Why Did Jane Harman And So Many Other Corporate Shills Flip Flop And Vote Against Foreclosure Reform?

Jane Harman represents the status quo

Funny that Obama was willing to posture against the Wall Street banksters and their nefarious lobbyists in his radio address this morning, but stopped short at going after the shamelessly corrupt Democrats who weakened the bill so badly and the 27 who voted with the Republicans against it.

While applauding House passage Friday of overhaul legislation and urging quick Senate action, Obama expressed frustration with banks that were helped by a taxpayer bailout and now are "fighting tooth and nail with their lobbyists" against new government controls... The president also told CBS' 60 Minutes that "the people on Wall Street still don't get it. ... They're still puzzled why it is that people are mad at the banks. Well, let's see. You guys are drawing down $10, $20 million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year ... in decades and you guys caused the problem," Obama said in an excerpt released in advance of Sunday night's broadcast of his interview.

...No House Republicans voted for the bill, and 27 Democrats voted against it. Opponents argue that the broad legislation overreaches and would institutionalize bailouts for the financial industry.

The Senate, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee is working on its own version of the package.
In his address, Obama contended that the worst economic downturn since the Depression wouldn't have happened if the rules governing Wall Street been clearer and enforcement tougher.

Obama singled out Republicans and industry lobbyists for trying to block the changes.

Last week, top House Republicans urged more than 100 financial industry lobbyists to work harder to defeat the bill. Lobbyists have spent more than $300 million this year trying to scuttle the bill.

As we reported over the course of Thursday and yesterday, the House passed, 223-202-- without a single Republican vote-- a package of reforms to prevent the kinds of abuses that would have inevitably led to another Wall Street meltdown. A coalition of corrupt, conservative Democrats in thrall to the banking industry, primarily Blue Dogs, formed a coalition with the Republicans to water down the legislation significantly. And one of their most insidious accomplishments was their ability to strip "cramdown" out of the bill entirely.

Cramdown (the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 had passed the House last March-- only to be defeated a month later in what Dick Durbin famously called the bank-owned Senate. A dozen conservative Democrats like Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, Arlen Specter, Mary Landrieu, Tom Carper and, of course, Ben Nelson had joined with the entire GOP to defeat the Obama-backed House legislation that was meant to allow bankruptcy court judges to reset some mortgage terms to help families save their homes from foreclosure. At the time of the House vote we tried to show why even some Republicans in foreclosure-plagued districts broke ranks with their party's obstructionist leadership to vote for the bill. Joined by unlikely new convert Ron Paul, three of them were still onboard Friday, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Walter Jones (R-NC) and Mike Turner (R-OH), one of 9 co-sponsors of the amendment. Mario Diaz-Balart was back to his comfort zone/default position of rubber stamping GOP leadership decisions, while his brother Lincoln ducked the vote altogether. Mike Castle (R-DE), now in a tough race for the GOP nomination for an open Senate seat in Delaware-- and under attack by teabaggers for being too "moderate"-- flip-flopped, and voted against the provision this time.

Among the Democrats my first surprise came that the amendment was actually introduced by arch-Blue Dog Jim Marshall of Georgia. True, his own constituents have been catastrophically hit by mortgage foreclosures but he rarely lets little things like that get in his way of opposing the aspirations of working families. This time he actually sounded almost as much like a Democrat as his two colleagues who pushed it most aggressively, progressives John Conyers and Zoe Lofgren. Marshall:

“This amendment strikes an appropriate balance that is good for debtors, creditors, taxpayers, financial institutions along with all of the innocent homeowners that have been dragged into this mess. And it will not increase the future cost of home credit. It’s a rare win, win, win.

Lofgren sounded a more populist note by pointing out that "the only people who have not been helped in this economic crisis are homeowners. This legislation would finally give American homeowners the same protection that large corporations enjoy.” But, predictably is was Conyers who gave voice to the full scope of why America needs this legislation:

“Over the past three years, millions of Americans have lost their homes through foreclosure and millions more are at risk of losing their homes. Relying solely on taxpayer-financed incentives to encourage the lending industry to voluntarily resolve our nation’s foreclosure crisis has proven to be woefully inadequate. Thankfully there is an answer. Today, several of my colleagues and I have introduced an amendment to H.R. 4173, the “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009,” that will give American families facing foreclosure a critical lifeline by which to save their homes. Our amendment-- which won’t cost taxpayers a single penny-- will allow a homeowner under the supervision of a bankruptcy judge to extend a mortgage’s repayment term; reduce excessive high interest rates and exorbitant hidden fees; and, under certain limited circumstances, allow the principal amount of the mortgage to be adjusted to the home’s fair market value.

Our amendment rectifies an anomaly in current law that allows virtually every other type of secured obligation to be modified, except for home mortgages. Most importantly, my amendment will help stop the endless cycle of foreclosures that lead to abandoned homes in communities across our nation and that, in turn, cause neighborhood property values and tax revenues to further decline. I am hopeful that passing this amendment will send the signal that the House feels strongly that this provision must be passed into law to help resolve the ongoing mortgage crisis.”

Alas, though, in March only 24 conservative Democrats voted with the GOP against working families, Yesterday it was a staggering 71! Let's look at one particularly slimy flip-flopper: California Blue Dog Jane Harman.

Harman, through a marriage to a rich, elderly industrialist, is one of the two or three wealthiest members of Congress. Her Los Angeles district, CA-36, includes some very wealthy neighborhoods-- and some very poor ones. There have been 7,526 foreclosures so far and it is estimated that within the next 4 years that number will rise to 25,053. Yesterday, on the same day she joined the Republicans to vote against mortgage reform, Harman-- who is in a battle of political survival with grassroots reformer Marcy Winograd-- sent this expression of compassion and faux empathy to her constituents:

I am well aware of the anxiety many constituents feel when out of work and unable to find a job. There’s the scramble to cover the month’s rent, provide food and make tuition or car payments-- and for some, feelings of depression and questions of self worth. There are currently 2.3 million jobless Californians-- 620,000 in Los Angeles County-- more than at any time in the past three decades. Getting people back to work is urgent-- and vital if what is at present only an “asset” recovery is to become a true economic recovery.

Recall where the economy was at the start of this year: foreclosures were at record levels, bank lending was frozen, and nearly $10 trillion in wealth had been lost as the stock market spiraled out of control. In just three months, 2 million Americans lost their jobs.

While some economic indicators are improving, South Bay residents have certainly felt the pinch. Trade at the Ports of LA and Long Beach is down 21 percent, idling 20,000 longshore workers, truckers and warehouse workers. And across the board, our local communities have seen unemployment rates shoot dramatically upwards.

...Though it wasn’t the only cause of the economic crisis, inadequate financial regulation also contributed to the problem. This week the House voted on H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which is intended to overhaul the financial regulatory system. For the first time, credit default swaps will be regulated, many predatory lending practices will be outlawed and credit rating agencies will be held accountable. The government will increase the reserves big banks must set aside, monitor firms that are so large and interconnected that their collapse would endanger the financial system and establish a process for reorganizing and dismantling failing institutions. These changes are critical safeguards against the kind of irresponsible business practices that helped trigger the credit crisis. This legislation also establishes a new federal consumer agency, which to me is problematic. I worry that another government reorganization will not work.

She forgot to mention that she voted against the "cramdown" legislation that Obama said he needed to address the predatory mortgage abuses. But she did tell voters that she has a jobs bulletin board on her website and that if you can't find work you can always volunteer for something!

I managed to track down Marcy Winograd this morning and ask her if she would be a different kind of representative for the South Bay than Harman. (I admit that I have an idea that she will be but I wanted to hear it in her own words.)

We want representatives who truly represent us, working men and women-- not Wall Street or million-dollar CEOs spending weekends on their yachts. Once again, however, my Blue Dog opponent, who also voted for the mean-spirited bankruptcy bill, sides with big corporations against the people of our district. While thousands of homeowners from West Los Angeles to San Pedro face foreclosure, not only on their home but of the American Dream, Harman votes to slam the door in their face, to essentially kick them out of their living room. Why should banks receive billions in bail-out money, refuse to renegotiate home loans, and then get a pass in bankruptcy court? In Congress I will work to strengthen the Progressive Caucus, to work with progressive caucuses in each state party, so that together we can create the political will to successfully reintroduce the amendment.   I want to ensure working families, the American middle class, can renegotiate their home loans to enjoy a stable and secure future in their living room.

Everything Marcy has done in her life leads me to believe that that statement represents the kind of congressmember she will be-- way up at the top of the foodchain with principled and effective fighters like Alan Grayson, Donna Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Jerry Nadler, Raul Grijalva and Barbara Lee. That's why I never hesitate in asking DWT readers to go to the Bad Dogs page and donate to Marcy's grassroots campaign to dislodge the most beatable Blue Dog in California.