Former SEC Chairman Goes On the Record

What is not being said is the fact that some accountant wearing green eye shades in a bank back office is not agreeing to negotiate with homeowners on staying in a house and after foreclosure is turning down valid offers for homes that the bank owns. We are small time real estate investors who purchase townhomes/condos, fix them up and rent or sell at a fair price. We have made numerous “all cash, quick close” fair offers on properties in the Denver area only to be turned down by lenders. Also, many HUD properties are sold only to “owner occupied” buyers; again limiting the pool of potential buyers.

NO BAILOUT!! I am tired of fixing problems created by the greedy and stupid. Who is looking out for the honest, hard working taxpayers who DO pay all their bills and live within their means?

Great Job Alexis, we really appreciate you keeping the real issues up front. The manipulative short selling over the past 14 months has been at the root of the financial crisis. The perfect storm was created by the FASB mark to market rule change, then the repeal of the uptick rule (Insanity) while then not enforcing delivery rules that allowed for aggressive Naked Shorting. The Uptick rule must be put back into place, and since Chris Cox doesn't want to admit he made a mistake, he should step down and let new leadership impliment the rules to stop this madness.

You know, I was paying off a 9.925 percent mortgage from 1990 until 2003. I was working hard, as well as my wife...with 2 children....I couldn't get a lower rate...didn't qualify....guess I wasn't working with ACORN or knew how to effectively threaten the lending establishment...then again... I'm an Anglo....they wouldn't take it too seriously...or was it because the government was shooting babies out of mothers arms. And burning people who were acting like some kind of a militant rockchrist..in Waco, TX. My parents died...and left me some money....not enough to trigger a taxman....but enough to pay off a modest mortgage... Now we want to give Barney Dodd Obama Hillary and his/her buds a $700 billion check...punish the bankers....yea...forgive the mortgagees...right on...death to the capitalist pigs with lipstick or chapstick, but what about the $300 Billion in July....and the $500 million annually to ACORN all signed into law by Bush.... (and maybe a little bit for his brother Neil...who can't be a banker anymore..because he's a felon and cheated the last big go round....thank you,...please) Yea, maybe lending them some money would be better....then we have a trail....not just a trial...not just a drama, but another chance to make the people always thinking that they are the ones who must have the handout...have to hand it back.... sharing and caring....Thanks McCain, Graham, Cohen, Boehner and others who have a clew....not just a big claw...or jaw....you awww. David Custis Kimball.....put me down for some burma shave on route 66

Wonderful how yesterday this deal was essentially dead because the public didn't like it. Then, after the Pres goes on TV to explain it at 9pm EST somehow this morning the TV pundits are already saying it will pass now that we understand it (as if we somehow didn't have the brain power and had to have it drawn in crayon). Here's a question: who did the overnight survey that determined Americans are now behind the bailout plan? Astonishing that in 8 short hours the whole of the country has come to a consensus that this bailout is what needs to be done - all while we slept! Sounds like the Nice Government Men were burning the midnight oil with their media mogul counterparts to develop the news headlines for the day. Priming the pump and greasing the skids to ram this thing down main streets throat whether we like it or not.

Alexis, Assuming the bailout is necessary, why isn't anyone in government or "the industry experts" talking about reducing the Federal budget by $700 billion to pay for this? Granted it is so large that you couldn't do it within one year's budget but we could freeze the 2008 budget and reduce 2009-2011 by $250 billion a year. It seems in this country that we so readily accept incurring debt as the norm that no one ever thinks in terms of reducing spending and rearranging priorities within the budget to pay for things we don't have the money for. Steve Hitt Piperton, TN

Thanks for the interview. It was informative. Somewhat thought provoking how previous SEC's are lining themselves up with the democrates. Definitely, interesting.

Are you aware that all the cash from personal investment accounts at Ameriprise Financial has been frozen? Even cash that was in IRA accounts? Cash in our checking accounts? Trusts? All the cash we have left is in Brokerage Account? They even took our pension money and social security and all desposits. It has been a shock and a nightmare. We are retired and do not have other income readily available to pay our monthly bills, mortgages. etc. We are not poor but we are living on our savings and pension and social security. We had just sold stock to "pay ourselves" for the next months and it is all frozen. No one ever mentioned that Ameriprise had dealings with Lehman Brothers and for this reason, the SEC froze all the personal investors cash. We have a mortgage that is from 2001 and 5.5% that we pay with extra and never even thought of foreclosure. No dealings. Nowe this will force us to sell more stock in a volatile market and who knows when or if we will ever get our money unfrozen. It is over $100,000. for us. The "American Way" is fast disappearing. They want us to be able to borrow again. I just want my own money back.