Posts Tagged ‘mortgage’

The New Ledger

Better Living Through Defaulting: Everyone’s Ditching Their Mortgage

by The New Ledger

So let’s say you’re stuck in a house that the bank says is worth half a million, but the market says it’s worth only a quarter of that. What if it turned out you could walk away from it and rent not just another house, but a bigger house, for less money? What if four million of your friends figured this was a good idea, too? We’ll discuss this and more on today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

Coffee and Markets

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Related Links:

WSJ: Rethinking the American Dream
Bond Buyer Update
Dow Jones: Downgrades on Illinois Debt

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Posted Dec 11th 2009 at 8:25 am in Coffee and Markets, Economics | 24 Comments

Brian Darling

Congress Creating Big Brother for Wall Street

by Brian Darling

Senator Chris Dodd’s (D-CT) approach to overhaul financial industry regulations is scheduled to be debated next week in the Senate Banking Committee with a mark-up of the bill starting in early December.  This bill is sold as an effort by the federal government to seize control of financial institutions with the potential to cause a financial market meltdown.  Sources in the Senate tell me that the true effect of this bill will be to lock in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), give special treatment for the trading partners of financial institutions facing bankruptcy, and grant more power to the Federal Reserve Board in Washington over monetary policy.  This financial regulatory reform effort will create a massive new bureaucracy that will oversee financial institutions that will effectively serve as a Big Brother for Big Business.

Christopher Dodd

From a Senate Banking Committee press release

“It is the job of this Congress to restore responsibility and accountability in our financial system to give Americans confidence that there is a system in place that works for and protects them,” Dodd said at the press conference.  “We must create a sound foundation to grow the economy and create jobs.”

The problem is that the big government approach to the financial regulatory reform effort may harm economic growth and grants sweeping new political powers to the Federal Reserve over monetary policy.  The big ticket item for the legislation is the creation of a new federal bureacracy called the “Consumer Financial Protection Agency.”   The discussion draft of the legislation describes the new agency as “an independent watchdog to ensure American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, while prohibiting hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices.”    The fact of the matter is that this new government entity distracts freedom loving Americans from many other disturbing aspects of this bill that will grow government and harm economic prosperity.

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Posted Nov 14th 2009 at 6:31 am in Congress, Economics, Featured Story | 49 Comments