Thread: Anyone remember the Savings and Loans scandle of the '80s?

Sorry, forgot to post the link.
FDIC: The S&L Crisis: A Chrono-Bibliography

Savings and Loan Scandal
Here are some facts on the infamous S&L scandal of the eighties which we are still paying for.

• The Savings and Loan scandal is the largest theft in the history of the world.
• Deregulation eased restrictions so much that S&L owners could lend themselves money.
• The Garn Institute of Finance, named after Senator Jake Garn, co-authored the deregulation of the industry and received $2.2 million from industry executives.
• Neil Bush, George Bush's son, never servered time in jail for his part in running an S&L into the ground.
• Represenative Fernard St. Germain, who was head of the House of Representatives banking, co-authored the deregulation and was voted out of office after other questionable dealings and was sent back to D.C. as an S&L lobbiest.
• Charles Keating, when asked if massive lobbying efforts had influenced the government officials, he replies "I certainly hope so."
• The rip-off began in 1980 when the government raised the federal insurance on S&L's from $40,000 to $100,000 even though the typical savings account was only around $6000.
• Some of the seized assets were a buffalo sperm bank, a racehorse with syphilis, and a kitty litter mine.
• James Fail invested $1000 of his own money to purchase 15 failing S&L's. The government reimbursed him $1.85 billion in federal subsidies.
• It sometimes took over 7 years to close failing S&L's by the government.
• When S&L owners who stole millions went to jail, their sentances were typically one-fifth that of the average bank robber.
• The goverment bail out will cost the taxpayers around $1.4 trillion dollars when it is over.
• If the White House had stepped in and bailed out the S&L's in 1986 instead of delaying until after the 1988 elections, the cost might have been only $20 billion.
• With the money lost from the S&L scandals, the government could have provided prenatal care for every American child for the next 2,300 years.
• With the money lost from the S&L scandals, the government could have purchased 5 million average homes.
• The authors of "Inside Job", a book about the S&L scandal, found criminal activity at every S&L they investigated.

Facts were taken from"Inside Job" and "It's a Conspiracy! by the National Insecurity Council.

The rip-off began in 1980 when the government raised the federal insurance on S&L's from $40,000 to $100,000 even though the typical savings account was only around $6000

Under financial institution regulation, which had its roots in the Depression era, federally chartered S&Ls were only allowed to make a narrowly limited range of loan types. Late in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, caps were lifted on rates and the amounts insured per account to $100,000. In addition to raising the amounts covered by insurance, the amount of the accounts that would be repaid was increased from 70% to 100%. Increasing Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) coverage also permitted managers to take more risk to try to work their way out of insolvency so the government would not have to take over an institution.