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Obama has a mortgage plan (or three) worth reading

By Clarence 13X   Follow   Thu, 31 Mar 2011, 1:53pm   817 views   5 comments
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Read the plan here: http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/Documents/Reforming%20America%27s%20Housing%20Finance%20Market.pdf

The president has three plans on the table. Which one is going to fix the mess we're in?

The Obama administration had scarcely released its plan to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before howls of protests arose from members of Congress, consumer advocates, and community bankers, all screaming that this is an about-face from a long-standing policy to promote home ownership in America. But enough already.

With its white paper, which offers three alternatives for tackling the mortgage finance crisis over the next five to seven years, the administration is simply laying out the starting point for a conversation on how to get the mortgage market back under control. The complainers are disregarding a few basic, inescapable facts about the system today: It's broken. The government is the only player in the game. And taxpayers are on the line for a massive bill from this mess of at least $135 billion and growing.
Long an advocate of affordable housing for Americans, the government has increased its role in recent years. Just five years ago government-sponsored entities like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Authority made up about 36% of the nation's mortgage originations. Now that number sits above 90%. That in itself should be enough reason to hear out the administration's plans.

Read the plan here: http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/Documents/Reforming%20America%27s%20Housing%20Finance%20Market.pdf

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1. thomas.wong1986 Follow Befriend 16 threads 4,426 comments

   1   2:14pm Thu 31 Mar 2011   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   "Long an advocate of affordable housing for Americans" The plans didnt work out and has shifted to keeping prices artifically high.

2. Clarence 13X Follow Befriend 23 threads 456 comments

   2   8:21pm Thu 31 Mar 2011   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   thomas.wong1986 says “Long an advocate of affordable housing for Americans” The plans didnt work out and has shifted to keeping prices artifically high. This is true, the article goes on to say the government caused this crisis through Fannie and Freddie.

3. HousingWatcher Follow Befriend 285 threads 1,760 comments

   3   8:33pm Thu 31 Mar 2011   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   "The plans didnt work out and has shifted to keeping prices artifically high." If you've been following the Case Shiller numbers from the past few months, I don't think Obama's high housing price policies are working too well. Maybe we need an individual mandate to force people to buy houses.

4. FortWayne Follow Befriend (13) 106 threads 3,863 comments

   4   8:51pm Thu 31 Mar 2011   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Clarence 13X says This is true, the article goes on to say the government caused this crisis through Fannie and Freddie. Yep, banks wouldn't gamble if the gambles weren't 100% backed by the government.

5. Clarence 13X Follow Befriend 23 threads 456 comments

   5   11:06pm Thu 31 Mar 2011   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   ChrisLA says Clarence 13X says This is true, the article goes on to say the government caused this crisis through Fannie and Freddie. Yep, banks wouldn’t gamble if the gambles weren’t 100% backed by the government. I think you meant to say taxpayers...oops!