why hasn't the government gone after mortgage fraud?

[xchrom]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/164973/why-hasnt-government-gone-after-mortgage-fraud

One of the most important questions to arise out of Washington over the past three years, and one that Democrats and defenders of the administration often dance around, is why big financial institutions haven’t been punished for their role in the mortgage crisis: for pushing bad loans beforehand and for engaging in shady foreclosure practices afterward. There has not been a single prosecution of a high-ranking executive nor Wall Street firm for playing a part in the meltdown.

Much of the analysis about the administration’s response to the global financial crisis focuses on the Dodd-Frank reforms, but that was a process in which the administration didn’t have total control—the legislation was subject to massive lobbying campaigns and horse-trading between members of Congress.

But the administration could have acted unilaterally to punish the big financial firms who helped create the crisis and push people out of their homes afterwards—and in large part, it hasn’t. We’ve noted before the pressure that the administration is placing on New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to join a wide-ranging settlement with major banks over dubious foreclosure practices—one that would ask the banks to pay the meager sum of $20 billion to homeowners and investors, while granting them immunity from further prosecution. (Schneiderman has not yet relented).

On 60 Minutes last night, Steve Kroft had an outstanding two-part piece that questioned why the Department of Justice has not pursued cases against big banks for pushing bad mortgages onto people in the run-up to the crisis, and lying to investors about the strength of those loans.

[Demeter]

1. Two Words: Re-Election Funds

[truedelphi]

9. Hmm, could it possibly be that our candidates need some big time

Dirty money? Money created on the backs of the Ninety Nine percent?

Can you prove it? To the point that the Elite will take away their mantra of how they got their money from working so hard, with such long hours.

[Magoo48]

2. Mortgage fraud, get real, we got citizens running round out here smoking pot

[Bluenorthwest]

3. In Obama's faith, fraud is Sacred and God only cares about teh

gay and stopping chemo patients from having medicine. The hypocrisy is so deep that I seriously can no longer endure his claims of Christianity or any other faith or ethical system. He's just a situational guy, if it works, he says it and claims God told him to say it. One man, one woman, no ganja. Fraud, theft deceit, these are holy things, God is in the Mix!

[Myrina]

4. Because it's their government, not ours.

Have you not noticed? "We the people" don't mean so much anymore.

[Citizen Worker]

5. Because the rule of law applies only to the working class not the ruling class.

[bhikkhu]

6. Because its so difficult to prove intent

Its like trying to prosecute based on someone's tone of voice.

It might be added - the immunity part of the $20 billion settlement that the justice department has been working on for years doesn't necessarily extend beyond robo-signing (which is the one thing that is easily proven). The whole thing is far more involved than the sentence in the OP suggests, and I have never read a thing from the justice department that says they want to grant immunity from anything other than robo-signing. The banks would like them to, and they have been the movers drumming up fear about the whole issue to the extent that even the robo-signing fine may not go through.

ed.for spelling - "robo-singing"...

[Hotler]

7. I have no hope. I see no future. eom.

[MisterP]

8. because people will still refer to them as "the left" and pull the lever no matter what

[fasttense]

10. Lanny A. Breuer seems to be using the recommended Luntz talking point.

"I get it." Yeah right he gets it. He gets that the rich shall never, ever be held accountable for their numerous blatant crimes. Because they own this country from the Dancing Supremes to the little clerk in the county office.

Luntz recommended to the RepubliCON that this talking point should be used when inequality is discussed.