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The Blog
Big breaking news about the long-fought over bank settlement: an outline of the terms of the legal release are emerging.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris did right to re-open the talks demanding compensation from the nation's largest banks that admittedly engaged in unscrupulous mortgage and foreclosure practices.
If Obama meant what he said in Tuesday's State of the Union address about holding the financial industry responsible for its scams, why did he appoint the old Clinton crowd that had legalized those scams to the top economic posts in his administration?
If the president thought his mortgage investigation announcement would be an easy sell to progressive critics, he was only half right at best.
It was the very prosperity of that postwar generation that enabled so much borrowing to occur because it was in the postwar that bankers began to discover how profitable it could be to lend to consumers.
You might have missed it among the long, long to-do list Obama gave last night, but the president announced two new housing proposals: more refinancing, and more investigations of banks. Neither is a breakthrough.
Why Congressional Republicans Should Support Obama's Just-Announced Large Scale Mortgage Refinancing
Tonight, the president announced a plan to allow for the refinancing of the mortgages of every responsible homeowner -- and many of the primary beneficiaries of this plan would be Republican voters in Tea Party districts. Shouldn't Republicans in Congress line up?
They say if you can make it here you can make it anywhere, and that old line certainly rings true for Manhattan's renters. NYC is truly a tough market for those looking to lease or ready to rent.
A few days ago, Mitt Romney pointed out that the banks are carrying debt on their books at inflated values. When was the last serious politician to make that point, openly? His comments were refreshingly honest about our housing and banking situation and the need for a debt write-down.
President Obama is planning to strike a "populist" note in his State of the Union Address and in his re-election campaign. But economic populism would be a lot more credible if it had been the consistent message and program of his presidency.
Usually, stepping into the waiting room at this attorney's office felt like wiggling into too-small jeans. But, when I arrived recently, representing a client selling her home, I didn't need the 10 minutes I allotted to find a parking spot.
Rumor has it that on Monday, after months of negotiation with big banks, the White House may announce a settlement that would let the banks off the hook for their role in the foreclosure crisis. We hope these rumors are untrue.
As Bob Dylan would put it, the times they are a-changin'. There's a storm outside and it's raging, baby. We really are shaking their windows and rattling their walls. The establishment is getting very, very nervous.
Business and Wall Street economists in particular are predicting just 2 percent GDP growth for all of 2012. Why such pessimism?
Through the 2MP initiative, services of second mortgages have the option to modify the lien or to extinguish it -- which is an admission that the mortgagor is not likely to be repaid for the second mortgage, and they clear their interest in the property by filing a lien waiver.
