Henry Cisneros helped build flawed American dream

[Wayne Caswell]

Henry Cisneros, a San Antonio homebuilder and former mayor of the city capitalized on his role as housing secretary under President Clinton to join the boards of KB Home and Countrywide Financial, the largest mortgage lender in the nation and one of CNN's "10 Most Wanted - Culprits of the Collapse." Henry Cisneros has not yet been named to the list, but a story in today's Austin American-Statesman causes me to scream for the checks & balances of regulatory oversight with strong enforcement authority.

In his 360° Raw Politics television expose, CNN journalist Anderson Cooper has been naming the individuals most responsible, unlike politicians who say now's not the time to lay blame for the collapse -- what they always do when there's so much blame to go around.

The causes of the crisis can't be put onto either political party but are a combination of growing debt and greed, lax regulation, and financial innovation gone awry, as well as bad decisions and “bad actors” among bankers, borrowers, bureaucrats, developers, homebuilders, and politicians. Here's the list as of 10/19:

1. Joe Cassano, CEO of AIG. After being bailed out, AIG spent over $443,000 on a luxurious event for its top insurance agents that included spa treatments.
2. Chris Cox, current SEC Chairman was supposed to be the “sheriff” of the New York Stock Exchange. He since said he just “didn’t have the authority” and has asked Congress to give the SEC more power.
3. Richard Fuld, former CEO of Lehman Brothers, which invented the financial instruments that avoided regulation and, after the collapse, filed for bankruptcy protection.
4. Phil Gramm, former U.S. Senator who introduced laws that deregulated Wall Street and allowed banks to merge with insurance companies, creating a permissive atmosphere of risk taking with no oversight or penalties.
5. Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman, who manipulated interest rates to encourage investment and curb inflation.
6. Ben S. Bernanke, current Federal Reserve Chairman
7. Beazer Homes, a large homebuilder and mortgage broker that made it too easy to buy a home. 20% of its homes are now foreclosed, dragging down the value of others.
8. Angelo Mozilo, founder & CEO of Countrywide Financial, the mortgage giant known for sub-prime loans.
9. James Cayne, former CEO of Bear Sterns, a subprime lender who sold his stake in the company for $61 Million after its collapse and subsequent sale to JP Morgan Chase.
10. Franklin Raines, CEO of mortgage giant Fannie Mae, the government backed company that bought up mortgages and subprime mortgages and sold them to investors while hiding known problems.