Interesting potential bailout version. (snipet of the article) Bush's mortgage bailout just might work ....Based on Bush's announcement last week of a new Federal Housing Administration program to help around 80,000 at-risk homeowners obtain debt relief -- an effort modest in scope but stunning in its reversal of prior policy -- it's clear he will go for the latter in the interest of helping his party avoid a wipeout next November. Bove notes that a precedent for a widespread mortgage-assistance program lies in the Emergency Home Finance Act of 1970, which established these mechanisms to help challenged households: ---Banks would originate mortgage loans with 1% interest rates. ---The Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs would insure the loans against loss. ---The Government National Mortgage Association, aka Ginnie Mae, would buy the mortgages at par from the banks, allowing the banks to make a small profit. ---Ginnie Mae, taking a sizable loss, would then sell these loans to Fannie Mae (FNM, news, msgs) and Freddie Mac (FRE, news, msgs) at a discount so that the buyers would earn reasonable yields. ---Fannie and Freddie would fund these purchases with low-cost, government-guaranteed debt. As a result, Bove speculates, tens of thousands of at-risk homeowners would get to keep their homes. Ginnie Mae would lose tens of billions of dollars that would be repaid by banks and taxpayers at a pace and in a manner similar to the Iraq reconstruction effort. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would end up with huge increases in the sizes of their portfolios. And, most importantly, the nationwide housing collapse would disappear as an election theme for Democrats.
damn it....who needs to bailout underwater housing if we have this kind of talent http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_252232548.html
they can debate the details and laws and agency acronyms, but in the end it's just yet another swindle. was there ever any doubt this would eventually end up on the taxpayer's tab? wasn't that the point of it all along?
if anyone can name ONE single thing Bush has done that has worked in his 7 years, then maybe we can think that this 'bailout' will work. until then, it's more b.s. ...and i don't want to hear that the economy has been so great - it's been built on massive debt and that's why we're heading into the dumper.
The bailout would solely be done if it benefited him or his party in terms of potential votes for '08 rather than out of compassion for the suffering. He and his cronies have done extroadinarily well during the past 7 years given the no bid contracts for his defense buddies, oil zooming upwards toward $80 a barrel for his crude oil companions, tax cuts for the wealthy, etc, etc, etc....