinks that deep down Lou Dobbs is afraid of his own desires. He probably secretly lusts after Mexican women like Larry Craig longs for faceless dick. It's all a show, he's just doing what Mom and Pop Dobbs ingrained in his little Lou mind years ago. I feel sorry for him sometimes.
For eight long years their mantra has been “regulation and oversight is bad” and “the free market is good.”
unfortunately, this has been the case for between four and five TIMES that long.
But still Inquiring Minds want to know: where's St. Barry?
katie @ 4:
Isn't Lou Dobbs married to a hispanic lady?
I am frankly surprised he gets away with all that constant bullshit about them "brown" people coming over to terrorize them white folks, knowing he has to go home to a latino woman. And if there is a group of women you don't want to fuck with... it is a pissed off Hispanic chick. Maybe the one he married has massive amounts of self hate?
The Huffington Post had an excellent post that rebuts this BS!
Dobbs is showing his true colors in perpetuating this crap. Any credibility that the man had has disappeared.
The right wing noise machine is in its last throes.
The CRA has been around over 30 years. I am surprised that FDR is not being blames.
Tyler Durden @ 6:
Well that sure does explain a lot. I think the situation you posit (the self-hating Hispanic lady) makes a lot of sense. Either that or they're hard-core into S&M (Lou being the sub) and he has to even it all out in public.
What a joke "Mr. Independent" is, everyone knows you are a right wingnut. Just cancel your show already!
Tyler Durden @ 6:
I'll bet Fat Bigot Lou's wife is a Michelle Malkin hispanic.
woody, tokin librul @ 5:
Indeed, Obama would win the election in a landslide if he was to show some leadership. He could take a page or two (or the whole damn book) from FDR.
It seems he is intended on wining the election by default...
GW Bush HISSELF was promoting "no down payment, 100% financed mortgages, let's give ALL Americans an opportunity to own a home" just a coupla years ago.
Right?
I don't have any links to him saying that, but I swear I heard or read where he said it SEVERAL times.
Anyone got the links? It was part of his "ownership society" BS.
And it was the GW BUSH Adminstration that quashed attempts by several states (New York for sure; I think California; others?) to stop the predatory lending practices that CAUSED this particular GW BUSH TRAIN WRECK.
And GW Bush HISSELF is Co-Conspirator Number One of those whose "irresponsible actions" have jeopardized "the financial security of all.”
Standard Republican BS - clearly identify which of THEIR actions caused the mess du jour, then blame it on the Democrats OR the victims OR both.
Disgusting ..
If the CRA passed in 1977, then why are the proverbial chickens coming home to roost NOW? Lou continues to swallow right-wing talking points, so I no longer watch him.
Yes, this 'explanation' is all over the place and gathering momentum. A problem is that it sounds plausible to those who are pre-disposed to this type of thinking, and refuting it requires a lot of complicated explanation. Bill Clinton even made a comment, now being used in a McCain ad, that democrats failure to rein-in FNMA/FHLMC was a big part of the problem.
The arguments of Dobbs and his ilk are absurd on their face.
Somebody tell me how this nation's low income home buyers could be responsible for a trillion dollars in mortgage debt. There's only one social class that can accrue that much debt.
For cryin out loud - get a grip you rightist blowhards.
John McCain NOPE T-Shirts & Stickers
Rasputin @ 7:
Hmm... I cite less (but at least as relevant) material than this and it gets whacked
for unnecessarily eating bandwidth.
Anyway, I used to enjoy watching Lou, years ago, but more recently his wheels have
fallen off. It's a shame, he used to be an OK guy.
I wonder if the racist Dobbs ate all of his Obama Waffles?
This is the same talking bilge that Rush-o-Limp-boy was regurgitating last night. Who gives these guys their lines, anyway???
What a fascist whore. His whole paycheck is based upon his recurring theme of making us fear some external enemy.
PCB123 @ 9:
FDR used to be the GOP go-to blame boy, then Carter came along and took some of the pressure off FDR. For the past decade Clinton has been all the rage for the GOP blame-brigade.
But I saw recently some pundit on FOX (Hannity?) blaming Roosevelt by literally blaming both; the great depression and the current economic meltdown, on him. I swear to god, only in this country a person can get away with such ignorant shit and not get bitchslapped in public. Then again, we are the land which is having trouble deciding between creationism and evolution.
Seriously, WTF?
Actually, I read somewhere that CRA-type loans were some of the few that were actually performing.
LOL.
I knew it was only a matter of time before the wingnuts started trying to shift the blame to the Community Reinvestment Act.
When confronted with the evidence, blame CLINTON.
If you're desparate enough, and blaming Clinton doesn't stick, BLAME CARTER.
Listen, douchebags, the CRA only required you to offer mortgages to entire regions, rather than cherrypicking only the richest areas. There was nothing in the CRA about hard-selling mortgages to people with no means of paying for them, pocketing your commission, and then dumping the bad mortgage onto a pseudo-public company that guarantees to underwrite them.
As usual, the conservatives are making a very good living off whining that government is evil, getting elected to office on that platform, and then MAKING it evil just to prove your point and guarantee re-election.
PCB123 @ 9:
You haven't been listening.
LouLou has ALWAYS been a racist and a hack. Bad reporter - worse reporting. Yikes, he should go to work for Fox !!
According to Lou the whole world is wrong and to blame except him. He is always right!
He is not worth watching anymore! What the hell is in the water in the States?
bruscov @ 20:
The ironic part, is that the current situation is basically due to a bubble burst. And the bubble was inflated by over entitled, ill-prepared, generally middle-aged white men, expecting huge economic returns for an activity/set of abilities which truth be told has very little real value proposition.
Which represents to a T the likes of Limphballs and Dobbs: they work a couple of hours a day, basically reading shit, and they expect millions of dollars in return.
Meanwhile, a couple of illegal immigrants (which Dobbs loves to rile against) may possibly generate more "real wealth" in one year of production, than Dobbs during most of his career. Yes, tomatoes in reality tend to be more valuable than "hot" air (unless Dobbs starts a hot air balloon business fueled by the smoke he blows off his arse, but I ain't holding my breath on that one).
Lou Dobbs is a gas bag.
The meltdown of American financial systems is too big to leave to a few elected officials who are already beholden to lobbyists and campaign contributors.
I PROPOSE AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION, BI-PARTISAN, WITH PLENTY OF ACADEMIC REPRESENTATIVES, TO STUDY THIS PROBLEM COMPREHENSIVELY.
This is more important than the 9-11 Commission which only dealt with attacks on the two World Trade Towers. This is more important than all the other independent commissions we've had.
This should be a deal-breaker on any $700 billion bailout.
Whenever a reccession happens or is going to happen you find that right wingers embrace their inner fascists. This is just the beginning of the "Blame all the immigrants" crowd's mantra and its going to get worse and uglier.
30 year is a typical mortgage time span. How many of the original CRA mortgages defaulted? How many after Clinton dickered with the regs? How many after GW threw out the regs?
I would bet that the default numbers from Jimmy's original plan were a heck of a lot better than GW's numbers.
What a fucking tool. This is a group that is so supremely powerful that they can only afford to advertise on stations on the low end of the radio dial. It's just staggering...ACORN, perpetrator of first voter fraud and now mortgage fraud. As Republicans prove time and time again, no problem is so big that it can't be blamed on the weak and the powerless; in fact, the bigger, the better. Only a vile snake could peddle such nonsense and only a moron could believe it.
USA TODAY (1/20/2004): Bush seeks to increase minority homeownership
MSNBC (March. 27, 2004) : Bush ties tax relief, home ownership
So .. one more time .. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE ???
Rasputin @ 7:
I hope somebody has shown it to Biden. You can guarantee that Beguin and the other members of Palin's cram-for-the-exam tutors are working around the clock to get her to memorize these talking points. He'd better be prepared for that.
"Skwawk-Community Reinvestment Act."
"Skwawk-Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now."
"Don't blink. Don't blink.-Skwawk!"
"Rick Davis, recused. Rick Davis, recused. Palin wanna cracker! Skwawk!"
ukobserver @ 30:
We have been in a recession for years, which makes then sense of why I have been hearing the "blame them immigrants" meme for a few years now.
Heck, that has been Lou Dobbs carreer: blame them immigrants.
If there were no illegal immigration, Dobbs would have had to get a real job, can you imagine the horror?
He needs to STFU.
We really need more terms than "right wing" and "left wing." Dobbs may be on the right but he's a lot more Pat Buchanan than W Bush.
Hacktaculastic!
Pericles @ 24:
But, first and foremost, blame POOR MINORITIES.
Nicole, Lou Dobbs is NOT right wing. The fact that you disagree with his stance on immigration does not change the fact that you are in agreement on 99% of the issues. If you're going to rail against misrepresentation and distortion in the media, you might try not contributing to the problem.
Tyler...the New Deal banished the right wing and the Republican Party into the political wilderness for 40 years.
You have only to look at history to get the answers to your questions.
They want to undo everything that has been put in place by Democratic Presidents and Congresses....from Social Security to unemployment insurance.
The Clinton impeachment was solely as retribution for Watergate. The GOP has admitted as much. You can find the evidence and the quotes on the web.
Why does the right attack the Washington Post and NY Times. Simple...Watergate...and the Pentagon Papers.
The GOP has long memories, and they have been trying to destroy their political enemies since Nixon, and trying to unwind "liberal policies" since the '50s.
We ARE and have been in a culture war. Have been since Reagan.
MountainMan23 @ 14:
Here are my sources:
USA Today (1/20/2004): Bush seeks to increase minority homeownership
MSNBC (March. 27, 2004): Bush ties tax relief, home ownership - President wants to add new minority home owners
Lou Dobbs is not right wing. He is a tool of the right wing.
65% of these sub-prime mortgages were qualified for less expensive prime mortgages.
I'm sure ACORN forced them to deal out those more costly mortgages too, right Lou? There's no way any corporate greed was involved in dealing sub-prime mortgages to people who were eligible for prime mortgages.
What a bucket of crap.
When do they start investigations into who really is responsible for this mess? This is like financial terrorism..
Site monitor - can you explain why my comments are awaiting moderation?
I've simply quoted two reputable sources - USA Today & MSNBC.
Please tell me what I'm "doing wrong" so I'll know not to do it again .. OK?
Dobbs is a total phony.He's as arrogant and sanctimonious as it gets.
His fake populism is (as always)masking Lou's real agenda-defending the interests of the rich elite.
Chris @ 38:
Well, if that don't beat all. Is that you Ace? Why are you being so civil? C'mon Ace where is your assinine insults that you're famous for?
Dobbs not right wing. Yeah sure.
Lou Dobbs can kiss my a$$! Or in the words of Dick Cheney he can go eff himself.
I cannot watch Lou Dobbs for more than a minute or so; he is such a bigoted blowhard. While Limbaugh might be worse than Dobbs, Dobbs does more harm with his cable news show. No matter what the subject is Dobbs morphs into this ranting maniac about illegal immigrants, Obama, and those weak Dems. He's almost as sickening to watch as McCain. The difference is McCain's positions change by the minute while Dobbs is always an ignorant bigot blaming the immigrants and Dems.
when lou dobb's mother gave birth to him
the doctor slapped the crap out of her and
there was little lou a splat on the floor.
Let see... this crisis goes back to the 70s, how many loans that are now part of the problem were written in the 70s?... none? 80s? .....NONE! 90s....What!! NONE??? Lou stick your keen observations that somehow someway the poor people and those that have tried to help them must be at fault where the sun don't shine!
Lou Dobbs is an arrogant, insufferable prick.
Chris @ 38:
So Lou Dobbs is hardcore left wing now, LOL?
mudshark @ 46:
Soi disant "libertardians" typically do not characterize themselves as "right wing."
In this, as in so much else, they are terminally deluded....
On youtube: Democrats are Responsible for the Current Mortgage Crisis
Tyler Durden @ 22:
You forgot about LBJ. He was the Republican whipping boy for a long time, until George W. came along and, while doing exactly the opposite of LBJ's civil rights advancements, carried out pretty much the same foreign policy by creating a redux of Vietnam. So, LBJ is off the menu for awhile. It's like some freaky episode of The Twilight Zone, where LBJ took a dump one day in 1968, the turd got washed down into the sewer, mixed with some radioactive waste from the local nuclear power plant, and came lurking out of the sewer 40 years later to become GWB.
lol So they are trying to convince the people they are blaming that it's their (the people's) fault and to vote Republican? That is so utterly hysterical it is beyond belief.
Lou Dobbs is a bloviating racist, prevaricating pig.
Cable TV is a cabal by rightwingers to frighten and dumb down viewers. These "pundits" - Dobbs, Beck, O'Reilly, Hannity, Van Susteren, Hume, Barnes, Krauthammer et al - have no positive, constructive ideas to contribute in any way shape or form for the well-being of society.
Chris @ 39:
Yeah, and you're not a troll.
Since when do Lou Dobbs' racist, dishonest, delusional, crazy comedy stylings matter? What a shit for brains.
Lou Dobbs is mentally ill. Seriously, have you seen him lately? We're talking Captain Queeg from The Caine Mutiny "Who Ate My Strawberries?!!" crazy. The man can talk about pretty much nothing without bringing up illegal aliens. It's like watching someone who has to compulsively wash his hands every ten seconds. Dobbs probably goes home at night and searches under his couch and bed for illegal aliens. If he runs out of peanut butter he likely yells out his window that illegal aliens broke in and took it. How he still has a show on CNN is beyond me. They might as well have a host with tin foil on his head obsessing about the Martians.
Well, here's Obama's reply today to the "crisis":
Stirring stuff, nest paw?
But wait, (perhaps you're saying) wait! Where are the Candidate's concrete proposals to protect the deserving, punish the perps, and prevent the recrudescence of these crimes?
Ah, a good question. I asked something of the sort, myself, a little earlier...
"I cannot watch Lou Dobbs for more than a minute or so; he is such a bigoted blowhard."
I agree 100% with this.
I generally like CNN's coverage but I cannot watch Dobbs. He is so hateful and mean-spirited (not to mention an ego the size of Texas). You can't go through a single show without hearing him harp on the Mexicans and the liberals that are "ruining" this country. Why does CNN keep him on anyway? He's toxic. I'd prefer to listen to Cafferty. An old crank but he comes up with some good stuff. No B.S.
bobbyjoe @ 61:
AmericanInsurgent @ 48:
CNN has lost a lot of credibility by keeping this character on the air. "Most trusted name in news", I don't think so.
woody, tokin librul @ 62:
Stirring stuff, nest paw?
But wait, (perhaps you're saying) wait! Where are the Candidate's concrete proposals to protect the deserving, punish the perps, and prevent the recrudescence of these crimes?
Ah, a good question. I asked something of the sort, myself, a little earlier...
Oh, yeah, please notice he's spouting the "rescue" bullshit...No more "Obailoutma"...Now it's sweet 'rescue' for the poor fuckers on wallstreet...
the fella's agot a h eart of gold, i tell ya...gold...
All these stupid xenophobic assholes, like Dobbs, should put their money where their mouth's are and start by sending back their aging grandparents to the foreign country where they came from.
Paul @ 60:
If your under the mistaken impression that the Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and on and on don't matter when millions and millions of people believe the piles of horse crap that they spew on a daily basis then you haven't been paying attention for the last 20 or so years.
Propagandist Lou hides his bigotry behind the veil of the American flag. In Lou's sick world, it's alright to be a vile racist and a patriot at the same time.
The Republicans are rather desperate. It's too easy to look this stuff up. Bush pushed hard to deregulate the home loan industry:
Then Bush acted to block state laws trying to stop predatory lending:
And as is being investigated and reported in many places, this is all a big fat lie:
This is nothing but complete BS:
The current crisis has been caused by Republicans deregulating everything.
Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, offers the killer statistic: Independent mortgage companies, which are not covered by CRA, made high-priced loans at more than twice the rate of the banks and thrifts. With this in mind, Yellen specifically rejects the "tendency to conflate the current problems in the sub-prime market with CRA-motivated lending." CRA, Yellen says, "has increased the volume of responsible lending to low- and moderate-income households."
How do you like them apples dobbs ? What a douche !#$ How about you continue eating your Obama waffles, you jackass ! How about your TRY BEING A J_O_U_R_N_A_L_I_S_T !!
Cheers,
k
It wasn't too long ago that Republicans cast community organizers as impotent do-gooders. Now Republicans want voters to think that community organizers are powerful terrorists who are destroying America. Watch for more Republican lies linking Obama to terrorism. It just shows that Republicans couldn't defeat Obama on the issues, and now the only strategy remaining is to attack him personally. Republicans are desperate. McCain has shown that he does not make good decisions in stressful situations (calling for the firing of the the SEC chair when the financial crisis blew, saying he would shut down his campaign and not participate in the first presidential debate in order to fix the financial mess, participating in the debate while saying that congress was close to agreement, not being able to get a majority of his fellow Republicans in the House to agree, re-starting his campaign before the agreement...)
blah- Lou Dobbs is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE journalist. And it's not Voter fraud if they haven't voted. Start focusing on other shit, like VOTER PURGES. Lou Dobbs, I want to puke. You're disgusting.
Oh and by the way, if you want AN AMAZING REPORT ON WHAT CAUSED THIS PROBLEM (FUCKIN' DOBBS GETS ON MY NERVES WITH HIS 18TH CENTURY BIGORTY), then look at this American Life's coverage back in (wait for it...) MAY 2008 !!!
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242
Click on the full episode for "The Giant Pool of Money"
I just wished our media would be doing their jobs, instead of doing this bullshit of fear-mongering and all. I recommend this radio show, it's phenomenal.
Love,
k
woody, tokin librul @ 63:
Stirring stuff, nest paw?
But wait, (perhaps you're saying) wait! Where are the Candidate's concrete proposals to protect the deserving, punish the perps, and prevent the recrudescence of these crimes?
Ah, a good question. I asked something of the sort, myself, a little earlier...
We're so fucked.
And this was the party of FDR?
this meme started late last week...im shocked that dobbs is taking talking points from the repugs
he has been good on attacking them in regards to the illegal alien issue and their hypocracy regarding it
the idea that acorn is the cause of the collapse is absurd
the signs that something was seriously wrong with the system started with the collapse of roland arnall's ameriquest
ameriquest was not forced into providing high risk loans by anyone, and arnall was really the first to understand how deregulation could allow him to steal from everybody