Bush Held ‘Anemic’ in S&L; Crackdown : Citizen Group Hits Slowness to Act on ‘Buccaneer’ Thrifts

A public interest group stoked the political furor over the savings and loan crisis today, saying the Bush Administration’s efforts to crack down on fraud in the savings and loan industry has been “anemic at best, irresponsible at worst.”

“The original S&L; calamity is now being compounded, every day, by the Administration’s failure to bring law and order to the nation’s financial industry,” said Michael Waldman, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch.

The organization, founded by Ralph Nader, released a report detailing the widespread fraud in the thrift industry and the efforts of the Administration to bring those responsible to justice.

“Unless a real crackdown begins against these buccaneer bankers, this financial crime wave will be fully subsidized by average taxpayers,” Waldman said.

The collapse of the thrift industry is expected to cost taxpayers anywhere from $132 billion to $500 billion, making it the worst financial debacle since the Depression.

“The Bush Administration’s efforts to pursue and punish S&L; fraud have been anemic at best, irresponsible at worst,” said Sherry Ettleson, a Public Citizen staff attorney.

The Administration, which launched an ambitious program last year to rescue the savings industry, has been harshly criticized for the slowness of its efforts.

The White House and Congress aggressively traded charges today over who should take responsibility for the industry’s collapse. Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the Administration is perfectly willing to turn debate over the crisis into a campaign issue, saying, “We’re ready to play.”

President Bush is scheduled to give a speech about the savings and loan industry on Friday at the Justice Department. All 93 U.S. attorneys nationwide have been summoned to attend by Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh.

The Justice Department has come under criticism for the slow pace of thrift failure prosecutions and the White House is concerned that the Democrats are turning the massive taxpayer bailout into a campaign issue.

The U.S. attorneys will have “an ongoing discussion of S&L; prosecutions,” Justice Department spokesman Dan Eramian said. They will be “sharing information, sharing investigative techniques.”

Treasury Secretary Nicolas F. Brady also will attend.

The Justice Department is wrestling with a growing backlog of unaddressed thrift fraud cases. According to the Public Citizen report, the department was actively pursuing only 891 cases of the nearly 7,000 referrals and complaints received as of February.