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John McCain's Bottom-Up Housing Bailout
Tweet Share on Facebook October 8, 2008 Comment (14)Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona unveiled a $300 billion housing initiative—the American Homeownership Resurgence Plan—during Tuesday night's presidential debate. The plan calls for the government to buy mortgages from homeowners and mortgage servicers and swap them for more affordable, fixed-rate home loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration.
In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, McCain senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the recently enacted $700 billion bailout primarily addresses the "top level" of the current financial crisis: the souring mortgage-related securities now clogging credit markets. The McCain plan, however, would take the opposite approach. "We are going to start at the bottom level and try to work our way up: try to stabilize the housing markets, stabilize the mortgage finance, [and] stabilize the values of [mortgage-backed securities] as a result," Holtz-Eakin said. "Hopefully, it will offset some need for that $700 billion, and we will get an effective package that has a lower price tag and helps homeowners."
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Another ‘Extreme Makeover’ Home in Trouble
Tweet Share on Facebook October 7, 2008 Comment (9)Looks like another person featured on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is in danger of losing her home.
From the Orlando Sentinel, via Zillow Blog:
Sadie Holmes thought it was a blessing when ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built her a 7,000-square-foot home and office for her charity in 2006.
Now she's struggling to keep her nonprofit afloat, and she may end up losing the $400,000 home if she can't pay a $29,000 county lien—placed on the property after months of code violations racked up....
"I'm grateful for this building," Holmes said, "but it's causing me too much stress and too much problems."
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Ex-AIG Executives Questioned in Congress
Tweet Share on Facebook October 7, 2008 Comment (9)In his opening statement during a hearing examining AIG—the insurance giant that the government bailed out last month—House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman laid out three sets of questions he wanted answered:
From the California Democrat’s opening statement
1. Was AIG’s executive compensation fair?
In March, the board approved a new compensation contract for [ex-AIG CEO Martin] Sullivan that gave him a golden parachute worth $15 million. We will ask why that was in the interests of the shareholders....
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Richard Fuld: Why Lehman Brothers Went Under
Tweet Share on Facebook October 6, 2008 Comment (14)In his opening statement before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Richard Fuld, the CEO of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers, told lawmakers, "I want to be very clear: I take full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took."
But in his written testimony, Fuld made it just as clear that he believed there were a number of factors outside of his control that contributed to—or failed to prevent—the largest bankruptcy filing in history.
Those factors include:
From Fuld's prepared testimony, via ABC News:
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Lehman E-Mail: Execs Mock Idea of Bonus Cut
Tweet Share on Facebook October 6, 2008 Comment (16)Just before Richard Fuld, the CEO of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers, testified on Capitol Hill Monday, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform staffers distributed a handful of E-mails that they had obtained during their investigation of the company.
Perhaps the most damaging one is the following. In it, two executives—Fuld and George H. Walker, who sits on Lehman’s executive committee and is a cousin to President George W. Bush—dismiss a recommendation that top management forgo its bonuses for the year.
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Richard Fuld: My Dinner With Henry Paulson
Tweet Share on Facebook October 6, 2008 Comment (18)The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also released the following E-mail from Richard Fuld, the CEO of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers. In it, Fuld offers his “takeaways” from a dinner with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
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The Bailout Bill’s Flip-Floppers
Tweet Share on Facebook October 6, 2008 Comment (5)After going down in a stunning defeat a week ago, the $700 billion bailout made a successful comeback to pass the House Friday. The bill, which was subsequently signed into law by President Bush, had been loaded up with provisions in the Senate that helped pave the way for its passage.
Here’s a look at the lawmakers who changed teams—voting against the bill last Monday but supporting it on Friday.
From Politico.com:
Please note that Rep. McDermott (D-Wash.) went from "yes" to "no," while Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) did not attend Monday's vote.
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The Bailout Bill: How House Members Voted
Tweet Share on Facebook October 3, 2008 Comment (19)After rejecting similar legislation on Monday, the House of Representatives reversed course and voted 263 to 171 to approve the $700 billion financial bailout Friday afternoon.
Here's a breakdown of which lawmakers supported the bill and which ones opposed it.
From the House Clerk's Office:
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Bill O’Reilly vs. Barney Frank
Tweet Share on Facebook October 3, 2008 Comment (37)Not long after he sharply criticized Barney Frank on his radio show, Bill O'Reilly and the Massachusetts Democrat go at it on air.
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Financial Crisis Keeps Home Buyers on Sidelines
Tweet Share on Facebook October 3, 2008 Comment (3)With the housing market already slogging through a slump of historic proportions, a recently-released Trulia study shows that the financial crisis threatens to delay a potential comeback in the sector.
From Trulia, via Housing Wire:
More than 70 percent of non-homeowners surveyed say they have no plans to purchase a new home in the next year. Nearly half of respondents (44 percent) who fall in the 18-34 year old demographic—the sector thought to encompass most first-time homebuyers—confirm that the reason they do not own a home right now is because it is too cost-prohibitive. Among those aged 35-44, 41 percent of respondents polled confirm that concerns about being able to qualify for a home loan is keeping them on the sidelines of homeownership. In fact, only 12 percent of non-homeowners say they expect to buy a home in the next 12 months.
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