How's That Hopey Changey Thing Working Out For Ya?

Oh, now I understand better, Milton.

Thanks for clearing up my confusion. These have been the best 8 years for the economy. I just didn't realize it before.

If there is any doubt about how good it is, we can blame H, W, Reagan, Thatcher, Harper and don't forget the ever evil....Mike Harris.

You get a bingo!

"And what caused that recession? Sub-prime mortgage lending did...Didn't know any of that? Search Jimmy Carter Community Reinvestment Act. Search Bill Clinton Community Reinvestment Act."

As a matter of fact, I do know all about the CRA. I can also see that you're still repeating conservative talking points from 2009.

To help bring you up to speed with the rest of the world, here are a couple of facts that you clearly don't know: the CRA only regulates federally insured banks and savings associations. Meanwhile, the majority of US subprime loans that were implicated in the 2007/08 subprime mortgage crisis were actually made by independent mortgage companies that weren't regulated (or were only partially regulated) by the CRA.

Indeed, this independent non-bank mortgage industry basically wasn't regulated at all. And the fact that an entire corner of the financial sector could exist at all without regulatory oversight is only made possible through adherence to a certain economic ideology, especially popular among fiscal conservatives (including virtually all Republicans and most centrist Democrats) and dominant in the US since at least the 1980s, that espouses the virtues of deregulated and unfettered free markets. When times were good, these mortgage lenders made a killing by bundling and selling off their risky mortgages to Wall Street. Eventually, the big banks followed, but they were chasing the market, not leading it. And when the subprime mortgage crisis hit, it was this independent mortgage industry that collapsed first, taking with it a number of the big investment firms, some banks, and much of the U.S. economy. It's for this reason that economic study after study--both Congressional and non-partisan/independent--has concluded that the CRA played only at most a minor role in the subsequent economic meltdown.

"Search Barack Obama Citigroup Redlining Chicago."

You know what's especially amusing about your insisting that I google "Barack Obama Citigroup Redlining Chicago"? It's that when you do, the THIRD website listed is a page from Snopes.com, a website devoted to validated or debunking Internet rumors, myths, and lies, which debunks the very claim that you were trying to make.

I see kt is a -professional- troll. Got a gummint job, kt?

I don't notice you challenging the chart though, worst crash since 1945.

But since you're a professional, why not share with us your ideas of how everything Barry is doing and has been doing is making everything so much better for America.

I'll wait while you frantically dig for something of substance.

Clearly 8 years isn't enough. A far better thing is to go a little further back whilst examining the progressive movement's devastation of fair mortgage lending practices.

The problem is summed up succinctly by Stan Liebowitz of the University of Texas at Dallas:

From the current handwringing, you’d think that the banks came up with the idea of looser underwriting standards on their own, with regulators just asleep on the job. In fact, it was the regulators who relaxed these standards--at the behest of community groups and "progressive" political forces.… For years, rising house prices hid the default problems since quick refinances were possible. But now that house prices have stopped rising, we can clearly see the damage done by relaxed loan standards.

http://spectator.org/articles/42211/true-origins-financial-crisis

Just to save kt the trouble,this site says nothing but good stuff about our Prez'dint.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama/

Da! Smart like streetcar, strong like bull...

Gee, you got the first part right, but who told you Obammy was strong?

The man behind the curtain played it well.....it seems ya can't fool all the people but ya can fool a whack of 'em...enough to get elected....

".......strong like bull..."

Yeah but smell ain't everything......especially when ya smell like bigfoot....

Google that.....

There are consequences to doing politics banana republic style...

IT will take more than a higher fence around 1600 Pennsylvania......

I can only say one thing to kt, you are very confused.