What do you do if you've spent your career encouraging mortgage loans to people who can't repay them? Barney Frank's answer is to grill federal officials on why they aren't preventing foreclosures. Infuriated at the difficulty of modifying mortgages, the Beltway crowd doesn't understand that such contracts weren't designed to let people live in houses they can't afford.
Still, at a recent hearing of his Financial Services Committee, Mr. Frank received encouraging words from FDIC Chair Sheila Bair. She outlined her ballyhooed plan to prevent an estimated 1.5 million foreclosures by the end of 2009. ...
What we have here is another uncharted voyage into the land of taxpayer risk, and for little economic gain. We can only hope that news of the FDIC program doesn't encourage more people to stop paying their mortgages as they await rescue from Sheila Bair.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
WSJ skewers Barney Frank and Sheila Bair
The Wall Street Journal skewers Congressman Barney Frank and FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair:
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Barney Frank is anything but a genius, and I'll leave it at that. What this economy (and housing market) needs are people who are able to think independently and make wise, informed decisions. Buyers need to know what they can and cannot afford, and lenders need to exercise discretion.
ReplyDeleteThe WSJ recently published a video editorial asserting that the massive downturn in the US economy is a direct result of "The War on Christmas".
ReplyDeleteSeriously - they are asserting that use of the phrase "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" is the cause of the economic downturn.
here is the link
Here is the full URL:
http://online.wsj.com/video/have-a-merry-meltdown/D7E32C87-4BBE-47D9-87E3-9A176F506B19.html
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteSeriously - they are asserting that use of the phrase "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" is the cause of the economic downturn.
Are you suggesting it's not?
The Brits must be partially (1/2) responsible for their incessant use of the term "Happy Christmas"!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe Brits must be partially (1/2) responsible for their incessant use of the term "Happy Christmas"!
Well, at least they'd read A Visit from St. Nicholas correctly, unlike we Americans who feel the need to change the last line:
The final line, originally written as "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night", has been changed in many editions to "Merry Christmas to all", in accord with the standard Christmas greeting current in the United States.
I suggest "Season's greetings to all, and to all a good-night." It's more politically correct. Can't offend those kids who believe in Santa Claus but don't celebrate Christmas.
"Are you suggesting it's not?"
ReplyDeleteI'm suggesting that the WSJ produces a fair amount of undercooked tripe from time to time.