The Financial Crisis - Who's To Blame?

http://howdidthishappen.org/

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/domestic

Who's to blame for the global financial crisis? A cynical conservative agenda that rewrote the rules for the rich. Today, working Americans feel less and less secure, and their prospects for economic mobility seem more and more remote. People are working longer hours than ever before, change jobs more frequently, and have more volatile incomes. Forty-seven million live without health insurance. Few are represented by a union. Many face tough competition from lower-wage workers abroad. The land of the American Dream now has less inter-generational income mobility than many other developed countries. Family incomes have risen on average within generations only because the incomes of women have risen as their participation in the workforce has grown dramatically; incomes of men have stagnated. The additional income from the second earner is essential to cover the rising cost of healthcare, energy, and childcare, among other things.

Each of the traditional pathways to progress is littered with roadblocks. Incomes are not rising; the historical link between greater productivity and higher wages has broken down. Personal savings in the United States is near record lows. From pre-school through high school, we are failing to prepare many for college and the workplace. Those who begin degree or credential programs to improve earnings complete them at alarmingly low rates. Until recently, homeownership was a pathway to wealth accumulation, but many now see their equity slipping away. American workers feel less secure with good reason. Their prospects for getting ahead are more limited. Working hard and playing by the rules is not enough.

In recent years, economic growth has been relatively strong, but the economy has added jobs at a lackluster rate compared to similar times in the economic cycle. The share of the nation’s income that goes to those in the middle is lower than it has been in 50 years. The benefits of economic growth have all flown to those ...

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• bailout
• bank
• bernanke
• bush
• conservative
• credit
• crisis
• debt
• dollar
• economy
• finance
• market
• mortgage
• tax
• treasury
• failure
• foreclosure
• lehman
• aig
• greenspan
• paulson
• wall
• street

[dcbaization]

The people to blame is the people WE PUT THE PEOPLE IN THE GOVERNMENT!!!!!! Do your research before voting people. And if one politician talks about another politician its usually all lies...

[conservativekid18]

How about lending money to people who couldn't afford it! Bush warned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that this would happen!

[drswebmaster]

LOL All lies. Typical Lefty dishonesty

[skibee50]

What you need to understand is we have two branches of the SAME party in the US to pick from!

[monkeyman1140]

CRA was under Jimmy Carter, and it had nothing to do with it. You are badly informed. Congress didn't even go democratic until January 4, 2007, and the crisis was well underway then. The blame goes squarely to the GOP deregulation bill Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which eliminated regulations put on the markets since the Great Depression. The housing bubble soon followed and began collapsing in 2006.

During the Clinton administration home prices remained fairly static.

[LDJXFL]

But it's working exactly as planned for those selfish, greedy bastards.

[ratonnewmex]

grottos of greed and an illegal gambling circuit on wall street...this is the land of WHITE TRASH

[danoking69]

Down with NWO, corruption and fraud, Up with unity, peace,, equality, health, environment and technology!!!

[sugarpuddin88]

Gimme a break!

The USA is bankrupt & Oct 1st US Military troops are training to fight American citizens

US owes 96 trillion it has plundered & pledged to SS & Medicare

US plundered another 53 trillion from other trusts

US owes 10 trillion interest to a bunch of private bankers it allows to print money out of thin air

US owes on 12 trillion Freddie & Fannie; US owes untold to Bernanke's buddies on Wall Street

US is over and done with!

Thank god for my second citizenship!