I noted the Tribune-Review story on Doom’s articles list earlier today and decided to start working on that theme for episode IV. Dan Gainor (note misspelling at the start of today’s article) is Director of the Business & Media Institute. The BMI is characterized in its Wikipedia article as being a conservative organization with an interest in exposing liberal media bias.

I had previously noted with interest Gainor’s April 6, 2005 piece in Human Events titled “Networks Ignoring the Coming Fannie Mae $11-Billion Bailout”, that covered much the same ground.

The lack of major network television coverage of the GSE scandals is puzzling, and party-political considerations may be a factor. However, there are plenty of resources in the print and specialist media. Many of these are freely available online, and I hope to list some of these next week.

Thanks for a great post. Too many people ignore the problems with Fannie and Freddie- assuming wrongly that as long as they aren’t in their portfolio, they don’t have a problem.

When Japan’s housing bubble popped though, it caused a banking crisis.“As U.S. home prices shoot to unprecedented highs in many regions, the notorious property bubble in Japan presents a scary scenario.”"Japanese land prices soared in the late 1980s. Around 1991, when they peaked, the land under Tokyo’s Imperial Palace was valued at more than all the land in Florida.”

“Now, more than a decade later, average Japanese land prices are still falling and banks are only just pulling out of a land-related bad-loans crisis.”

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/0711/biz/stories/02biz.htm

A headline in yesterday’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review proclaimed “Media Falls Flat on Fannie”

“When most people hear the word ‘Enron,’ they mentally complete the phrase by adding the word ‘scandal.’ As reporter Lester Holt of NBC’s ‘Today’ put it in a Jan. 1 story, ‘Enron has been the poster child, if you will, of corporate scandals.”

“It isn’t the only one, though. There’s a $40 billion scandal with most of the same elements — even connection to prominent politicians.”

“Just don’t expect to see much about it on TV. After all, the top people involved are Democrats.”

“Welcome to Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage giant. As part of a scandal that’s been running nearly two years, Fannie Mae has ‘misstated earnings’ to the tune of $10.8 billion.”

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/guests/s_463854.html

Rapid house appreciation has functioned as a “high tide” if you will, covering the rocky problems of bad debt in this country. As prices go down, the toxic loans began to be exposed. The problem won’t just affect the stock holders of GSEs- it will affect all Americans, and by extension, the global economy.

Thanks again for shining light on a problem the main stream media is passing by.