The Second Leg Down of America’s Death Spiral

I swear to God Almighty: Mortgage Backed Securities are America’s Herpes—the gift that keeps on oozing. 

  

Last Friday, Bank of America announced that it was suspending all foreclosure proceedings, presumably until further notice. Other banks have already suspended foreclosures in a whole truckload of states. A nationwide moratorium on foreclosures might soon happen—which would be a big deal: Global Financial Crisis, Part II—Longer, Wider and Uncut. 

  

“It’s oozing from where?”
“Man, you guys are fucked.”

But the mainstream media—surprise-surprise—has downplayed the whole shebang. They’re throwing terms out there into the ether, but devoid of context or explanation: “Robo-signings”, “foreclosure mills”, forged signatures, “double booking”, MERS—it’s confusing as all get-out. 
  
So the mainstream media just mentions it casually—“and in other news tonight . . .”—like it’s no big deal: A couple-three lines, lots of complicated, unfamiliar terms, an attitude like it’s a brouhaha over paperwork of all things!—and then zappo-presto-change-o!: They’re showing video footage of a cute koala nursing in the arms of a San Diego zookeeper. 

  

But even the koalas know that something awful is heading America’s way. Smart little critters, they’re heading for the treetops, to get away from this mess. 

  

So what the hell is going on with the God forsaken mortgage mess in the United States? 

  

It’s got a lot of bells and whistles, but it’s basically quite simple: It’s all about the fucking Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). Again. 
  
So this is what happened, more or less—the short version: 

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