http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/10/12/yes-the-white-house-wants-a-foreclosure-fraud-whitewash-theyre-not-going-to-get-it/I’m mostly tired of reporting about the foreclosure fraud settlement that’s never going to happen, and you can tell that it’s not a serious effort by virtue of the fact that everyone has moved on except for Charlie Gasparino at Fox Business. And he’s just swallowing banker spin. It’s mildly interesting, though not surprising, that the bankers see the Obama Administration as an ally:
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Anyway, this is old news. We already knew that the Administration pressured Eric Schneiderman to accept a settlement. We already knew about their talks with other AGs who have since rejected the settlement and the broad liability release. We knew that they wanted to do it quickly, a tragedy that has quickly devolved into farce. The “investigation” started exactly one YEAR ago tomorrow. Since then, we’ve heard deadlines of April and Memorial Day and Labor Day to now, where Tom Miller’s spokesman is saying that they’re “hoping that we can do this by year end.” The remaining AGs hammering out this settlement remind me of the Japanese soldiers holed up in mountain redoubts in the 1950s still fighting World WAr II because nobody told them it ended.
And we still have this assurance from Tom Miller’s office that banks could still face lawsuits in the event of a settlement. It’s a civil and not criminal settlement, they say. Securities fraud will not be a part of the equation, they say. Municipalities could still sue MERS for avoiding recording fees, they say. It’s pretty clear that the settlement is not just about robo-signing or it would have been inked by now. And the discovery that would result from an AG investigation would further criminal charges; being blocked from that discovery would make such charges nearly impossible.
Meanwhile, people who have been wrong about everything like Mark Zandi are back-door boosting a settlement by claiming that the housing market woes are “manageable” for the banks. Google “Zandi” and “housing” and “recovery” and see if you can find how many times he has said that the recovery is either underway or just around the corner since 2007. Google might not be able to calculate the number.
More at the link --