nationwide foreclosure settlement

its hard to find a more undeserving group of "victims"

people who were greedy gamblers buying homes they couldnt afford, who knew they couldnt afford them, thinking they would flip them soon enough after a 50 grand or so quick gain, but the music stopped and they didnt have a chair, now get an election year check from obama et al because of paper work errors from banks?

the single worst aspect of all of this is a national rationalization and support for a mindset that people arent responsible for their own acts. its co-dependency at its worst. people have gone from a feeling of responsibility to one of finger-pointing and "where's my bail-out" without shame.

it really is a tipping point in how people view debt, responsibility, struggling, working, you name it

we may never recover short of a depression and a re-start.

the funny part of this is the government started all of this with their fanny and freddie and forcing loans without any due diligence.

what a country

As a nation, we are co-dependent on government.

And since I have struggled to make my loan payments as my home value has cratered, I am not elegible for any assistance, can't even get a lowering of my interest rate. Can't refinance because of other restrictions, so I am stuck paying double the current interest rate on a home that has lost 20% in value. I guess I am also penalized because I put down more than 20% on the home, so my mortgage value is still lower than the current value of the home.

And since I have struggled to make my loan payments as my home value has cratered, I am not elegible for any assistance, can't even get a lowering of my interest rate. Can't refinance because of other restrictions, so I am stuck paying double the current interest rate on a home that has lost 20% in value. I guess I am also penalized because I put down more than 20% on the home, so my mortgage value is still lower than the current value of the home. Originally Posted by tigercat

the people who do things right always pay the price.

this government rewards all sorts of pathologies while blaming and punishing work and responsibility

The only good thing about this program is that the un-intended consequence will be to speed up foreclosures and flush the crap thru the system so a real recovery can begin.

This is nothing more than money extorted for political gamesmanship purposes. I would really like to know who actually manages to receive any relief for this all this grandstanding?

I will bet a weeks salary this leveraged money finds its way back into democrat campaign coffers!

True; and the working middle class will foot the bill with higher bank fees, loan processing fees, etc.

The trial lawyers again screw middle America. Lining their own pockets, and their Democratic masters that protect them.

This is nothing more than money extorted for political gamesmanship purposes. I would really like to know who actually manages to receive any relief for this all this grandstanding?

I will bet a weeks salary this leveraged money finds its way back into democrat campaign coffers! Originally Posted by Rakhir

True; and the working middle class will foot the bill with higher bank fees, loan processing fees, etc.

The trial lawyers again screw middle America. Lining their own pockets, and their Democratic masters that protect them. Originally Posted by Whirlaway

any time you take away risk of loss, you destroy capitalism. loss makes capitalism work as well as profit. its a winnowing to create the greater common good

History demonstrates quite clearly that heavy-handed government interventions designed to influence market prices of goods and assets rarely go well, and often produce adverse unintended consequences which turn out to be far greater than the short-term benefits.

Just think about the ill-considered "cash-for-clunkers" program from a couple of years ago. It was a net negative for poor Americans, since it mandated the destruction of a number of engines in low-value cars, some of which could have benn used again or cannibalized for parts. Not surprisingly, a consequence of this action -- which reduced the supply of engines and spare parts in the budget market -- was that the cost of owning and maintaining older cars rose. Avoiding this foolish program would have offered a 2-for-1, since it would have saved a couple of billion bucks and helped the poor a little bit, too!

One of the leading pushers of this nonsense was Princeton University economics professor Alan Krueger, who at the time was an Assistant Treasury Secretary. Since then, Obama promoted him to Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, where he's capable of doing far more damage. If you're wondering where all this bad economic policy comes from, this is a good place to start.

Regarding the housing issue, the key point I would make is that markets can never enjoy full health until there's what we refer to as "price discovery", unfettered from interventions that cause potential market participants to consider waiting for more interventions, secure in the knowledge that politicians will stop at nothing when there are votes to be bought and elections to be won.

It's a more painful process in the short run, but if you just let markets settle where they may, and finally clear, you then have a base from which to grow again and a far healthier long-term situation.

Here are a couple more cases where meddling in markets produced bad outcomes, although in the price for goods and services, not for homes:

In the 1930s, the U.S. Government tried price controls in an effort to prevent deflation. Merchants, butchers, and other purveyors of goods and services were threatened with prison terms for discounting goods and services. It obviously didn't work well, and was one of many factors that prolonged the Great Depression years beyond when it should have ended.

The Nixon administration did just the opposite in the early '70s, when they attempted to control inflation with wage-price controls. It (sort of) worked for a while, of course. It's a little like trying to push down on the lid on top of a boiling pot of water. When it finally blows off, things can get a little ugly!

So when you have inflation, deflation, or some other market ill, just pass a law against it or enact a policy designed to override market forces.

That always works great!

You do understand that there will be an explosion of foreclosures now. Possibly millions. Also, one of the winners Warren Buffet stands to make $158 million. Buffet made some money last month with the Keystone pipeline decision. He owns the rail stock that will transport the oil to Louisiana instead going by pipeline. Crony capitalism. Buffet is becoming a villain.

As a related issue if you recall this two month payroll tax cut Obama fought so hard for and managed to get. Well let's see it basically returned about $200 per family and defunded Social Security for two months which people will never see on the back end.

But the kicker to all this is Obama never told anyone they were making it up on a tax on home loans. This tax is roughly $15 for every 200K borrowed per month. Over 30 years it amounts to about $9500. I call that a fair trade! What a jackass!

CaptainMidnight wrote in part;
".....Just think about the ill-considered "cash-for-clunkers" program from a couple of years ago....."

To me the best thing about that program was it got rid of thousands and thousands of Obama For President bumper stickers!!

This foreclosure relief will not help those who deserve it and could will "buy" many votes. All Hail the Chicago thought process...