Obama vetoes the recovery

*By Lilac Sunday; cross-posted at Lilac Sunday: Red Girl in a Blue State

This week, the Obama administration took two steps designed to bring the housing foreclosure process to a grinding halt. In doing so, he has delayed the recovery of the housing market and the economy as a whole, although he has bought a few votes from community organizer types and from delinquent borrowers who will be able to stay in their homes for free.

First, Obama vetoed the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act, which would require state and local jurisdictions to accept signatures notarized out of state and online in certain circumstances. The banks want this law because, increasingly, banking (especially mortgage banking) is an interstate affair. If you've got a mortgage with a big bank, they are probably managing your mortgage from out of state; the Act would allow lenders to have their foreclosure documents notarized electronically or in whatever state their employees sign the documents, rather than requiring signatures and notarization in the delinquent borrower's jurisdiction.

Second, Freddie Mac, the government-run mortgage financing giant, is pressuring lenders to stop the foreclosure process altogether and search for problems with the foreclosure documentation process, specifically the use of "robo-signers." So far, Bank of America has caved, and many other lenders are delaying the foreclosure process in some parts of the country.

The so-called robo-signers are individuals at lenders or mortgage servicing firms who sign affidavits in support of the foreclosure, claiming personal knowledge of the legitimacy of the documentation. Unfortunately, many of these robo-signers are signing the affidavits based on file reviews performed by other personnel, without actually reviewing the documentation themselves; the name "robo-signers" caught on because of the inhuman volume of affidavits these people are signing, sometimes thousands or tens of thousands every month.

A process where employees feel obligated or empowered to falsify their personal knowledge of foreclosure documentation is a bad process, and should be fixed. But it's still just a paperwork problem; even if the wrong signature is on the affidavit, that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the substance of the foreclosure.

These efforts aren't designed to prevent fraudulent foreclosures, those exceedingly rare instances where, through malice or mistake, a lender forecloses on a house when the owner is current on payments. By focusing on the jurisdiction of the signature or the identity of the signer, these efforts are intended to prevent legitimate foreclosures with arguments about process.

This whole kerfuffle reminds me of the legal precedent that has developed around Fourth Amendment search and seizure cases. While we can all agree on the importance of the Bill of Rights and our freedom from government intrusion, there's something broken when a court rules that a lifeless body in the trunk of a car is inadmissible at a murder trial because the cop failed to follow the correct process when pulling over and questioning the suspect.

What are the consequences? Borrowers who are delinquent in their payments will be able to stay in their houses for free until the banks can resume the foreclosure process. As we've seen from the well-intentioned but wildly unsuccessful federal efforts to assist borrowers in distress, the overwhelming majority of these borrowers will be unable to afford to keep their homes, and the homes ultimately need to go back on the market through a short sale or a foreclosure so they can be bought by owners who can afford them. By keeping delinquent borrowers in homes they cannot afford, the Obama administration is only delaying the day of reckoning, and delaying the opportunity to bottom out the housing market by clearing the backlog of foreclosures so the market can find its equilibrium again.

Furthermore, if foreclosing on a home becomes more expensive for banks, what else becomes more expensive? That's right, buying a home becomes more expensive. The risk of foreclosure delay and expense will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher mortgage interest rates and tighter qualification guidelines.

This week, the Obama administration stalled the economy in an attempt to buy a few votes. November cannot come soon enough.

*By Lilac Sunday

All politics is local

** by Lilac Sunday; cross-posted at Lilac Sunday: Red Girl in a Blue State

As we stiffen our spines and empty our wallets in the final push toward taking back the United States Congress, I'd like to request that we all please pay attention to our state and local elections as well.

Depriving Obama, Pelosi, and Reid of their majorities will make us better off, but our state and local elected officials still have the capacity to make our lives miserable no matter who is in charge in D.C.

District Attorneys can make or break local crime-fighting efforts. An ideologue in the office can decide not to prosecute specific cases or types of cases, and can decline to pursue the death penalty even in states that allow the death penalty. And if your state elects judges, don't forget the peril of having an ideologue on the bench who feels entitled to interpret the law to provide whatever end result s/he wants.

The Controller (sometimes spelled Comptroller) is the state equivalent of a Chief Financial Officer. A Governor who sweeps into office promising top to bottom reform of state government but who doesn't have a good Controller at the helm will be significantly compromised in their ability to audit the state's books. (Meg Whitman call your office.)

State and local elected officials can raise our income and property taxes, annex private land, make our streets less safe, implement job-killing environmental policies, and engage in countless other acts of mischief.

All politics is local.

** by Lilac Sunday

What has your government done for you lately?

Posted by Lilac Sunday; from Lilac Sunday: Red Girl in a Blue State

Answer: They've made the interest rates on your credit cards go up.

Up until recently, banks could tailor the cost of credit to the risk of default by raising or lowering interest rates on customers based on the customers' credit-worthiness and financial condition, and assessing steep penalties on customers who breach their agreements by paying late or not paying at all. And why shouldn't they be able to? Credit cards are collateral-free lines of credit, tremendously valuable to the customer and potentially very risky to the bank; in order to ease access to credit on the front end, and allow people to obtain cards without the time commitment and document production required for other loan products such as, say, mortgages, banks made the entry barriers low and then slammed you when you broke the agreement. And that's the way it should be. The greatest possible number of customers benefit from easy access to credit, and the greatest possible share of the systemic costs of customer default are borne by the defaulting customers themselves.

At least that's the way it used to work. Last year, in response to scattered customer complaints and a general desire to impose communitarian versions of "fairness" on the financial sector, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (Card Act), which reduces banks' ability to accurately price risk and penalize default. As a result, banks have less flexibility to raise interest rates on customers once they've opened a credit card account, and less ability to impose meaningful penalties on customers who default.

What happens when banks can't recover the cost of default from the defaulting customers? Bingo, they recover the cost from all customers, including those who use credit wisely and comply with the terms of their agreements. Banks started raising their credit card interest rates before the Card Act's interest rate provisions took effect in February, they've been quicker to reduce credit lines, and access to credit is becoming more difficult. Card Act provisions limiting the imposition of penalties took effect this past Sunday, so the tightening of consumer credit is only going to accelerate.

The Card Act's sponsor, Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), remarked: "Better that consumers should know up-front what the interest rate is, even if it is higher, than to be soaked on the back end by tricks and hidden fees." In other words, let's spread the wealth around; people who read agreements before entering into them, and who keep their financial bargains, are going to bear the financial burdens of people who default. Because in the Left's twisted version of fairness, making everyone suffer equally is only fair.

I've never been "soaked on the back end by tricks and hidden fees" by a credit card company; I'm not lucky, I read and save the disclosures. But thanks to Carolyn Maloney, American financial illiteracy has been codified by an act of Congress, which has eliminated what used to be a very strong motivation to understand and remember the terms of any financial agreement we freely enter into.

It's the culture of grievance, stupid

** By Lilac Sunday

Some members of the Racial Grievance-Industrial Complex are crying raaacism and suggesting that the ethics probes of Congressmen Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters are racially motivated. It's an astonishing allegation; the offenses alleged against Waters and Rangel, if proven true, are serious breaches of the public trust, and there must be a full accounting.

However, my back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate that Black elected officials are running afoul of the law in numbers disproportionate to their representation in Congress. Waters, Rangel, Senator Burris, and of course William "Cold Hard Cash" Jefferson; what's going on? Racism? A statistical fluke? Or could the fall of Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel be a natural consequence of the Culture of Grievance?

Does anyone remember Eddie Murphy's classic SNL sketch, White Like Me? I can't find it on YouTube, but it's available here, on Hulu. Murphy begins by observing that there are two Americas, one Black and one White; with the aid of whiteface makeup, and after studiously preparing by watching Dynasty and reading Hallmark cards (!), he sets out to experience America as a White Man. As a White man, Eddie quickly discovers that when White people are alone, they give each other things. Merchants refuse his money; there's liquor and music on city buses after the Black passengers disembark; and bank managers hand out bundles of cash to White loan applicants.

It is said that all comedy contains a grain of truth; the truth in White Like Me is that some Black people believe that being born White is the equivalent of hitting the lottery, and that the deck is irreversibly stacked against Black folks. People raised in a Culture of Grievance to believe that society is engaged in an economic Cold War against them because of the color of their skin might be tempted to engage in some economic guerilla warfare of their own, and what better place to steal money from other people than the United States Congress?

Is this what's happening to a disproportionate number of our Black elected officials? Elected on a platform of grievance, have they so internalized grievance's lessons that they regard the public trust as just another racist institution to be plundered? Is the Racial Grievance-Industrial Complex beginning to eat its own?

Ten Buck Fridays: Congratulations Van Irion!

TBF supporters have been busy. We've now grown to include more than 60 participating blogs, and well over 2,000 patriots voted in our online poll for their favorite rising conservative star this week.

Today's rising conservative star is Van Irion. With record levels of TBF participation, Van Irion won handily with 42% of the vote.

Here's a little background information on Mr. Irion:

Van Irion has been married for 14 years, and he and his wife have two young daughters. A patent and Constitutional attorney with his own law firm, he's admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has handled several Constitutional cases pro bono, including Obamacare Class Action.

Van is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having served in Operation Desert Shield as an Air Traffic Controller. Van has a biochemistry degree from the University of California and founded a biotech company to research treatments for stroke and acute injury. He served many years as a volunteer fire fighter and EMT.

Van is currently seeking to serve the public again as the U.S. Congressman for Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District.

Here's Van Irion on Fox News, talking about Constitutional problems with Obamacare, among other issues:

Early voting in the GOP primary starts in Tennessee today, and the election is on August 5. Van Irion needs your help for expensive advertising, so please rally behind our weekly TBF winner and give generously on this Ten Buck Friday:
Van Irion's donation page

*Don't forget to label your donation "Ten Buck Fridays!"

More

ObamaCare Class Action
Van Irion: Why I am a Republican
Irion on the issues
TBF Goals and Guidelines

Updates

• Adrienne's Corner: Remember: All donations of whatever amount you can comfortably manage is made directly on the winner's website.
• Ruby Slippers: Anyone willing to clean the manure out of the Capitol and bring a lawsuit against ObamaCare has my support.
• Ruby Slippers: Fortunately conservative bloggers have antidote to Pelosi's guarantee she will keep her gavel ― YOU
• just a conservative girl: He has a record of public service and understands how to make a payroll and create jobs.
• Fuzzy Logic: Every election IS national!
• Reaganite Republican: The 4-month all-out political war leading up to midterm elections
• Before it's News: Ten buck Fridays... there are now over 60 New Media conservatives allied in the effort!
• Lilac Sunday: Please do what you can to support this worthy candidate...
• Lilac Sunday: My email to Rush Limbaugh
• Obi's Sister: $10. Every Friday. November is coming.
• Maggie's Notebook: Bloggers Send Their Bucks to Van Irion
• Mind-Numbed Robot: Van Irion wins TBF poll! Woo Hoo! My nominee won!
• Hack Wilson: Strange name, outstanding candidate.
• The Conservative Lady: It's time to take a stand and what better way than to support good, common sense, constitutional conservative candidates like Van Irion.
• Old Line Elephant: Congratulations to Irion
• Rightosphere: This week's Ten Buck Fridays winner...
• Nice Deb: Congratulations Van Irion!
• Left Coast Rebel: Meet Rising Tennessee's Conservative Rising Star Van Irion
• Smart Girl Politics: Van Irion has won this week's Ten Buck Fridays poll
• FreedomWorks: Check out Van's website
• ResistNet: This Week's Winner is Van Irion
• TCUnation: If you like what you see, send in your $10 directly to Van Irion.
• Team Sarah: Van Irion has won this week's Ten Buck Fridays poll
• The Lonely Conservative: Irion won with 42% of the votes, not bad!
• Stop the ACLU: Ten Buck Fridays Week 4 Winner, Van Irion
• Proof Positive: Congratulations, Van! And good luck!
• At The Point of a Gun: This week's winner is Van Irion.
• AmericanNation: Congratulations Van Irion!
• No Sheeples Here: I’m supporting Van Irion this week and I hope you will join me by doing the same.
• WyBlog: Don't forget to support today's Ten Buck Fridays winner, Van Irion
• Randy's Roundtable: Congrats to Van Irion...
• The Camp of the Saints: Ten Buck Friday [Evening]
• The Other McCain: Go, Van!

9.12 March on DC