tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140753599557753204.post8572554664821810657..comments2023-10-07T10:28:30.712-04:00Comments on Oooh, nuance!: Bush's New Plan for Sweeping Regulatory Reform...madamabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13182478139356658751noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140753599557753204.post-20436011875962643512008-04-03T11:29:00.000-04:002008-04-03T11:29:00.000-04:00Well said.There's a reason this came out on April ...Well said.<BR/><BR/>There's a reason this came out on April Fools' Day.madamabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13182478139356658751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140753599557753204.post-55581364235717686972008-04-03T03:09:00.000-04:002008-04-03T03:09:00.000-04:00For the best play of this music video, copy the li...For the best play of this music video, copy the link into your browser and open a new window.Flying Juniorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02098313953658606206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8140753599557753204.post-8044872471732506472008-04-03T02:52:00.000-04:002008-04-03T02:52:00.000-04:00The simplest reason not to support this new plan i...The simplest reason not to support this new plan is that it came from the Bush administration. That spells trouble for the consumer and protection for the lenders.<BR/><BR/>Why are we in a crisis? Existing laws and regulations have been broken. That's why this is a scandal. There is no reason for a lender to go upside down after foreclosing a house. Only new mortgages have little or no equity. Any mortgage that is at least five years old will have seen significant appreciation in real estate value. The lender gets to keep all payments that have been made, all applicable interest and still can be made whole with whatever is left in the real value of the home. Not to mention that the lion's share of the interest is paid on the front end of a loan. The reason it may not add up has to do with inflated appraisals, part of the scandal. <BR/><BR/>I'm sorry, but I can't go along with the "kick 'em when they're down" school of lending. Obviously, people with poor credit are the ones who are the hurt the most by late fees, higher APR's, adjustable rates and balloon payments. It just doesn't make sense to me to charge struggling people higher interest rates. The security is in the home. That should be enough. It may well turn out that sub-prime lenders have colluded with real estate agents to sell homes at higher prices than the market would normally allow.<BR/><BR/>Before we allow Bush to consolidate all regulatory powers into one agency, which could be conveniently controlled in the future through appointments and political cronyism, we must draw back and let smarter, more ethical minds make proposals. More likely than not, Bush' proposed regulations would lead to increased sharing of personal information among lenders.<BR/><BR/>If I remember correctly, Ted Kennedy tried to cap legally allowable interest rates on credit cards some twenty years ago. He might as well have been trying to legalize marijuana. The idea was a non-starter. Yet, if he had succeeded, all boats would have been lifted by the rising tide. Most of the families that are struggling to meet their mortgage payments also bear unreasonable credit card balances at high interest rates. The payments on much smaller balances can approach the mortgage payments themselves. And the balances on these accounts can persist for decades, effectively quadrupling the loan repayment, because principal reduction is so very slow. That was really a great regulation to require doubling minimum payments a couple of years back. Talk about a small step in the right direction. The truth is no politician since Ted Kennedy has realistically given even one pin about the American consumer. They've all just given up. It's like Bruce Hornsby <A HREF="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1tn79_bruce-hornsby-the-way-it-is_music" REL="nofollow">said</A>, "But don't you believe them."<BR/><BR/>It's time to throw Bush out on his ear and never again take anything that he says to be even worthy of consideration.Flying Juniorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02098313953658606206noreply@blogger.com