As the sponsor of a $300 billion housing bailout, you’d think liberal Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) would disclose his ties to the mortgage industry. Guess again. As coverage of Dodd’s sweetheart deal has intensified, so too have the senator’s critics. In a new video outside Dodd’s Washington, D.C., townhouse, our friends at AngryRenter.com raise some serious questions about his panda-ring to Countrywide and other lenders who would benefit greatly from the bailout. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGzrr3HlnyQ[/youtube]
Jim Johnson, the man recently chosen by Sen. Barack Obama to search for a VP candidate, is under fire for receiving millions of dollars in below-market loans from Countrywide Financial Corp. chief executive Angelo Mozilo. Private entities like Countrywide are free to give generous loan agreements to whomever they want, so there is nothing technically illegal about what Johnson did. Just like there is nothing technically illegal about the $21 million that the government-sponsored entity Fannie Mae paid Johnson for his work as CEO of Fannie in 1998. However, the …
The Pew Charitable Trusts released a study yesterday surveying state action on the recent wave of increased foreclosures. Pew senior officer Tobi Walker told the Washington Post: “The states are experiencing this pain more directly than the federal government is.” This is partly true. A more accurate statement would be some states are feeling the pain more directly than the federal government is. As this map of Mortgage Bankers Associaiton data shows, subprime foreclosure rates exceed 10% in only 13 states, including California, Nevada, Florida, Ohio and Michigan. The Post …
Members of Congress, including three presidential candidates, are competing to “do something” to stabilize the housing market and show compassion after the wave of foreclosures on risky subprime mortgage loans. The crisis talk clouds the national picture, obscuring the varied state-by-state impact of the mortgage mess. The chart above uses the latest data to map out how the foreclosure rate for subprime loans stayed below 10% in all but 13 states. Rather than take measured steps to assist only the most vulnerable and allow the market to correct itself, though, …
Sen. Hillary Clinton yesterday threw her weight behind a plan by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to authorize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) spend $20 billion in taxpayer money to guarantee up to $400 billion in questionable mortgages. Considering Sen. Barack Obama is already a co-sponsor of Dodd’s legislation, and the House has already scheduled hearings on the bill, the plan is likely to become the front line in Congress’ fight to “do something” about the current financial instability. Under the Frank-Dodd bill, lenders that chose …
Among the many provisions of the Senate Finance Committee’s stimulus package is a legislative proposal to allow states to issue as much as $10 billion in new “mortgage bonds” to raise money to refinance the mortgage loans of troubled borrowers. States are already permitted limited use of such tax exempt bonds to provide new mortgages to moderate income buyers, but this plan would expand the privilege to refinancings. Because the interest earned on these bonds would be exempt from federal taxes, they involve a significant federal taxpayer subsidy to investors, …
