Schumer just said that there already has been earmark reform in congress. With so many delusional people in
We have a banking disaster that is evidently over according to ken lewis and other banking execs..(crying for a reversion back to mark to model of course--load of crap by the way)The hubris of these bankers who seem to think that now that they can survive after having use of tax payer billions means they didn't really need it and that they shouldn't pay it back with a normal interest rate they charge to consumers. What a joke.
Look at the issues going on in Vegas with the previously cash cow casinos. When credit tightened, casinos were squeezed, burned through available cash, economy weakened leading to revenue shortages, and defaults began to rise. I know everyone thinks cash is the only way but normal credit is essential for growth of any kind. If we want to live in a pre order society where we have to specify what we want months ahead of time so it can be made at the factory, using our down payment, then shipped to the dealer for us to pay the balance in cash (car dealers for example) that is fine with me. However, our entire economy system and principals with in this systems is based on expansion and money flow. If corporation’s growth is greatly reduced, investment, as we are seeing now will be exponentially reduced and we will be hard pressed to find investors. I don't care how we proceed. All cash is fine but it means all cash for the banks too. If we take the hits on our investments and if we are to hold the losses of our real estate then so must the banks.
I don't see how you can say that contract law is paramount in our society when the corporations that are writing those contracts are belly up if not for the tax payer. You can argue all you want about personal responsibility and dead beat this and dead beat that but the only dead beats are the banks and bankers. These loans are all collateralized and that means house for money. The option of house in lieu of paying the money is one that the bank willing uses. The fact that they allowed themselves (and caused the collapse of the world economy) to be put underwater by a small percentage of defaulted loans is an issue with their business model not an issue about people buying what they couldn’t afford. It is the banks job and that of regulators to see that defaults do not kill the bank. The cycle started because banks created a system that could not tolerate any defaults or even the slightest up tick in default rates. Now people who have done nothing wrong and only wished for their home to hold its value are losing years of equity payments. (cash used to pay down principal as prices fall below the 2003 or older property values). These people are suffering because of the banks and regulators. They both failed miserable and now we bail them out while with taxpayer money to prolong the crisis and to push values even lower in stocks and real estate.
We then get "change" in the white house and they keep on spending. The ridiculous PR stunt of helping home owners with out reducing principal will waste another 75 million, which most will be used to administrate the program, because it is likely that any of the people who could have used the help are now will over the 105% LTV. You can yell about free markets and I am with you all the way but when the lenders go on the public dollar then things have to be changed for those on the other side of the trade. IE consumers holding notes from insolvent banks. I will not agree with you that when these notes have gone down to pennies on the dollar, that they can be sold with the buying party able to sting the borrower for full value. The banks have to base their paper on collateral value and when they "guess" wrong you can't let them walk away with billions in tarp funds and the rights to full future value of the note. It might not be fair to everyone but fairness is out the window when banks come crying for handout. (yes don't forget the perfect timing by the banks either.....right before the election when they knew they could manipulate and stare down the cowardly congress......because they were all pandering for votes....{there were more flip flops in Washington than in middle of July on south beach}...congress blinked and they have been caving every time the banks cry economic disaster. I don't want a penny from the bank or reduction in my mortgage. But there are people who should be getting mortgage reductions and the banks should be paying for their poor business models and poor business decisions. If this happened we would be a lot closer to a free market than we are today.
