Author Topic: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"  (Read 2686 times)

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Offline 5412

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I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« on: February 14, 2009, 04:03:57 PM »
Hi,

I just got done watching the news and what is likely coming down the pike next week and was so angry I sent a letter to the editor of the Tampa paper.  If any of you feel as I do feel free to borrow anything you want as you write your local paper also.

regards,
5412

Dear Editor,
 
When I was a lad the American Dream was to work hard, save your money, live within your means and some day own your own home....
 
This week the president is going to unveil a package to "assist" folks who are in foreclosure with government money to allow them to stay in their homes.
 
Now let me see if I have this straight.  Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and friends decide that they want to "require" banks to loan a certain percentage of their money to folks who are highly unlikely to afford the home they are buying.  With the assistance of ACORN they pressure the banks to do just that.  When the banks finally go to ACORN and say this has to stop or we will go bankrupt, ACORN goes to the Clinton administration and convince him that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae should buy all those questionable loans so the process will continue.
 
Somewhere in the process a investigation is held and the investigator goes to the congressional banking committee and points out there is a real problem and the same folks, plus many others attack the messenger and nothing gets done....which in hindsight might have averted the crisis we have today.
 
Now our president is about to introduce a system where the government is going to "buy down" mortgages for folks who cannot afford them.
 
It would seem to me that the American dream has been redefined.  Go buy a house you cannot afford, take out a loan you cannot pay back, then go into foreclosure and have your friends and neighbors, who have lived within their means, paid their own mortgages, help pay yours with our tax dollars.  Wow, as Yakov Smirnoff used to say "What a country!"  I am sure Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Pelosi and others are sitting on the sideline cheering for the fact they once again have found a way to penalize folks who work hard and pay taxes and now they can use their money for those who made bad decisions.
 
Such a deal!
 

Offline Thor

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #1 on: February 15, 2009, 10:16:47 PM »
The bigger problem with this bail out is the fact that the Government is a day late & a dollar short. (Actually, a couple or three years for many people.) The crash of the real estate market and those folks dependent upon the real estate market has hurt those folks. You can ask DebK or me. That crash started about mid 2005, perhaps a little before in some areas. An unwillingness of lenders to work with their clients helped promote that crash. Bad loans, risky loans, questionable loan tactics, etc all came to a head. We are now seeing the results of all of that stuff that started way back almost four years ago. The failing job market and outsourcing probably helped move everything else along. That stuff started back in 2000 with the crash of the tech industries/ dot coms. I don't think our government should "buy down" any loans, but I DO think that the lenders should have seen the writing on the wall and been more willing to work with folks.
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Offline rich_t

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2009, 10:28:34 PM »
Thor,

What do you mean by "work with folks"?

IMO a lot of those bad and risky loans were a direct result of FED arm twisting.

Banks were basically being forced to make risky loans to those that couldn't reasonably be expected to fulfill their financial obligations. (according to various articles that I have read).

Now you couple that with the fact that far too many folks have intentionally over extended themselves by buying on credit, the current meltdown was merely a matter of time.

The US has been using fiat money for decades.  Sooner or later the house of smoke and mirrors was bound to collapse.

I say let the economy completely collapse and just get it over with, the sooner we fully confront the problem the sooner we can start rebuliding.  It's going to happen, it's merely a matter of when IMO.  Darwin will be proven right again.
"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." --Norman Thomas, 1944

Offline 5412

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2009, 05:53:04 AM »
Hi,

Here is what I heard on the news first thing this morning.

Story one.  The lady with the new 8 children admits she did it for the government money, every time she gets a new baby, it more money for her.  She says it is the government's fault.  Thank you Lyndon Johnson for incentivizing out of wedlock birth.

Story two.  There is a new housing plan to be introduced this week to help those in forclosure where the government will step in and "pay down" their mortgage.  The then say that many folks are being advised to flat stop paying their mortgage.  In other words BO is going to incentivize the practice of not paying your mortgage to get a government handout.  They did not mention just who was advising their "flock" not to make their payments but the inference was certainly implied.

All this garbage is designed to continue to enslave a certain segment of the population to make them economically dependent on government so libs can maintain power.

I then turned off the news, have not taken my blood pressure pill yet this mornng.

Have a great week,
5412

Offline docstew

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2009, 07:58:18 PM »
IMO a lot of those bad and risky loans were a direct result of FED arm twisting.

Banks were basically being forced to make risky loans to those that couldn't reasonably be expected to fulfill their financial obligations. (according to various articles that I have read).

here's what I was wondering the other night:  When the banks saw the writing on the wall regarding fed interference in loan decisions, why would they continue to offer those services?  I used to take the stand that they were blameless, but now I'm looking at it as they knew that many of these loans they would be forced to grant would be risky, so why offer any?  You can't be accused of discrimination if it's not something you offer.

Offline rich_t

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2009, 09:48:21 PM »
here's what I was wondering the other night:  When the banks saw the writing on the wall regarding fed interference in loan decisions, why would they continue to offer those services?  I used to take the stand that they were blameless, but now I'm looking at it as they knew that many of these loans they would be forced to grant would be risky, so why offer any?  You can't be accused of discrimination if it's not something you offer.

A bank that refuses to offer any loans would soon be out of business.
"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." --Norman Thomas, 1944

Offline debk

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2009, 01:00:44 AM »
here's what I was wondering the other night:  When the banks saw the writing on the wall regarding fed interference in loan decisions, why would they continue to offer those services?  I used to take the stand that they were blameless, but now I'm looking at it as they knew that many of these loans they would be forced to grant would be risky, so why offer any?  You can't be accused of discrimination if it's not something you offer.

Many of the loans has usury rates for interest rates.

The government has been strongly "suggesting" to mortgage companies to work with homeowners in trouble. Not allowing them to live in their homes for free...but re-working the terms of the mortgage notes.

There are many options available to help the problem....

1. move the missed payments to the end of the loan....if the homeowner has missed 6 payments, increase the length of the loan by 6 months. chances are the homeowner won't live in the house longer than 10 years anyway.

2. reduce the interest rate on the loan....instead of it being 8.5 or higher as many notes are....reduce them to 6.

3. combine a first and second mortgage into a single mortgage at a reasonable rate.

4. not charge people a fee to "modify" the loan terms.

5. split the missed payments out among several months and the homeowner pay the add'l amount monthly until the amount in arrears is paid off.....but at a reasonable amount. tacking on an entire month's payment on top of an existing month, is not a reasonable amount for some one to pay. if it was...they wouldn't be behind in the first place!

Loan modification does not necessarily mean that the bank is going to reduce the original amount of money borrowed....but reduce the interest amount to be paid on the loan. The first five years of a loan repayment is mostly interest. A very small amount is actually principle.

Just hand over the chocolate...back away slowly...far away....and you won't get hurt....

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate.

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I've finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." – Dave Barry

A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands.

Offline 5412

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2009, 05:34:31 PM »
here's what I was wondering the other night:  When the banks saw the writing on the wall regarding fed interference in loan decisions, why would they continue to offer those services?  I used to take the stand that they were blameless, but now I'm looking at it as they knew that many of these loans they would be forced to grant would be risky, so why offer any?  You can't be accused of discrimination if it's not something you offer.

Hi,

You ask a good question.  The federal government did more than arm twisting, they threatened the banks and each bank had a quota or percentage of loans that they made that must fall into a category of high risk or whatever you want to call it.  So many of the banks nowdays cross state lines so the government can really zing them if they want starting with auditing them regularly and then some, kind of like you have a continual visit with the IRA.  They also have charters, federal rates the banks pay when borrowing from the fed, it goes on and on. 

My neighbor is a retired banker and toward the end of his career he was involved in buying up banks for his employer.  He said with every bank they bought they would have to set aside several million dollars to keep the NAACP, ACORN and others off their back, knowing full well that money was never going to be repaid.

WaMu had a goal (this is from memory) of 20%+ had to be these special loans to high risk buyers.  They received a special citation from the US government for meeting that goal.  It arrived the same week they filed for bankruptcy. 

This whole mess can be laid at the feet of BO, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton and the main stream media refuses to print it.  One of the reporters laid it all out on Fox and there was a blurb on You Tube going around.  It got pulled in less than 30 minutes due to several threats and it actually had to be viewed from a Canadian website.  They did a time line on the activities, then when the regulator started raising hell, they showed all the libs attacking the investigator and it never got out of committee.

I will see if I can find the timeline.

regards,
5412

Offline Chris_

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2009, 05:48:27 PM »
Hi,

You ask a good question.  The federal government did more than arm twisting, they threatened the banks and each bank had a quota or percentage of loans that they made that must fall into a category of high risk or whatever you want to call it.  So many of the banks nowdays cross state lines so the government can really zing them if they want starting with auditing them regularly and then some, kind of like you have a continual visit with the IRA.  They also have charters, federal rates the banks pay when borrowing from the fed, it goes on and on. 

My neighbor is a retired banker and toward the end of his career he was involved in buying up banks for his employer.  He said with every bank they bought they would have to set aside several million dollars to keep the NAACP, ACORN and others off their back, knowing full well that money was never going to be repaid.

WaMu had a goal (this is from memory) of 20%+ had to be these special loans to high risk buyers.  They received a special citation from the US government for meeting that goal.  It arrived the same week they filed for bankruptcy. 

This whole mess can be laid at the feet of BO, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton and the main stream media refuses to print it.  One of the reporters laid it all out on Fox and there was a blurb on You Tube going around.  It got pulled in less than 30 minutes due to several threats and it actually had to be viewed from a Canadian website.  They did a time line on the activities, then when the regulator started raising hell, they showed all the libs attacking the investigator and it never got out of committee.

I will see if I can find the timeline.

regards,
5412
Dude,trust me on this -- by hook or crook, get 15 or so more posts...
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Offline 5412

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Re: I just wrote a letter "American Dream Redefined"
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2009, 06:23:02 PM »
Hi,

 I do not understand what you are telling me with 15 or more posts....


Here is the timeline information I was discussing.  This nails exactly why we are in deep doo doo today.

regards,
5412

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/what_really_happened_in_the_mo.html