The ultimate strategy to gain power. Create an economic mess by passing laws ostensibly to equalize social disparity. Count on human nature to not remember the details of what you did after a year or two and be able to connect the consequences to the cause. Foster the birth of the ills onto your enemy when they come to fuition, and then promise the harmed voters you can make the changes to correct them if they join you. Sway the non devoted with promises to buy their vote with lower taxes or more government handouts. Obtain the power.

The sub prime mortgage debacle started with Bill Clinton and his congress lowering the mortgage acceptance requirements of borrowers by passing changes to the Community Reinvestment Act in 1995 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act). This lowered the income and verifications needed for credit worthiness for mortgage loans by creating a new class of loans, sub prime mortgages. This law was passed to remove regulations because of a mortgage loan approval disparity between whites and minorities. Loan approval rates of 72% for minorities and 89% for whites was being called evidence of racial discrimination by lenders. A Democratic social engineering of business practices was needed right away!

Because the regulations allowed anyone of any race access to the lower standards, the ratio of white to minority of a loan acceptance did not change. As many poor whites where getting loans as poor minorities. To try to get the ratio to be even, more and more loans where given to people with fewer and fewer verification checks made on them. All in an attempt to try to meet the requirements by law to have as many loans accepted from minority borrowers as white borrowers. Eventually the minimum loan requirements became a signature with claims of income and no verification. Finally, loan acceptance equity, 100% for everyone.

So mortgages become easier to get. Unfortunately, no one preplanned for a large amount of new first time buyers. Demand for houses went up, but the amount of houses available had not been built up to accommodate this extra demand. The price of houses started to go up faster than normal as the laws of low supply and high demand took effect. As the price of houses went up quickly from year to year, builders tried to increase the supply to meet the demand. Mortgage originators accepted any and all loan applicants. Soon, the speculators noticed the quick rise in home prices, and began buying houses to sell a few months later for a profit. This added to the demand and the rise in home prices.

Everyone was happy. Builders sold houses as fast as they could build them. Mortgage bankers where loaning money as fast as they could get new money to loan. Poor people who couldn't have paid for a house before the prices went up could easily qualify for a house now.

In 2005, Senior Senator Joe Biden authors the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. Notice the misleading name Consumer Protection Act, I love how congress always names laws that will harm someone as a law that will protect them. This law prevents saving a primary house by renegotiating the mortgage loan when you file for bankruptcy if you own the house less than 730 days(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_Abuse_Prevention_and_Consumer_Protection_Act). Now people who bought houses they couldn't afford in the first place and now can't pay their bills, will lose their house and any money they put into it.

Suddenly everyone is not happy. Builders can't sell anything they are building. Mortgage bankers can't get anyone to pay the loans they have. Homeowners are Homeowners no more and have no credit to continue to be good consumers either.

The economy tanks. Construction companies lay off workers and stop buying material. Material suppliers go out of business. Mortgage bankers suffer huge losses. Bankers go out of business or get bailed out by the government if they have the lobby power. News of economic slowdown spreads and puts the fear of insecurity into the population. The slowdown is overexagerated by the Democrats and hyped as a recession so bad that they haven't seen things this bad since the Depression. It isn't, remember the 21% inflation and 11% unemployment President Jimmy Carter saddled America with? The Democrats fool the regular population into believing the they are the only ones who saw the problem coming and they could fix it if voted into office. Well, I suppose they did see it coming and know how to fix it, they created it.

Although one man did suspect a problem and tried to prevent it. In 2003, Senior Senator John McCain introduced a significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis from ten years before. He wanted to place two of the primary agents guaranteeing subprime loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the supervision of a new agency within the Department of the Treasury. Democrats prevented passing the changes, Representative Barney Frank(D-MA) said "These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis, the more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." Representative Mel Watt(D-NC) added "I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing." The Democrats had prevented the plan from being unraveled.

The person that was destined to reap the rewards and be able to win the White House, Hillary Clinton, was usurped in her run by a newcomer. Although a bitter battle was fought by her to be able to claim the bounty of the plan, it was not to be. Junior Senator Barack Obama soon became the new anointed one to lead the party because of his superior speaking charisma. He was presented to the populace with as much ceremony and aplomb as possible on August 28, 2008 so that no one would doubt he is 'the one'. Senior Senator Joe Biden is given to him as Vice President. This is Joe Biden's reward for helping make some of the bankruptcy reform laws that would enable the Democrats to claim a poor economy.

A nice strategy. Pass laws to make the economy drop through the floor. Blame your enemy for all the ills you concoted behind the scenes, laws that normal people, especialy the young, will not have knowledge of or remember. Offer up promises of change and hope because you are the one they have been waiting for to fix the problems. Promise more money for the voters on the fence by lowering taxes to buy their vote. Ask for more governmental control and power to regulate so this mess doesn't occur again. They should make a movie with a plot similar to this, it would be great.

May the Force be with you, John McCain.