Why The Meltdown in Wall Street

The causes of the Wall Street Debacle were not limited to Campaign Contributions and Financial Sector Lobbying. There were other causes in this mess that leaves much to be desired. The causes have been the financial sector, the people who did not read the contracts, the politicians, and the US Mainstream Media. The causes by those who are responsible will be discussed to the maximum

I. US Mainstream Media

The following writers; Jon Lasner of the E Magazine ocregister.com, Brian Kelly of US News and World Report, and Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post comments about a press that ignored the looming financial crisis. According to a poll taken by ocregister.com, 133 out of 219 readers [or 61% of the readers] congratulated the US Mainstream Media with a Big F for failure to report about the emerging risks in the US Economy. The problems were inherent from the beginning yet the media was reporting on the adventures of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsey Lohan while ignoring the economy.

II. Toxic Socialists

According to a blog post by verumamor, toxic socialism was the cause of the Wall Street Meltdown. While Socialism believes in the equal distribution of wealth in theory, Toxic Socialism is an offspring of Socialism. Toxic Socialism is defined as a device used by politicians and others to force government agencies and financial institutions to sacrifice the rules for underwriting loans so that people with high credit risks could receive money. Toxic Socialism is an idea which is based on the right of everyone having a right to a loan and that the financial institution is racist.

III. The People and the Financial Institutions [Toxic Capitalism]

While the people who participated in the Financial Crisis willingly or unwillingly remain to be seen. It can be said that the people who were going to be a high credit risk and took out sub prime mortgages were looking for trouble. The people who took out sub prime mortgages should have found a lawyer that was an expert in sub prime mortgages. The people should also have taken the time to read the contract and review it with their lawyer. There are agencies with lawyers who would have reviewed such contracts for a low price or for free. I could still remember in Cleveland, Ohio [1973] the existence of the Free Clinics.

While the majority of mortgage brokers are honest, there were some who actually bent the rules of finances by selling sub prime mortgages. The mortgage brokers who bent the rules of the market actually received big commissions for selling products that were expensive and toxic. I define this with my word play called Toxic Capitalism. The person who was taking on the Sub Prime Mortgage would use their house as collateral with promises that never materialized such as refinancing of their house. The end result was defaulting on the loan accompanied by loss of home and property.

IV. The Politicians

According to Capital Eye which is the News and Analysis Section of OpenSecrets.org, there were politicians on the take in the Wall Street Crisis. There is a list of politicians who were recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Contributions between the years 1989 to 2008. The first ten politicians in the list in order of highest to lowest amount received reads like a Who's Who in Washington DC Politics. The names of Christopher Dodd, Barack Obama, John Kerry, Robert F. Bennett, Spencer Bachus, Roy Blunt, Paul E. Kanjorski, Christopher S. Bond, Richard C. Shelby, and Jack Reed are written in Capital Eye. If a reader were to scroll down, the names of Hillary Clinton, John Boehner, Harry Reid, and Bernie Sanders [the Socialist from Vermont who is an Independent] is also present.

V. Conclusion

The Wall Street Debacle did not have one cause but multiple causes. Th

campaign contributions and the lobbying by the financial sector was just simply the visible part of a cancer which has penetrated deeply in the American Financial Sector. Whether it could be fixed remains to be seen.

Reference:

"Tell Us, Did Media Miss The Financial Crisis?" Lansner, J ocregister.com October 8, 2008

http://lansner.freedomblogging .com/2008/10/08/tell-us-did-me dia-miss-the-financial-crisis/ 4446/

"Root Cause of Financial Meltdown: Toxic Socialism"

BBC News: "Foreclosure Wave Sweeps America"

OpenSecrets.org: "Update: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Invests in Lawmakers"