Help Is On the Way

I am soooo relieved that now that banks will no longer make careless loans to those that are over extended the state has stepped into make these loans with taxpayer money.

Phew!

It's a relief that President Obama is going to be paying for everyone's mortgage now...man here I was getting worried about the mounting debt and along comes the Messiah...how do I change my Baristanet name?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjcFp60DJc

"This assistance program provides an affordable financing alternative to borrowers in New Jersey whose current mortgage is no longer appropriate for their current financial situation"

Priceless!

"You can also locate additional assistance programs offered by the state of New Jersey that can help you with paying many other types of bills and debt."

Just quit my job! Margarita's anyone!

RoC, it was large scale and systematic fraud perpetrated by large financial institutions. It was Wall St. not Main Street, Capital Circle or Pennsylvania Ave. You are pushing propaganda. What you mean to say is "blame government and people but not Wall Street or predatory capitalism".

Since my real estate bill is roughly 4 times my mortgage payment, I wonder what they can do about that.

Although it is a good idea to try to stem the rising tide of foreclosures -- now that the banks aren't letting people refinance if they are even close to being "under water" this might help somewhat.

Here's the plan, let the banks go under, create a new national bank, buy the debt at it's actual value, suspend foreclosures and create system for soft landing bad debt, forgive debt created by predatory lenders, and work to increase the value of the dollar.

I once saw an act where 45 lasermike brand economists got out of a volkswagen! Funny.

You're nonsensical progressive-Marxio-capitalism aside, lasermike, you can "blame" whomever you wish. The bottom line is that home loans were made to people not financially fit enough to pay them back.

So now, instead of citibank making the no-down, 104% loans, the State of New Jersey will, with our money.

"So now, instead of citibank making the no-down, 104% loans, the State of New Jersey will, with our money."

Which is grossly unfair even in a state as blue as ours.

Have no fear MM. I'm sure Corzine will protect our investment. No doubt he will take Professor Lasermike's suggestion and insure repayment by "suspending foreclosures" in order to "soft land" the bad debt.

MM,

You were looking for fairness?

HA!!

Bad behavior and stupidity get the bailout.

Those of us who read our mortgage agreements, were not greedy and played by the rules get nothing except the bill.

Wall Street created the financial poison and they where going to sell it to who every they could find.

There is no citibank without the "faith and credit" of the Unite States government. We are engaged in the largest enterprise of socialism in the history of the world.

"Those of us who read our mortgage agreements, were not greedy and played by the rules get nothing except the bill."

And the tax increase is the cherry on top.

"Wall Street created the financial poison and they where going to sell it to who every they could find."

Meaning Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, government entities...

Such a bad idea.

The problem: People bought more home than they can afford under the misconception that "House values always go up" (some of whom were duped by predatory lending, many were not).

The government's solution: Offer the same-said people different loans that they still can't technically afford and, what, hope that they can keep up the payments until the economy picks back up?

These people should try to re-finance at a more affordable rate and if they can't get that, then sell the house (possibly at a loss) and move into a smaller home or rent an appartment.

It sucks, but them's the breaks.

"It sucks, but them's the breaks."

Unless you are the UAW.

Unless you are the UAW.

True. In that case it's more like: "It sucks, but them's the forced vacation at 2/3s pay."

for extra credit. Keeping the overstretched in their homes with government mortgages does what?

Keeps the price of home artificially high? Who does that hurt? Whom might benefit from reduced home values?

People of lesser means who could actually afford a home (and make payments) if homes were less expensive.

Just way #6352 that so-called "progressive" polices which are meant to "help" people end up hurting the very people they're meant to help.

SubPrime Primer

Couldn't you at least direct us to a decent cartoon, laserdidgereedo? Those stick figures are awful.

Somehow professor Lasermike I am not surprised that your understanding of subprime mortgages comes from stick figures who shout "F**K YOU" at each other.

For your historical studies, may I suggest...

If the original lenders had been in a position in which they going to be left holding the bag for bad loans, they would have never allowed people to get mortgages with little or no money down to people who could not afford them. They made the loans because they made money off the fees and then sold them as soon as they could.

Letting the number of foreclosures continue to spiral out of control is not the answer, especially in areas in which entire communities are in ruin. Those homes can't be sold at all - for any amount of money.

This exclusive footage of Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke working out details of the financial bailout is also very edifying.

link

I guess by "reaching out", one doesn't mean agreeing to a two tier wage system and a takeover of retirees health care benefits. These are 2 huge examples of "reaching out" that the UAW has done in their most recent contract.

But not enough, for some. It would perhaps be better for cars to be assembled in Haiti for 3 gourds a day and all of the charcoal you can carry. Then we'd have some profitable corporations, by God!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/24/politics/washingtonpost/main4685694.shtml

An interesting article. Especially the part about the UAW having made concessions in 2003, 2005, and 2007.

I also thought the part about how defining benefits, etc. makes it unclear as to whether American autoworkers make more than their foreign counterparts, or don't. Seems as though that question is unanswered.

But thanks for the link. I had to get the old specs out to type it all in, but while looking for them I found my teeth.
So I owe you!

The poor dears.

Everyone raise your hand if you have guaranteed pensions and more than Medicare Insurance for life.

How about a show of hands for everyone who receives "furlough" with 2/3'rds pay instead of layoff?

i'll bet they are wringing their hands at the 9th hole of the UAW "Education Center" over this one.

the, uhm, "education" center:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,472304,00.html

"But thanks for the link. I had to get the old specs out to type it all in, but while looking for them I found my teeth."

TMI...LOL!

Is the word 'Obama' muslim for buffoon? The Dems have criticized the Reps forever over Intelligence and spying issues so Nobama appoints Leon Panetta as CIA Chief? He might as well have appointed Maxwell Smart's boss. This is gonna be a lonnnnnnnng 4 years.

It is going to be a long 4 years, full of people desperately reaching to connect the Obama's-a-big-mess dots. I love that it can be summed up in one letter - W.

If we survived W we can survive anything.

ROC,
Some groups that raised their hands, are the NY State Teachers, that started teaching at 25, stayed till 55, retired w/30 years in the System. Lifetime Medical, Full Pension payable at 55, so (my knowledge) husband & wife combined $150K per year. Taught 4th grade English, and Gym Teacher. Don't know NJ but I assume similar. They are laughing at me from their Myrtle Beach digs planning their next cruise...White collar jobs w/blue collar benefits...They are laughing, because, when they were hired, they never thought it would be that ucrative...True story.
p.s. Because State System, they could move around from District to District, and got credit for teaching for a period out-of-state. Oh, and the other reason they laughed...there Pensions are Tax Free if they stayed in NY...
I can only presume that the "Administrator Group", is at least as good, if not better. Oh, and we in NJ have 1,000,000 in the NEA, when combining retirees into the block.

All of the candidates Obama had in mind are tainted by being involved in or supporting Bush adminstration policies that Obama needs to distance himself from, such as warrentless wiretaps and rendition.

And George HW Bush had absolutely no spying experience when he was appointed head of the CIA, and he's generally regarded as doing a good job. Panetta certainly couldn't be worse than Tenet.

lucrative=ucrative. Sorry

Obama will have a rough start given the sh*t storm he's walking into. I can't think of a newly elected president that has had so many messes on so many different fronts to deal with.

He hasn't even started his job yet and the yabbos are already calling for his head.

You just have to love it.

My mother once told me that 90% of the world is comprised of dumb-a**es. I didn't belive her when she first told me this but I sure do now.

Got my Federal 1040 tax packet in the mail yesterday. Now they've got a "First-Time Homebuyer Credit" for people who bought (or buy) their first home (i.e., have not owned a home in the last 3 years) between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009.

I bought my house pretty much near the height of the market in January 2006 with more than 20% down on a 30-year fixed mortgage, and although mine was one of the cheapest I looked at during my search, and was much less than either of my next door neighbors paid for theirs within the year previous to my purchase, it was pretty much the most I could reasonably afford.

It would be so nice if there was a rebate or tax credit or some such largesse for those of us who exhibited bridled restraint and responsibility during the heady days of anything-goes mortgage financing. Instead, all we get are double-digit property tax increases (I'm talkin' to you, Bloomfield!).

That said, as unpalatable as it may be to save people from their own irresponsibility for assuming mortgage obligations they either did not understand or could not afford (or more likely, both), I think it would be far worse for our communities (and our precious yet evaporating equity) to say "tough nuggies" and stand idle amidst a wave of widespread foreclosures, especially in neighborhoods where those properties are likely to become abandoned, neglected, and vandalized.

Is Muslim a language?

Effective CIA chiefs are administrators, not spies. They represent the agency to lawmakers and schmooze (that's Gaelic for schmooze) other world bigshots. They don't run agents and pick up dead drops.
When "real" spies run things, we get disasters. See Casey in Iran and central America, or Helms in American livingrooms. The fact is, very often the director is in the dark about what is going on, and since he or she is at the end of the day a political appointee, that's how it will stay and frankly how it ought to stay quite often.
Iceman, your partisanship is exhausting. Both Democrats and Republicans have been "carping" about intellegence failures (often with good reason). Tenet was appointed by Clinton, a Democrat, and asked to stay on by Bush, a Republican. so what are you talking about?

Hey laserdouchebozak

Pennsylvania Ave?
Hue and cry re "redlining"?
Cancelling Glass-Steagall?
Raines and Gorelick running Fannie?

you are such an illiterate schmuck

I'm underwater on my home. My jumbo ARM will reset next year, and I don't have the equity or cash available to refinance. Not sure my income still fits the guidelines for a mortgage that large anyway. My taxes are up nearly 50% since I purchased my home four years ago. When my mortgage resets, I will have enormous difficulty paying it. It may make more sense to sell (or try to) or just walk away. The standard story...

What I need, and I'm sure many others (especially in the high priced parts of the US) need is a program to allow people to stay in their homes and refinance their current jumbo at a reasonably affordable interest rate and without requiring the standard equity/PMI rules. None of the programs out there (that I've seen) address people in this situation. Such a program is badly needed in this area.

What we really need is a program that mandates all black lights and lava lamps be brought to your local recycling station and retired.

Now they've got a "First-Time Homebuyer Credit" for people who bought (or buy) their first home between April 8, 2008 and July 1, 2009.

Woo-hoo! I don't support this sort of thing going through. But, since it did: Gimme!

(kinda like those $600 checks we all got last year)