Obama's State of the Economy Address

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EDITOR’S COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: All efforts to date, with singular exceptions, seem to be directed at “settlements” that give short shrift to what was done to millions of homeowners, investors, states cities and towns. Pension funds have been hit hard, making it difficult to meet their obligations and causing some to tell pensioners that their pensions are going to be reduced or even eliminated.  The focus seems to be on stopping these criminal practices in the future. You robbed a convenience store? Just don’t do it again and give back 1% of the money you stole. You killed the proprietor? Don’t do it again.

Nobody is happy about the proposed settlement being  pushed by the White House except those attorney generals and justice department officials that would rather roll over than investigate and bring those who  committed criminal acts to justice. Anyone who was defrauded or otherwise destroyed by this bank-imposed mess deserves restitution — not some hollow promise that the Banks won’t do it again. That is promise that is never going to be kept and it offends the sensibilities of 80% of Americans.

Watching the political trail, observers note that politicians have largely turned a deaf ear to history in favor of what appears to them as good politics. Republicans barely mention the defective mortgage process, the fraudulent sale of bogus securities to institutional investors (i.e.., the managed funds that control our pension and savings), while Democrats wring their hands in impotence avoiding the issue.

The problem is money. Banks are controlling the narrative. They have the money to pay Newt Gingrich $1.6 million+ to help thwart investigations and pass legislation that keeps management safe from prosecution.

Politicians are out of touch with what is happening on the ground where people are looking to government to solve real problems instead of scoring what they think are public relations victories. Those victories will translate into defeat in November.

Polls show that the voting public doesn’t think the President, the Congress or the Courts have a clue about the reality of this situation. The reality is people hate the Banks, hate the bailouts, and hate the politicians who facilitated the bailouts. The truth is that people are suspicious of politicians and don’t believe that anyone new in office will do anything different than anyone claiming incumbency. People fear the future because they can see clearly that nobody is doing anything about it.

Gingrich surged in South Carolina and may continue his surge to become the Republican nominee for President. That was because he talked tough and gave some lip service to the plight of homeowners in foreclosure and homeowners who are walking away from their mortgages in record numbers — something approaching 50% of all foreclosures this year will come from people who are unwilling to pay for the the greed of Wall Street, adding millions more foreclosed homes to a housing market that is already depressed and wrecked beyond all recognition.

The answer is clearly that those who were robbed are due, under our existing set of laws, to get restitution — return of their money, their homes, their pensions and their lives. It is unacceptable for the Banks to keep any part of their ill-gotten gains.

The atmosphere is ripe for third party and little known candidates to run for offices that are essentially vacant or outright “occupied” by the Banks. Running against the Banks and for American jobs using all practical means at our disposal, running to bring back the exceptional character of American innovation and power in the marketplace of commerce and in the marketplace of ideas, will be seen as running for the American dream, whereas all others will be seen as running against it or they will be seen as indifferent to it.

This year, 2012, is a watershed year, if we make it that way. If the candidates come forward who want nothing except a better America, the voters will respond. As for the rest of the politicians, I won’t miss them, will you?

Obama May Highlight Foreclosure Settlement in State of the Union

by Jon Prior

President Obama could mention in the State of the Union address Tuesday new developments in the negotiation between mortgage servicers and government officials, according to two members of Congress.

“There seems to be evidence that he may do something,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a conference call with reporters Monday, “and we hope ‘the something’ is launching a wider investigation.”

Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., said rumors were floating around Washington that the president may even announce the settlement, though he couldn’t confirm that. The White House did not immediately comment. However, a spokesman for Iowa AG Tom Miller, said not to expect a full announcement this week.

In October 2010, evidence surfaced of mortgage servicers, processors and attorneys signing foreclosure affidavits en masse and without a proper review of the loan file as required by law in judicial states. Since those robo-signing allegations surfaced, negotiations to settle the case have labored between the banks, the remaining state attorneys general, the Justice Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Bank officials have said few if any foreclosures wrongfully took place as a result of the documentation issues. Ally Financial (GJM: 22.16 -0.18%) CEO Michael Carpenter has been the most vocal, even saying in a recent call with investors that he was willing to fight the government in court if the terms did not match what he believed the violations to be.

The president may be feeling the pressure from his base to make this the wide-scale crackdown on Wall Street that Americans have been calling for since the financial crisis struck in 2007.

Justin Ruben, executive director of the progressive group MoveOn.org, said Monday in a recent survey of previous Obama supporters, 60% said they would be unlikely to help him this November should the settlement become a “sweetheart deal for servicers.”

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Tags: bankruptcy, borrower, countrywide, disclosure, foreclosure, foreclosure defense, foreclosure offense, foreclosures, fraud, LOAN MODIFICATION, modification, quiet title, rescission, RESPA, securitization, TILA audit, trustee, WEISBAND
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