As the stock market tumbles and President Bush offers billions in military aid to the Saudis, proceeds from the swollen coffers of billionaires from around the world are being sent to American banks to bail them out for the greed that they exhibited in selling and purchasing of subprime mortgages.  Although I have said it many times before, this monumental disaster was all avoidable.  

State attorneys general, state banking officials and lending advocates (such as the Center for Responsible Lending and the AARP (whom I represent)) have been working on this issue at least since 2001.  The Bush Administration, aided and abetted by both political parties who were stuffing their pockets with huge campaign contributions from the offenders, reacted by affirmatively preempting efforts by attorneys general in their efforts to stop the fraud.  Business organizations automatically attacked attorneys general as not understanding the marketplace and even the Congressional Black Caucus turned their backs to the obvious fraud in their communities and pontificated that white lawyer prosecutors were not sensitive to the need to bring mortgage credit to people of color.

In case you haven’t checked, these are the same politicians who are wringing their hands and submitting legislation that will never pass

None of this had to be this way.   None of it.