Crisis timeline

Here's a comment that was posted by "MilksTherapist" at the NewsOK.com story on the Senate report. Somebody 'flagged' it for some reason, so it does not appear there right now, but I managed to find it on Disqus. I'm posting it here to give some context for my earlier rant.

1998
•Atty. General Janet Reno, accuses mortgage industry of “redlining.“
•HUD, under Andrew Cuomo, changes lending rules to encourage loans to the poor, for “Community development.”
•Reno threatens banks and mortgage companies with “investigations” if they don’t comply.
•Banks begin making thousands of bad loans. EX: 0 down, no documentation of income, for 120% (1998 – 2008).
•Executives at Fannie receive huge bonuses if loan asset targets are met.
1999 - 2004
•Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick from the Clinton Administration are appointed to run Fannie Mae.
•Raines earns $100 million in bonuses
•Gorelick earns $75 million in bonuses
•In 2004, Enron collapses, congress investigates, Executives Jeff Skilling & Ken Lay go to jail for fraudulent bookkeeping.
•Congress responds with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requiring heavy regulation of corporations
2003
•President Bush proposes a new oversight committee to clean up Fannie Mae, but Democrats derail the effort.
1999 – 2005
•Fannie Mae pays millions to 354 Representatives and Senators from both parties, especially on oversight committees.
•Fannie Mae gives millions to Democratic causes, example: ACORN, now under investigation for widespread voter registration fraud.
•Who got the most money?
1.Sen. Christopher Dodd, (D-CT) Chairman of the Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs Committee, 2006 and onward.
2.Sen. Barack Obama, (D-IL) Federal Financial Management Committee
7. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, (D-PA) Chairman of the House Financial Services Sub-Committee on Capital Markets, Insurance, & GSE’s, 2006 and onward.
26. Rep. Barney Frank, (D-MA) Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, 2006 and onward.

Here are some additional resources from the Ayn Rand Center:

ARC's Response to the Financial Crisis

Scroll down the page for Yaron Brook's "The Financial Crisis: What Happened and Why"

The Financial Crisis: Causes and Possible Cures

These two lectures are just the tip of the iceberg. Much, much more is to be found at ARC's page.