Great discussion. Ratigan, well, he's on fire.
Video - Ratigan with Nevada attorney General - Feb. 4, 2011
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Dylan takes up the issue of mortgage fraud, predatory lending and liars loans. We know there were crimes committed. In many cases, we know who the criminals are. But the "regulators and the Dept. of Justice have done NOTHING."
Angelo Mozilo, for example, just settled with the California AG for $6.5M, admitting no wrong doing, and Mozilo will not pay a dime out of his own pocket.
Yesterday, thousands called their state AG's as part of a national day of action to demand that AG's do something about rampant fraud in the mortgage system, including fraud involved with the Obama administration's HAMP program. (Some critics contend that HAMP was a failure, by design, meant only to prop up real estate prices and provide another subsidy to the banks.)
Dylan cuts to the core issue of the fraud: the securitization of mortgages, known to be fraudulent, which were then sold on to pension funds and retail investors. This practice was highlighted in the FCIC report. Why has nothing been done, when everyone, including (usually the last to know) congressional commissions like the FCIC, knows about it?
Dylan asks the Nevada AG, who was a guest on the show, whether this practice occurred in her state and what she can do about it. She says that she is limited in what she can do, in terms of jurisdiction (fair enough), but then she spits out a barrage of verbiage (5:14 - 6:30) about "process" and "looking at every aspect" of the problem, and... Something tells me she doesn't plan to do much of anything about the big players in the mortgage securitization scandal. Otherwise, she simply would have said she would find out and go after anyone involved, but she spent 1 minute and 15 seconds basically making excuses for why she hadn't done so already. Credit Dylan, though, for asking the right questions.
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