Posted on 04/11/2008 5:59:16 AM PDT by King of Florida
Senator John McCain, who drew criticism last month after he warned against broad government intervention to solve the deepening mortgage crisis, pivoted Thursday and called for the federal government to aid some homeowners in danger of losing their homes, by helping them to refinance and get federally guaranteed 30-year mortgages.
“There is nothing more important than keeping alive the American dream to own your home, and priority No. 1 is to keep well-meaning, deserving homeowners who are facing foreclosure in their homes,” Mr. McCain said in a speech on economic themes that he gave at a window company in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn.
Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, had been painted as uncaring by Democrats, and drew murmurs of concern from some Republicans, after a speech in California last month in which he cautioned that “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers,” and noted that the crisis had been brought on by both lenders and borrowers.
Since then, he has gone out of his way to try to signal that he understands that times are tough and that people are hurting. His speech in Brooklyn — which is to be followed by what aides are billing as a major economic address next week — was a shift in tone, and part of a new effort to communicate that as president he would act to help Americans in financial distress.
“Let me make it clear,” Mr. McCain said, “that in these challenging times, I am committed to using all the resources of this government and great nation to create opportunity and make sure that every deserving American has a good job and can achieve their American dream.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I'm writing in Barry Goldwater. I don't care if he's dead.
As long as he's not offering handouts to undeserving Americans, or non-Americans, this is a good stand. I'm voting for him!
Fixed
I was named after him.You can write me in.:D
My American dream is not paying for every sucker who got a zero-down variable rate loan right at the top of an obvious housing bubble. Can you help me on that, Senator?
“undeserving”
to a leftist (like McCain, Hillary, and Barry)
means “anyone who made the right decisions and sacrifices such that they aren’t sitting in an uncomfortable situation”.
“I’m writing in Barry Goldwater. I don’t care if he’s dead. ‘
Thomas Sowell is alive and extremely well and Goldwater, IMO, would approve.
The essence of “liberalism” -
forcing those who make good decisions pay for the consequences of others’ bad decisions.
Who gets to decide which Americans are deserving and which are not?
He's dead? Damn, maybe he will do better in this election.
“As long as he’s not offering handouts to undeserving Americans, or non-Americans, this is a good stand. I’m voting for him!”
Gee, that makes me feel really good inside. This type of pandering by McCain is the very reason I may NOT vote for him.
The American Taxpayer is overburdened with this Socialist nonsense.
It is BTW distroying our country. And it doesn’t matter if they are giving the money to the undeserving or the deserving, the outcome is the same.
THEY ARE STEALING OUR MONEY TO BUY VOTES!
He’s just showing his liberal colors which he tried to hide.
Anyone that signed one of those mortgage contracts and can’t make the payments should be kicked out and become a renter again, a position they should never have left.
I believe so...it sounds more like a helping hand rather than a handout. The mortgage crisis was brought about mainly by mortgage companies qualifying homebuyers whom, in 9 out of 10 cases, failed to meet even minimum standards--in longstanding proven sound economic principles. We now have plenty of federal help bailing out Baer Stearns, yet I never hear FReeper outrage about the real culprits who cause the mess and nary a whimper when you see their CEOs finally get ousted with multi-million golden parachutes. Why is that?
after being hounded and threatened by a Clinton Admin member, Deval Patrick, over "redlining" and not giving enough loans to [unqualified] minority borrowers.
www.openmarket.org/2007/10/17/deval-patricks-role-in-the-mortgage-crisis/
Yes, Mr. McCain there are in fact a few things that are far more important.
This is why I'll never, ever vote for John McCain, although I may vote for his Vice President, depending whom he chooses and with the caveat that I can secretly hope John is unable to fulfill his term.
John McCain is a pandering traitor, POW status not withstanding.
Cheers,
Lloyd
“I never hear FReeper outrage about the real culprits who cause the mess and nary a whimper when you see their CEOs finally get ousted with multi-million golden parachutes. “
WHAAA! Who are the “real” culprits?
And so what about CEO pay. CEOs are paid buy companies and approved by the OWNERS the shareholders appointed boards.
How can you equate a government handout and CEO pay.
I’m not calling you a socialist but you think like one.
One step forward...
I am committed to using all the resources of this government and great nation...
Two steps back!
"Resources" of the government would be the money stole from the productive members of this great nation. Giving said monies to those that did not earn it, is called wealth redistribution...or communism.
You know what’s coming next? A credit card bailout- The
amount of people drowning in credit card debt is staggering. Can’t afford to take the kiddies to Disneyland?
How about Uncle Sugar helping out!
In my neighborhood, the people in trouble are the ones who bought houses expecting to sell them within months at a higher price. Housing prices here have dropped to where they were in 2004/5...so unless you’ve owned your home for less than 3 years, you’ll do OK.
And if you are selling your home after 1-2 years, then why did you buy it in the first place?
I also have no pity for those who bought adjustable rate mortgages to save cash in the short term, and now have problems. What part of ‘adjustable’ did they not understand?
And no, I have no pity for those who claim they didn’t understand what they were doing. There are perhaps 50 pages of disclosure forms you have to sign when borrowing for and buying a house. What idiot spends 200-600K without knowing what the implications are? Because folks, there is no way to protect the criminally stupid without destroying the country.
In past loan practices it was necessary to show that you could at least put one-quarter of your take-home monthly household income toward a house payment. If borrower couldn't (and such applications included all household monthly bills) he/she did not qualify; PERIOD! No amount of arm-twisting interference mattered, either. Somehow, that loan standard was circumvented; and mainly by greedy giant loan-makers looking to pad their pockets. Accordingly, although I understand that many young homeowners overstressed their borrowing limits and are now in trouble because of it, I can feel a bit sorry for them...but, in no way, do I feel the least bit of sympathy for the mortgage companies in trouble, nor their stock-holders who invested in them. BTW I am both a stock-holder in such a mortgage company and the father of a young homeowner in trouble of losing a house.
I hope all you McCain haters enjoy the radical whiter ,pro abortion, military hater socialist that plans on taking your piece of the Pie to give to others Michele Obama considers more worthy ! I blame you if he loses !
I heard McCain on Hannity last week (or was it earlier this week?). The man is an idiot, and has clearly been in Washington for far too long already.
Wake up and smell the socialism everyone, because whether it is BHO, Shrillary, or McCain who wins this election, that's what we're going to get.
I am a stockholder but, as you probably know, you can only vote the amount of stock you hold in controlling management decisions...therefore, it is difficult to counter board decisions not to oust failing CEOs (themselves major stockholders) or finally letting them go--of course, with huge severance packages. As far as being a "socialists" try telling former stockholders of ENRON about that label.
the loan standards to which you refer
were exactly what caused the effect called “redlining” that the Clinton Admin official condemned and threatened to bring down the hammer over.
This was just another case of the rules causing a “disparate outcome” for minorities and PC protected types.
Therefore, they changed the rules to let unqualified people get loans.
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!
Some “unintended consequences” happened when the gov’t interfered with market best practices.
(Some “greedy lenders”, but mostly gov’t meddling was the cause)
HC is an ideological socialist. BO is an angry young man with a smooth talk and strong socialist leanings to address the wrongs of society.
McCain is a de facto socialist — he is not smart enough to understand the implications of what he is proposing.
There's something in the bylaws of The Golden Rule that allows for the Gold Holders to get away with that kind of stuff. Since I'm not a Gold Holder, I don't have a copy of the bylaws.
If McCain loses, blame McCain, the GOP, and all the democrat voters.
The GOP and McCain knew beforehand he was going to dump conservatives, so knowing this fact, I am sure they are factoring in that they will lose many conservative voters.
In a "perfect world", that would be Me!
Well, I do have pity for ARM holders. I view ARMs, just slightly below predatory payday loan makers who are allowed to make usury interest above (in some states) 25 percent. Yeah, I know the counter you're going to make, "no one is twisting a borrower's arm to go in those places" but it is IMO too close to the loans that Tony Soprano would make in his neighborhood?
I think it was mainly the US Government pushing lenders to lend money 'without discrimination' - i.e., those hardest hit by examinations of credit history and down payment size, etc were minorities. Rather than being viewed as financially prudent, this was viewed by politicians as deliberate discrimination.
Add in a younger generation that seems to have no idea what the value of money is (and I include my two oldest, although they held jobs when young and heard many lectures on saving), and you have a lot of young people who took advantage of the relaxed rules pushed by government - and are now paying. But instead of being mad at the politicians who pushed the relaxed rules, they are mad at the lenders who obeyed the government...and expecting a bail-out.
Sorry, but there has to be consequences to dumb behavior, or the dumb behavior repeats - and grows worse with each repetition!
Sell the stock if you do not like management. In fact if you had any sense you would do due diligence BEFORE you buy the stock.
As far as Enron. I find it amusing that people wanted to value their holdings at the high which was a result of the fraud and then bitch when the stock plummeted due to the same fraud that propped it up. Funny to me.
We need pockets of economic failure to ensure the success of the system. if you do not allow failure you destroy the system. Please do yourself a favor and go to amazon.com and order a few of Dr Sowell’s books.
First you tell me how good my comment made you feel, then you go off on a rant about how bad everything thing is... I'm confused, it's Friday, and I'm going to have a great weekend no matter how crappy you want to feel about it!
Hey, I’m with you. But I see the next six months as a time of venting and when November rolls around, people will come to their senses. Whether it be Barry O. or Hillbilly, MOST people here will look at the situation and do the right thing.
“(Some “greedy lenders”, but mostly gov’t meddling was the cause)”
Don’t think so. Nobody held a gun to the head of the borrowers. You could have gotten a pretty cheap fixed loan. You may have had to eat baloney or settle for a smaller house or forgo trips to disney, but nobody was force to borrow.
In the real world, it’s going to be a government bureaucrat, and I’m sick and tired of nameless, faceless, unaccountable drones deciding which Americans “deserve” this and which Americans “deserve” that. How ‘bout the boneheads who bit off more than they can chew financially live with the consequences of their actions? Then maybe they’ll make better decisions next time. That used to be the American way, and we prospered greatly because of it.
McCain is proving himself to be as big a statist as any Democrat. Somebody remind me again why I should be afraid of the Democrats, when the Republicans act this way?
...and that's why Bear Stearns was bailed out? Why can't it be allowed to crash (along with those who borrowed their money)
“The GOP and McCain knew beforehand he was going to dump conservatives, so knowing this fact, I am sure they are factoring in that they will lose many conservative voter.”
Brilliant post. McCain does not want my vote. I am not going to give it to him. If he picks a smart economic savvy VP that runs rings around him I may change my mind. But somebody on the ticket at least has to ask for my vote.
The media have for years pounded Bush for his malapropisms. He has been labeled fore and aft as the most stupid pesident since Truman. However, in reality George Bush is not that dumb. Now McCain, THAT is another matter entirely.
May I “assume” you’re also for bailouts (Chrysler yesterday, Bear Stearns today, GE tommorrow)?
When I bought my first home in 1998 with a fixed 30 year mortgage, there were plenty of ARM fans that told me how stupid I was to spend the extra money ever month compared to what they were saving. In 2003, when we moved and once again when with a 30 year fixed mortgage, the same ARM fans gave me the same flack. I hope all those ARM fans really did save their money over all those years. Now they really need it.
“old people are always forgetting what they said originally”
I do not!
Oh, if you’ve been watching, you’ve heard myself b$tch about it pleanty.... however when I do point out the absolute joke our financial systems have become.. and the wretchedly horrible fed and trade policies of the past several decades that have helped create it..
Well, generally a few folks show up and call me a liberal democrat or some other such name.
You and I just assumed BILLIONS in debt to prop up billionaires lifestyles... I have to listen to absolutely ignorant pinheads on talk radio, and their mindless minions here try to blame the housing collapse on federal policies.. (absolute nonsense, but it plays to their ideological view) instead of flat out greed by a bunch of snakes, which was to blame.
Free Republic is a lot like Being married when it comes to certain topics.. free trade, bailing out wall street, etc.. you can either be happy, or you can be right. If you are going to be right on certain topics here, folks will make sure you won’t be happy.
The mortgage lenders must have made some major contributions to McCain’s campaign...
How in the world are people going to afford a 30-year fixed mortgage when they had to go the subprime route to be able to make their initial monthly payment?
They can’t, which is why we taxpayers will be forced to bail out the lenders - regardless of who gets elected.
...and that’s why Bear Stearns was bailed out?”
BSC was not bailed out. Tell that to the share holders. The lenders to Bear got a slight reprieve the same way a failed bank would more or less. It had to happen to keep a cascade of defaults from happening.
I have some great books on fixed income capital markets I can refer you to if you are interested in learning how all this works.
Exactly how does your statement differ from this --
I am committed to using all the resources of this government and great nation...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.