The Foreclosure Crisis and Assurances by Uncle Sam

Posted in Foreclosure Crisis, September 22nd, 2008 |

It started with Bear Stearns and then went on to gobble up Freddie Fannie and now Lehman, AIG and Merrill Lynch. These big bodies have all grabbed the headlines while the ordinary American in a nail biting tension watches Uncle Sam assuring the ordinary man about the foreclosure crisis. It hardly took a minute for Bush to get over with the task and go on to more important matters like the bailing out of buddies.

When Fear is stalking each home all that the nation gets is a minute of empty promises and assurances. There is no doubt that the American economy is in shambles – no matter what the pundits say. Foreclosures are having the last laugh dominating and haunting the scene.

What can Tom and Mary down the street do? If they are looking for jobs then the shoes had better be tough because the queue is going to be hopelessly long. Others in the family facing inevitable foreclosure should hunt around for a mobile van to move into. There is a good demand for these in the market. The cautious who gets taken in by all the talk going around about foreclosure solutions might hunt out a counselor and waste some precious time.

Uncle Sam is ready with a helping hand to investment big bodies in Wall Street that have been ruined by their own greed and criminal irresponsible behaviour. For the ordinary Tom and Mary it is a one-minute breezy froth from a government that ignores the hard workingman and woman in the streets. The old are looking feeblyat a bleak future when time is no longer their ally.

This foreclosure crisis is the direct consequence of the laissez-faire policy of the Republicans. Millions of families are drowning. Numbers cannot gauge their pain. The GOP antenna is not even trying to pick up their potent messages.

The passing of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act was a modest step in the right direction in July, by the Congress. It encourages lenders to come forward of their own accord to refinance troubled mortgages with the participation of FHA. But critics are loud about how much it will really help because the issue is pivotal on the voluntary participation of the lenders. Lenders may or may not negotiate. As such it stands to reason that they will deal with only those houses that have some equity left over.