We put up a few more stories on the mortgage mess tonight for a reason. It isn’t that we had a sudden explosion of new information on mortgage abuses. It is instead to remind readers that we could turn this blog entirely over to covering mortgage chicanery and not even scratch the surface.
And the latest bit of corrupt behavior is that the Obama administration has a full court press on to push the heinous “multi-state” settlement deal over the line. We’ve pooh poohed previous reports from Iowa state attorney general Tom Miller that a deal is just around the corner, since he’s been doing his variant on a Chicken Little act for a full year. But it appears the President wants a talking point, ideally for the State of the Union address or as shortly thereafter as possible.
So this time is different: the administration is putting far more pressure on the dissident and skeptical Democratic attorneys general. And precisely because Tom Miller’s efforts have appeared to be going nowhere, particularly after California AG Kamala Harris left the talks, the grass roots effort to oppose the talks has slackened off. The lack of active opposition leave the AGs feeling more exposed, particularly in light of often misleading press stories (for instance, the Wall Street Journal implied over the summer that Harris was wavering when all it was doing was repackaging stale information under a new headline). Similarly, the Administration is ramping up “a deal is almost cinched” reports with Obamabot news outlets like NPR. This is a classic deal/salesmans’ tactic: to create the impression of momentum when there is fact is often none.
The Democratic attorneys general have been invited to meet in Chicago on Monday, and Shaun Donovan of HUD and a member of the Department of Justice will be putting the heat on. The Republican AGs are getting the same documents the Democrat AGs will receive and will confer by phone.
We posted that the Democratic AGs unhappy with the deal has actually enlarged, with 14 apparently meeting (a Huffington Post story said “up to 15” and we gather that Oregon and Montana participated in addition to the dozen named. However, only 5 so far have officially left the talks: New York, Delaware, Nevada, California, and Massachusetts. In addition, there are at least four Republicans who have said they will not join in any settlement.
Here are some of the reasons to oppose a settlement:
1. There have been virtually no investigations, and the Administration has engaged in cover-ups rather than trying to get to the bottom of the mortgage mess
2. The big argument made in favor of the deal, that it will help borrowers, is patently false. Remember, Countrywide entered into a deal with attorney generals just like this, where they agreed to do mods in return for a settlement on abuses. Guess what? They didn’t do the mods. To add insult to injury, they actually abused homeowners who should have gotten mods. Nevada AG is suing Countrywide now over its failure to comply with the terms of its settlement. And even if some mods miraculously did get done, the settlement is designed to have banks hit a dollar amount. That means they will focus on the biggest loans, which means any relief will go to a comparatively small number of people in (originally) big ticket houses.
3. The Administration has only one chance to get this right. Now you might argue that Team Obama has no intention of getting the mortgage mess right, but the tectonic plates suddenly seem to be moving in elite circles. The Fed realizes that housing is a BIG problem and has even started making noise about it. Yet Obama is moving forward with a plan cooked up in late 2010 that is completely out of whack with the urgency and severity of the problem. Note that this settlement will NOT stop private actions, such as borrowers fighting foreclosures. And we will continue to banks refuse to take losses and drag out foreclosures to maximize fees. That will lead to continued pressure on housing prices in many markets as buyers stay on the sidelines, fearful of buying before a large shadow inventory clears.
Leaving the AGs free to investigate and increase the pressure that is already building up in the system is the best chance we have to deal with widespread fraud.
The attorneys general really need your support. It helps them to hear that their constituents appreciate them standing up to the banks and the Obama administration.
PLEASE call them TODAY. Here is a list of phone numbers. If you can’t get through, send an e-mail.
Please also sign this petition from Campaign for America’s Future (it has some talking points if you need them for the AG calls). Note you can opt out of being put on their mailing list (I know that has been a sore point with some past petitions). I know it is futile to ping Obama, but they will collect the number of people who sign, and that will in turn bolster the dissident AGs.
Please call today. Unlike Congresscritters, who get a lot of constituent mail and phone calls, AGs get much less in the way of messages from state citizens, so your calls will make a difference.
Thanks for your help.
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Finally some real direct action. !!!
I know the US is constituted under federalism,
with a balance between State and Federal powers.
I figure the State AGs must be in their right
not to settle, but it would be nice to have
an explanation too.
I hope this doesn’t side-track the discussion.
“Nice to have an explanation”? Did you read the post?
I think the first explanation is the most important: There have been virtually no investigations. Not one subpoena, not one deposition taken by Tom Miller’s group. Yet they think $19 billion or whatever is a good number. Others think the real number is in trillions. But unless a prosecutor does his or her job, no one will ever know.
It’s analogous to having someone hit your car broadside. Your car is totaled and you are injured. The other driver offers to settle on the spot for $200. You have no idea what your real damages are, but suspect that $200 is an underestimate. If you do settle, you are a fool.
Unless “the other driver” is mobbed up. In that case, take what you can get and move far, far away…
Meanwhile, the statue of limitations for criminal charges is running . . . .
They tolled the statue of limitations on civil charges for a few years to delay, now they are delaying on getting any real evidence.
So it is less and less likely that there will ever be any criminal charges.
By the time we start seeing the evidence leak out (and I’m sure they can’t scrub all the incriminating evidence) it will be too late. By design.
Do statutes of limitation apply to on-going conspiracies?
Hosted in Chicago means that contacting my AG here is IL is pointless. I have already emailed her office and received a nice pandering reply that basically indicated they were in the settlement camp. Disappointing as Lisa has always campaigned on the platform that she fights for IL residents.
Between Rahm and the Obama Chicago connection, there is no hope here.
Don’t you find it strange that :
Obama is Senator
Obama is President
Rahm quits as Sec’y of State
Daly leaves Chicago for Sec’y of State
Rahm runs for Mayor
Daly is quits as Sec’y of Stat ?
I called her office anyway. Said this is the single biggest issue for her as AG, and that if she sells us out to the Feds she can count on not being re-elected, since there are too many voters affected by this problem who will know that she sold us out.
My letter to my AG stated the same – this is the crisis of our times – a clear violation of longstanding law, and it crosses all political boundaries. AGs who support Wall St and the TBTF banks will be voted OUT by voters on both the left and the right.
please, do not give up.
you are at one of the main centers of the beast.
good, you are in the right place to fight!
chicago will always be chicago, far from a perfect polity. and out of chicago have come some of the greatest fights and reforms this country has seen.
since when does corruption fight better than you can?
the above is @ pointless in il.
This must be Kamala Harris’ moment of agony.
“Do I do the right thing and fight the settlement?” or
“Do I keep riding this easy-town hyphenated gravy-train?”
Don’t worry Kamala, unless your walking away and then rejoining the sellout convention and then wandering away to sniff the wind was all staged by Obama, you don’t have a chance at a cabinet post in Obama II. Your done. Too unreliable.
Here’s where you can break free of that throne of ideological mud, do something real, something important
and something for the people. Be part of the future not
the past.
The ethical approach could land her an AG nod in a President Warren administration.
Here’s mine. . .
I have been reading for some time of efforts by the Obama administration to give the large national banks a free “get of of jail” card for their persistent frauds in regard to their mortgage servicing and foreclosures.
I can find no evidence that there has been more than a cursory survey of the extent to which the banks are in legal jeopardy because of their illegal actions, so it appears unwise to be negotiating a settlement for those abuses.
In return for blanket immunity the banks are offering principal modifications to those lucky enough to qualify for them, but their record on executing these modifications is not good. It may make for a nice headline for all of you to point to that they’re making $25 billion worth of adjustments, but as we both know, the banks have more resources available to commit to gaming the settlements than the Attorneys General have to ensure they are living up to their word. Countrywide negotiated a settlement to do modifications in return for their abuses and they simply didn’t do them.
In short, the banks want a slap on the wrist and the usual “neither confirm nor deny” liability clauses which will do little to keep them from continuing their consumer hostile and fraudulent actions once the headlines have dwindled down.
The housing and foreclosure crisis is a serious problem, but more important is the apparent reality that banks aren’t being held to the same standards of law as it’s customers. It’s up to you to correct that.
I want to see one god damned jury trial.
Just one.
These Democrats, mostly lawyers, are lying through their teeth when they pretend it will be difficult. They have no problem over charging cases when the target is a poor black man or an internet uploading site that threatens business interests.
But they are super cautious when it comes to charging executives? Why?
Juries won’t like bankers. In fact, I would almost rather be a poor black man than a rich white banker if I were to appear in front of some juries! Bankers are not popular.
Let’s take one of these cases to a jury and find out. Let’s see where the evidence goes.
Tellingly, I see no AG that seems serious about a jury trial.
Well, if all major banks world-wide are actually insolvent, then any little thing could trigger a global depression.
My “nuts in a vise” theory.
People should reference the article (link) below when contacting their AG, since it shows Eric Holder’s conflict of interest.
From Reuters front page this morning:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-usa-holder-mortgage-idUSTRE80J0PH20120120
Thanks for the link. In a true republic this would the nail in the coffin of Holder’s and Breuer’s careers in government. Poor fools we, believing there was audacity in hope.
More wall-paper from the DOJ’s Potemkin-Enforcement Village:
From Breuer’s speech at the Nov. 4, 2010 PLI presentation on “Financial Crisis Fallout: Emerging Enforcement Trends”, a gushing picture of the crack A-team that would roar into gear to root out the crimes of the Financial Crisis:
“In another good example of how we are bringing non-traditional methods of investigation to bear on white collar crime, we recently hired the former terrorism chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, Jeff Knox, as a prosecutor in our FCPA group. If you are conducting business abroad, I can tell you that you don’t want to be in his sights. And Kim Berger, who was the Co-Chief of Major Crimes in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, Deputy Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Investigation and, most recently, Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for the NBA, also just joined the Fraud Section. Kim, along with Derek Cohen, an experienced AUSA from Philadelphia, are now serving as co-deputy chiefs in our newly constituted Financial Institutions and Public Sector Fraud Unit; that unit will handle, among other things, our mortgage fraud, bank fraud, and government procurement fraud cases. ”
I know it’s a speech and all, but he almost had me going there.
Last month NC posted my Email and my request asking anyone that has contacted Maryland AG Douglas Gansler asking why hasn’t his office done anything to prosecute the banks to contact me at bertram25george@gamail.com.
I am posting that request again. A group of us have been asking local papers to run pieces on this very subject and we have had some progress on that front. The reporters will need people to interview for the articles. So please contact me.
G Man: gamail.com or gmail.com ?
I just sent you a few stories. There is another one that is about to be posted at the Baltimore Sun but I don’t know exactly when.
meanwhile Obama shows up at the Apollo Theatre for a fund raiser and croons an Al Green song
one corrupt administration
My thoughts were, why not just put on blackface and tap dance fo massa. He’s a sociopath, too.
I just called AG Gansler’s office (Maryland). This will have been at least my 3rd call on this issue (No Immunity for Wall Street!!) and also 2 letters with absolutely no response. So when I called just now I actually got to talk to a real person – she was an ass – but I did get to talk to her and tell her that this was at least my 3rd phone call on this issue with 2 letters and I have received no response. Her response was that because it was “still on-going, there would be no statement regarding” blah blah blah. I told her I didn’t want any thing to be “on-going” anymore, that I wanted Gansler to say NO to the Obama Admin and the bank and stand for middle class Americans and homeowners against the banks and prosecute them. I said at least 5 other AG’s have been able to make statements but why can’t Gansler? I also told her that if he planned to run for Governor (which he does) he better think twice about that before he decides to stand on the sidelines on this issue as I will make it a personal mission of mine to make sure he is never elected. Sharon.
You go girl.
I tried to get hold of them at 2:30 and got nothing, not answer, no voice mail. Apparently they have tired of hearing for taxpaying marylanders.
I too will try my best to assure that Maryland NEVER has Mr. Gansler as Governor.
Sharon,
I had almost exactly the same experience when I called my AG in Georgia.
Before I called, I first searched his web site to see if this had even warranted a mention. It hadn’t.
After my call had been passed to the person stuck with the the dubious, duty of talking to the people who they supposedly work for , all I got was, that he was in the negotiation process and once completed he would post it on his web site.
Like you, I could never get an answer as to why he couldn’t comment when obviously other AG’s were able to do so.
Like you, I said I wanted him prosecuting people criminally, not negotiating a settlement.
The person I talked to was an ass as well. At one point she finally asked for my name, which I was happy to do, although I suspect, she was hoping that would scare me away. It got pretty terse but never profane.
Of course, I knew before I called what to expect from the corporate quislings but it never hurts to shatter their little delusional world of invincibility.
They are like people who pick their nose when they are stuck in traffic, seemingly under the impression their situation/position makes them invisible.
Another thing that struck me lately from MSNBC is that private equity firms are starting to buy bank owned properties. They see the near future as an oportunity to make lots of money from a depressed housing market that is poised to rebound.
I wonder where they got that information. I know this may sound like a conspiracy theory but, funny how everyone’s homes were taken, government didn’t care, and now before Obama is up for re-Election homes are bought up by Obama’s contributors and then soon after the market will surely improve.
It will not be long before we are all borrowing against our homes and the champagne begins to flow. I’m just saying!
No telling when or if the housing market will improve. Who are all those contributors going to sell the homes to? Perhaps they are going into the property management business, but unless and until unemployment stops rising and wages START rising, people won’t be too inclined to move into those homes.
I’d say those Obama ‘contributors’ just got swindled by the con of the millenia (the reinflation of the ponzi bubble that burst in 2007 and was then moved into the US Treasury complex).
Without economic improvement, more secure incomes, higher incomes, people will not be taking on new debt. The elite control the sovereign debt markets, and they can lie about demand, but they can’t fabricate buyers with means to make payments.
The question we should all be asking is how long a bubble in sovereign debt can be maintained. The credit and housing bubble burst due to market forces, and the US Treasury bubble must eventually burst as well, but how long before that happens is the question.
Kevin Phillips’ books, “American Dynasty” and “American Theocracy” deal with
the “how long” question, referenced historically, regarding Spain, Britain, Holland devolving from economies based upon manufacturing, to economies based upon paper debt-apparently, U.S. economy is now 50% or thereby, based
upon trading paper debt…
Naw, large block sales of distressed properties to investors is indeed intended to come full circle in returning the little people to being renters.
The homeownership rates were a headfake to draw in the naive thinking the US government was actually helping them get rich quick through homevalue appreciation, when in realty they just extracted some wealth, generated new housing inventory, on RMBS investors dime and now the pulled forward inventory is going to be owned by rent seekers. Those who could have been saving money and bought with a 20% downpayment on a house that should have been built many years later for them at a much more reasonable price, are now so burned they will prefer to rent from their masters indefinitely in lieu of accruing equity through homeownership.
It really is amazing when you zoom in on each macro decision and think okay this makes some sense, but when you step back and see the whole pattern of people being systematically extracted over a long period of time it’s beyond terrible.
The 1% are indeed “competent,” as is their government. In fact, what you’re describing is successful central planning.
Elsewhere there’s been reporting about how the new “opportunity” (at least for the PE firms and REITS and foreign investors)is in the “rental market” of foreclosed homes either back to owners or to the growing “rental class”. Which aligns well with the macro-picture that we are moving into the feudal-rentier phase of U.S. capitalism (or however it is that one choses to characterize this country’s evolving economic structure).
bertram25george@gmail.com
“Yet Obama is moving forward with a plan cooked up in late 2010 that is completely out of whack with the urgency and severity of the problem.”
This is an example of my biggest problem with Obama and his Administration: no one in charge seemed to realize how urgent and severe the problems were in January 2009, and nothing has made them change their lackadaisical approach since. Yes, the Republicans have been obstructing every single thing they could, but even the maximum proposal from the Administration to deal with almost any problem would be woefully inadequate. Instead, extend and pretend / whistle past the graveyard / hold down the fort and hope a miracle happens seems to be the firm approach to everything.
…unable to call it what it is-WikiLeaks divulged Obama cut deal with Bushitters
to NOT do “transparency, oversight, accountability” for election fraud (Michael Connel-Cheney IT man-“Free For All” video), war fraud (too many references to note-James Bamford’s “The Man Who Sold The War” among them), economic fraud-(nowhere better to look than Yves’ fine work)…
Why do you think Obama didn’t realize? Of course he realized.
Obama wants to have an open relationship with you and the banksters
You have to decide if you will put up with it
as he is not asking for our consent or even letting us know what he’s up to, that is known as adultery (to put it politely).
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/16/1055231/-Discrimination-Lawsuit-Holds-Subprime-Lenders-Accountable
This is amusing outreach. Comments invited!
It is amusing to watch Daily Kos half-heartedly hold the Obama administration’s feet to the fire.
Ha. I’m sure they will kiss and make up.
Of course I find the AG’s Daily Kos post to be nothing but propaganda. Here’s an offensive part:
“In 2009, President Obama formed the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, chaired by the Justice Department, to wage an aggressive and coordinated effort to investigate and prosecute devastating financial crimes, like this one.”
Uh, where are the criminal prosecutions of these “crimes” then? Why are they only getting civil slaps on the wrist?
What a punk. And what suckers the Democrats at Daily Kos are.
Is there any centralized petition anywhere on the web to concentrate the opposition similar to what materialized for the PIPA/SOPA opposition?
This may be broader than what you are looking for, but http://www.movetoamend.org couldn’t hurt.
Called CA AG Kamala Harris office this morning. Options #7 and #0 give “this line is disconnected” message, finally got a live person with option #1, she transferred me to the public comment line where I left my message.
I just got off the phone with the Minnesota AG’s office and was told that in order to be part of the record my concerns should be in written form and either faxed or snail-mailed. The gentleman I talked to did indicate that AG Swanson intends to continuing opposing the sham settlement, so that’s encouraging. I note from the post, however, that she’s not among who have formally withdrawn from the Miller group. I will explicitly ask her to do that in the letter.
Just called Schneiderman’s office, basically simply to say “please stay strong on this issue when you meet Team Obama/JPMorgan Monday,” and it occurred to me as I was talking to the gal who answered the phone, how much responsibility is on Schneiderman to live up to democratic ideals and actual justice, at a time when no one in the “Justice” Department (certainly not Eric Holder or Barack Obama) seems to care about them. Hopefully the burden of all our expectations on him (and the other dissident AG’s) to work for a truly just outcome will help them resist the Quisling/Obama juggernaut. I do know that the gal who answered the phone was very receptive to the call & very appreciative as well…but we shall see.
PS, thank you too, Yves, for making it so easy to raise a little hell over the issue with our elected officials. Signed the petition too.
Thank you , Yves…called CA AG and signed petition.
Letter to Eric Schneiderman, Attorney General, New York
Mr. Schneiderman,
I applaud your efforts to get to the bottom of the foreclosure mess in New York State and would ask you to keep your investigations separate from the proposed multi-state or Federal deal being pushed by the Administration in Washington. Maintain your independence.
There are several reasons that I urge you to do so. There has been scant investigation by the collective group of Attorneys General, in stark contrast to yourself. And many argue that the Federal Government, the US Attorney General’s office and the multi-state process has muddied the waters and perhaps engaged in cover-ups rather than trying to get to the bottom of the mortgage mess.
A major argument made in favor of the multistage deal, that it will help borrowers, is most likely to be false. As you know, Countrywide entered into a deal with attorney generals just like this, where they agreed to do mods in return for a settlement on abuses. They didn’t do the mods. To add insult to injury, they have been accused in court cases of abusing homeowners who should have gotten mods. As a result the Nevada AG is suing Countrywide now over its failure to comply with the terms of its settlement.
I urge you to stay out of the multi state deal and keep your powder dry to get to the bottom of the current mess in New York state and to get the fraudulent actors in the banking system out of circulation with agreements and decisions that will disincentivize future playing with the proper rights of normal citizens.
Dear Mr. Gansler:
I am writing to ask you to 1) take legal action against the banking industry in Maryland in the cases where they made loans on fraudulent basis., and 2) refuse to be a part of the multistate settlement with major banks that is being pushed by the federal government.
Attorneys General in the 50 states have been asked to enter into a settlement with the big banks. This is a settlement that would obtain an inadequate amount of money to help the people hurt by the fraud perpetrated on the public. Several Attorney Generals, including Massachusetts’ Martha Coakley, refused to enter into this agreement because they know that this essentially slaps the wrists of these banks and has NO consequences for the executives at the top of these banks. Such a “cost of doing business” slap on the wrist is wrong and immoral.
It is these very banks, with unscrupulous practices such as robo-signing, that have put our economy in its current position. Real punishment is in order – not just for the institutions, but for the people at the helm who knew this was going on. Because of these practices there are countless people who do not have a clear title to their homes. Those who wish to sell cannot do so because of this mess and others, upon whom foreclosure is being sought, cannot defend themselves because of the fraud.
I know you have said that Maryland will be part of the multistate settlement. I urge you to pull out of that and take care of Marylanders with your own legal action. In other words, do not settle: sue them instead. Sue the executives personally, not just the institutions.
NO banking executives – in any state – have paid the price that the average people caught up in this serial fraud have paid in loss of their homes and disruption of their financial situations and of their lives. Their salaries have not been impacted. Their future is now in question.
Please take action, right here in Maryland, to right these wrongs.
Thanks for your attention.
Great letter G man. Do you mind if I use it (with the obvious changes required) and send it to my AG?
This letter is for 99% of you, use it well.
@ G man,
thanks so much for this. i used it, revised to suit me and, i hope, my state ag, as follows. this kind of sharing of model letters can inspire and help us greatly when we need to act in this way.
and yves, i join with others’ thanks for the heads up. it’s getting easier to do this kind of thing, with practice.
———
dear [my attorney general],
I am writing to ask you to refuse to be a part of the multistate settlement with major banks that is being pushed by the federal government, and instead to do your utmost to forward prosecution of these banks’ crimes against innocent borrowers, a great many of whom have no recourse against these abuses other than state Attorneys General such as yourself.
The statute of limitations is running out on these crimes. By taking a stand on this issue, you can play a crucial role, before it is too late, in seeing justice done for one of the worst crimes ever perpetrated against the American people, crimes that “keep on giving” and continue today to destroy the fabric of our society. As I am sure you are well aware, property law is the bedrock of our community and government. Please do not stand aside and allow ancient contractual law to be rendered null on your watch as Attorney General of the greatest state in our great nation.
Several Attorneys General, including Massachusetts’s Martha Coakley, have refused to join the settlement the Attorneys General in the 50 states have been asked to enter into with the big banks, because they know that it does not constitute anything like adequate help for the victims, essentially slaps the wrists of these banks, and has NO consequences for the executives at the top of them. Such a “cost of doing business” deal is wrong and immoral.
These banks, with unscrupulous practices such as robo-signing, and worse, have put our economy in its current position. Real punishment is in order. Because of these abuses, countless people do not have a clear title to their homes. Those who wish to sell cannot do so because of this mess, and others, upon whom foreclosure is being sought, cannot defend themselves. NO banking executives – in any state – have paid the price that the average people caught up in this serial fraud have paid in loss of their homes and disruption of their financial situations and their lives.
I urge you to pull out of the settlement and the talks. Sue the banks instead, and the executives who run them. Insist that full investigation of the frauds perpetrated needs to be undertaken – to anyone who will listen to you and has any power to get this done.
When [my state] citizens visit your website, they should be able to see immediately that you are leading the way in seeking justice on this issue that is so tremendously important to our nation, at a juncture of serious economic and political difficulty. Your action in this area will be hailed as righteous and courageous by all, and that includes the judgment of posterity.
Thank you for your attention.
I just spoke with somebody in Eric Schneiderman’s office (New York). She was very nice and thanked me for the call.
I wasn’t very articulate, but I managed to stammer out a few sentences that I think made sense in English. Sometimes the brain doesn’t connect to the mouth very well.
Basically, glad he was trying to get to the bottom of things, there probly was criminality (of course there was but I was trying to be restrained), and don’t give in to “those idiots in Washington”.
It wasn’t beautiful. But it was real.
You’re fortunate.. Schneiderman is one of the best.
Florida’s AG email must be A JOKE.
http://legal.firn.edu
though the ultimate destination is apropos – The page aannot be displayed – non-existent.
Though it would certainly be, at this point, entertaining to make the call, don’t know if I could restrain myself sufficiently to be taken seriously by a hostile recipient of my rant. Maybe the samples above will help. Sure would prefer to email though.
signed petition; called Schneiderman
(sent support email to Schneiderman 4 months ago and got back very nice email thanking for support)
The settlement is likely for the best. The few individual Attorneys General who are up to the task of actually taking on the banks on this stuff are among those who have opted out of the settlement. The rest of them are probably best off just making a deal. Thinking that folks like Pam Bondi, Mike Dewine, and Bill Schuette are going to hold banks’ feet to the fire on their own is fantasy.
Good point; thank you for discerning a possible silver lining
Tried to contact my Maryland Attorney General (Doug Gansler) however, got an automated phone message stating their hours (9-5) but NO human, nor voice mail (I called at 2:30).
Where IS my state employee? Probably out campaigning.
I would fire him if he worked for me, and where is his staff? Are they out at a long, long lunch? Or are they aiding in his gubernatorial attempt?
just called them :)
Done …
Thanks for the heads up Yves …
mmckinl
Yes, thank you, Yves. I called Ohio AG Mike DeWine’s office this morning and the actual person who answered the phone assured me that she was taking down all of my comments. Also passed along the info and got a couple of response that folks had called and signed the online petition to Obama.
Here in Cleveland today,about 60 intrepid souls, including yours truly, gathered at the federal courthouse to “Occupy the Courts” despite temps in the low ‘teens.
http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2012/01/20/cleveland-activists-occupy-the-court
@ carla
and a big thank YOU, carla, for your grit and determination. that’s no picnic in those temperatures. you are one tough fighter. all we need is a few more like you and we’re good to go. we can rout out those pampered idiots who have forgotten they are meant to serve us and tear up the phony racketeerious “contracts” they’ve signed without our permission in their pathetic attempt to steal all our wherewithal.
Actually received a response on the same day (generic, but at least someone read it):
Thank you for contacting the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley. Your message has been forwarded to me for response.
On behalf of Attorney General Coakley, we welcome your point of view, and we thank you for sharing it with us. This office is pleased to hear from all concerned parties on important issues like this one, and we appreciate that you took the time to contact us.
Again, thank you for making us aware of your concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria Grinko
Constituent Services Coordinator
Public Inquiry & Assistance Center
Office of the Attorney General Martha Coakley
Okay it’s 10:17 and i’ve had a couple of refreshments with some very good Ravens fans so pardon the typos. I received an email from Jamie of the Baltimore Sun and she tells me that tuesday our story on Ganslers lack of trying is running. Lets all buy the Sun and call Mr. Gansler on Tuesday. I bet he will love to hear from you. Thanks Jamie.
@ woodrow,
what makes you think “someone read it”? it reads like an automatically generated
response that can be sent without anyone reading the initiating communication.
“what makes you think “someone read it”?” –
Probably because I linked the editorial (as well as Yves) that I wrote in regards to this will be printed in my regional newspaper tomorrow (Sunday). I guess it could be automated, but the AG office here has an MO not to respond at all.
OCCUPY THE AG’S PHONES WITH DEMANDS FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS WITH NO DEALS TO ERASE CRIMINAL WRONGDOINGS BY ATTORNEYS AND JUDGES, THEY WERE THE RINGLEADERS.
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A. CHRISTINE C. ANDERSON, ESQ., NEW YORK SUPREME COURT ATTORNEY WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIMONY REVEALS A CRIMINAL RICO CARTEL COUP D’ÉTAT ON GOVERNMENT AT THE HIGHEST OUTPOSTS OF LAW AND REGULATION
NEW YORK SUPREME COURT WHISTLEBLOWER ATTORNEY, CHRISTINE C. ANDERSON, ESQ. (“Anderson”) MAKES FELONY CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS IN US FEDERAL COURT AND BEFORE THE NEW YORK SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SENIOR RANKING OFFICIALS OF THE US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, THE NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE, THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, THE NEW YORK SUPREME COURT, THE NEW YORK SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINARY DEPARTMENTS, “FAVORED LAWYERS AND LAW FIRMS ” AND NAMES A “CLEANER” , AS REVEALED IN FEDERAL COURT TESTIMONY, A ONE NAOMI GOLDSTEIN. THESE ALLEGATIONS DEMAND IMMEDIATE REPORTING, INVESTIGATION AND HALTING OF THE LEGALLY RELATED IVIEWIT RICO & ANTITRUST LAWSUIT IN ORDER TO BEGIN INVESTIGATIONS TO IDENTIFY AND PROSECUTE THOSE FINGERED BY WHISTLEBLOWER ANDERSON and OTHERS.
The “Legally Related” Federal Lawsuit of New York Supreme Court Veteran Senior Supreme Court Disciplinary Department Attorney and Expert in Attorney Criminal Misconduct Complaints, Whistleblower Christine Anderson, Esq., by Federal Judge Shira Anne Scheindlin to this RICO & ANTITRUST Lawsuit, exposes from the inside, a legal conspiracy of corruption involving the highest levels of Regulatory, Prosecutorial and Judicial Public Offices both State and Federal. Heroism is a word earned through action. The Whistleblowing Efforts of Anderson, another New York Supreme Court Attorney Whistleblower and Hero, Nicole Corrado, Esq., and, a Sitting New York Supreme Court Justice, Honorable Duane A. Hart, Esq., all cited herein, should be the Moniker of HEROISM for others in the legal profession to follow.
These Whistleblowers Expose Corruption at the Top of Government, including the Courts, this Court, the Department of Justice, the New York Attorney General and others. They further provide the World with an understanding of how America’s Financial System has melted top down, from rigged economic breakdowns and controlled demolition of world markets through fraud, with no Regulators or Prosecutors or Courts to stop it, in fact, all of them Aiding and Abetting the crimes. Nobody attempting to RECOVER the stolen funds for the PEOPLE, as all of the Top Government Officials charged with enforcement of the Law, appear on the take and part of the crimes according to these Whistleblowers. These Whistleblowing efforts expose how and why no one on Wall Street/Greed Street/Fraud Street has been charged with Criminal Acts, despite massive and overwhelming evidence of CRIMINAL ACTS and FRAUD. Further exposed, is why none of the Stolen Loot from these Economic Crimes have been recovered back to the People. What is unveiled is a COUP D’ÉTAT on the HIGHEST OUTPOSTS OF LAW & ORDER in the United States and yet not a single story in the Mainstream Media aka US Pravda Press, regarding these shocking allegations by inside Whistleblowers.
Exposed by these HEROIC WHISTLEBLOWING EFFORTS is a REVOLVING DOOR between a LICENTIOUS GROUP OF LAW FIRMS and ATTORNEYS AT LAW, acting in both PRIVATE PRACTICE and PUBLIC OFFICE, working together in CONSPIRACY and forming a RICO CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION with tentacles embedded at the highest outposts of the US Government in order to OBSTRUCT JUSTICE for the CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE. Anderson, Corrado and Other Public Office Whistleblowers cited herein, also provide explanation for why Judges and Attorneys at Law are now desperately trying to grant themselves immunity for felony crimes and attempting to use the State Attorney General Offices and other Government officials as accomplice in the cover-up. Immunity for ATTORNEYS AT LAW for their role in TORTURE CRIMES, WAR CRIMES and ECONOMIC CRIMES, crimes that include the CREATION OF ILLEGAL/FRAUDULENT FINANCIAL & INSURANCE CONTRACTS that led to the RIGGED HOUSING and MARKET COLLAPSES, that led to MILLIONS OF VERY ILLEGAL FORECLOSURES and left MILLIONS UNEMPLOYED AND STARVING. Seeking immunity for crime, as a legal defense is both futile and an obvious admission of guilt, which will never hold in a fair and impartial court of law? The attempts to gain immunity for FELONY CRIMINAL ACTS shows culpability in the crimes, exposing fear by the guilty of retribution of the day when the “long arm of the law” swings back. Fear that they will hang for their crimes against Humanity, their War Crimes (Illegal Undeclared Wars of Aggression, Torture, Misappropriation of Public funds by Congress for Undeclared Wars, Economic Terrorism and more) and they must hope for dirty courts to clear them forever.
I have written and got a personal note from the
my State’s AG. You may also want to take a look
at the following link for a possible solution
to push for. http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=199823
http://gravatar.com/usheeple
Looks like Attorneys General are elements of the massive crimes…
RE: links to Attorneys General are parts of the crimes:
“Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World” written by William Cohan http://presstv.com/Program/221516.html
Does it discuss that the all banking is owned by the Rothshchilds
Copies from Livinglies on Zombie money
Unfortunately the guys who control Obama’s economic policy Geither and I’ll reach and say Summers & Rubin still have input believe it’s in our interest for confidence to return to the banking sector which means the big banks get bailed out. This is all about capping the liability of Bank America and the other large banks and reducing the banks credit risk and to a lesser extent providing Obama talking points for the election(e.g. loan mods for home owners)
Cynthia Kouril at Firedoglake reported yesterday that the biggest law firm in DC, Covington & Burling, provided a legal opinion letter to the banks that MERS was a legally valid way to transfer real estate mortgages.
As she points out, most 1Ls know that is flat out wrong.
Guess who was working at Covington & Burling at the time?
Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, who is in charge of the Criminal Division at DOJ.
Covington & Burling is a big firm and she does not know if Holder and Breuer had anything to do with issuing the letter. At a minimum, however, they have an interest in protecting the firm and their vested pensions so that they can return to work there after government service.
That creates a conflict of interest that might very well explain why Holder has refused to investigate and prosecute the criminal behavior of the banks. Criminal behavior, I might add that included creating MERS.
Eric Holder might be toast with this explosive news added to his burden with Fast & Furious and so might Lanny Breuer.
Really, folks. This is worse than Yoo’s torture-is-legal letter.
Here’s a link to her article:
http://my.firedoglake.com/cindykouril/2012/01/20/holder-breuer-mers-bombshell/
“As she points out, most 1Ls know that is flat out wrong.” –
For those that don’t know, or never been to law school:
All real estate transactions must be in writting.
And the real estate transaction must be recorded in the county clerk’s office where the property is situated and the recording fee must be paid.
A 1L is a first year law student.
Wonder if the state bar associations are supporting or opposing the new section on the Restatement of Property that will whitewash (legalize) the MERS recording system which rendered all property transactions within its sphere unenforceable under centuries-old property law.
How can any bank give a modification, if they don’t know who owns the mortgage? This is a never ending story.
The home owners who were actually defraud should just be given the house, and lets move on; the proble is the government wants a cut of the money!