Ohio Blogger to White House for Housing Summit

At White House Meeting, Youngstown Ohio Housing Leader, Blogger, Homeowner  - Pushes Obama Administration for Solutions to Foreclosure and Housing Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – On Thursday September 13th, Mark Roarty, an Ohio leader and nationally recognized blogger and housing advocate traveled to our nation’s capital to meet with top Obama Administration officials at the White House. Mr. Roarty discussed the immediacy and need for implementing bold new solutions to the housing and foreclosure crisis that has devastated our communities. cities & states.

Mark Roarty prior to White House housing summit

In break-out meetings with officials from HUD, DOJ, and the White House National Economic Council - Mark joined 150 other leaders, clergy, homeowners, and housing advocates (representing 26 states) and laid out recommendations to address the housing crisis and getting our economy back on solid ground. Roarty, along with other leaders, told the White House administration that it is far past time that they enact policy solutions such as:
- Principal reduction as a bold new plan needed to address foreclosures, fix the housing crisis, create jobs, and reset the economy. Specifically, the request included strong language to remove Ed DeMarco, interim director of FHFA, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ed DeMarco obstinately and ideologically opposes principal reduction, despite its proven benefits for homeowners and taxpayers.
- Publicly support the RMBS Task Force investigating big bank fraud, which the president announced in his State of the Union address back in January. The task force needs additional financial resources and staff to conduct real and effective investigations. The task force work will result in accountability for Wall Street crimes that crashed our economy.
- A nationwide Homeowner Bill of Rights that enacts strong standards for how banks must work with borrowers in foreclosure, including mediation and mandatory principal reduction when it would help the homeowner and investor.

Later in the day, Roarty joined up with other Ohio housing support groups and organizational leaders to visit Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman. In the Senators' Washington D.C. offices they met with key staff to share ideas and ask for support from the Ohio Senators on the recently introduced Menendez/Boxer Bill (S. 3522). The bill would allow homeowners trapped in high-interest loans, guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to refinance into lower interest loans and also eliminate up-front fees along with appraisal and loan closing costs.

Roarty, was invited to the meeting because of  his affiliation with NPA and The New Bottom Line along with his nationally recognized blog Ohio FRAUDclosure. In Ohio, he is a leader and homeowner advocate with the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC). 

Tracy Van-Slyke (Director of The New Bottom Line) & Mark Roarty on front steps of White House prior to meeting.

Mark Roarty is also one of three nationwide home-owner spokespersons for The New Bottom Line coalition's Home Is Where The Vote Is campaign. The campaign, with the goal of making President Obama and Governor Romney address the foreclosure and housing crisis, features Roarty in a two-minute video explaining the realities faced by thousands of Ohio homeowners. Some of the deeply felt pain, of being in foreclosure, is shared by Roarty in the video. Recently, after a 4 1/2 year legal battle, a decision was handed down by an Ohio Appellate Court reversing the illegal foreclosure on his home.



More than 400,000 OHIO homeowners have been foreclosed on since 2007, with the state’s eight urban cores being hit hardest. The spike in foreclosures has led to massive neighborhood blight, vacant properties and community disinvestment. Those maintaining their homes have seen a huge decline in value, leaving 529,834 Ohio homeowners underwater on their mortgages. That figure is roughly one quarter of all homeowners in the state. Nationally, there are almost 16 million underwater homes, totaling a loss of $1.2 trillion in home equity. Resetting those mortgages to fair market value would save the average underwater homeowner $543 per month, pumping $104 billion into the national economy every year. This would also allow financial capacity to create 1.5 million jobs nationally.

Related: New Jersey - Homeowners Underwater and abandoning ship.

The foreclosure crisis in Ohio is rooted in illegal activity by lenders and Wall Street and inadequate rules and enforcement. The misconduct included predatory sub-prime lending, targeting of senior citizens, veterans, and communities of color, and bundling and pawning off flawed mortgages, avoiding accountability. Those forces combined with record long-term unemployment to bring our economy to the brink of collapse, and continue to jeopardize our economic recovery.

"The Mahoning Valley (Youngstown), like many areas across the country, need help to stop the on-going and rampant bank and servicing fraud in foreclosure," Roarty said. "Local and state leaders and organizations have done everything possible to deal with the result of illegal and improper foreclosures (vacant homes & blighted neighborhoods) by helping secure funds for demolition. Now we need to address the cause. We need action, and we need it now. My home, our communities, and our economic future is depending on it."

Speaking directly to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan at the end of the meeting, Roarty, in front of the entire forum, asked that the administration officials in attendance pass along the importance of these issues  - directly to the President.

Although he was impressed that the administration agreed to host the forum, he feels that more immediate action is needed. "The President needs to address this in his campaign," Roarty said after the meeting. "It’s great that administration officials heard our concerns and critique, but this requires more than lip service."

Information for Ohio Homeowners at Home is Where the Vote is (HERE)

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The Foreclosure Crisis affects 8 Million Children

In OHIO  - Foreclosure affects 177,000 children

Nationwide 2.3 million children lost their homes due to foreclosure while another 3 million are - at risk - while their homes are in some stage of foreclosure. Additionally some 3 million children had to relocate due to rental evictions. In Ohio an estimated 79,000 children have lost their homes to foreclosure and 98,000 more are at risk of eviction because their families’ mortgage payments are at least 60 days delinquent, according to a report released earlier this month by First Focus, a Washington D.C. based family advocacy-group.

Family destruction by foreclosure - painting at Youngstown Butler Art Museum

“It is a huge, traumatic issue for families, and the implications for kids’ long-term well-being is really poor,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus.

“The financial pressure on parents tends to affect interactions with each other and with their children, and a less supportive parenting style caused by stress can have negative consequences on children’s behavior and their overall development,” said Julia Isaacs, senior research fellow at the Urban Institute and author of the report.

The school performance of children who are forced to move out of their homes often suffers, as a move has the same effect of missing one month of school, the report said. Some health issues have been linked to housing changes as families with housing problems also postpone important medical visits and they skip buying necessary medications.

“Many of these families are living in a state of limbo for a very long period of time, and being in that limbo state and trying to fight to avoid losing your house is very tough on these families” said Cyleste Collins, research assistant professor with the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Collins said parents try to limit the disruption the foreclosures cause in their children’s lives by doing things like keeping them in the same schools or holding onto their home until the school year ends. But it is very difficult to shield children from the hardships involved in losing a home, she said.

Across the country, millions of children have lost their homes while millions more are at risk of joining them. Families that are evicted from their homes often must double up with other relatives or rely on friends for a place to stay, according to First Focus. Unstable housing situations commonly lead to emotional and psychological hardships that negatively affect family relationships

Read about this terrible crisis & problem as reported by Cornelius Frolik (HERE)

In Ohio: contact Voices for Ohio’s Children
Voices for Ohio's Children is a non-partisan collaborative of private, public, and not-for-profit sector organizations and individuals who advocate for public policy that improves the well-being of Ohio's children and their families. Voices for Ohio's Children will be a leader in children's advocacy efforts in Ohio. Our work results in public policy ensuring our children are well-educated, healthy and safe.

In Utah: Homeless Families found living in storage units (KSL-TV-VIDEO).....
Storage manager Christie Andrews said that a family of three, including a 3-month-old child, was staying in one of the storage sheds. She said sometimes families can't keep up with traditional rent. "They're homeless and they don't have anywhere to go, I was getting a lot of complaints that people were leaving their doors a half a foot up. ... I would kick them out and then an hour later they were there."

Authored by Brookings Institution scholar Julia Isaacs, the report (Download-Read report HERE) provides a comprehensive look at the impact of the mortgage foreclosure crisis on America's children. It finds that one-in-ten children has been or is at risk to be affected by foreclosures, that the rate approaches one-in-five in some states, and that the upheaval resulting from foreclosure can have harmful and lasting consequences on a child's development.

A companion paper released by the First Focus Campaign for Children recommends specific actions Congress and the Administration can take to help families avoid foreclosure, find quality, affordable homes quickly when foreclosures happen, and deliver the help children need to blunt the harms resulting from foreclosure.

The First Focus Campaign for Children places a priority on supporting legislators who stand by our nation's children. Our Champions and Defenders of Children awards recognize the top 100 Members of Congress (HERE) working to make children and families a national priority in federal policy and budget decisions. Congratulations to OHIO's only recognized leader - SHERROD BROWN

Foreclose, Evict, Abandon - Sherrod Brown says NO

OH-Senator Sherrod Brown tells Banksters: STOP WALK-AWAYS and ABANDONMENT after a bureau of the U.S. Treasury (OCC) released guidelines that amount to a free pass for banks to abandon foreclosed homes - which invites crime and makes taxpayers foot the bill.

Brown's January 3rd letter to John Walsh, the OCC Director, highlights the public concern:

 I write today to express my grave concerns with provisions of the OCC’s guidance regarding the proper treatment of foreclosed properties.  Specifically, your guidance implicitly approves of the practice of having lenders “release a lien securing a defaulted loan rather than foreclose on the residential property.”  This practice, also known as an “abandoned foreclosure” or a “bank walkaway,” has caused substantial harm to Ohio’s communities and should NOT be supported by the federal government.

Strong standards from the OCC will send a message that Wall Street must share in the responsibility to end the foreclosure crisis.  Preventing banks from walking away from properties will give servicers greater incentive to avoid unnecessary foreclosures and explore alternatives to foreclosure.  Wall Street banks may be acting in their own economic interest when they walk away from vacant properties, but they are not acting in the best interest of our communities.

In Cleveland Ohio via newnet5

Senator Brown was joined by Jeannette Smith, a Cleveland Heights resident, that faced foreclosure several years ago and left her property at the point of Sheriff’s sale. Later, she found out that her mortgage servicer had withdrawn its foreclosure action. Jeanette had already signed an apartment lease and was also left on the hook for the Bank abandoned property. She was later cited and charged, by the City of Cleveland Heights, for the cost of maintenance of her vacant property.

SHERROD BROWN:

“Too many Wall Street banks are walking away from too many Ohio Main Street communities,”. Said Senator Brown (D-OH)

* “This foreclosure crisis affects all of us: homeowners, families, neighbors, and state and local governments. It is clear that the current system isn’t working and unfortunately federal regulators have failed to bring meaningful reform to mortgage servicing"

*SHERROD BROWN introduced the  Homeowner Abuse Prevention Act of 2011

1-3-12 PRESS RELEASE:
Brown Urges Agency to Take Action to Prevent Needless Evictions of Ohio Families and Neighborhood Blight

1-4-12: RELATED:   OBAMA names RICHARD CORDRAY to head CFPB

In a visit Wednesday to the Cleveland home of William and Endia Eason, who were victims of predatory lending, President Obama appointed Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Speaking in Cordray's home state of Ohio, Obama blamed the “trickery and abuse” of the non-banking financial sector for the Easons’ woes and said, “We’re going to have to do something about it.” He added: “We’re so glad that we’ve got somebody like Rich Cordray, who’s willing to take this on and make sure that families like the Easons who do the right thing ... are not taken advantage of and are able to live in security and in dignity in their golden years.”

                  Thomas Ondrey - Plain Dealer

President Obama meets with Cleveland residents William Eason, left, and his wife Endia, along with newly appointed head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray 

Sherrod Brown's Press Release:
Appointment of former Ohio AG Cordray to National Consumer Watchdog Head
“Ohio families deserve a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPR) - complete with a Director - that can stand up to the special interests and look out for Ohioans’ interests.  We asked for a fair up or down vote on Richard Cordray’s nomination. But too many senators are willing to stand instead with Wall Street, blocking a qualified nominee for the first time in the history of the Senate based on opposition to an agency’s very existence. Rich Cordray is fair-minded and highly qualified, which is why he enjoys widespread and bipartisan support from both the people of Ohio and those he would regulate.” said US Senator Sherrod Brown

Op-Ed by Sherrod Brown(12-6-11) POLITICO: CFPB Time is Now for Cordray 

OhioFRAUDclosure previous post: Ohio leaders shaping Fraudclosure landscape

National Blog recognizes: OhioFRAUDclosure (Mandelman Matters - HERE)

Mandelman Matters - Podcast with Former OHIO AG - Marc Dan  (HERE)

D-Day is coming...Occupy our Homes

DECEMBER 6th - National Day of Action

OCCUPY OUR HOMES 

The OccupyWallStreet movement and brave homeowners around the country are coming together to say, "Enough is enough." We, the 99%, are standing up to Wall Street banks and demanding they negotiate with homeowners instead of fraudulently foreclosing on them.
 
Everyone deserves to have a roof over their head and a place to call home. Millions of Americans have worked hard for years for the opportunity to own their own home; for others, it remains a distant goal. For all of us, having a decent place to live for ourselves and our families is the most fundamental part of the American dream, a source of security and pride.

In 2008, we discovered bankers and speculators had been gambling with our most valuable asset, our homes--betting against us and destroying trillions of dollars of our wealth. Now, because of the foreclosure crisis Wall Street banks created with their lies and greed, millions of Americans have lost their homes, and one in four homeowners are currently underwater on their mortgage.

Not only do we have thousands of people without homes, we have thousands of homes without people. Boarded-up houses are sitting empty--increasing crime, lowering the value of other homes in the neighborhood, erasing the wealth that lifts families into the middle class. For more information:

National Website: http://occupyourhomes.org/
On Twitter: @OccupyOurHomes
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/events/304693926222145/
In Ohio our contact email: ohiofraudclosure@gmail.com

A growing number of homeowners & supporters are standing up to the banks & demanding that the banks correct the mortgage principal to fair market value. 

 I will:

Resist attempts by the FRAUDsters (banks & servicers) to "steal" our homes. 

Take necessary action(s) to Support American Homeowners. 

• If they attempt to foreclose, I will not go

• If they attempt to evict, I will not go

• If they attempt to "Steal" my neighbors home, I will stand with my neighbor in solidarity

I will:

- sign petitions

- make phone calls

- contact caring - local and national organizations

- join efforts of local and national organizations that help with foreclosure defense & to help stop evictions

- help spread the word

TAKE THE PLEDGE: IN DEFENSE of AMERICAN HOMEOWNERS: (CLICK HERE)


OCCUPY Minneapolis formed a human chain around Sa'ra Kaiser's foreclosed home, preventing the officers from boarding it up, and ultimately forcing the police - who had no legitimate legal pretense for preventing occupiers from being their in the first place - to give up. US BANK wanted to evict another homeowner and blight another house and neighborhood.

LINDA GREEN - FRAUDclosure - CRIME SCENE !!!

Watch Confessions to Criminal Acts by ALL 3 Linda Greens!!

                                                                                              Original Art & Graphics provided by PETE GRAFF

CBS 60 MINUTES - REPLAY of  FORECLOSURE FRAUD (Play segment below)

CBS 60 Minutes story ...that unveiled the "Crime of the Century"... FRAUDclosure 
 witness examples of FORGERY, FRAUD and admitted...... CRIMINAL acts !!!

FRAUD FACTORY - DocX

DocX - Document "Sweat Shop" subsidiary of Lenders Processing Systems (LPS)
DocX - NOW CLOSED !!! this "paper mill" office ..... now considered...... a crime scene

LINDA GREEN'S SIGNATURES?



MASSACHUSETTS:
"My registry is a CRIME SCENE as evidenced by this forensic examination...
I can tell you that every single assignment of mortgage that was recorded for the purpose of foreclosing the homeowner is invalid, overtly fraudulent, or criminally fraudulent. This is disgusting, and this is criminal" (John O'Brien - Massachusetts Register)

This CRIME ....has affected thousands of homeowners..their property rights trampled on and their chain of title compromised. This evidence has made it clear....  banks such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and others...... have played fast and loose with people’s biggest asset – their homes. My findings also show.....clouds on title due to the recording of defective and invalid discharges and assignments of mortgage.

NORTH CAROLINA:     REGISTER REJECTS ROBO-SIGNED DOCUMENTS

Documents included 1,947 signed by Linda Green with 15 different signature variations

REGISTER OF DEEDS JEFF THIGPEN REFUSES TO CREATE A CRIME SCENE

Register of DeedsThigpen sent state and federal regulators over 4,500 robo-signed documents submitted by DocX, a company owned by Lender Processing Services contracted by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and MERS amongst others. See letter sent to Iowa Attorney General "detailing crimes" (HERE)

Marie McDonald (McDonnell Property Analytics) through a legal affidavit, explained the results of her independent audit of Register John O’Brien's registry. It reads in part:  ...."the banks set up in-house document execution teams, or outsourced the  preparation of their assignments to third parties who manufactured them out of thin air without researching who really owns the mortgage.… "What this means is that the degradation in standards .....so fatally flawed that the institutions, including many pension funds, that purchased these mortgages don’t actually own them because the assignments of mortgage were never prepared, executed and delivered ....in the normal course of business at the time of the transaction.

Lawyer Extraordinaire!Lynn Symoniak

A FRAUDclosure victim in the 60 minutes story but a "Hero" to homeowners.  Lynn has sacrificed for all of us - Great Job Lynn! Florida Homeowners in FRAUDclosure can contact Lynn Symoniak

MICHIGAN:  FRAUD BOMBSHELL: Attorney General Bill Schuette Subpoenas LPS !!

Michigan AG

The attorney general said he is seeking information about documents signed by DocX employees both male and female FRAUDulently signing as “Linda Green.” “Allegations of forged mortgage documents are very serious and require a thorough investigation, I will continue to work closely with federal and local authorities to find answers

FLORIDA:                                    R. B. "CHIPS" SHORE - Manatee County - Clerk        As Florida’s foreclosure crisis continues, Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, R.B. “Chips” Shore, suggests that property owners conduct regular and routine public records searches for faulty liens and other documents that may be filed against their property. As the foreclosure process and “foreclosure mills” came under scrutiny for inaccurate documentation and other issues, the need to show clear and accurate title to one’s property came to the forefront.

Who's authorizing the filing of FRAUDulent documents on Florida property owners?

URGENT Action Alert: Lender Processing Services (LPS) - Criminal Investigation

WASHINGTON:

Washington State Attorney General (Rob McKenna) filed a lawsuit against the Bank of America's "Recon Trust" for conducting ILLEGAL FORECLOSURES on THOUSANDS of Washington State homeowners. The suit alleges, amongst many charges, that "ReconTrust":

CREATED or permitted the use of documents that were FRUADulently and improperly executed, notarized or sworn to....and the notices and agreements contained conflicting dates and improper notarizations and ReconTrust employees sometimes FRAUDulently signed as officers of other entities.

"ReconTrust ... repeatedly broke the law and refused to provide information requested during our investigation," McKenna said. “ReconTrust’s illegal practices make it difficult, if not impossible, for borrowers ... to stop those foreclosures.”

Washington Attorney General sues ReconTrust for illegal foreclosures (press release here)

Some examples of the Bank of America & ReconTrust documents below:                     
(The Art & Science of Robo-signing (New & Improved Document Fabrication)

PENNSYLVANIA:

Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds Nancy Becker is urging registers of deeds across state and the country to withdraw public money from any banks affiliated with the Mortgage Electronic Registry System (MERS), which she claims is undermining the practice of accurate land recording.

"In recent years, mortgages have been assigned and reassigned multiple times, and when a bank or other entity doesn’t properly report these transfers, it makes it very difficult for homeowners to determine who holds their mortgages. It clouds the chain of title, and it’s prohibiting (officials) from recording revenues they should be recording," Becker said.

Since 2004, she estimates the county has lost $15 million in fees from 139,798 mortgages recorded via the MERS system - which fails to reflect assignments.

OHIO: Sherrod Brown introduces SB-824 Anti- Fraud (Robo-Signing) Bill

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) - calls Robo-Signing - FRAUD !

(Click below) Read this 35 page Senate Bill titled - Foreclosure FRAUD
FORECLOSURE FRAUD SB -824 bill

(Click below) Press release - Showing how this bill - has solutions - to stop FRAUD
PRESS RELEASE

(Click below) OUTSTANDING letter outlining FRAUD and problems

Outline-Explanation of FRAUD and Problem

Please contact Mr Sherrod Brown (Ohio) by phone, email, or letter: Thank a hard working elected official for trying to to stop on-going SERVICER ABUSE & BANK FRAUD.
Contact Sherrod Brown - Click Here

OHIO Leaders shaping national FRAUDclosure landscape

OHIO leaders (past and present) continue to shape the FRAUDclosure landscape.
These Powerful and Influential Leaders bring homeowners.....  
GOOD NEWS FROM OHIO:
2 former OHIO Attorney Generals continue "The Fight" on behalf of Homeowners
1 OHIO Senator and 1 OHIO Congresswoman introduce ground breaking legislation

Richard Cordray and Marc Dann
From January 2007 - January 2011 Ohioans benefited from the strength of these two legal giants. Collectively they fought, sued, and/or won settlements against sub-prime and predatory lenders, Bank of America, AIG, loan modification firms, and credit card companies.

RICHARD CORDRAY:

After losing a re-election bid in November 2010 to a "throw out the Democrats" voting mentality, President Obama and Elizabeth Warren jumped at the opportunity to have Cordray lead the enforcement arm of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In a Wall Street Journal interview, Cordray described the new position as "..in many ways doing on a 50 state basis, the things I cared most about as a state attorney general, with a more robust and more comprehensive authority." Just prior to leaving as Ohio's Attorney General he sued GMAC Mortgage LLC and its corporate parent, Ally Financial Inc., accusing them of using FRAUDulent affidavits in Ohio foreclosure filings and court cases.
Now - GOOD NEWS for OHIO and AMERICAN HOMEOWNERS
OBAMA PICKS CORDRAY to head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

The ESOP BLOG: Cordray a Smart and Fair Choice....“Just because you’re a bank doesn’t mean he’s coming after you.  He’s not looking to get you on a technicality.  He’s not an ideologue.  But if you rip off consumers, he will come after you and he’ll be tough.  He’s about justice" said Mark Seifert the Director of ESOP (Read the story HERE)

SHERROD BROWN:

Senator Brown, a Democrat from Ohio said he fully expects the state’s "other" senator Rob Portman, (a Republican) will support Cordray's nomination.

“This foreclosure crisis affects all of us – homeowners, families, neighbors, and state and local governments. It is clear that the current system isn’t working and unfortunately federal regulators have failed to bring meaningful reform to mortgage servicing



SHERROD BROWN introduced the  Homeowner Abuse Prevention Act of 2011

MARC DANN:

This great attorney, and former AG, remains active in OHIO while continuing to fight and wage legal battles against the TBTF banks and Predator Drone (Foreclosure Mill) law firms. He continues to be a champion for those fighting violations of their Consumer Rights. Dann twice has taken time out of his busy schedule for phone interviews with OHIO FRAUDclosure. He recently drove two hours to meet with us and share an "inside look" at his busy schedule and planned future legal actions. Many of these actions will have an impact at a national level with possible implications to the ever changing Federal Laws guiding foreclosure judges.
Marc Dann has filed Class Actions suits against Servicers for foreclosing on borrowers that were either eligible for or in a HAMP modification. Additionally he filed a "Class Action" suit against a giant OHIO Predator Drone (foreclosure mill) law firm Lerner Sampson Rothfuss (LSR). Unfortunately, the terms of the settlement could not be shared with us, but we've assumed the homeowners were made happy. Additionally national blogger Martin Andelman (Mandelman Matters) shared this phone interview as an audio podcast (Click Here).


MARCY KAPTUR:

This brave OHIO congresswoman continues to fight for homeowners and recently (July 8th) introduced  and submitted HOUSE RESOLUTION 344 to the House Financial Services Committee. The resolution calls on President Obama to declare "a national residential mortgage foreclosure emergency" and encourages individual states - to enact the moratorium.

Please contact a member of the committee and ask they support this Important action!

OHIO Contacts below:

James B. Renacci, OH

Steve Stivers, OH

TBTF - Too Big To Fail

Title:      "TOO BIG TO FAIL"
What:   HBO Films Docu(drama)mentary
Date:    Monday May 23, 2011
When:   9:00pm est
Where:  HBO Network
Why: If you really want to know how the "Wizards of Wall Street"
(Big Banks and Wall Street Investment Firms) Collapsed the entire world's economy
You must see this HBO Film - Documentary
               THE TITLE  -  SAYS IT ALL
HBO brings the whole sordid tale to the screen in the sensational original two-hour movie based on the book with the same name by Andrew Ross Sorkin
NEWYORK POST (Review by Linda Stasi)- Right click and Open in New Tab for review
...."They cheat. They steal. They lie. They leave hardworking families homeless. They undermined the entire economy of the United States for their own personal greed. They don't go to jail and still get billions in bonuses.  Who are they? They are the Wall Street SOBs who brought the US to its knees, that's who. Too bad to be true? No." The movie tells the minute-by-minute, seat-of-the-pants story of how Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (William Hurt) tries to wrangle the arrogant CEOs of the giant financial institutions. It's like watching the meeting of the five families in "The Godfather," except that these five heads were part of the industry that brought not just their enemies, but the whole country, to its knees.
The group includes JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon (Bill Pullman), Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein (Evan Handler), Morgan Stanley's John Mack (Tony Shalhoub), Merrill Lynch's John Thain (Matthew Modine) and Citigroup's Vikram Pandit (Ajay Mehta).



More info - here - from HBO: "Too Big To Fail "- Right click and Open in New Tab to:  
Read movie Synopsis, Bios, and hear from the Cast and crew
Really Cool: Click here for "Source Documents" used by Andew Sorkin for his book
PDF document showing NYSE Dow Index compared to the "Timeline of the Crisis"

MAY 2010:  OHIO Senator Sherrod Brown (D): ....The biggest problem is the enormous size of the institutions being regulated. "Too big to fail" means they are simply too big, and shrinking them is not on the table.  Last month, Senator Sherrod Brown explained the size problem this way: "Fifteen years ago, the assets of the six largest banks in this country totaled 17% of GDP.  The assets of the six largest banks in the United States today total 63% of GDP, and that’s too (big) - we’ve got to deal with risk to be sure, but we’ve got to deal with the size of these banks, because if one of these banks is in serious trouble, it will have such a ripple effect on the whole economy." Representative Alan Grayson said,"Too big to fail means too big to exist. I don’t think the big banks will get appreciably smaller until after the next meltdown, and one is coming sooner than later Read the Rest Here..from USAWatchdog (Right click and Open in New Tab)

JULY 2010:  OHIO Senator Sherrod Brown (D): Sent a letter to the 4 largest banks, calling on them to work with homeowners facing foreclosure. (Text of letter Here) Nothing happened!

APRIL 2011:  OHIO Senator Sherrod Brown (D): Introduces landmark legislation titled  Foreclosure Fraud and Homeowner Abuse Prevention Act of 2011
(We covered - in detail - on this blog - Click HERE)