The Reagan Reverie (a.k.a. “Revolution?”) continues: Republican (fascist/socialist) President George Herbert Walker Bush signs the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act, creating the Resolution Trust Corporation to close insolvent savings and loans (thrifts) and pay nearly 400,000,000,000 “dollars” to depositors who lost their savings out of the confiscated earnings (through the unlawful Federal income tax) of United states subject/enemy/citizens who did lose their savings.  FIRREA also provides for the civil asset forfeiture of real estate when it has been determined false information has been placed in a mortgage application.  Mistakes made in good faith are judged on the presumption of guilt until innocence is proven.  This statute applies to contracts agreed to before its enactment.  In addition the act increases pressure on commercial banks to make mortgage loans based on political and not economic considerations.

       NOTES:

• This is an ex post fact law, prohibited by Article I, Section 9 [Clause 3].
• Many of the lenders that received bailouts were able to realize a profit by selling their depreciated securities to the Resolution Trust Corporation for far more than they were worth; and they were able to profit again by re-purchasing them for “pennies on the ‘dollar.'”

       Postscript: By the end of 1999, it was apparent that 40,000,000,000 of the 105,000,000,000 “dollars” invested in bailing out the savings and loan industry had been lost.  By the accounting of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 123,800,000,000 “dollars” was lost.

       [updated 1/23/2023] Thanks to Forfeiture Endangers American Rights and Chuck McGlawn for this entry.