Feds, Banks "Settle" Foreclosure Scandal; Obama Administration Lets Google Off the Hook

According to a report in today's online edition of The New York Times, federal negotiators and major American banks have reached a settlement in a probe of "foreclosure abuses by 14 major lenders." The banks will collectively pony up ten billion dollars; in exchange, the feds will stop its investigation. Essentially, very little will change, which is how major players want it.

One issue in the foreclosure scandal is that relatively few affected homeowners will gain anything from the deal. According to the Times, "Only 323,000 homeowners submitted claims for their files to be reviewed." Does that sound like the complete number of screwed homeowners across the country?

Of course, the corruption still runs deep, and across party lines. Some consumer advocates, the Times article noted, "have questioned whether the banks were getting off too easily because they selected and paid the consultants charged with examining their loans."

The banks were not the only powerful corporate juggernaut at which the Obama administration waved the matador's cape. Right out of the box in January, the FTC managed to conclude a lengthy investigation of Google's search engine placements and competitive tactics and determined the Mountain View company plays fair all the time. No violation of antitrust laws, no fine, no warning, no nothing.

FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz
(photo: ftc.gov)

The FTC's explanation was a masterpiece of doubletalk. As reported in The Washington Post, FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz observed that "The American antitrust laws protect competition, not competitors." Unsurprisingly, Google itself echoed this ridiculous statement. Its chief legal officer "wrote that the FTC's actions affirm that Google's products  are 'good for users and good for competition.'" Google's competitors did not second this motion, and are now hoping for succor from the European Union.