"A black sheriff?!": The Official Topic of Obama and New Era American Politics

[eznark]

Includes Treasury stepping in to bring principles down and help for owners who are current.

So happy to hear this. I've been taking it in the ass hard for 2 years now.

Glad my tax dollars can help you pay for a house you apparently can't afford.  Since I can in fact afford my beautiful new home on my own, I guess I'm the bad guy for being fiscally responsible.

What a rad system.

[Barry Egan]

Includes Treasury stepping in to bring principles down and help for owners who are current.

So happy to hear this. I've been taking it in the ass hard for 2 years now.

Glad my tax dollars can help you pay for a house you apparently can't afford.  Since I can in fact afford my beautiful new home on my own, I guess I'm the bad guy for being fiscally responsible.

What a rad system.

Why don't you cry more about it you little bitch. 

[Brehvolution]

Fuck you, cunt. You don't know what you are talking about. I'm sure I pay as much in taxes as you. Maybe if the bank jacked your interest up $500/month starting 2 years ago, you would have some perspective. I afforded it thus far and am current so where do you get off taco?

[eznark]

Includes Treasury stepping in to bring principles down and help for owners who are current.

So happy to hear this. I've been taking it in the ass hard for 2 years now.

Glad my tax dollars can help you pay for a house you apparently can't afford.  Since I can in fact afford my beautiful new home on my own, I guess I'm the bad guy for being fiscally responsible.

What a rad system.

Why don't you cry more about it you little bitch. 

No tears, I just find it strange someone would proudly proclaim they are dependent on government assistance to bail them out of their own decisions.  It's an interesting mentality.

The bank "jacking your interest $500" is a you problem, not a taxpayer problem.  Your insults seem to show you have a bit of pride left despite you trumpeting your dependence on government welfare, so that's nice I suppose.

[AdmiralViscen]

If we've learned anything the last 6 months, it's that people struggling to make their mortgage payments is definitely a problem for everyone

[eznark]

That is a pooling and stripping problem.  Had those mortgages not been securitized and bundled foolishly it wouldn't matter as much that foreclosures doubled last year.

[AdmiralViscen]

That is a pooling and stripping problem.  Had those mortgages not been securitized and bundled foolishly it wouldn't matter as much that foreclosures doubled last year.

This is true. So? All this does is remove even more blame from 'dirty poors who don't pay their bills', and it doesn't change the current situation at all

[ToxicAdam]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/18/ST2009021801039.html


A politician named O'Malley is pushing for more stringent drinking laws? What's this world coming to?

[eznark]

That is a pooling and stripping problem.  Had those mortgages not been securitized and bundled foolishly it wouldn't matter as much that foreclosures doubled last year.

Guess we need the government, funded by our tax dollars, to go in and put some good ol' regulations in to help prevent this from happening again.  Or, are you against that? 

ABS/CMO securities are essentially dead.  What will regulation do at this point?  If you think regulators can see the future and anticipate the next exotic investment vehicles then I suppose regulations could be productive, but from a realistic standpoint the experience will stop this from happening again.  Institutional investors will be more conservatively leveraged as a means of survival, not to meet regulations. 

I highly doubt Zero Hero is poor.  He's just a guy who gets to take advantage of the current situation and feels so great about receiving welfare that he's gonna trumpet it on the internets.

[Brehvolution]

I highly doubt Zero Hero is poor.  He's just a guy who gets to take advantage of the current situation and feels so great about receiving welfare that he's gonna trumpet it on the internets.

WTF!?
I'm not poor, but I know when I'm getting raped.
It's bullshit the government has to get involved to make banks play ball in the first place. You calling it welfare is hilarious.

[FlameOfCallandor]

[eznark]

Why?  It is welfare.  Tax dollars will be doled out to "struggling" home owners through lending institutions to influence mortgage terms, with presumably no strings for the home owner.  It is welfare, a handout, home stamps.

My problem is 1. I hate that "free money!" mentality and 2. I'm not a fan of being called a cunt.

[Human Snorenado]

Why?  It is welfare.  Tax dollars will be doled out to "struggling" home owners through lending institutions to influence mortgage terms, with presumably no strings for the home owner.  It is welfare, a handout, home stamps.

My problem is 1. I hate that "free money!" mentality and 2. I'm not a fan of being called a cunt.

So, what do you tell everyone else on Zero Hero's block if his house gets foreclosed on and their property values plunge?  As for 2, perhaps you should work harder on, you know, not being such a fucking cunt.  Cunt.

[Van Cruncheon]

he's not thinking FREE MONEY AH HUR GOTCHA, he's thinking OH GOD LESS FINANCIAL STRESS PERHAPS I CAN ENJOY MY LIFE A LITTLE MORE NOW

[ToxicAdam]

NEWS broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent- free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.) - and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel's previously undislosed ethics problems.

One issue is the work Emanuel tossed the way of De Lauro's husband. But the bigger one goes back to Emanuel's days on the board of now-bankrupt mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Emanuel is a multimillionaire, but lived for the last five years for free in the tony Capitol Hill townhouse owned by De Lauro and her husband, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg.

During that time, he also served as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - which gave Greenberg huge polling contracts. It paid Greenberg's firm $239,996 in 2006 and $317,775 in 2008. (Emanuel's own campaign committee has also paid Greenberg more than $50,000 since 2004.)

To be fair, Greenberg had polling contracts with the DCCC before - but each new election cycle brings its own set of consultants. And Emanuel was certainly generous with his roommate.

Emanuel never declared the substantial gift of free rent on any of his financial-disclosure forms. He and De Lauro claim that it was just allowable "hospitality" between colleagues. Hospitality - for five years?

Some experts suggest that it was also taxable income: Over five years, the free rent could easily add up to more than $100,000.

Nor is this all that seems to have been missed in the Obama team's vetting process. Consider: Emanuel served on the Freddie Mac board of directors during the time that the government-backed lender lied about its earnings, a leading contributor to the current economic meltdown.

The Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Agency later singled out the Freddie Mac board as contributing to the fraud in 2000 and 2001 for "failing in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention." In other words, board members ignored the red flags waving in their faces.

The SEC later fined Freddie $50 million for its deliberate fraud in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Meanwhile, Emanuel was paid more than $260,000 for his Freddie "service." Plus, after he resigned from the board to run for Congress in 2002, the troubled agency's PAC gave his campaign $25,000 - its largest single gift to a House candidate.

That's what friends are for, isn't it?

Now Rahm Emanuel is in the White House helping President Obama dig out of the mess that Freddie Mac helped start.

The president's chief of staff isn't subject to Senate confirmation, but his ethics still matter. Is this the change that we can depend on?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

NY Post

[close]

[Human Snorenado]

So, I wonder if Rush, Hannity the Manatee and everyone else bitching about Obama's cabinet picks having to pay back taxes will give Palin the same treatment.

Somehow I'm doubting it.

[Eric P]

i feel kind of sorry for the alaskans who live there and would like to comment on their story, but now everything their governor does and is reported on is probably filled with hundreds of bored trolls.

[Phoenix Dark]

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate, has suggested his state may not be interested in all of the roughly $4 billion allotted to it in the economic stimulus package to be signed by President Obama today.

"We'll have to review each program, each new dollar to make sure that we understand what are the conditions, what are the strings and see whether it's beneficial for Louisiana to use those dollars," Jindal said, according to CBS affiliate WWLTV.

Jindal is scheduled to give the response to the president’s not-exactly-a-state-of-the-union address next Tuesday.

Louisiana reportedly faces a possible $2 billion budget shortfall next year. It has been allocated $538,575,876 for infrastructure spending in the stimulus package, and the White House predicts the bill will create 50,000 jobs in the state.

As WWLTV notes, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has said he’ll take any money that Louisiana turns down.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/02/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4807323.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=PoliticalHotsheet_4807323

Holy shit - WHAT? Talk about a state that needs as much help it can fucking get. There are like 22 republican governors right. Not all of them preside over states as fucked as Louisiana, and I'm very interested in seeing which ones use the money and which don't. And later, the public reactions on a state level.

You know something is wrong when Palin is looking like the practical one in the room. Jindal and the SC gov are crazy

[Eric P]

i think it's perfectly reasonable for the governor to want to look into any preconditions regarding the acceptance of the federal money.

[Human Snorenado]

That's par for the course for any GOP gov considering a 2012 or later run.  Pawlenty was on Rachel's show last night (props to him for actually coming on) and he waffled about it, saying he wanted a different package but since for every dollar Minnesota sends to Washington, they get 70 something cents back he was going to take the money.  Since Alaska is a pork haven I'm not surprised at all that Palin is lining up at the trough after she came out against the stim.

[eznark]

If you think all that money is free, what are you going to tell your grandchildren about their high taxes? 

I don't think it's free, I think you misread my post.  As for the high taxes, I'll tell my grandchildren that Nancy Pelosi stole their money and they should go piss on her grave and beat up her spawn to get back at her.

he's not thinking FREE MONEY AH HUR GOTCHA, he's thinking OH GOD LESS FINANCIAL STRESS PERHAPS I CAN ENJOY MY LIFE A LITTLE MORE NOW

Rationalizing it doesn't make it less welfare-y.

So, what do you tell everyone else on Zero Hero's block if his house gets foreclosed on and their property values plunge?  As for 2, perhaps you should work harder on, you know, not being such a fucking cunt.  Cunt.

If that is something they worry about they should probably chip in $500 a month to him.  It's not something that concerns me so I'd appreciate it if my dollars were left out of it.  However, if the home is nice enough that his neighbors are concerned about their property value being affected by a foreclosure than I am sure the home won't be bank owned long.  Those are the types of properties vulture investors love.  It's the foreclosures in shitty neighborhoods where a vacant wouldn't affect property values that are sitting empty.  The second point you are surely correct on though.  [The name calling doesn't bug me, just informs the tone of my response, so it's much harsher than it needs to be].

Jindal...well done sir.

[AdmiralViscen]

What will you tell your grandchildren about the trillion dollar Bush wars and the multi-trillion dollar Bush tax cuts with no reduction in spending

[Eel O'Brian]

how do i obtain this free money you speak of

[Human Snorenado]

What will you tell your grandchildren about the trillion dollar Bush wars and the multi-trillion dollar Bush tax cuts with no reduction in spending

It killed brown skinned folks, so it was AWESOME.

[Cheebs]

I never understood that line of logic from Republicans

Spending tax money domestically on those in poor economic situations = WASTEFUL!!! WELFARE WELFARE!!! WASTE OF MONEY!!!! GIVE ME BACK MY TAX DOLLARS!

Spending tax money on unneeded wars in the middle east  = Awesome


It hurts my head.

[eznark]

What will you tell your grandchildren about the trillion dollar Bush wars and the multi-trillion dollar Bush tax cuts with no reduction in spending

To piss on Bush's grave and beat his spawn.  I certainly have no more love for the 00-08 crop than I do this current crop of politicians.

It killed brown skinned folks, so it was AWESOME.

I was opposed to the Iraq War (unnecessary war steals tax payer dollars as much as welfare).

[Cheebs]

What will you tell your grandchildren about the trillion dollar Bush wars and the multi-trillion dollar Bush tax cuts with no reduction in spending

To piss on Bush's grave and beat his spawn.  I certainly have no more love for the 00-08 crop than I do this current crop of politicians.

Well sadly, most conservatives don't have that point of view. Out of curiosity, what was the last President you think did a good job?

[Phoenix Dark]

I'm still kinda shocked/impressed eznark took the Gingrich bait 

[eznark]

What will you tell your grandchildren about the trillion dollar Bush wars and the multi-trillion dollar Bush tax cuts with no reduction in spending

To piss on Bush's grave and beat his spawn.  I certainly have no more love for the 00-08 crop than I do this current crop of politicians.

Well sadly, most conservatives don't have that point of view. Out of curiosity, what was the last President you think did a good job?

Always trying to label people.  Conservative?

It's pretty difficult for me to find a president who I think did a "good job."  There is pre-FDR and post-FDR I suppose, and presidents who followed the mess he left had to work within the alphabet soup framework.  While defense spending was certainly a problem, Reagan did a fairly decent job attempting to bring back free market capitalism but obviously I have issues with some of his policies.  I'd say just about every president excepting Carter did some decent things.  On a rank of least shitty since FDR it'd be Reagan.  Pre-FDR there are a fair number but I think it's more difficult to fairly judge them as history tends to distort accomplishments.


If you've read any of Gingritch's books, he actually does have some interesting ideas and thinks somewhat outside the box on issues of education, budgeting and welfare reform.  Saying someone has ideas doesn't mean I necessarily agree with them.

[Brehvolution]

If that is something they worry about they should probably chip in $500 a month to him.  It's not something that concerns me so I'd appreciate it if my dollars were left out of it.

I'm not getting that money, the bank is. The bank wins, always. So call it bank welfare.

Also, I've been in the workforce for 17 years now. I'm looking at it as if the government is giving a little of the money I gave them all these years back. I'll let you know how I make out so you can keep tabs on your precious tax dollars.

[siamesedreamer]

The Obama administration's summary of the plan said the plan could offer a buffer of up to $6,000 against value declines on the average home.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29256424

$275M to try to create an artificial floor for a market that is still way too overvalued compared to historical norms.



Housing Plan

[Human Snorenado]

What's your alternative?

[The Fake Shemp]

Zero Hour, don't lie to him.

You're going to take our money, and do lines of cocaine in your pizza-stained, dirty poor boxers while watching Judge Judy on your DVR and waiting for the Chinese food delivery guy to arrive.  Once the doorbell rings, you'll put on a robe, tip the man (with our tax money!), and chow down on some kung pao chicken 'till you pass out.  You'll wake up around 11PM and play some Halo 3 online, smoke a blunt, then masturbate for an hour while blasting 90s grunge music in the background.  Maybe you'll wake up by 10AM and snag a sausage McMuffin or you'll sleep in 'till that girl you met at the bar calls you on your Sidekick.

Living the life.  For free.  On our tax money.  You jerk!

[Brehvolution]

You're blowing my cover wilcoe.

All I'm asking is for the bank to charge me $400 to $600 a month in interest instead of $850. If the only way this happens is for the government to subsidize that write down to the bank, how the fuck am I to blame?

[ToxicAdam]

Does that graph take into account that the average size of our homes have exploded in the past 30 years? Not to mention the added costs from taxes and regulations made in that same time period?

[siamesedreamer]

I don't know if it takes that into account.

Looks like the writedown for those underwater is limited. So, if you owe more than 105% of the market value of your home, you are ineligible.

[Mandark]

I'd say just about every president excepting Carter did some decent things.

Really?  The guy who lowered taxes, deregulated the trucking and airline industries, pushed the antitrust suit against Ma Bell, and let Paul Volcker push a tight-money policy at the fed?

And as a conservatarian you can't think of a single thing he did that was decent?




PS Gingrich has dumb ideas.  Gas tax holiday lolz.

[siamesedreamer]

Christina Romer just said on CNBC that there's no recourse for the taxpayer for when a home owner who receives a mortgage writedown later sells the home for a profit when the market recovers.

[Brehvolution]

What about capital gains?

[siamesedreamer]

> Under the Homeowner Stability Initiative: Family C can get a government sponsored modification that for five years will reduce their mortgage payment by $406 a month. After those five years, Family C's mortgage payment will adjust upward at a moderate, phased-in level.

> First, Investment Bank (working through a mortgage servicer) reduces the interest rate so that the Family C's monthly debt-to-income ratio drops from 42% to 38%. This means that Investment Bank must reduce the interest rate from 7.50% to 6.38%, bringing down Family C's monthly payment from $1,538 to $1,387.

> Second, the government and Investment Bank share the cost of further reducing the interest rate so that the Family C's monthly debt-to-income level is lowered to 31%. Any dollar the bank spends is matched by the government. At this stage, Family C's interest rate is reduced from 6.41% to 4.43%.  In total, Family C's monthly payment has fallen from $1,538 to $1,132.

> If Family C remains current on their payments, they will receive incentive payments up to $1,000 a year, or $5,000 over five years, that would go towards reducing the principal they owe. Additionally, the mortgage servicer can earn an up-front incentive fee of $1,000, plus up to $1,000 per year in "Pay for Success" fees for three years, so long as Family C remains current.

http://www.treas.gov/initiatives/eesa/homeowner-affordability-plan/HousingExampleSheet.pdf

Basically the plan just lengthens the teaser rates so they don't reset until after the next election (in this scenario).

[Phoenix Dark]

President Obama opposes any move to bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine, a spokesman told FOXNews.com Wednesday.

The statement is the first definitive stance the administration has taken since an aide told an industry publication last summer that Obama opposes the doctrine -- a long-abolished policy that would require broadcasters to provide opposing viewpoints on controversial issues.

"As the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told FOXNews.com.

That was after both senior adviser David Axelrod and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs left open the door on whether Obama would support reinstating the doctrine.

"I'm going to leave that issue to Julius Genachowski, our new head of the FCC ... and the president to discuss. So I don't have an answer for you now," Axelrod told FOX News Sunday over the weekend when asked about the president's position. 

The debate over the so-called Fairness Doctrine has heated up in recent days as prominent Democratic senators have called for the policies to be reinstated. Conservative talk show hosts, who see the doctrine as an attempt to impose liberal viewpoints on their shows, largely oppose any move to bring it back.

Fueling discussion, a report in the American Spectator this week said aides to Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, Calif., met last week with staff for the Federal Communications Commission to discuss ways to enact Fairness Doctrine policies. The report said Waxman was also interested in applying those standards to the Internet, which drew ridicule from supporters and opponents of the doctrine.

Both the FCC and Waxman's office denied the report.

The Fairness Doctrine was adopted in 1949 and held that broadcasters were obligated to provide opposing points of views on controversial issues of national importance. It was halted under the Reagan administration. 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/18/white-house-opposes-fairness-doctrine/

Good. I'd love to see this be Obama's first veto, if only for the conservative reaction to it.

[siamesedreamer]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[eznark]

You're blowing my cover wilcoe.

All I'm asking is for the bank to charge me $400 to $600 a month in interest instead of $850. If the only way this happens is for the government to subsidize that write down to the bank, how the fuck am I to blame?

Damn bank, forcing you into that mortgage.  What'd they use, water boarding?  I hear that's pretty effective. 

Mandark, Carter's negatives far outweigh his positives and deregulating transportation and shipping was an inevitable necessity it just so happened he was in the chair when it crested.  And yeah, Gingrich has some dumb ideas, like A Contract with the Earth.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Regarding foreclosures, this event was interesting.

We had to call the cops to this foreclosed home because it was taken over by squatters...who had a tendency to shit in the basement there as it turns out.  I heard the stench was terrible.

[Brehvolution]

Damn bank, forcing you into that mortgage.

You know, I've asked co-workers and family members what their rates were. It was a mix between low 5s to upper 6 percentage rates. I'm just under 10! So excuse me if I'm bitter.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Home ownership is overrated.  I don't think I'll ever own a home in my life, whether I make the salary I make now or 10x that amount.  Fuck it.

[Brehvolution]

5 years ago, it seamed like the thing to do when you have a family. *shrug*

[Human Snorenado]

Home ownership is overrated.  I don't think I'll ever own a home in my life, whether I make the salary I make now or 10x that amount.  Fuck it.

Indeed, I was thinking about buying a house for a while there.  Glad I changed my mind and decided to put my hard earned skrill towards an economics degree, so that eventually I can work for a librul think tank and annoy idiots like eznark. 

Besides which, my credit is still shitty enough that in this environment I would likely not be able to get a mortgage anyhow, even tho I've got over 20k in the bank.

[Human Snorenado]

Zero Hero- did you KNOW you were getting an ARM?  At least I assumed you got an ARM.  Did you know what that meant and shit?

[Brehvolution]

This thread isn't about me. Sorry for the derail.

[AdmiralViscen]

Might as well share your tale. No one's gonna judge you (who matters)

[Cheebs]

From today, when Obama was in Arizona.



wtf is this keep the change thing that has caught on? It doesn't even make any sense. How is he taking freedom? 

[Eric P]

oh white people

[Brehvolution]

Might as well share your tale. No one's gonna judge you (who matters)

Zero Hero- did you KNOW you were getting an ARM?  At least I assumed you got an ARM.  Did you know what that meant and shit?

If, at closing on a 30 year mortgage, someone said, "In 2 years, your payments double .  And it's all interest! " *As they throw their hands in the air*

Would you do it?

I was led to believe otherwise.

But who cares, right? Let the fucked be fucked.

Good thing they didnt triple it, lol!

[Phoenix Dark]

From today, when Obama was in Arizona.

(Image removed from quote.)

wtf is this keep the change thing that has caught on? It doesn't even make any sense. How is he taking freedom? 

selling our children's future? wow, where have these fiscally conscious Americans been over the last 8 years

[Mandark]

I'll believe it when I see it.

Isn't your take on the Fairness Doctrine quite the opposite?  You'll believe whatever you want without seeing anything.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Might as well share your tale. No one's gonna judge you (who matters)

Zero Hero- did you KNOW you were getting an ARM?  At least I assumed you got an ARM.  Did you know what that meant and shit?

If, at closing on a 30 year mortgage, someone said, "In 2 years, your payments double .  And it's all interest! " *As they throw their hands in the air*

Would you do it?

I was led to believe otherwise.

But who cares, right? Let the fucked be fucked.

Good thing they didnt triple it, lol!

That sucks.  More reason for me not to own a home.  Some payments are virtually all interest?  Fuck that.

[Cheebs]

Wow. The GOP's little rising star Bobby Jindal is apparently planning to turn down the 4 billion dollars his state gets from the stimulus package. Of which over 500 million is in infrastructure, aka instant job creation. Oh and Louisiana is already 2 billion dollars in debt too! What a smart guy! All that will do is cause his 4 billion to go somewhere else that is needing it.

He would needlessly turning down new jobs in his state, more money for his schools...etc for what? Republican party unity and making Obama seem weak?

Ugh.

[ToxicAdam]

Ya, look how good all the money we have poured into Louisiana education system has done so far? We just haven't spent enough.

[Cheebs]

You really think it'd be smart for Jindal to turn down 500 million in infrastructure spending?

All this does is signal to me I was wrong about him waiting to run for President, he has to be thinking about 2012 with a potential move like this.