Last Friday, on CBC’s The National, they had on Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis speaking to the ongoing crisis in North-East industrial Ohio. It’s now been 13 months since Admin managed to set up a re-post of a Bloomberg video and Jim gave us permission (and a nice e-mail note) to promote it on Doom in "The Fraud That Ate Cleveland" (August 23, 2007).

For the record, here’s the correspondence with Doom that he gave us permission to include in that post. Indeed Doomers were witnesses to history then.

August 22, 2007, 6:00PM PDT
To: Housing Doom
Subject: Re: Appreciation for your vivid Bloomberg interview

Dear Mr. McLeod,

Thanks for your note. I have visited your blog, and many others, that deal with this topic. What can I say? I am extremely bitter that I live in a country and a society that tolerates the abuses of Wall Street when its practices are destabilizing cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo and older communities like it all over the country. I am sad at the absence of outrage–it’s as if we have to expect this kind of behavior. In the 80′s it was the S&L crisis. Then it was the junk bond scandals that Michael Milken and his cronies gained so much notoriety for–but it didn’t stop there. Global Crossing, Adelphia, Worldcom, Enron–the list seems to be endless. As bad as they all were, they will pale by comparison to this scandal. Oh, I guess a few heads will roll, the Fed will finally do something, Congress will tighten up the rules regulating the industry and the outrageous abuses that I have complained about since 2000 will slow to a trickle. But I have one question: who will pay back communities like mine for the incalculable damage that has been done, the loss of population, demolished homes and neighborhoods that are now past the proverbial ‘tipping point?’ As Bob Dylan would say "the answer is blowing in the wind."

If my Bloomberg clip is helpful to you please use it.

Jim Rokakis

P.S. Canada is a great country.

==================================
August 22, 2007, 5:36PM PDT
To: Office of the Treasurer — Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Subject: Appreciation for your vivid Bloomberg interview

For Mr. Rokakis,

Debi Averett and I have been following the US housing bubble and mortgage finance for over a year on our blog, but we were both thunderstruck by your description of the state of homeownership in the Cleveland area. Your words deserve wide dissemination and we will do our best to help.

Your interview wasn’t just news, I felt like I was a witness to history. I’m referring to the one at this URL.
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/video/clk/index.asp?vidid=512

… [there followed an invitation to comment further for Doom readers] …

All the best, John McLeod, Halifax, Canada

Sharp-eyed Doomer agnostic noted still another historic irony after I brought the old post up in a comment. Thanks!

John and all -

That Rokakis clip is one for the ages, for sure – take a look at the stock prices on the crawl – Boeing at 96, Boyd Gaming and CIT Group in the 30s, Constellation Energy at 82, and this old outfit called Bear Stearns, oh, never mind.

Now it’s your turn to comment on yet another history-making week in the making.

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