One guesses that e cartman and others of this right wing fundamentalist ilk are capable of nuance in their private lives.

But, when it comes to anything like the public sqaure, the take no prisioner extremism required of their ideological masters makes it difficult for them to practice nuance on pain of being drummed out of The Party.

Despite the name, the Federal Home Loan Banks much closer to being a private sector affair than Freddie or Fannie. From Wikipedia:

The 12 banks of the FHLBank System are owned by over 8,100 financial institutions from all 50 states, U.S. possessions, and territories. Equity in the FHLBanks is held by these owner/members and is not publicly traded. Institutions must purchase stock in order to become a member. In return, members obtain access to low-cost funding, and also receive dividends based on their stock ownership. FHLBanks are exempt from state and local income taxes, but are subject to property taxes. The mission of the FHLBanks reflects a public purpose (increase access to housing and aid communities by extending credit to member financial institutions), but all 12 are privately capitalized and do not receive taxpayer assistance.

As for the SEC not approving more rating agencies, that is a sign of lack of regulatory power and being subject to lobbying efforts, either directly or indirectly through Congressional pressure. I suggest you read former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt’s book Take on the Street. He tells (and this took place during the Clinton administration, mind you) how he was repeatedly obstructed in his efforts to do what he considered to be even the basics of the SEC role. Congressmen (Joe Lieberman in particular) regularly threatened to cut off funding. So the SEC has been unable to do its job since at least 1993.

Note Levitt sits on only one board, that of Bloomberg, a sign of how little he toadied to Corporate America. Former regulators are generally highly sought after as directors.

Things like the FHLB’s extending $250 billion in discount loans to the housing industry over the past 6 months; the unspecified tens of billions pumped from the TAF (really just a Fed MLEC); and the SEC’s rejection of application after ratings-agency application to protect the Moody’sS&PFitch oligopoly for the past 15 years, all had *nothing whatsoever* to do with sparking/aggravating the current crisis.

More of the above will “definitely” help “solve” this crisis.

Gotta love the reality-based community.

I’m sure taxpayer subsidies for failed housing gamblers, corn based ethanol, socialized medicine and 100 year wars in the Middle East will fix everything.

Orwell was right.

Join the Ron Paul Revolutionujygf!