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Today's Top News
Obama Kills Bill Which Would Have Made It More Difficult for Homeowners to Challenge Foreclosures
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama killed proposed legislation on Thursday that struck at the heart of growing political rage over how banks have moved to evict struggling borrowers from their homes.
The bill, which would have made it more difficult for homeowners to challenge foreclosures, came under the spotlight this week as the furor grew over disclosures that some of the biggest U.S. mortgage processors filed false affidavits in thousands of foreclosure cases.
Obama sent the bill back to the House of Representatives for further discussion on how it would affect the foreclosure crisis, one of the most visible signs of the deep economic problems gripping the country.
The chorus of calls from political leaders for a suspension of foreclosures grew on Thursday, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Representative Ed Towns, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, adding their voices.
The bill, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act, cruised through the Senate last week with no public debate and could have shielded bank and mortgage processors from liability for foreclosure documents that were prepared improperly.
"We believe it is necessary to have further deliberations about the intended and unintended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, before this bill can be finalized," the White House communications director, Dan Pfeiffer, said in a blog posting.
In a development first reported by Reuters, the bill would have required courts to accept all out-of-state notarizations, including those stamped en masse by computers in a practice that critics say has been improperly used to expedite foreclosure orders.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is fighting a tough bid for reelection in Nevada, where foreclosure rates have been the highest in the nation, on Thursday called for the largest mortgage servicers to suspend foreclosures in Nevada.
And Towns, a New York Democrat, called for top mortgage lenders and banks to voluntarily halt all foreclosures in the country and asked New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate allegations of fraud and other possible criminal activity.
"Losing a home can be one of the most traumatic experiences faced by an American family. Anyone forced to go through this process should be treated fairly. Sadly, it appears this may not have been the case for some borrowers," Towns said in a statement.
So far, Ally Financial Inc's GMAC Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America have all announced that they are suspending some of their foreclosures to review whether they have been conducting them properly.
Wells Fargo has said that it is "confident" in its foreclosure paperwork, and Citigroup has also not announced plans to halt foreclosures despite increased pressure from state attorneys general and lawmakers in Washington.
Banks are expected to take over a record 1.2 million homes this year, up from about 1 million last year, according to real estate data company RealtyTrac Inc.
False notarizations figured in disclosures that GMAC, JPMorgan and other big mortgage processors filed false affidavits in thousands of cases, part of the wave of foreclosures that erupted in the wake of the financial and economic crisis.
The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it was probing reports the nation's top mortgage lenders improperly evicted struggling borrowers as growing numbers of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanded investigations.
The debate over foreclosure procedures comes just weeks before the November congressional elections with Obama's fellow Democrats braced for potentially big losses from voters frustrated by the slow economic recovery and punishingly high unemployment rates.
But while many householders may cheer efforts to get tough with banks, some experts say any blanket halt to foreclosures could risk further hobbling the economy as banks wonder whether they will ever claw back losses and the housing market grapples with by a mounting inventory of homes still likely to face foreclosure in future.
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said on Thursday the foreclosure debacle could slow the lending process, seen as key to pumping life back into the U.S. economy.
"I think it's more of a clogging of the system and introducing another note of uncertainty," Ross said at a Reuters summit on restructuring in New York.
MYSTERIOUS BILL
Obama's decision not to sign the bill capped a week which saw the legislation, passed by the House in April, suddenly pushed through the Senate Judiciary Committee and approved by the full Senate on September 27, the day before the Senate recessed for the midterm election campaign.
Passage of the bill caught homeowners' advocates, including lawyers and some state officials, by surprise with some saying the timing seemed peculiar.
The bill had received almost no public attention but stirred controversy once the Senate's rapid passage of bill became public.
Congressional staffers said many lawmakers and White House officials initially didn't realize that the bill, which nominally deals only with notarizations, could have big impact on foreclosure cases.
Additional reporting by Ross Colvin; writing by Andrew Quinn; editing by Leslie Adler.
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67 Comments so far
Show AllIf people cannot afford a mortgage then it really is an exercise in futility to allow them a little more time before they have to get on with their lives.
Postponement is only that.
My god. It really seems that you don't have a clue as to what all this mortgage holder fraud is about. Where have you been for the last 4 years?
If Oilybomber and Reid wanted to help they would have passed the bill allowing judges to implement "cram down".
Good for now.
"...many lawmakers and White House officials initially didn't realize that the bill, which nominally deals only with notarizations, could have big impact on foreclosure cases."
Yeah, yeah, that's it, that's the ticket...We didn't know what it was, yeah.
“An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.” (T.S. Eliot)
Nobody panic; this will be corrected after the midterm selections, when the poultry have little leverage over the foxes.
Timing is everything LOL
Let's review: * Two years ago, we gave Wall Street $700 Billion along with even more valuable loans and loan guarantees from the Fed and FDIC, enabled them to survive the crisis that they had created. They created the crisis, they loan sharked, they securitized, they ran screaming to the Fed to save them. As a result, the big banks are bigger and more profitable than ever. We have the same Wall Street crew calling the shots, doing business pretty much as they always did. They flexed their muscles with HR 3808, the Senate pushed it through with unanimous consent. This is while millions are facing foreclosure or even worse, homelessness.
Undoubtedly these people are calling and mailing their Senators and this bill slides on through, unbelievable. Contrary to what this article says, it isn't dead yet, maybe in it's current form. Banks can't be allowed to skirt the rule of law, not after many of them should rightly be insolvent. For these loans in default, Banks were on the hook for maybe 20 minutes before they sold the junk down the river. If Wall Street manipulated precious metals they way they did housing prices they would be thrown in prison. Never before had they done this with houses. Mind you, this was no stealth attack with guns and bombs, they went into entire neighborhoods and laid waste to them. No way should they get another bailout.Don't believe the lies that TARP was necessary, many "liberal" outlets were pushing this lie, some progressives rightly identified the heist. It's no coincidence we've had one of the worst economies since the Great Depression. * Look for Dean Baker's excellent article on the TARP bailout.
I agree Frank, I also highly recommend Hudson (and Prof. Richard Wolff)
http://michael-hudson.com/
Hudson's articles appear on globalresearch and Counterpunch as well.
I guess he is too critical, analyitical (thus too "controversial") for CD, as I have never seen his work here.
Just a little pre-election smoke and mirrors and "for other purposes". The snowball has just started rolling and may lead to TARP 2 if the banks get their way.
Ellen Brown weighs in on this.
http://www.counterpunch.org/brown10082010.html
And when this goes to the Supreme Court, guess who will hear the case...... think whitewater and "the chicago boys".
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/06/kagan-helped-build-clintons-whitewater-privilege-defense.html
and furthermore:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/06/11/2010-06-11_kagan_kneedeep_in_clintonera_whitewater_paula_jones_scandals_docs.html
I did hear something briefly on NPR with regard to the Federal Reserve having to put more money out there -- I guess to the banks, so they can lend? I don't know, I didn't stop to listen. When I hear banks and money and the Fed in one sentence I know the news is not good for the rest us.
The banks are going to get their way. TARP 2.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Dow-pops-above-11000-on-hopes-rb-2037720007.html?x=0&.v=10
And even more "quantitative easing" from the Fed. (euphemism for creating new money for use by Banksters)
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aX9HAryyF49M
Not sure why all this foreclosure process has to be so complicated. Once you stop paying you should get a warning letter every month for the next 6 months. On the seventh month, a storage container will be placed in front of your former residence and workers will start moving your stuff in there. As a courtesy the packing and one month storage shall be free of charge.
Simple and uncomplicated.
Are you dim or just haven't been paying attention?
The foreclosure process is complicated because the banksters sliced, diced, bundled and securitized mortgages to the point that it is difficult to deteremine what institution actually owns the mortgage.
As result the banks are having difficulty producing a paper trail that shows that they actually have a right to foreclose.
It has very little to do with people and their stuff. Your oversimplification of the matter shows no concern for people losing their homes and smells of right wing propaganda.
You are not going to believe this! CASTING CALLS for Obamas Town Hall Meeting on 10-7-10
http://casting.backstage.com/JobSeekerX/SearchJobs.asp?SearchStartingPoint=MainSearchForm&txtaction=CREATE&ProfileID=&SubmitToSearch=Search&lctr=1&rvsd=-1&o1=2&p1=1&ipp=10&city=&fromsearchpage=True&kwrd=&kwdt=1&lcta=1&st=DC&cn=1&btnSearch=Run+Search+Now
Wow, do we need any more proof that we live in a phony propaganda, stage-managed, public relations "democracy"
It seems this is a non-union gig as well, what a shock.
Oct
08
10:36
Casting Calls, Auditions, and Acting Jobs at Backstage (For Obama's "town hall meeting" on 14 October!)
Tags: WHITE HOUSE
PRESIDENT OBAMA TOWN HALL, DC
PRESIDENT OBAMA TOWN HALL, DC MTV, BET, and CMT (prods.) are casting the audience for a town hall meeting with President Obama. Shooting Oct. 14 at 4 p.m. in Washington, DC. Seeking—Audience Members: males and females, 18+. To apply, email townhallaudience@mtvnmix.com and put "Town Hall" in the subject line. To ensure that the audience represents diverse interests and political views, include your name, phone number, hometown, school attending, your job and what issues, if any, you are
Webmaster's Commentary:
A casting call, to fill the audience for Obama's "Town Hall" meeting! In other words, all those "Americans" you see smiling at Obama on TV are ACTORS AND ACTRESSES!
From: Whatreallyhappened.com
So maybe all the usual suspects on HuffPo are indeed paid to do what they do. Well, I put it on my Facebook page, a link to the casting call. Wouldn't it be nice if this went viral?
Where Huffpo is concerned........
http://cryptome.org/0002/huffpost-spy.htm
It is plausible.
"The foreclosure process is complicated because the banksters sliced, diced, bundled and securitized mortgages to the point that it is difficult to deteremine what institution actually owns the mortgage"
That is not the point. You had an agreement with a bank that you will pay x amount every month. Now whether the bank keeps the money or distributes it to some partners is besides the point. The show me the note is just a workaround to prolong the anguish and give false hope to people who will be foreclosed on anyway. Best make it simple and move on. You cannot afford to pay for your house, find something you can afford.
"no concern for people losing their homes and smells of right wing propaganda."
I would not call it right wing propaganda but common sense. 95% of mortgages are current. 5% are behind. Let the 5% move on.
It seems you're all for holding the people to a "common sense" view of financial responsibility, but waht about the crooked banksters? They have been held to no such moral strictures.
The attempt to impose simple morality tales on victims of complex financial manipulation is about as right wing as it gets.
Also your stats are bogus:
"About 9.9 percent of homeowners had missed at least one mortgage payment as of June 30, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday" fr http://www.thegrio.com/money/1-in-10-americans-with-a-mortgage-face-foreclosure.php
Ok. So it's 10% then. Let them move on.
What about the crooked banksters? The complex manipulation happened after the mortgage was signed and in now way involved the homeowner. How is John Doe being affected if the bank sliced up the mortgage and sold it to whomever? Did John Doe get a contract to sign? Did he have a grown-up read it and explain it to him? Oh well..
The complex manipulation of financial instruments was part anf parcel of the creation of a massive housing bubble. Those mortgages , many of which were criminal, were signed in the context of easy money and inflated house values. When the bottom dropped out, the banksters walked away with billions and left the homeowners holding the bag.
Your facile morality does not in any way take into account this massive systemic criminality and therefore it provides aid and comfort to the banksters.
I really despise your heartless and arrogant way of thinking and expressing yourself ("Did John Doe get a contract to sign? Did he have a grown-up read it and explain it to him? Oh well.."). This type of moralizing always places the blame on the individuals, never on the system.
You must be a libertarian, goddess help you.
Actually, a lot of those mortgage salesmen filled in the papers with incorrect information, lied to people, and otherwise bamboozled people who did not understand the contracts, just to get the papers through and get their commissions, and to have something worthless to sell to investors. There are over a thousand cases of fraud by the lenders already in process. This was policy decided upon by the lenders so they could rip off the money.
Google Danny Schecter and his film 'Plunder'.
There is a serious mortgage crisis in America. It is part of a systemic fausd perpetrated by the financial elites.
You want to put the blame on the lowest on the totem pole with your simplistic bourgeoisie morality.
Why don't you spend a little more time researching the bankster conspiracy and collusion that underlies the current crisis intsead of taking cheap shots at people "who probably don't even know what a percent is."
In other words, stop being an elitist moralizer.
Well said. chameleon doesn't understand leverage multipliers and reverse multipliers. He thinks this is all about the morallity of the little guy.
If he thought about it, he would understand that in any society there is a group of individuals who go through their entire lives with substandard education while they work their butts off. They have poor reading comprehension, average human pride and are never given a break on any purchase anywhere. They pay the highest interest rates on loans for cars or anything else. Along comes a loan shark and says you can live in this fine house for $450 a month even though the house sells for 400 grand. The mark opens his eyes real wide and says, "but I don't qualify with my income!". Don't worry about it, says the loan shark. Do you want that house or not? Everything is taken care of.
I don't know what chameleon was doing while this scam was running but I was screaming at the top of my lungs to anybody that would listen that basic finance teaches you to multiply annual income by 2.5. That's as much house as you can afford to buy. Stretching it you could possible shoot for 4 times your annual income IF you have a locked in interest rate. I said to forget the monthly payment! it's a distraction. some listened. Some didn't. But the bottom line is that chamelon won't address the asset multiplier scam (30 times the morgage asset). He won't address the increased government deficit which came directly from the wall street bail out. He's compromised mathematically and morally.
Thank you,
I'm glad you are thinking this through. Consider, also, that the scam is on several levels. The mark is not just the rube that bought a big house. No sir, the massive setup for this kind of fraud is buried in the tax code that Reagan, Greenspan et al 'modified'. The ultimate scam is the one where you get a small amount of money from millions of people because the 'hit' is small and people don't have the time or inclination to deal with small stuff. But for the scammer (Wall Street) it means billions of dollars with no SEC or FBI giving you the eye. Wall Street knew they could count on congress to bail them out. But back up a second. If the tax code was equitable, the 'cost-benefit-analysis' of Wall Street falls on its' face because the high earners there would get a corresponding 'hit' from the IRS for the bailout. No, Greenspan helped jimmy the system so the middle class are the mark. As added fun and games, the elite get to have the middle class warring with the poor over social programs while Wall Street parties at the Hamptons. What a deal! Divide and conquer on steriods.
And the scam ISN'T OVER. The mortgage mess is one aspect that has been curtailed but much of this charlatanism is ongoing.
THE biggest scam of all in this multipronged attack on the average joe is 'defense' spending. The guy that works in one of the plants spread over the lower 48 feels obligated to support the war effort because he gets his income there. Well, guess what. He is doing EXACTLY the same thing the poor whites and minorities that bought big houses did. The real money is going to the CEOs. The government is running a massive deficit which means our currency is steadily losing its' buying power. And when the big 'hit' comes because the government has to increase taxes, the defense plant worker will be saddled with the lion's share of the tax burden while his CEO boss stands and waves the flag with a smirk on his face. We have been turned into a country of suckers. And being a sucker is mandatory because taxes are not optional.
None of this monstrous shit that is going down could occur without the government backstopping these crooks and a gamed tax code.
Finally, take a look at what's going on with new car sales. Zero percent interest, my arse! It's a mind game to avoid having to drop the MSRP. What's the difference between a $22,000 car at 0% interest for 5 years and a $14,000 car at 18% interest for five years? About $300 TOTAL. Check it out.
One case does not mean just one mortgage.
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/09/14/fbi-crackdown-on-fraudulent-mortgages-may-underestimate-scope-of-problem
'' Tuesday, September 14th, 2010, 1:00 pm
When the Federal Bureau of Investigation began Operation Stolen Dreams in March 2010, the government’s largest mortgage fraud takedown, the FBI estimated about $2.3 billion of fraudulent mortgages were originated in 2009. However, recent estimates from a source monitoring the operation indicates that number is now closer to $14 billion.''
[edit:]
Also see
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/28/plunder_the_crime_of_our_time
[...]
'' BRUCE MARKS: You say that people made bad decisions, right? Well, maybe you could argue that 5,000 people made bad decisions, or 10,000 or 100,000. But when it gets to a million people making bad decisions, and then five million people making bad decisions, then ten million people making bad decisions—because now we’re over ten million people at risk of foreclosure—at some point it turns from making a bad decision because there was a scheme out there. There was a home ownership deception scheme out there.
DANNY SCHECHTER: Enter the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI describes its responsibility for investigating financial and mortgage fraud on its website. It has called mortgage fraud an “epidemic.”
NEWS ANCHOR: They’re calling it “Operation Malicious Mortgage." The FBI unveiled the results of a three-and-a-half-month probe into mortgage-related fraud. FBI Director Robert Mueller.
ROBERT MUELLER: Through this operation, more than 400 defendants have been charged, and we have obtained 173 convictions in crimes that accounted for more than $1 billion in estimated losses. ''
[...]
The point is that many of these large banks have been committing mortgage fraud, creating paper work out of thin air and then having the paper work notarized on a production line scale. This was an attempt by the big banks to get congress to legalize it! That is what the big todo is all about! These banks can not prove that they hold the note for these properties, so they are faking the paper work so that they can go to court and forclose, it's called FRAUD!
"Not sure why this foreclosure process takes..."
"Are you dim or..."
Pretty harsh reply to a legitimate question. Many of us who last dealt with a bank back in the days where you signed papers and people actually looked at them, may not realize how the wonders of technology have enabled institutions to screw up at the speed of electrons.
Years ago I worked in a bank, processing loans and actual folders would change hands, be warehoused, and were audited. You would be in trouble if any went missing.
chameleon - you seem as clueless as mightymite. This has nothing to do with home owners paying or not paying their mortgages, but with who owns the house. As noted later on in the comments:
I am finding it hard to believe that the entire Senate voted for this stinker. But I haven't noted any denial from any part. Either they voted "yea" or abstained, but either way that includes Bernie Sanders, Russ Feingold, and Al Franken? Who wrote this damn bill anyway, Dems or Repubs? It's no wonder that the Dems are up to their ears in what Dante described as filling up the 3rd Circle of Hell!
"HR 3808: To require any Federal or State court to recognize any notarization made by a notary public licensed by a State other than the State where the court is located when such notarization occurs in or affects interstate commerce."
There it is.
Sponsor: Rep Aderholt, Robert B. [AL-4]
How can these Dem nitwits vote for anything written by a Repub?
Apr 27, 2010: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.
Sep 27, 2010: This bill passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent. A record of each senator’s position was not kept.
My daughter manages a real estate office in Seattle WA. She became a notary to facilitate her work. I don't know how much it cost in Seattle, but in AZ it cost $43. She could make a fortune doing notarizations for banks that have forged docs on their (maybe their, or what they think are their) toxic waste mortgages.
The US is indeed a third world country.
This is some of the worst journalistic drivle I've read in a while. Don't kid yourself, Obama is no hero in this like some people are trying to make out. If this had not been picked up by the blogosphere, then by CNBC, Obama would have quietly signed this bill legalizing mortgage fraud! This was stealth legislation from the get go! Passed out of the House and Senate on a voice vote so there would be no record of how our representatives voted. Plus this legislation could not have been voted on without Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid allowing the vote. This was Republican legislation for the Big Banks that the Democrats helped pass!
Perhaps it is starting to dawn on people that their elected representatives are not representing them! Well at least we can still repay these Republican and Democratic bastards come November!
an election time trick, and only after the bill was exposed and decried loudly by the voters.
as soon as the election is over, the bill will come back under a new name and number and oh-bummer will sign it in a heart beat
and then blame it on gop and the left that sat out the election.
more than predictable.
Hmmm, if we didn't know better, it looks almost planned.
I just got another phone call from a researcher wanting to me to answer olitical questions. I told him it was none of their business. Thing is, the politicians find out what people want, and tell them what they want to hear, to get elected, and then go on their merry way doing what they want anyway.
So Obama and the Democrats thinks this will look good for them before the election -- and then what happens after the election? Does this stay in his pocket? I would doubt it. Who is buttering their bread? The whole thing is not to do the right thing, but sound like you will; 'if you can fake sincerity than you have it made in politics...'.
people should fight the foreclosure every step of the way, making it too expensive for banksters to continue.
Better yet, anyone notably underwater should consider (strategic) default. Do your homework relative to state laws and credit impact, but don't get hung up on the moral issue; it's "just business", as Wall Street shrewdly does it. Of course now we know it's built on fraud---a house of cards with no title. (Disclaimer: we've been renting since 2006; in Phx you could smell this mess a mile away)
From "Next Crash at Hand?"
http://attempter.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/the-next-crash-at-hand-mortgage-system-collapse-mbs-disaster/
Russ writes:
"There’s no such thing as a strategic default among the non-rich. The beleaguered people should not only stop paying but wait before they physically walk away, if they’d like to stay in the house. Demand to see the note. Often this will be impossible, and it will take judicial lawlessness (or street thugs) to pry people loose."
"The more people do this, the closer it will come to snowballing into an actual nonviolent rebellion. Land Reform from below."
Following a hostile corporate takeover of government, this may be the only leverage people finally have for systemic change.
WOW! Obama did something good. Obama deserves credit for a bold move. Hope it is not just an election ploy. Hope springs eternal!
What's that old saying about a sucker being born every minuet????
There is another one: 'No fool like an old fool'
Maybe he just woke up to the next 2 years being a living hell as a lame duck and he is finally pissed off? His whole life may be passing before his eyes. Obama could have changed the world but, he proved to be a small man. History will not treat him kindly. He may be thinking about his legacy already. Ha! Ha! Maybe he will start a real push for peace in the Middle East! That is what presidents usually do. Then they just don't quite make it. "We" applaud them for trying and it passes their last days.
Obama may have two years to kill as material for SNL. A good story line would be Obama having to run everything by Sarah Palin now that Rahm is gone. Obama, Who Ya Gonna Call? Sarah Palin!!!!!!!!!!
"Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality." Michael Ellner
Don't kid yourself SJ, if this story had not gone public, Obama would have signed this bill with a smug smile on his face. This was the Republicans and the Democrats coming to the rescue of the big banks again in an attempt to legalize their mortgage fraud!
I was going to buy a small house back in '05 but a little birdie (who happens to work in a realty office) told me to keep renting because, as he put it, "The forclosure tidal wave is coming."
That proved to be sage advice as we now watch the housing market and the so called "American Dream" of homeownership turn to putrid shit.
Hope-ium in crack pipe.
The reason the Senate cravenly flashed this crap through was because there is a panic at the big Wall Street banks in regards to legal title. It turns out that the MERS electronic system that has been used to piggyback securitized derivatives is being rejected by courts as insufficient to establish title and consequent liability. A bank CANNOT proceed against a homeowner unless it can document the title. The MERS system was a scam from the start. Had Wall Street not been able to use MERS, they would have NOT been able to securitize (sell the mortgages in 'tranche' blocks at differnet credit rating levels which were then piggybacked into phony derivatives; i.e. $100,000 in mortgage money was jacked up to more than 3 million dollars in derivatives - thirty times the original asset). Mind boggling, right? And the bastards in the Senate are bought and paid for because they jump when the banks need them. This is incredible craven behavior.
Get the big picture here, folks. The money on mortgages has been made already. A portion of the derivatives blew up and YOU had to pay for that with 700 billion smackers plus 12 trillion TARP. But there's much, much more money out there that Wall Street is on the hook for if they can't keep destroying the homeowners through foreclosure.
When you think this over, you see that this never was a 'subprime' problem. If the original asset value was the issue, lower interest rates and longer term mortgages would have enabled most of these hapless people to stay in their homes. But it NEVER WAS ABOUT THEM. GET IT? The moment you refinance a $100,000 mortgage to a longer term with a lower interest rate you have a REVERSE multiplier effect on the Wall Street crooks.
This finger pointing at the dumb shits that bought these houses is disingenuous. And I am not confident that President Obama will come out against his owners (wall Street) on this. So cheer and be happy, mightymite. Your republican half of the USA mafia familiy pig party is about to take us to full corporate dictatorship.
You flayed it well. The audacity of deceit is breathtaking and infuriating! The gall to blame their own depraved piracy and terrorism on the victims---minorities, the poor, the Community Reinvestment Act, ACORN, etc. in order to loot even more, makes their crimes all the more malicious and despicable. Yup, we bought the snake oil and have reaped a virulent perversion of fascism. I (almost) feel sympathy for these malefactors when this sucker comes down.
The audacity of deceit is breathtaking. The alacrity, creativity and unity of Congress to assist in continuing the deceit is also breathtaking. It brings to mind a group of shrews swarming over a carcass, which would be us, as we are evidently dead meat.
Who says Congress can't get anything done?
I am puzzled and gratified that Obama failed to sign the bill. Maybe he is holding out for something. Let's see what happens after election day.
Joe
I bet it's a set up to make Obama look good.
Throw a bone to the people prior to the election.
Tell them what they want to hear!
I want to make something clear to anyone who just read my post.
The ENTIRE subprime mortgage offerings were IMPOSSIBLE without the elimination of Glass-Steagal, the securitization of mortgages and the crazy derivatives.
Prior to the first liar loan being offered, the plan was to jack up that asset 30 times on Wall Street. They deliberately targeted ignorant whites and minorities because Wall Street wanted volume sales.
If Wall Street had not wanted to push this scam, no subprime 'problem' would have ever occurred. WHY? Because the bank selling the mortgage would be required to ascertain the creditworthiness of the buyer and hold the mortgage title documents.
All that went OUT THE WINDOW when brokerages were allowed to become banks and vice versa. In came the asset multiplier scams and the MERS dubious title tracing mechanism. It was deliberate fraud, folks. They planned it. They even planned to target the mark (poor whites and minorities) when it blew up.