The Slow Wheels of Washington
Mar 30th, 2008 @ 5:11 PM by Alden Smith
Congress is making noise about help for homeowners that are facing foreclosure, but it is almost a certainty that President Bush will not back it and, in all likelihood, veto anything they come up with. All proposals on the table right now would be a big help, but like anything else, have their pros and cons.
Bush proposes that the FHA step in, and work with lenders to “forgive” some of the debt of homeowners who owe more on their home than it is worth, especially since the current drop in median home prices. The White House backs a regulatory overhaul of the financial system but opposes direct aid to homeowners. The Fed has slashed interest rates, and done a great deal to bail out Wall Street, no matter how you want to look at it.
Even the Presidential candidates are focusing on the economy and what can be done. McCain, in true Republican fashion, refuses to look at any type of bailout for homeowners. He also thinks that Wall Street and speculative investors should take their knocks along with the rest. Yet when the subject of the bailout of Bear Stearns came out, he said “Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy.” So, in other words, bail out Wall Street, and let Main Street suffer. Wise words for someone seeking election!
Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama agree on one thing at least – they both feel that a $400 billion homeowner rescue plan being pushed by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass. is a reasonable plan. In light of fairness, I think so, too. What is good for the goose is sauce for the gander, and all that.
Mr. Frank estimates his plan would help between 1 million and 2 million homeowners. However, we are forgetting about the FHA guidelines here, which state that it would have to reject a lot of homeowners with shaky or skimpy paychecks. This is the majority of these people, who are now living paycheck to paycheck.
All of this is fine. One way or another, no matter what happens, the American taxpayer is going to pay, and probably through the nose, before all of this is sorted out. The one thing, I think, that everyone is overlooking is that the wheels of government turn very slowly, and before everyone finally agrees on a plan, most people out there will just be out of luck, and living in a cardboard box down by the river. And that is what is sad about it all.
I agree with you in your last paragraph before the government comes to help and especially the working folks (low to middle income} everything will be down the drain before help arrives.
Very interesting site.
Thanks for hard and honest truth about Washington. I am so glad there are Demorcrats and we will get our country back, soon but not soon enough. I had money in the saving account when President Clinton was in office, and now with the BUSH Family am losing my home. The large profits and tax cuts given to the rich 10% increased to30% OIL Kings must be stopped in our USA. We need to build and manufacture our goods in the USA, not pay the world for our basic needs. The big business corporations find cheap labor in poor countries, then we as America’s are forced to buy their products in WallMark or nowhere.