Hello, Ms. Yupette:
It's been a worse than average Winter. But the worst part of driving is encountering the people who Jay Fisette encourages to ride bicycles in all kinds of weather dressed in black and riding bicycles with no reflectors or headlights at night.
I am not about to "Share the Road" with Jay Fisette's Bicycle Bozos. When I see one of Jay's fellow bicycle fanatics doing something illegal and stupid I flash my headlights and hit the horn button. You should too.
Margaret - 22201
Monday
Snow Removal is Unacceptable
Hello, Yupette,
I live near Marymount University and snow removal is unacceptable again this year. My street (which has no parked vehicles) had one lane plowed down the middle of the street. Several dead end streets and cul de sacs weren't plowed at all. What a terrible job of snow removal. Why do we put up with this, year after year?
Joan 22207
I live near Marymount University and snow removal is unacceptable again this year. My street (which has no parked vehicles) had one lane plowed down the middle of the street. Several dead end streets and cul de sacs weren't plowed at all. What a terrible job of snow removal. Why do we put up with this, year after year?
Joan 22207
Saturday
Arlington Chamber, Local Media, Will Endorse Hynes and Tejada
HI Yupette,
Like many small buinesspersons I'm not a fan of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce which supposedly represents small business but actually doesn't. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Arlington Chamber is also anti-minority owned business and anti-renewable energy. The Arlington Chamber's office staff are cheerleaders for the Big Business members. From what I hear in the business community look for the Arlington Chamber to endorse and support Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada for re-election. Mary and Walter support the Arlington Chamber's neo-con Big Business agenda, and make it a priority to attend Arlington Chamber functions. Look for the Post, Sun-Gazette, Examiner, etc. to endorse Hynes and Tejada. The local media are increasingly attuned to the Big Business agenda of non governmental organizations like the Arlington Chamber. The Arlington Sun Gazette has become a propaganda outlet for the Arlington Chamber via it's Editor (and Arlington Chamber Executive Committee member) Scott McCaffrey. No wonder Arlington Republicans run such mediocre campaigns. Why vote for a neo-conservative when you can re-elect an nice Republican incumbent?
Ted - 22205
Like many small buinesspersons I'm not a fan of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce which supposedly represents small business but actually doesn't. Unlike the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Arlington Chamber is also anti-minority owned business and anti-renewable energy. The Arlington Chamber's office staff are cheerleaders for the Big Business members. From what I hear in the business community look for the Arlington Chamber to endorse and support Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada for re-election. Mary and Walter support the Arlington Chamber's neo-con Big Business agenda, and make it a priority to attend Arlington Chamber functions. Look for the Post, Sun-Gazette, Examiner, etc. to endorse Hynes and Tejada. The local media are increasingly attuned to the Big Business agenda of non governmental organizations like the Arlington Chamber. The Arlington Sun Gazette has become a propaganda outlet for the Arlington Chamber via it's Editor (and Arlington Chamber Executive Committee member) Scott McCaffrey. No wonder Arlington Republicans run such mediocre campaigns. Why vote for a neo-conservative when you can re-elect an nice Republican incumbent?
Ted - 22205
Thursday
County Spending Mega-Millions on Out-of-State Mega-Deal Facilitators
Hello, Yupette,
Do you know how much Boss Zimmerman and the County Board are spending on out-of-state planning facilitators for mega-deals like Crystal City, East Falls Church, and the total gentrification of Columbia Pike? According to a planning staffer, at least $10 million per year. So, if you wondered why library hours that were cut because of 'budget constraints' can't be restored, the County Board's insatiable desire to totally urbanize Arlington via mega-development deals and gifts to pet consultants, facilitators, and design charade hosts is one big reason.
Larry - 22204
Do you know how much Boss Zimmerman and the County Board are spending on out-of-state planning facilitators for mega-deals like Crystal City, East Falls Church, and the total gentrification of Columbia Pike? According to a planning staffer, at least $10 million per year. So, if you wondered why library hours that were cut because of 'budget constraints' can't be restored, the County Board's insatiable desire to totally urbanize Arlington via mega-development deals and gifts to pet consultants, facilitators, and design charade hosts is one big reason.
Larry - 22204
Wednesday
School Board Chair Libby "Politics First" Garvey to Run for VA Senate
Hi Yupette,
Appears that Arlington School Board Chair Libby "Politics First" Garvey will officially enter the Democratic race to succeed Senator Patsy Ticer. As you may remember Libby was largely responsible for the deterioration of South Arlington schools before SOLs and No Child Left Behind were enacted. Her defense of the deplorable state of Wakefield High School has amounted to a big yawn and a "So What?". We need Libby Garvey in the Virginia Senate like we need Zimmerman's trolley on the Pike.
Wakefield Parent
Appears that Arlington School Board Chair Libby "Politics First" Garvey will officially enter the Democratic race to succeed Senator Patsy Ticer. As you may remember Libby was largely responsible for the deterioration of South Arlington schools before SOLs and No Child Left Behind were enacted. Her defense of the deplorable state of Wakefield High School has amounted to a big yawn and a "So What?". We need Libby Garvey in the Virginia Senate like we need Zimmerman's trolley on the Pike.
Wakefield Parent
School Board Majority Signs on to Zimmerman's Massive Pike Gentrification
Hi Yupette,
In the event you wondered who else supports Zimmerman's massive Pike gentrification besides the Arlington Democratic Party, Republican Party, and Chamber of Commerce, a majority of the Arlington School Board has also signed on. Massive resegregation through gentrification is the easiest way for the Arlington School System to rid itself of low performing poor and ESL students and boost test scores. The School Board majority concluded that poor and ESL parents will never have the time and disposable income for their children to succeed in Arlington's increasingly elitist school system and the best solution is to remove 'nonconforming' students from the school system altogether.
PTA Parent
In the event you wondered who else supports Zimmerman's massive Pike gentrification besides the Arlington Democratic Party, Republican Party, and Chamber of Commerce, a majority of the Arlington School Board has also signed on. Massive resegregation through gentrification is the easiest way for the Arlington School System to rid itself of low performing poor and ESL students and boost test scores. The School Board majority concluded that poor and ESL parents will never have the time and disposable income for their children to succeed in Arlington's increasingly elitist school system and the best solution is to remove 'nonconforming' students from the school system altogether.
PTA Parent
Monday
Massive Pike Corridor Gentrification + HOT Lanes Litigation =
Hello, Yupette,
Can someone please answer the following question? Why is the County Board continuing its HOT Lanes litigation against VDOT when Zimmerman is going to gentrify out 20,000 low and moderate wage workers who live in South Arlington to Prince William, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and other counties south of Arlington?
Cindy
Can someone please answer the following question? Why is the County Board continuing its HOT Lanes litigation against VDOT when Zimmerman is going to gentrify out 20,000 low and moderate wage workers who live in South Arlington to Prince William, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and other counties south of Arlington?
Cindy
Saturday
Zimmerman Kicks off Massive Pike 'Resegregation Through Gentrification' Campaign
Hey, Yupette,
After awarding another pet developer with mega millions in bonus density for yuppifying Ashton Heights, Chris Zimmerman proceeded to the Arlington County Trades Center to supervise the real business of the day - the meeting of the Plenary Committee charged with the total (and I mean TOTAL) gentrification through re-segregation of the Pike. Who are the members of the Zimmerman-appointed Plenary Committee? His typical Democratic ward heelers, most of whom live nowhere near the Pike. Zimmy also brought in the usual out of state developers and planners and County Staff who don't live in the County helped coordinate the event. As for the Latinos who live on the Pike, they were not invited.
Yupette, what is really scary is that Chris Zimmerman has become such a megalomaniacal nut case about driving the Latinos out of Arlington that he even wants to force the families who've owned rental real estate along to Pike for decades to sell out for redevelopment. And he's had Arlington Economic Development figuring out how he can force them to do that.
What's Zimmy after? Turning the Pike into a yupscale canyon of ugly postmodernist buildings, populated by yupscale renters and condo owners with trendy retail and 300 vehicle parking garages beneath the buildings. And a $200 million trolley system blocking rush hour traffic on the Pike. Duh.
Barcrofter
After awarding another pet developer with mega millions in bonus density for yuppifying Ashton Heights, Chris Zimmerman proceeded to the Arlington County Trades Center to supervise the real business of the day - the meeting of the Plenary Committee charged with the total (and I mean TOTAL) gentrification through re-segregation of the Pike. Who are the members of the Zimmerman-appointed Plenary Committee? His typical Democratic ward heelers, most of whom live nowhere near the Pike. Zimmy also brought in the usual out of state developers and planners and County Staff who don't live in the County helped coordinate the event. As for the Latinos who live on the Pike, they were not invited.
Yupette, what is really scary is that Chris Zimmerman has become such a megalomaniacal nut case about driving the Latinos out of Arlington that he even wants to force the families who've owned rental real estate along to Pike for decades to sell out for redevelopment. And he's had Arlington Economic Development figuring out how he can force them to do that.
What's Zimmy after? Turning the Pike into a yupscale canyon of ugly postmodernist buildings, populated by yupscale renters and condo owners with trendy retail and 300 vehicle parking garages beneath the buildings. And a $200 million trolley system blocking rush hour traffic on the Pike. Duh.
Barcrofter
Friday
Not Upscale? Don't Apply to Serve on an Advisory Commission
Hello Yupette,
I noticed while walking past the glass paneled meeting rooms at the County office building that everyone who attends the advisory commission meetings seems to be upscale and white (once in awhile there's an African American or Latino in a meeting). Well it's true. If you aren't upscale you are not going to be selected to serve on an advisory commission - especially the planning, transportation, and housing commissions. One of the County Staff who coordinates the meetings told me that if you don't have a position that pays at least $100,000 a year and don't support the status quo you should not think of even applying to serve on an advisory commission.
Karen S. 22201
I noticed while walking past the glass paneled meeting rooms at the County office building that everyone who attends the advisory commission meetings seems to be upscale and white (once in awhile there's an African American or Latino in a meeting). Well it's true. If you aren't upscale you are not going to be selected to serve on an advisory commission - especially the planning, transportation, and housing commissions. One of the County Staff who coordinates the meetings told me that if you don't have a position that pays at least $100,000 a year and don't support the status quo you should not think of even applying to serve on an advisory commission.
Karen S. 22201
Are gas prices high?
Jim Treece at Automotive News had a neat little column in today's Automotive News ("Gas too high? Aw, stop griping"). I'd played around with data in the past; here are two graphs. One presents the inflation-adjusted price of gasoline, from 1919 through 2010. Prices are up -- but we're coming off of almost 20 years of the lowest gasoline prices in US history. The second adjusts in a different way: GDP per person, using a 2000 hour work-year to ask how many minutes it takes to buy a gallon. I could have used average hourly compensation (but what of retirees?) or average consumption; that would change the details but I don't think it affects the basic picture. And any such method would have its own drawbacks.
Mike Smitka
 |  |
County Board Heavily Influenced by Bushpublican Chamber of Commerce
Hi Yupette,
As long as you're enlightening us about Scott McCaffrey's major conflict of interest with the Arlington Chamber, how about the County Board's own dealings with the Bushpublicans who run the Arlington Chamber? Except for Chris Zimmerman, the County Board was "comped" by the Chamber for attending multiple Chamber events last year.
The Arlington Chamber is way to the right of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber endorses on-site renewable energy while the Arlington Chamber opposes that. So why am I not surprised that the County Board isn't pushing to have solar water heating panels installed on all County buildings, something that would pay for itself within 6 years? Anyone else wonder how "Democratic" the Arlington Democrats who make all the political decisions in this county really are?
H.T.
As long as you're enlightening us about Scott McCaffrey's major conflict of interest with the Arlington Chamber, how about the County Board's own dealings with the Bushpublicans who run the Arlington Chamber? Except for Chris Zimmerman, the County Board was "comped" by the Chamber for attending multiple Chamber events last year.
The Arlington Chamber is way to the right of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber endorses on-site renewable energy while the Arlington Chamber opposes that. So why am I not surprised that the County Board isn't pushing to have solar water heating panels installed on all County buildings, something that would pay for itself within 6 years? Anyone else wonder how "Democratic" the Arlington Democrats who make all the political decisions in this county really are?
H.T.
Another Round with Rattner
I’ve been “stalking Steve Rattner for months now in an effort to get to the nuts and bolts of the auto industry bailout and subsequent restructuring. There are those who have hung the “car czar” moniker on him, and he tries to be flattered by it. But as Rattner explains it, his great great grandfather was a fur trader in Russia and would turn over in his grave at the thought of any of his offspring being referred to as any kind of czar.
I have followed the workings of the Auto Task Force in the news, agonized daily with my dealer friends in the industry, watched hours of CSPAN hearings, attended Rattner’s presentation at a Federal Reserve Conference in Detroit in May 2010 in advance of his book “Overhaul, An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry” read the book, wrote a book review on it for a variety of publications, participated in an internet teleconference for press members, and now I have attended his presentation to the International Motor Press (IMPA) in New York City Thursday January 20, 2011.
Any undertaking of the size and magnitude of the auto industry restructuring will have it’s critics, and the government’s revamp of the auto industry is no exception. With any endeavor of this size, mistakes will be made. In my own view, shedding dealers was a mistake. Rattner himself watches the sales progress being made by GM and Chrysler on a regular basis these days for signs of progress. Dealers are the customers of the manufacturer. Shedding customers will not sell more vehicles. The report provided by the Special Investigator of the Troubled Asset Relief Fund agreed and excoriated the Task Force for enabling the dealer terminations. When I asked Rattner about the dealer terminations in May 2010 he said the Task Force tried to make sure all parties involved made sacrifices. The Task Force regarded dealers collectively as a single constituency. As the economy and business climate improve, GM and Chrysler will need additional dealers to maximize market share, or will lose ground to competitors.
Rattner fielded a variety of questions and the occasional speech. When asked about GM’s IPO, he says he believes the government can now afford to be patient and wait to sell their GM stock at a premium as the stock continues to rise. He believes GM’s stock is still a bargain at current value, even compared to Ford. I didn’t ask if he owned stock in any of the auto companies, but in the interest of full disclosure, I own some of both GM and Ford. The taxpayers own about 26% of GM and a larger percentage of GMAC/Ally. Chrysler is still controlled by the U.S. government, although Fiat just increased it’s holdings based on meeting previously established benchmarks.
When asked why “car guys” weren’t part of his Task Force, which was made up of people with no real interest in cars but plenty of real world expertise in business restructuring, Rattner was ready with an answer. He asked everyone to recall when the “car guys” Rick Wagner, CEO of GM, Alan Mullaly, CEO of Ford, and Robert Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler came to Capital Hill to beg for a bailout. They came in separate private jets, for which they were soundly scolded by members of the Congressional committee. Mulally came because he knew that Ford would crater if either GM or Chrysler went down, as it would send a ripple of disaster through the supplier base. Such a disruption would have shut down all North American auto production and would have pushed Ford into bankruptcy as well. The three CEOs testified that for a mere 25 billion dollars, allocated based on company size and need, a disaster could be averted. Also on the auto maker side of the discussion was respected economist for Moody Ratings, Mark Zandi. Zandi took direct issue with the CEOs, stating it would take 75 billion dollars at a minimum, and up to 125 billion dollars. The bailout was ultimately 82 billion dollars, which is being repaid or redeemed rapidly. It is obvious the “car guys” were in complete denial as to their financial condition, even Ford’s Mulally. I have thought from the beginning that Ford was not so much smarter and forward thinking than the other car companies in their move to borrow money while they could, to sustain them in case of a severe downturn. It was more a case of the Ford family wanting to protect the status of their favored status of the stock. The family lives off the dividends of that stock.
Why was Rick Wagoner removed? Wagoner was steeped in GM corporate culture and was in complete denial about the condition of the company and the need for bankruptcy. Finance specialists like Rattner “bet more on the jockey than the horse.” Not knowing how much his company would need to survive was really the straw that sealed his fate. The report GM filed after the Bush administration bridge loan was so deficient there really was no other choice for the Task Force other than to replace Wagoner.
Why was the UAW favored over other constituent group? Rattner says is more a matter of perception than anything else. First, world class car companies need skilled workers to build the vehicles. Bankers and bondholders can’t build cars. In addition, he went through a list of concessions imposed on the UAW. The 320 job classifications previously in place are no more. There is no more “jobs bank,” where the Detroit 3 paid workers to stay home to watch Oprah and drink beer.. The union has agreed to serious wage and work rules cuts. Their heath care fund has been turned into a VEBA. Fortunately it has been funded by stock, laying a lot of risk on the union but looking like it will pay off well based on current stock value. The union pensions had already been funded UNLIKE the pensions of the white collar workers and the executives like Wagoner. GM had decided that it was better to bet their executive’s pensions on GM than on the stock market or other investments. That bet didn’t pay off, but the Task Force included a generous pension replacement for white collar workers. The value of bond holders and stockholders had already been determined by the market. The stock was trading at less than fifty cents at time of bankruptcy declaration, and GM bonds were next to worthless. In fact, many bondholders had bought their holdings at distressed prices and were looking to make a killing. Many held bonds that were “insured” by credit default swaps that would only pay off in the case of a complete default. That group of bondholders WANTED to be wiped out, to the consternation of the legitimate bond holders. Rattner then asks rhetorically, what should they have done different with the UAW given the real world situation they were in?
Rattner is the guy that engineered the nuts and bolts of the restructuring and is clearly relishing the current tide of success of GM and Chrysler. Despite my disagreements with some of the actions of his “Task Force,” his book is must reading for those interested in economics, the auto business, and politics. “Car Guys” probably wouldn’t have terminated dealers, but would they have gotten anything else right?
David Ruggles has spent his working life in every phase of the retail side of the auto business, new and used, sales and management, including consulting and training in both the US & Japan. Ruggles has been a dealer for Mercedes Benz, Chrysler, Dodge, GMC, Ford, Mazda, and Subaru and has consulted for one of the world’s largest privately owned Toyota dealer groups located in Nagano Prefecture Japan. He blogs at autosandeconomics.com and writes regular columns for Ward’s Dealer Business, Auto Finance News, and the Daily Post.
Thursday
Fisette's Neighbors Object to Founders Square Deal with County Board Pet Developer
Hello Yupette,
I live in Ashton Heights and we are already concerned about the amount of traffic to be generated by Founders Square redevelopment. Now the County Board wants to grant even more bonus density to its pet developer in return for $6.5 million in improvements to Mosaic Park. This is another transfer of development rights charade whereby the County Board rewards a pet developer with big bonus density derived from keeping public parkland public parkland with "improvements" (lighted playing fields). Of course the primary users of the improved Mosaic Park will be the residents of the Founders Square redevelopment. Even Jay Fisette's friends and neighbors in the Ashton Hts. Civic Association are concerned about our historic neighborhood being overwhelmed by traffic. This will be agenda item #25 on Saturdays' County Board meeting agenda.
G.L. - Ashton Hts
I live in Ashton Heights and we are already concerned about the amount of traffic to be generated by Founders Square redevelopment. Now the County Board wants to grant even more bonus density to its pet developer in return for $6.5 million in improvements to Mosaic Park. This is another transfer of development rights charade whereby the County Board rewards a pet developer with big bonus density derived from keeping public parkland public parkland with "improvements" (lighted playing fields). Of course the primary users of the improved Mosaic Park will be the residents of the Founders Square redevelopment. Even Jay Fisette's friends and neighbors in the Ashton Hts. Civic Association are concerned about our historic neighborhood being overwhelmed by traffic. This will be agenda item #25 on Saturdays' County Board meeting agenda.
G.L. - Ashton Hts
Tuesday
Greens Will Ask for a Total Ban on Single Use Plastic Bags
Hey, Yupette,
Just heard that the Arlington Greens will ask for a total ban on single use plastic (supermarket) bags at Saturday's County Board meeting. They think that the County Board has the authority to ban single use plastic under the authority grated to the County Board by the Commonwealth's solid waste disposal statutes.
Later,
Jeremy
Just heard that the Arlington Greens will ask for a total ban on single use plastic (supermarket) bags at Saturday's County Board meeting. They think that the County Board has the authority to ban single use plastic under the authority grated to the County Board by the Commonwealth's solid waste disposal statutes.
Later,
Jeremy
Monday
2011 Statements of Economic Interest are Available
Hi Yupette,
Annual Statements of Economic Interest, Disclosure of Real Estate Holdings, and Financial Disclosure Statements for 2011 are now available for Virginia's elected and appointed officials. For information about disclosure statements that were required to be filed by Arlington's elected and appointed officials (like planning commission members) by January 15th, call the County Manager's Office (703-228-3110). You have to file a freedom of information act request to see them.
2100
Annual Statements of Economic Interest, Disclosure of Real Estate Holdings, and Financial Disclosure Statements for 2011 are now available for Virginia's elected and appointed officials. For information about disclosure statements that were required to be filed by Arlington's elected and appointed officials (like planning commission members) by January 15th, call the County Manager's Office (703-228-3110). You have to file a freedom of information act request to see them.
2100
Sunday
Achtung, Ost Wasserfall Kirch Behohemer !!!
(English Translation)
Attention East Falls Church Residents,
On Tuesday, January 18, 2011, the Arlington County Board of Reitsministers will commence an attack on Communist Elements and Partisans who oppose the redevelopment of the Ost Wasserfall Kirch (East Falls Church) area. The attack will be ccordinated by SS Obergroup Commandant Nancy Von Hunt, Commander of the successful battle against the Shirlington Communist and Partisan resistance against REIT FRIT.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE !!! You must conform to the orders of the lawfully constituted REIT that will control your Ost Wasserfall Kirch community. Resistors will be apprehended by the Arlington SS Polezi and treated in the same manner the SS Polizei treats homeless persons.
By order of:
Kristof Von Zimmerman
Reitsfuhrer and Reitsminister of Transportation
Attention East Falls Church Residents,
On Tuesday, January 18, 2011, the Arlington County Board of Reitsministers will commence an attack on Communist Elements and Partisans who oppose the redevelopment of the Ost Wasserfall Kirch (East Falls Church) area. The attack will be ccordinated by SS Obergroup Commandant Nancy Von Hunt, Commander of the successful battle against the Shirlington Communist and Partisan resistance against REIT FRIT.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE !!! You must conform to the orders of the lawfully constituted REIT that will control your Ost Wasserfall Kirch community. Resistors will be apprehended by the Arlington SS Polezi and treated in the same manner the SS Polizei treats homeless persons.
By order of:
Kristof Von Zimmerman
Reitsfuhrer and Reitsminister of Transportation
Favola, Donellan, Walsh,Colucci Twisting Community Leaders Arms Over Marymount-O'Connell Deal
Hi Yupette,
FYI, Marymount's Chief Lobbyist Barbara Favola (who reportedly lives in Lyon Village) and non-County resident County Manager Barbara Donnellan are busy twisting arms of EFC and Williamsburg "Community Leaders" to get them to agree to a deal whereby they allow our residential neighborhood to be destroyed by traffic and noise from the proposed Marymount-O'Connell Sports Complex. This is similar to what they did to the neighborhoods around Crystal City last year to get the "Community Leaders" to sign on to the REITs' redevelopment of Crystal City. The activity is being facilitated by the Walsh,Colucci law firm, whose managing partners, Martin and Nan Walsh, live in McLean, and were responsible for the ongoing Federal Realty-Shirlington traffic and parking fiasco. It appears that this item will be deferred until March (it's up for discussion at Saturday's County Board meeting).
It's obvious to me that the Arlington County Board could care less about the right of EFC and Williamsburg residents to have peace an quiet in their homes and neighborhoods, and is only interested in another deal for another special interest group. Of course, as usual, they will not suffer the consequences of their actions. Barbara Favola spent millions of dollars of scarce tax dollars moving DHS headquarters out of her neighborhood so she would not have poor people in her neighborhood.
Mike - East Falls Church
FYI, Marymount's Chief Lobbyist Barbara Favola (who reportedly lives in Lyon Village) and non-County resident County Manager Barbara Donnellan are busy twisting arms of EFC and Williamsburg "Community Leaders" to get them to agree to a deal whereby they allow our residential neighborhood to be destroyed by traffic and noise from the proposed Marymount-O'Connell Sports Complex. This is similar to what they did to the neighborhoods around Crystal City last year to get the "Community Leaders" to sign on to the REITs' redevelopment of Crystal City. The activity is being facilitated by the Walsh,Colucci law firm, whose managing partners, Martin and Nan Walsh, live in McLean, and were responsible for the ongoing Federal Realty-Shirlington traffic and parking fiasco. It appears that this item will be deferred until March (it's up for discussion at Saturday's County Board meeting).
It's obvious to me that the Arlington County Board could care less about the right of EFC and Williamsburg residents to have peace an quiet in their homes and neighborhoods, and is only interested in another deal for another special interest group. Of course, as usual, they will not suffer the consequences of their actions. Barbara Favola spent millions of dollars of scarce tax dollars moving DHS headquarters out of her neighborhood so she would not have poor people in her neighborhood.
Mike - East Falls Church
Friday
Assessments Are Posted...Zimmy's Home Under Assessed Again
Hey, Yupette,
Real estate assessments for 2011 were posted today (Sorry, Scotty, Yupette scooped ya again). What is my tiny 1500 sq foot condo assessed for - $420,000. What is Chairman Zimmerman's nice big single family home in Douglas Park assessed for - $516,800. Zimmy does it yet again. Hey, also looks like the Assessor screwed up and raised Barbara Favola's home assessment. How did that happen?
fairgrrl
Real estate assessments for 2011 were posted today (Sorry, Scotty, Yupette scooped ya again). What is my tiny 1500 sq foot condo assessed for - $420,000. What is Chairman Zimmerman's nice big single family home in Douglas Park assessed for - $516,800. Zimmy does it yet again. Hey, also looks like the Assessor screwed up and raised Barbara Favola's home assessment. How did that happen?
fairgrrl
EFC Residents - Back to the Drawing Board
Hello Yupette,
I am a very angry EFC homeowner of a single-family home and I will not go along with Zimmerman and his sleazy Planning Commissioner Nancy Hunt and the lawyers, Reits, and County Staffers, Chamber of Commerce Enablers like McCaffrey, and so-called Community Leaders, like Mike Nardolilly, (many, if not most of these people don't even live in Arlington County) trying to impose another Shirlington on my neighborhood.
What we want is to replace old buildings with new buildings that preserve the residential character of East Falls Church. Is that too much to ask? Only if you are part of an out-of-control County Government that counts one of its economic development "successes" requiring Trader Joes to only pay $500,000 in graft to open a new store in Clarendon.
PLEASE, EFC Homeowners, attend the so-called EFC "Planning" Meeting next Tuesday and prevent our community from being destroyed by Zimmerman and his lackeys in County Government who are enabling the REITs to take over Arlington, neighborhood by neighborhood.
Kim - EFC
I am a very angry EFC homeowner of a single-family home and I will not go along with Zimmerman and his sleazy Planning Commissioner Nancy Hunt and the lawyers, Reits, and County Staffers, Chamber of Commerce Enablers like McCaffrey, and so-called Community Leaders, like Mike Nardolilly, (many, if not most of these people don't even live in Arlington County) trying to impose another Shirlington on my neighborhood.
What we want is to replace old buildings with new buildings that preserve the residential character of East Falls Church. Is that too much to ask? Only if you are part of an out-of-control County Government that counts one of its economic development "successes" requiring Trader Joes to only pay $500,000 in graft to open a new store in Clarendon.
PLEASE, EFC Homeowners, attend the so-called EFC "Planning" Meeting next Tuesday and prevent our community from being destroyed by Zimmerman and his lackeys in County Government who are enabling the REITs to take over Arlington, neighborhood by neighborhood.
Kim - EFC
Thursday
EFC Residents Have the Right to Tranquility in Our Homes
Hello, Ms. Yupette,
Did you know that the Code of Virginia affords Virginians the absolute right to tranquility in our homes? It's in the Code of Virginia, Sections 18.2-418 and 18.2-419. Pretty specific that a group can't assemble near our homes and make a lot of noise. So why is Barbara Favola allowing this to happen in our Tuckahoe neighborhood to benefit her employer, Marymount University? She was elected to enforce the laws of Virginia, not the wants of her employer, for whom she is Chief Lobbyist.
Tuckahoe ES Parent
Did you know that the Code of Virginia affords Virginians the absolute right to tranquility in our homes? It's in the Code of Virginia, Sections 18.2-418 and 18.2-419. Pretty specific that a group can't assemble near our homes and make a lot of noise. So why is Barbara Favola allowing this to happen in our Tuckahoe neighborhood to benefit her employer, Marymount University? She was elected to enforce the laws of Virginia, not the wants of her employer, for whom she is Chief Lobbyist.
Tuckahoe ES Parent
Wednesday
"We Are Only Following Orders"
Hello, Yupette,
I called a person on Arlington's Planning Staff last week and talked with him about the EFC - Westover - Williamsburg give-way to Marymount and Bishop O'Connell HS. He was sympathetic (actually even lives in Arlington) but stated at the end of our conversation: "You have to understand. We are only following the County Board's orders. If you want to have any recourse about this project you should talk with Barbara Favola".
Dennis - EFC
I called a person on Arlington's Planning Staff last week and talked with him about the EFC - Westover - Williamsburg give-way to Marymount and Bishop O'Connell HS. He was sympathetic (actually even lives in Arlington) but stated at the end of our conversation: "You have to understand. We are only following the County Board's orders. If you want to have any recourse about this project you should talk with Barbara Favola".
Dennis - EFC
Tuesday
Citizens Demand McCaffrey Resign from Arlington Chamber's BOD
Hello, Yupette,
Like many other Arlington residents, I was shaken by the letter that appeared on this week's Arlington Sun Gazette opinion pages. Obviously, Sun Gazette Editor Scott McCaffrey has a massive conflict of interest between being Managing Editor of the SG and his position on the Executive Committee of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
Scott has ignored any criticism about this matter and the only response he's published on his blog stated that the SG is "not a reputable newspaper" but a real estate supplement with Scott's news and views attached.
You sure could have fooled me, and I'm a former Civic Federation Delegate. The CivFed and all the political candidates have taken Scott and his civic news and political endorsements very seriously over the years.
It is time for Mr. McCaffrey to immediately resign from the Arlington Chamber's Board of Directors. Moreover, if the Sun Gazette's parent corporation, American Community Newspapers, had any pretense of actually being "for the community" it would have not allowed Mr. McCaffrey to pursue his real estate and chamber of commerce interests against the community's interests, and would have brought in a new Managing Editor for the Sun Gazette when American Community Newspapers shed it's irresponsible managers and emerged from bankruptcy last year.
Westover Resident
Like many other Arlington residents, I was shaken by the letter that appeared on this week's Arlington Sun Gazette opinion pages. Obviously, Sun Gazette Editor Scott McCaffrey has a massive conflict of interest between being Managing Editor of the SG and his position on the Executive Committee of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
Scott has ignored any criticism about this matter and the only response he's published on his blog stated that the SG is "not a reputable newspaper" but a real estate supplement with Scott's news and views attached.
You sure could have fooled me, and I'm a former Civic Federation Delegate. The CivFed and all the political candidates have taken Scott and his civic news and political endorsements very seriously over the years.
It is time for Mr. McCaffrey to immediately resign from the Arlington Chamber's Board of Directors. Moreover, if the Sun Gazette's parent corporation, American Community Newspapers, had any pretense of actually being "for the community" it would have not allowed Mr. McCaffrey to pursue his real estate and chamber of commerce interests against the community's interests, and would have brought in a new Managing Editor for the Sun Gazette when American Community Newspapers shed it's irresponsible managers and emerged from bankruptcy last year.
Westover Resident
I'm Gay...And I Don't Like Jay
Hello Ms. Yupette,
I have to ask the question after living here five years. What is Arlington to the gay men and lesbians who (by all indications) are the critical decision makers - Neverland on the Potomac?
I am sick and tired of seeing a sexual identity become a lifestyle, a cult, a religion, a religious cult.
Why do I have to conform to whatever Jay Fisette and the people around him decide is in my best interests? Wasn't he elected to serve everyone's interests, Democrat, Republican, gay, not gay, whatever?
Thanks for this blog.
Donald
I have to ask the question after living here five years. What is Arlington to the gay men and lesbians who (by all indications) are the critical decision makers - Neverland on the Potomac?
I am sick and tired of seeing a sexual identity become a lifestyle, a cult, a religion, a religious cult.
Why do I have to conform to whatever Jay Fisette and the people around him decide is in my best interests? Wasn't he elected to serve everyone's interests, Democrat, Republican, gay, not gay, whatever?
Thanks for this blog.
Donald
Monday
Thumbs Down to Sun Gazette for Promoting O'Leary's Environmentally Destructive Car Tax Decal Program
Hello Yupette,
I am just amazed that the County Board and the local media, specifically the Arlington Sun Gazette, would endorse County Treasurer Frank O'Leary's car tax decal program. This program unnecessarily generates at least 10 tons of plastic and paper waste every year. I have to believe that Jay Fisette's citizens environmental committee is another County Board charade for allowing this kind of environmental damage to continue. Where are the Republican and Green parties? The Arlington Green Party is keen to keep plastic out of the environment. The Republican Party is always complaining about wasted tax dollars. I guess they must be sitting around watching the NFL playoffs together and carping about County Government during commercials.
Joan22207
I am just amazed that the County Board and the local media, specifically the Arlington Sun Gazette, would endorse County Treasurer Frank O'Leary's car tax decal program. This program unnecessarily generates at least 10 tons of plastic and paper waste every year. I have to believe that Jay Fisette's citizens environmental committee is another County Board charade for allowing this kind of environmental damage to continue. Where are the Republican and Green parties? The Arlington Green Party is keen to keep plastic out of the environment. The Republican Party is always complaining about wasted tax dollars. I guess they must be sitting around watching the NFL playoffs together and carping about County Government during commercials.
Joan22207
Sunday
Book Review of “All the Devils are Here
The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis”
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here” - William Shakespeare - The Tempest
This brilliantly written book should be required reading for any registered voter in the USA. With all the misinformation “out there” about who and/or what caused the financial crisis, it is important to know where to go for answers. This book is “The Source.” The authors are Bethany McLean and Joseph Nocera. McLean was co author of the highly regarded book on the Enron crisis, “The Smartest Guys in the Room.” Nocera is an acclaimed financial writer for the New York Times. The authors’ mission is to tell the story accurately and honestly with no particular political agenda, to explain the complex in a way that can be understood by those not steeped in Wall Street “speak,” and to provide insight into the personalities and characteristics of the major players. The level of research evident in the book indicates to me that the authors were already well connected before they began their research for the book.
Why is the issue of the financial system meltdown important to those who follow the auto industry, and other sectors of the economy? In the late 1970's, consumption represented about 60% of the total economy. 30 years later, consumption was up to about 70%, despite the fact that the income of the middle class had remained stagnant during that time span. How did this occur? The additional consumption funding came from credit fueled primarily by “securitization.” Wall Street’s version of “securitization” had been invented and had grown to 40% of the total credit market by 2008. This expansion of credit fueled economic growth. When the mortgage backed securities market collapsed, it took down the entire securitization market including, credit cards, student loans, commercial loans, auto loans, dealer floor plan, and many other forms of credit. Losing a major portion of available auto credit and funding for dealer floor plan and working capital, pushed already shaky auto manufacturers over the brink, as auto sales slid and dealers dropped like flies. The resulting vicious cycle took the economy downward into recession. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was all that stood between the economy and a major depression.
“Securitization” was the process that “allowed mortgages to be converted into a “bond” by combining numerous mortgages into one huge financial instrument. First, Wall Street invented “tranching” to divide up the securities into segments, typically three, based on the inherent risk each tranche entailed. This protected the highest risk level tranch from loss by paying off defaults from the lower rated tranches first. The next step was to devise “derivative” contracts to “insure” the risk. Based on derivative “insurance” like credit default swaps, Wall Street was now able to convince regulators that it was not necessary to “reserve capital” as a hedge against default claims. Now, if only they could get these securities rated AAA by rating agencies like Fitch and Moody, Wall Street nirvana could be achieved. Now junk could be sold around the world as high yield AAA rated securities. AAA is the rating equal to the rating of Treasury bills. To say the least, billions of dollars were made, huge bonuses paid, and many innocent people bilked.
Guarantors of risk were not required to have the money to make good if their bets didn’t pay off. Yet, traditional depository banks were still required to reserve capital, as had been the norm ongoing. This rendered traditional banks to be uncompetitive UNLES they sold their own mortgage originations to Wall Street. If a depository bank originated a mortgage, it could sell that mortgage to Wall Street, buy it back as a part of a AAA rated security, and avoid the “capital reserve requirement. Rating agencies like Fitch and Moody were paid by the Wall Street banks whose products they rated.
Junk mortgages could be assembled into a MBS (Mortgaged Backed Security), tranched into 3 segments based on “risk,” “insured” with a Credit Default Swap contract where no capital reservation was required (it was assumed that Wall Street would not take risks not in their own interests), obtain a AAA rating to represent the securities’ safety as the highest grade, which allowed them to be purchased by entities limited to AAA investments by law, like pension funds, and sold around the world . Profits were privatized on Wall Street as huge profits were made and mind boggling bonuses paid to executives. The risk, however, was socialized to U.S. taxpayers.
The U.S. government, in the form of the George W. Bush administration and it’s Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, was put into the position of allowing the world financial system to collapse or step in with TARP. Fortunately, Congress approved TARP, which despite its imperfections, saved the world from an incomprehensible disaster. After all, it was the U.S. government’s lack of oversight that stood by and let it happen in the first place. Other countries were looking to the Americans as their own economies were severely impacted by the actions of American investment bankers.
Governments are generally expected to protect it’s citizens from avoidable disasters. The Republican Party found this out after the Great Depression. Democrats paid a price after Jimmie Carter. Even President Barack Obama has been blamed by some despite the fact he had nothing to do with the disaster, other than casting some votes while a Senator. Unfortunately, many voters lack the ability to grasp complex issues, and fall prey to simplistic explanations.
In 1979, the Wall Street version of securitization was invented and launched by Merrill Lynch. Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) in the form of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc., had securitized the first mortgages in previous years. The GSEs were given objectives of how many low down payment low income loans they should make at a minimum by Congress. The compensation packages of the executives of the GSEs were predicated on these objectives. Interestingly, the GSEs were already making these types of loans at a much higher rate than the objectives they were given, making huge bonuses a given. Further, the GSEs received credit just for purchasing AAA MBSs containing them from Wall Street. The GSEs thought that was safer than holding the paper themselves. In fact, Wall Street had rendered the GSEs superfluous.
Wall Street was allowed to create a “betting market” on almost anything. The problem was not so much deregulation, but a refusal to regulate at all. During the period of time Wall Street was “rocking and rolling” American home ownership increased only 1.7%. Yes, we have paid a terrible price for such a small increase in the percentage of those who get to experience the American dream. Yes, mortgage originators “approved” huge numbers of loans with little chance of them being paid back. And they did this because they were never going to hold the paper anyway, just as an auto dealer sells auto loans to his/her banks. It was all being sold to Wall Street because they could take the lousy paper, turn in into AAA rated securities, and sell it to anyone. But the real problem was with home refinances and home equity lines of credit.
So who caused the meltdown and who were the players? In 2008, I wrote that the meltdown was caused by an “unholy alignment between liberal and conservative political causes.” This was after watching hours of testimony on CSPAN and studying the subject intensely. After two years of additional study, including watching Hank Paulson, the Bush Treasury Secretary and author of TARP, testify before Congress under oath, I have adjusted my thinking. But my own personal opinion is not important. All of us have to satisfy ourselves. For those who want to believe the meltdown of the financial system was caused by the overly altruistic “holding a gun” on lenders, forcing them to make loans they knew would never be paid back, you will be disappointed. It’s a non issue.
Some major “players,” their roles, and some resources are listed as follows:
“All the Devils are Here,” Nocera and Mclean
“On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System,” By Henry Paulson”
The last chapter of Bush speech writer David Frum’s recent book: “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again”
“Overhauled” by Steve Rattner
George W. Bush speech on American home ownership from 2002
http://autosandeconomics.blogspot.com/
George W. Bush - consciously worked to prevent anything from slowling the housing juggernaut that was fueling the economy. He also had the guts to stand up to his own party’s ideologues to move to save the economy from destruction by proposing and passing TARP along with his Treasury Secretary. Moved against Congress to bail out GM and Chrysler by using TARP funds after Congress had turned down a bailout package.
Alan Greenspan - a disciple of Ayn Rand, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, fought regulation of derivatives at every turn
Larry Summers - under the Clinton administration was an opponent of regulating derivatives. Teamed with Robert Rubin to squelch Brooksey Born’s bid to regulate derivatives. At the time, Born was Chairperson of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. As a member of Barack Obama’s administration, Summers was a key player in the bailout of GM and Chrysler, and the direction of many TARP funds.
Robert Rubin - Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton - worked to quell efforts to regulate derivatives
Brooksey Born - Chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission - moved to regulate derivatives, and was squelched by Rubin and Summers.
J P Morgan - invented the credit default swap by paying the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to assume it’s risk in their exposure to Exxon, which tapped 4.9 billion of it’s 5 billion dollar credit line after it’s notorious oil spill disaster. It never occurred to anyone to ensure the EBRD had the funds to make good in the case of a default. It turns out it didn’t make any difference. Years later, the were many claims to be paid and only the U.S. taxpayer to pay them.
Moodys, Standard and Poor, and Fitch Rating - Were paid by the same companies who’s products they were supposed to rate. Enabled Wall Street to sell junk as AAA level investments.
The Three Amigos - Lewis Ranieri - Salomon Brothers bond trader - “I wasn’t out to invent the biggest floating craps game of all time, but that’s what happened.” David Maxwell - CEO of Fannie Mae, formed an uneasy alliance with Ranieri and Wall Street. Larry Fink - After creating some of the first mortgage backed securities he later served as a key government advisor.
Blythe Masters - helped invent the credit default swap for J P Morgan
Joe Cassanno - Ran the Financial Products division for American Insurance Group (AIG) - Began selling credit default swaps (CDS) on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) “Collateral triggers” built into AIG CDSs helped bring the company down.
Phil and Wendy Gramm - As Senator and later as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Phil blocked attempts at regulation at every turn. Wendy Gramm, a PHD economist, was installed as Chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by Geroge H W Bush when it’s current Chairman, Mark Brickell, was moving to regulate derivatives. The move stopped the move to regulate in its tracks.
Roland Arnall - Appointed to the post of Ambassador to the Netherlands by George W Bush while his company, Ameriquest, a major sub prime mortgage “lender,” was a leader in blatantly deceptive lending practices. At one point, a group of ex auto business F&I managers operated a consulting company, specializing in showing fledgling mortgage brokers how to falsify and manipulate documents. They went so far as to have a web site devoted to creating phoney pay stubs, tax returns, job letters, etc. In fact, Wall Street wasn’t really concerned about documentation, as they were able to turn lousy mortgages into AAA rated investments under most circumstances.
President Barack Obama - Was duped and gave Arnall a pass during Senate questioning regarding Arnall’s ambassadorship because a mutual friend, Deval Patrick, the current Governor of Massachusetts, sat on the Ameriquest Board of Directors. His administration inherited the economy in a dreadful condition, although without the strong and decisive action of George W Bush, Hank Paulson at Treasury, and Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve Bank, things would have been much worse.
These are only a few of the personalities and characters involved. Before a reader allows themselves to be intimidated by the prospect of not understanding everything in the book, please understand that the people perpetrating these evils on the world didn’t fully understand what they were doing themselves. People don’t usually buy books about business for entertainment purposes, but I couldn’t put this one down. It read like a riveting“who dunnit.” Don’t pass up the opportunity!
Ruggles
The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis”
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here” - William Shakespeare - The Tempest
This brilliantly written book should be required reading for any registered voter in the USA. With all the misinformation “out there” about who and/or what caused the financial crisis, it is important to know where to go for answers. This book is “The Source.” The authors are Bethany McLean and Joseph Nocera. McLean was co author of the highly regarded book on the Enron crisis, “The Smartest Guys in the Room.” Nocera is an acclaimed financial writer for the New York Times. The authors’ mission is to tell the story accurately and honestly with no particular political agenda, to explain the complex in a way that can be understood by those not steeped in Wall Street “speak,” and to provide insight into the personalities and characteristics of the major players. The level of research evident in the book indicates to me that the authors were already well connected before they began their research for the book.
Why is the issue of the financial system meltdown important to those who follow the auto industry, and other sectors of the economy? In the late 1970's, consumption represented about 60% of the total economy. 30 years later, consumption was up to about 70%, despite the fact that the income of the middle class had remained stagnant during that time span. How did this occur? The additional consumption funding came from credit fueled primarily by “securitization.” Wall Street’s version of “securitization” had been invented and had grown to 40% of the total credit market by 2008. This expansion of credit fueled economic growth. When the mortgage backed securities market collapsed, it took down the entire securitization market including, credit cards, student loans, commercial loans, auto loans, dealer floor plan, and many other forms of credit. Losing a major portion of available auto credit and funding for dealer floor plan and working capital, pushed already shaky auto manufacturers over the brink, as auto sales slid and dealers dropped like flies. The resulting vicious cycle took the economy downward into recession. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was all that stood between the economy and a major depression.
“Securitization” was the process that “allowed mortgages to be converted into a “bond” by combining numerous mortgages into one huge financial instrument. First, Wall Street invented “tranching” to divide up the securities into segments, typically three, based on the inherent risk each tranche entailed. This protected the highest risk level tranch from loss by paying off defaults from the lower rated tranches first. The next step was to devise “derivative” contracts to “insure” the risk. Based on derivative “insurance” like credit default swaps, Wall Street was now able to convince regulators that it was not necessary to “reserve capital” as a hedge against default claims. Now, if only they could get these securities rated AAA by rating agencies like Fitch and Moody, Wall Street nirvana could be achieved. Now junk could be sold around the world as high yield AAA rated securities. AAA is the rating equal to the rating of Treasury bills. To say the least, billions of dollars were made, huge bonuses paid, and many innocent people bilked.
Guarantors of risk were not required to have the money to make good if their bets didn’t pay off. Yet, traditional depository banks were still required to reserve capital, as had been the norm ongoing. This rendered traditional banks to be uncompetitive UNLES they sold their own mortgage originations to Wall Street. If a depository bank originated a mortgage, it could sell that mortgage to Wall Street, buy it back as a part of a AAA rated security, and avoid the “capital reserve requirement. Rating agencies like Fitch and Moody were paid by the Wall Street banks whose products they rated.
Junk mortgages could be assembled into a MBS (Mortgaged Backed Security), tranched into 3 segments based on “risk,” “insured” with a Credit Default Swap contract where no capital reservation was required (it was assumed that Wall Street would not take risks not in their own interests), obtain a AAA rating to represent the securities’ safety as the highest grade, which allowed them to be purchased by entities limited to AAA investments by law, like pension funds, and sold around the world . Profits were privatized on Wall Street as huge profits were made and mind boggling bonuses paid to executives. The risk, however, was socialized to U.S. taxpayers.
The U.S. government, in the form of the George W. Bush administration and it’s Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, was put into the position of allowing the world financial system to collapse or step in with TARP. Fortunately, Congress approved TARP, which despite its imperfections, saved the world from an incomprehensible disaster. After all, it was the U.S. government’s lack of oversight that stood by and let it happen in the first place. Other countries were looking to the Americans as their own economies were severely impacted by the actions of American investment bankers.
Governments are generally expected to protect it’s citizens from avoidable disasters. The Republican Party found this out after the Great Depression. Democrats paid a price after Jimmie Carter. Even President Barack Obama has been blamed by some despite the fact he had nothing to do with the disaster, other than casting some votes while a Senator. Unfortunately, many voters lack the ability to grasp complex issues, and fall prey to simplistic explanations.
In 1979, the Wall Street version of securitization was invented and launched by Merrill Lynch. Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) in the form of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc., had securitized the first mortgages in previous years. The GSEs were given objectives of how many low down payment low income loans they should make at a minimum by Congress. The compensation packages of the executives of the GSEs were predicated on these objectives. Interestingly, the GSEs were already making these types of loans at a much higher rate than the objectives they were given, making huge bonuses a given. Further, the GSEs received credit just for purchasing AAA MBSs containing them from Wall Street. The GSEs thought that was safer than holding the paper themselves. In fact, Wall Street had rendered the GSEs superfluous.
Wall Street was allowed to create a “betting market” on almost anything. The problem was not so much deregulation, but a refusal to regulate at all. During the period of time Wall Street was “rocking and rolling” American home ownership increased only 1.7%. Yes, we have paid a terrible price for such a small increase in the percentage of those who get to experience the American dream. Yes, mortgage originators “approved” huge numbers of loans with little chance of them being paid back. And they did this because they were never going to hold the paper anyway, just as an auto dealer sells auto loans to his/her banks. It was all being sold to Wall Street because they could take the lousy paper, turn in into AAA rated securities, and sell it to anyone. But the real problem was with home refinances and home equity lines of credit.
So who caused the meltdown and who were the players? In 2008, I wrote that the meltdown was caused by an “unholy alignment between liberal and conservative political causes.” This was after watching hours of testimony on CSPAN and studying the subject intensely. After two years of additional study, including watching Hank Paulson, the Bush Treasury Secretary and author of TARP, testify before Congress under oath, I have adjusted my thinking. But my own personal opinion is not important. All of us have to satisfy ourselves. For those who want to believe the meltdown of the financial system was caused by the overly altruistic “holding a gun” on lenders, forcing them to make loans they knew would never be paid back, you will be disappointed. It’s a non issue.
Some major “players,” their roles, and some resources are listed as follows:
“All the Devils are Here,” Nocera and Mclean
“On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System,” By Henry Paulson”
The last chapter of Bush speech writer David Frum’s recent book: “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again”
“Overhauled” by Steve Rattner
George W. Bush speech on American home ownership from 2002
http://autosandeconomics.blogspot.com/
George W. Bush - consciously worked to prevent anything from slowling the housing juggernaut that was fueling the economy. He also had the guts to stand up to his own party’s ideologues to move to save the economy from destruction by proposing and passing TARP along with his Treasury Secretary. Moved against Congress to bail out GM and Chrysler by using TARP funds after Congress had turned down a bailout package.
Alan Greenspan - a disciple of Ayn Rand, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, fought regulation of derivatives at every turn
Larry Summers - under the Clinton administration was an opponent of regulating derivatives. Teamed with Robert Rubin to squelch Brooksey Born’s bid to regulate derivatives. At the time, Born was Chairperson of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. As a member of Barack Obama’s administration, Summers was a key player in the bailout of GM and Chrysler, and the direction of many TARP funds.
Robert Rubin - Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton - worked to quell efforts to regulate derivatives
Brooksey Born - Chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission - moved to regulate derivatives, and was squelched by Rubin and Summers.
J P Morgan - invented the credit default swap by paying the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to assume it’s risk in their exposure to Exxon, which tapped 4.9 billion of it’s 5 billion dollar credit line after it’s notorious oil spill disaster. It never occurred to anyone to ensure the EBRD had the funds to make good in the case of a default. It turns out it didn’t make any difference. Years later, the were many claims to be paid and only the U.S. taxpayer to pay them.
Moodys, Standard and Poor, and Fitch Rating - Were paid by the same companies who’s products they were supposed to rate. Enabled Wall Street to sell junk as AAA level investments.
The Three Amigos - Lewis Ranieri - Salomon Brothers bond trader - “I wasn’t out to invent the biggest floating craps game of all time, but that’s what happened.” David Maxwell - CEO of Fannie Mae, formed an uneasy alliance with Ranieri and Wall Street. Larry Fink - After creating some of the first mortgage backed securities he later served as a key government advisor.
Blythe Masters - helped invent the credit default swap for J P Morgan
Joe Cassanno - Ran the Financial Products division for American Insurance Group (AIG) - Began selling credit default swaps (CDS) on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) “Collateral triggers” built into AIG CDSs helped bring the company down.
Phil and Wendy Gramm - As Senator and later as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Phil blocked attempts at regulation at every turn. Wendy Gramm, a PHD economist, was installed as Chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by Geroge H W Bush when it’s current Chairman, Mark Brickell, was moving to regulate derivatives. The move stopped the move to regulate in its tracks.
Roland Arnall - Appointed to the post of Ambassador to the Netherlands by George W Bush while his company, Ameriquest, a major sub prime mortgage “lender,” was a leader in blatantly deceptive lending practices. At one point, a group of ex auto business F&I managers operated a consulting company, specializing in showing fledgling mortgage brokers how to falsify and manipulate documents. They went so far as to have a web site devoted to creating phoney pay stubs, tax returns, job letters, etc. In fact, Wall Street wasn’t really concerned about documentation, as they were able to turn lousy mortgages into AAA rated investments under most circumstances.
President Barack Obama - Was duped and gave Arnall a pass during Senate questioning regarding Arnall’s ambassadorship because a mutual friend, Deval Patrick, the current Governor of Massachusetts, sat on the Ameriquest Board of Directors. His administration inherited the economy in a dreadful condition, although without the strong and decisive action of George W Bush, Hank Paulson at Treasury, and Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve Bank, things would have been much worse.
These are only a few of the personalities and characters involved. Before a reader allows themselves to be intimidated by the prospect of not understanding everything in the book, please understand that the people perpetrating these evils on the world didn’t fully understand what they were doing themselves. People don’t usually buy books about business for entertainment purposes, but I couldn’t put this one down. It read like a riveting“who dunnit.” Don’t pass up the opportunity!
Ruggles
Saturday
Should 'Kris Von Zimmerman' be the Next Colonel Klink?
Now that Chris Zimmerman aka 'Kris Von Zimmerman' has resigned from the WMATA Board of Directors he has all kinds of time to 'pursue other activities". I and others who live on Columbia Pike believe Chris would be better suited to be the next Colonel Klink in a "Hogan's Heroes" remake than the Reitsfuhrer of Transportation in Arlington County. We also think that "Gourmet Jay" Fisette would make a great Colonel Hogan. Thanks for posting this on the AY blog.
Pikester
Pikester
Friday
Time to Sue the REITs, County Government, Law Firms, "Community Leaders" for Destroying Neighborhoods
Hello, Yupette,
I just saw the latest so-called "planning" that County Planning Staff (and they don't live in Arlington) proposes to inflict on East Falls Church. Another Shirlington. Just as former County Manager Mike Brown predicted. Another "plaza" that will serve as a "gathering place" for the thousands of new EFC in-fill residents who will overwhelm our schools, playgrounds, parks, and streets. No new open space for parks. The Marymount-O'Connell steal is a harbinger of the gradual destruction of EFC and Williamsburg by the County Board and the REITs, led by "Reitsfuhrer" Zimmerman.
Time to sue the REITs, County Goverment, Attorneys representing the REITs, and County Board-appointed so-called "Community Leaders" for aiding and abetting the destruction of our quiet suburban neighborhoods.
What the hell are we, anyway? Suburban neighborhoods or "mega-infill development opportunities" for out-of-state REITS? Who do Zimmerman and the County Board actually represent? Not us, obviously.
EFC Homeowner
I just saw the latest so-called "planning" that County Planning Staff (and they don't live in Arlington) proposes to inflict on East Falls Church. Another Shirlington. Just as former County Manager Mike Brown predicted. Another "plaza" that will serve as a "gathering place" for the thousands of new EFC in-fill residents who will overwhelm our schools, playgrounds, parks, and streets. No new open space for parks. The Marymount-O'Connell steal is a harbinger of the gradual destruction of EFC and Williamsburg by the County Board and the REITs, led by "Reitsfuhrer" Zimmerman.
Time to sue the REITs, County Goverment, Attorneys representing the REITs, and County Board-appointed so-called "Community Leaders" for aiding and abetting the destruction of our quiet suburban neighborhoods.
What the hell are we, anyway? Suburban neighborhoods or "mega-infill development opportunities" for out-of-state REITS? Who do Zimmerman and the County Board actually represent? Not us, obviously.
EFC Homeowner
Thursday
Arlington is Anti Knowledge, Learning, Science
Hello Yupette,
I am appalled by the lack of interest in renovating the Planetarium. Planetary Science has become a hot field at NASA over the past 15 years. Isn't the First Lady of Arlington, Mrs. Zimmerman, employed by NASA? You would think that NASA headquarters employees who live in Arlington would be delighted to take the lead in renovating the Planetarium.
But it's not just the Planetarium. Arlington County Government is anti-knowledge and anti-learning. There is always plenty of money for sports and recreation, but branch library hours are cut back and branch libraries are constantly threatened with closure. Moreover, about 80% of what's on branch library shelves is fiction.
There is little or no discussion about what's happening elsewhere - whether it's on-site solar or MAGLEV trains. Arlington is a knowledge and learning backwater. Anyone else notice that we seem to be stuck in 1985?
Kristine - 22206
I am appalled by the lack of interest in renovating the Planetarium. Planetary Science has become a hot field at NASA over the past 15 years. Isn't the First Lady of Arlington, Mrs. Zimmerman, employed by NASA? You would think that NASA headquarters employees who live in Arlington would be delighted to take the lead in renovating the Planetarium.
But it's not just the Planetarium. Arlington County Government is anti-knowledge and anti-learning. There is always plenty of money for sports and recreation, but branch library hours are cut back and branch libraries are constantly threatened with closure. Moreover, about 80% of what's on branch library shelves is fiction.
There is little or no discussion about what's happening elsewhere - whether it's on-site solar or MAGLEV trains. Arlington is a knowledge and learning backwater. Anyone else notice that we seem to be stuck in 1985?
Kristine - 22206
Wednesday
Zimmerman to Raise Taxes and Fees on Business Again in 2011
Hi Yupette,
Whatever "Reitsfuhrer" Zimmerman says about being "friendly" to businesses fact is he and the County Board are getting ready to raise fees and taxes again to pay for their extravagant projects and give-aways to their pet special interests. Zimmerman's charade about being "business friendly" is just a ploy to keep tapped-out small companies like mine from moving to a business-friendly location. Shame on the so-called Chamber of Commerce and its media shills (you know who you are, Scotty) for going along.
Kenneth
Whatever "Reitsfuhrer" Zimmerman says about being "friendly" to businesses fact is he and the County Board are getting ready to raise fees and taxes again to pay for their extravagant projects and give-aways to their pet special interests. Zimmerman's charade about being "business friendly" is just a ploy to keep tapped-out small companies like mine from moving to a business-friendly location. Shame on the so-called Chamber of Commerce and its media shills (you know who you are, Scotty) for going along.
Kenneth
Tuesday
Favola Lobbying for Marymount-O'Connell, Ignores EFC-Williamsburg Neighborhood
Hello, Yupette,
I was very unhappy to learn last night that Barbara Favola is doing everything possible to get our neighborhoods to go along with her employer, Marymount University's, efforts to destroy my neighborhood (I live close to Bishop O'Connell High School) with team sports played until 11 PM on lighted fields at Bishop O'Connell. Barbara is reportedly being paid $100,000 per year by Marymount to be it's chief lobbyist and is constantly on the telephone and in meetings either at Marymount or at the County Board offices with Walsh-Colucci, which represents Marymount, or with EFC and Williamsburg "community leaders". Only time Barbara is ever seen in my neighborhood is when she's running for re-election and she's looking for votes.
We are not Longbridge Park (where Barbara also made a deal with the County to benefit Marymount). We are a residential neighborhood and want to remain one. If Barbara wants to be a full-time lobbyist for Marymount it's time for her to resign from the County Board.
Mark - Tuckahoe
I was very unhappy to learn last night that Barbara Favola is doing everything possible to get our neighborhoods to go along with her employer, Marymount University's, efforts to destroy my neighborhood (I live close to Bishop O'Connell High School) with team sports played until 11 PM on lighted fields at Bishop O'Connell. Barbara is reportedly being paid $100,000 per year by Marymount to be it's chief lobbyist and is constantly on the telephone and in meetings either at Marymount or at the County Board offices with Walsh-Colucci, which represents Marymount, or with EFC and Williamsburg "community leaders". Only time Barbara is ever seen in my neighborhood is when she's running for re-election and she's looking for votes.
We are not Longbridge Park (where Barbara also made a deal with the County to benefit Marymount). We are a residential neighborhood and want to remain one. If Barbara wants to be a full-time lobbyist for Marymount it's time for her to resign from the County Board.
Mark - Tuckahoe
Monday
Zimmerman Likes Arlington Business Like Foxes Like Chickens
I'm a small 'boutique' business person in Ballston. Whatever Mr. Zimmerman says about making Arlington more conducive to small business, fact is that he and the County Board have as much sympathy for the problems of small business as foxes have for chickens. This is the same Chris Zimmerman who imposed a business improvement district on us in Ballston at the last County Board meeting.
Worst is the Chamber of Commerce that goes along with raptors like Zimmerman, Tejada, Hynes, Favola, and Fisette. Even worse are worthless so-called Chamber of Commerce boosters like McCafftonelli whose blurbs in support of Reitminister Zimmerman read like something out of a cheap detective novel.
All they want is more business taxes for their unnecessary and extravagant mega-projects. And giving corporate welfare to the sleazy weasels who run the out-of-state REITs.
T.Y. - 22201
Worst is the Chamber of Commerce that goes along with raptors like Zimmerman, Tejada, Hynes, Favola, and Fisette. Even worse are worthless so-called Chamber of Commerce boosters like McCafftonelli whose blurbs in support of Reitminister Zimmerman read like something out of a cheap detective novel.
All they want is more business taxes for their unnecessary and extravagant mega-projects. And giving corporate welfare to the sleazy weasels who run the out-of-state REITs.
T.Y. - 22201
Saturday
Zimmerman's 'Priorities' for 2011 - Massive Megalomaniacal Spending
Hello, Yupette,
Anyone listen closely to Chris Zimmerman's list of "priorities" he stated he wants to accomplish over the next 12 months during his County Board speech today? The f-ing guy is a megalomaniac. He wants to spend approximately $2 billion during the next year, largely on his vanity projects like the stupid trolleys for the Pike and Crystal City. Also, every other vanity project he and the other County Board members and County Staff and the Special Interests can dream up. Where's he going to get the money? From Jim Moran, who will be sitting on a back bench and told to shut the f-- up by the Tea Partiers whenever he gets up to ask for more earmarks for this wealthy congressional district? I don't think so!
Jeff
Anyone listen closely to Chris Zimmerman's list of "priorities" he stated he wants to accomplish over the next 12 months during his County Board speech today? The f-ing guy is a megalomaniac. He wants to spend approximately $2 billion during the next year, largely on his vanity projects like the stupid trolleys for the Pike and Crystal City. Also, every other vanity project he and the other County Board members and County Staff and the Special Interests can dream up. Where's he going to get the money? From Jim Moran, who will be sitting on a back bench and told to shut the f-- up by the Tea Partiers whenever he gets up to ask for more earmarks for this wealthy congressional district? I don't think so!
Jeff
Too Many Important Decisions Are Made by Non-Residents
Hello Yupette,
Thanks for this blog.
I live near Crystal City. As the result of our treatment by Arlington County during Crystal City "re-development" I would like to bring up an issue that deeply concerns me and others in my community - the extent to which people who don't live in Arlington make important planning and other decisions.
I was surprised to learn that County Manager, and long-time County employee, Barbara Donnellan, does not live in Arlington. Perhaps 80% of the people who make important planning, transportation, housing, education, public safety, recreation, and other decisions don't live here, pay taxes here, vote here (some get to send their kids to Arlington schools illegally but that's another topic).
Do you realize that when many important decisions are made by the County Board the only people doing the talking at County Board meetings who are Arlington residents are the five County Board members?
Regarding Crystal City, when this item came to the County Board the beneficiaries of the County Board's decisions were: an out-of-state REIT, its out-of-state law firm, and the county staff who don't live in Arlington, whose jobs depend on putting together these kinds of "deals". Oh, by the way, I understand the County Attorney who signs off on these deals is not an Arlington resident, nor is the County Board clerk who arranges all the meetings between the developers and County Board.
What are Arlington residents anyway? A bunch of fools who pay so others can play, and get rich at our expense.
Cathy
Thanks for this blog.
I live near Crystal City. As the result of our treatment by Arlington County during Crystal City "re-development" I would like to bring up an issue that deeply concerns me and others in my community - the extent to which people who don't live in Arlington make important planning and other decisions.
I was surprised to learn that County Manager, and long-time County employee, Barbara Donnellan, does not live in Arlington. Perhaps 80% of the people who make important planning, transportation, housing, education, public safety, recreation, and other decisions don't live here, pay taxes here, vote here (some get to send their kids to Arlington schools illegally but that's another topic).
Do you realize that when many important decisions are made by the County Board the only people doing the talking at County Board meetings who are Arlington residents are the five County Board members?
Regarding Crystal City, when this item came to the County Board the beneficiaries of the County Board's decisions were: an out-of-state REIT, its out-of-state law firm, and the county staff who don't live in Arlington, whose jobs depend on putting together these kinds of "deals". Oh, by the way, I understand the County Attorney who signs off on these deals is not an Arlington resident, nor is the County Board clerk who arranges all the meetings between the developers and County Board.
What are Arlington residents anyway? A bunch of fools who pay so others can play, and get rich at our expense.
Cathy
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