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Comment by arghwhat | Hacker News Reader

citation needed

"Bailout: How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street", Neil Barofsky, page 157

Note though that he is only quoting "off the record" conversations with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner

That's the problem with these "citation needed" remarks, those who say it never come back after they received the high quality citations.

Even if I didn’t return, that’s irrelevant - you are not engaging in a 1-1 discussion. You are posting on an open discussion for the entire internet to see. Most threads aren’t back-and-forth between single individuals, but rather a chain of unique authors.

I specified it because the comment very clearly lacked a citation due to touching controversial political subjects, and any future reader benefits from such citation if added.

I could have made a lengthy complaint and specified concerns about not attaching supporting references - such as unclear attribution that can obscure possible underlying political agendas - but that itself would add nothing not covered by: citation needed. With a citation, people can judge for themselves.

reality is stranger than fiction. yes citation needed. but this seems banal compared to what things go down.

You can google "Home Affordable Modification Program" and "foam the runway" [for the banks]. But here's one of many articles:

https://prospect.org/economy/needless-default/

"The cynical view is that HAMP worked exactly to the Treasury's liking. Both Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Special Inspector General for TARP Neil Barofsky revealed that then-Secretary Geithner told them HAMP's purpose was to "foam the runway" for the banks. In other words, it allowed banks to spread out eventual foreclosures and absorb them more slowly. Homeowners are the foam being steamrolled by a jumbo jet in that analogy, squeezed for as many payments as they can manage before losing their homes."

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