The Mortgage Debacle, Jon Stewart-Style

In case you missed The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night, he had former wholesale mortgage lender Richard Bitner on as a guest. Bitner calls himself someone “who sat in the middle” of the mortgage mess and is the author of the just-published “Confessions of a Subprime Lender — An Insider’s Tale of Greed, Fraud and Ignorance.” Oddly, the book was only released in paperback.

Stewart: “Did it come out in hardcover?
Bitner: “No”
Stewart: “Was the fear that too many of the subprime consumers would use it as housing?”

[Insert rimshot here]. And so it started, Jon Stewart using humorous candor and commentary in learning how the wheels fell off the mortgage business. When Bitner started explaining the relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Stewart shot back with, “Why are their names Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? If you’re going to have a 5 trillion dollar business, let me hear their full f**king name. I don’t want to know their nickname. I don’t want to have a business collapse that destroys the whole American economy and their nickname is Stinky!”

It’s 5 minutes and 39 seconds of Jon Stewart zingers that must be watched to the bitter end for Stewart’s laugh-out loud analogy. As always with Stewart, we laugh so we don’t cry.