Turning the Corner or Hitting a Detour?
by Efin Advisor | February 20, 2009
“It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.” “The glass is half-empty, or is it half-full?” Depending on your outlook, your optimism and which side of the mortgage meltdown you have been on — lender, borrower, investor or innocent bystander — your answers and your “smile-age” will vary.
Thanks to a new Housing Bill, those at risk of foreclosure, have received a stay of execution and a new lease on life in the form of a government backed refinance of up to 105% of their home’s current market value. Financing for 5% more than a home’s appraised worth sounds like a glass half- full proposition.
But there are new concerns for those who are jittery. Like whether nationalization of one or more large financial groups, a word that sounds more ominous than the federal government taking a majority share of bank stock, is enough to cause new stresses. Funny, it is the “stress test” that the U.S. Treasury Dept. wants to use to separate the bad banks from the good.
What color is your mood ring? Are we starting to turn the corner or is the road a dead end? You tell us. We’d like to know!
To understand where we are going, it helps to know how we got here. An easy-to-absorb video explains it all at http://crisisofcredit.com/
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I am encouraged by the fact that, at least now, those of us in the passenger seat can finally see where we are going! Congress passed the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, (also known as the Coburn-Obama bill) which mandated the Office of Management and Budget to create a searchable online database of all government spending (USASpending.gov), 22 states have similar transparency. MIssouri’s is perhaps the most comprehensive
If only financial institutions and regulatory agencies could be just as transparent, my mood would be rosey!
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So long as bankers are calling the shots — without regulatory scrutiny and enforcement — the foxes are guarding the hen house! Inside that hen house is my nest egg! I’ll feel a lot better when the measures we say we must make are enacted! Hurry up, U.S. Congress! We can’t afford to wait very long!
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I, for one, truly appreciate the steps that are being taken to protect my investments by the federal government. Every time that I hear political pundits on the news spouting about the wasteful spending, and socialized government, I want to put my foot through the wall. First of all, where was the Republican voice calling for fiscal responsibility over the last 8 years? It seems like they are for limited government, except for when they are in charge!!! This is hypocrisy in its ugliest form. Second, government helping the economy is not socialism- the stimulus package is laced with tax cuts, it ensures that there is responsibility and accountability with taxpayer money. President Obama is trying to restore a little control to the economy, thats not socialism, its just what we had under Clinton. Just because something is more regulated than it was while that Incompetent-in-Chief was in office, doesn’t make it socialist.
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I am very wary about all of this. The government will always try to expand its own power, unless checked by a vigilant populace. I think that we can bail out key industries without having the government take over the economy. Why do we think that politicians are better able to run a company in tough times, than a businessman? Im not expert but it looks pretty preposterous.
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