Obama's Cabinet appointments ( promises made, promises kept)
If you listen to the conservative talk shows, you would think that Obama has gone back on his promises to bring in a new regime of honesty and full disclosure with his administration. These people (mostly Republicans) point out the problems that several appointees have had, and try to label Obama as dishonest himself. But, by the mere fact that these people have been removed by the administration before even getting to the confirmation stage speaks volumes to me. It says that Obama will not allow anybody with a questionable record to occupy a seat in his administration. The unfortunate thing is these transgressions were not discovered during the vetting process. But then again, these offenses could only be discovered if the appointee discloses them first because they were not public record (ie: tax returns are usually a private situation). So, if the appointee is found to have questionable integrity, they are disqualified by Obama. Seems like a good idea, don't you think?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) & The Housing Recovery Plan
This is where the rubber hits the road. Obama has laid out two comprehensive plans to try and get our economy back into some degree of stability. His masterful display of leadership is so refreshing. I only wish he could have gotten involved in the first stimulus plan - - you know, the one that Bush and Paulson totally screwed up. Actually, I think they deliberately devised that farce of a plan in order to line the pockets of their friends as a sort of "last call" round of drinks from the treasury coffers. But I digress.
So far, Obama is honoring the promises he made for transparency. Of course, Republicans and conservatives are complaining (and making patently false accusations) about a lack of bi-partisanship and effectiveness. First of all, Obama's attempts to reach out to Republicans was widely covered by the media. The first draft of the ARRA was largely revised based on the objections and input from Republican members of Congress. This is clearly documented. That notwithstanding, they still unanimously voted against the bill. How's that for bi-partisanship? Nice.
Then, they claim the bill is not available for public scrutiny and review. That is 100% untrue. Any and everybody can go to www.recovery.gov where you can read the entire official document. Or you can go directly to the Act at The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
But, what I am most impressed with is the Housing Recovery Plan that Obama laid out today in Mesa, AZ. If anyone doubted his ability to pull together a comprehensive plan of action, those doubts were laid to rest today. Here is a summary of the initiative:
This plan helps an estimated 7 – 9 million homeowners re-structure of re-finance their loans to avoid foreclosure. It will help by:
• rescuing families who have played by the rules and acted responsibly;
• refinancing loans for millions of families in traditional mortgages who are underwater or close to it;
• modifying loans for families stuck in sub-prime mortgages they can't afford as a result of skyrocketing interest rates or personal misfortune;
• taking broader steps to keep mortgage rates low so that families can secure loans with affordable monthly payments.
Who will this plan exclude?
• speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell;
• dishonest lenders who acted irresponsibility, distorting the facts and dismissing the fine print at the expense of buyers who didn't know better;
• people who bought homes they knew from the beginning they would never be able to afford.
Here are the 4 main parts of the plan:
#1: Remove restrictions to enable currently ineligible homeowners who receive their mortgages through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates.
• Ineligibility is due to mortgage value exceeding home value. Currently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not permitted refinance mortgages valued at more than 80% of the home's worth.
• This makes it almost impossible to sell or refinance, which makes options limited in the event of emergency / job loss.
• Impact: 4 – 5 million homeowners
• Estimated taxpayer cost: $0; while Fannie and Freddie would receive less money in payments, this would be balanced out by a reduction in defaults and foreclosures.
#2: Create new incentives so that lenders work with borrowers to modify the terms of sub-prime loans at risk of default and foreclosure.
• Sub-prime loans usually have high rates and complex terms that often conceal their costs
• They make up only 12 percent of all mortgages, but account for roughly 50% of all foreclosures.
• The plan establishes clear guidelines for the entire mortgage industry that will encourage lenders to modify mortgages on primary residences.
• Any institution that wishes to receive government assistance to modify home mortgages, will have to do so according to these guidelines
• If lenders agree to offer rates that the borrower can afford, the government make up part of the gap between what the old payments were and what the new payments will be.
• Lenders will be required to reduce those payments to no more than 31 percent of a borrower's income.
• Impact: 3 -4 million homeowners
• Estimated Cost: ???
#3: Keep mortgage rates low for families looking to secure new mortgages.
• Uses funds already approved by Congress to continue to purchase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities so that there is stability and liquidity in the marketplace.
• Estimated cost: up to $200 billion
#4: A wide range of reforms designed to help families stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure.
• reforming our bankruptcy rules so that we allow judges to reduce home mortgages on primary residences to their fair market value - as long as borrowers pay their debts under a court-ordered plan.
• That's the rule for investors who own two, three, and four homes. It should be the rule for ordinary homeowners too, as an alternative to foreclosure.
• $2 billion in competitive grants to communities that are bringing together stakeholders and testing new and innovative ways to prevent foreclosures.
By design, this bill will not address every troubled mortgage, and will do little for those homeowners already too far into the foreclosure process. It also does not give any homeowners money for their mortgage payments. These have been loud and false objections from the opposition.
And finally, a sad commentary on the long road ahead for Obama specifically, and our citizenry in general.
WTF ???
This was "in your face" racism on the part of The New York Post (a Fox News property I might add). An opportunistic swat at Obama under the guise of "current events satire". But, any rational person has to ask:
• How come the proofreaders at the NYP didn't catch this one? Is nobody on the staff Black? I'm sure if a cartoon suggesting Rupert Murdoch was a cross-dressing Communist was submitted, it probably would not have made it to press.
• WTF does the tragedy (no matter how senseless and morbidly amusing) in Connecticut have to do with anything political? How could that ever be rationally linked to the state of the American economy?
• It's no mystery that Blacks in America have been compared to apes since the first African landed at Jamestown. How are we to not infer the racial stereotyping?
• How can you make fun of a tragedy where a women gets her face peeled off by a rabid chimp OR jokingly suggest that a government official (much less the President) be shot and killed by police officers.
But, that's how THEY do. I think we all know who THEY are. And to put the icing on the cake, neither Sean Hannity nor Bill O'Reilly mentioned this MAJOR news story on their shows tonight. Not a single word about it. Not even to defend the paper for publishing the cartoon as a form of free speech. Similarly, none of their invited guests mentioned the story. Fair and balanced MY ASS! Both Hannity and O'Reilly are cowards.
That's just my opinion.
I'm back baby!
