Another Rattus rattus desperately swims away from the sinking Bushtanic.
Top White House economic adviser Allan Hubbard is expected to leave his post at the end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday in its on-line edition…
His departure would come as the Bush administration is facing a crisis in the mortgage industry that has caused rising housing foreclosures and sparked recession fears.
Hubbard said on Tuesday U.S. recession risks have increased but said “real America” is still doing well…
Yeah, the “real America” apparently are those who don’t have moderate incomes or mortgages. But rich boys like true patriot Al Hubbard are doin’ swell.
Why look at his picture…the hands are out as if he’s ready for his consulting firm’s no-bid Bush Administration Awarded Contract!
Meanwhile, those “fake Americans” will be mocked for asking for unemployment benefits.
U.S.A!
U.S.A!
U.S.A!
Photo by Robert Sorbo/Reuters
Cross-posted from this sucky blog.
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Zed!
Damn u, smgumby *g*
Good morning Attaturk!
Morning Slop short-take:
Buchanan bookwhoring this a.m. I am not a racist, but these folks have gotta blend….
and the trio: shame, shame on Stephen King. Naughty, naughty.
Sorry folks, Big Daddy’s little princesses are exactly who should be in this conversation. Not just the National Guard kids who are on their third and fourth tours…. and…..
Joe pontificating about Bill Clinton instead of wretched Rove.
I watch so you don’t have to. And Imus isn’t back until next week….
Basking in Smgumby’s ZED! :)
GM again, Attaturk. Yeah, teh real America bit is truly galling.
Mr. Hubbard looks like someone who wants to spend more time with his family.
Nothin to see here.
PEW says 54% of Americans want the troops home.
That’s a lot of dirty fuckin hippies.
Ok do we have any plans on how to help people loosing their homes? The economy and I would assume this subprime thing being part of it, is the biggest issue America cares about.
We could peel off even 30%er votes if we had a plan that helped regular people and not banks.
Call it trickle up theory by helping the poor we eventaly help the rich.
God I love taking GOP arguments and reversing them like algebra. a*b=C, or C/a=b unless of course a*b=C was not true in the first place.
Watch the GOPers run from an algebraic proof of their *cough* ideas.
Morning Scar givin’ Mika hell for reporting a soldier was blown up in eye-raq, reports Mr. S.
Because rose colored glasses are workin’ so well.
Guess Scar must be MSNBC’s quota hire for the neo-redneck closet sheet wearer crowd. He and Trustifarian Tucker are workin’ against the brand.
Hubbard and BushCo and guys like the Morning SlopNBC crowd are all so in love with their own spin they wouldn’t know real America if they talked to us instead of at us.
Oh, and, go Edwards!
“I got mine, suckers!” Sums up their entire worldview.
Buchanan bookwhoring this a.m. I am not a racist, but these folks have gotta blend….
And Tom Tomorrow is on it!
War On War Off @ 11
Exactly! What housing crisis? So a boatload of foreclosures happen, so what?! Big corporate investors are gonna buys those houses for a steal! They will make a fortune! And that’s good for freedom!
Didn’t Bush set some sort of rule about not resigning after September. Can they take this man’s salary and pension away?
Or was Bush just saying this was a benchmark, sort like all those benchmarks that the ZIraqis were supposed to meet back in…September???
Oops…confused O’Reilly with Buchanan. I *always* get my racists mixed up before I’ve had coffee.
OT, but a moving Diary at Daily Kos by the Dana, daughter of Dan Siegelman, object of a Rovian DOJ cooked conspiracy. She asks us to write to Rep. Conyers.
She is no. 1 on the recommended list. Back in a sec. with the link.
For the Conyers hearings, and more: see
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/mt…..3&y=19
Smgumby @ 13
Gotta disagree here. The housing crisis is real. There will be public outrage, Congressional investigations, and legislation which finally solves the problem by giving away buckets of taxpayer money to the poor deprived mortgage lenders.
It’s the great irony of American politics that ordinary, working-class Republicans consistently vote against their best interests when they support the Republican party.
At every chance I get, I try to educate the american people about what has been happening in the mortgage industry. The situation is of course, far worse than the media is reporting. I am one of those people in one of those loans.
When I post about this, the responses are often just like those to a rape victim:
1) you should have known,
2) your situation is rare
3) if you wouldn’t have done this or that.
4) just call em, they don’t want your house, they will work with you.
The above statement come from a place of ignorance and denial about the theft that has been happening to thousands of americans. The company I have is GMAC Homecomings financial. They “generously” stepped in after Katrina to provide loans to those hardest hit by the hurricanes. (As I screamed and wrote letters…NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!)
These companies send you letters monthly asking you to call them. They do not take your call, faxes or return communication to your certified letters. My lawyer has requested an accounting of my loan back to date, no reply.
I have involved the attorney general and the FDIC who all work way too slowly to save most folks. I was saved because I never should have had a sub prime loan and my credit was very good when disaster struck my home. Three surgeries in one year, an ex who quit paying child support after draining my savings to pay to defend my children’s right to live in the home and neighborhood where they grew up, and my husband an electrician being laid off. The perfect storm. But I filed bankruptcy and made enough money to support my family and pay off a chapter 13. Most folks in these loans cannot do what I have done.
After being two months late, the game began. They foreclose, no if ands or butts. No calls would stop this process, because I tried. I have a master’s degree. I am no dummy. I went into the bankruptcy owing 8k (false fees, lawyers fees, but no time to fight the fees themselves and no lawyer was willing to take on that battle).
But today after making every single payment to date through bankruptcy court and to them, for two years, I owe 13k. I am going backwards!!! The checks all go through the bank, they just don’t apply them properly to my loan. Then the trick is that when my bankruptcy is finished they will foreclose saying I still owe money.The bankruptcy gives me two more years to hash it out in the courts.
I have two very good lawyers on this. It’s hard to fight it. The corporate has all laws stacked in their favor. It takes time and energy and education. People automatically assume that it’s your fault. Most folks cannot believe that the companies would behave in this way so fearlessly. I show people my statements and they cannot believe it. Google my company, google predatory lending and you will find thousands of posts just like mine.
When the crash comes it will be bigger than any analyst is admitting because none have reported the truth. These companies are engaging in completely illegal behaviors. Their will have to be bailouts…not out of sympathy, but because they are violating federal laws, and do it fearlessly. They know that most of us cannot fight them.
It’s one more nail in the coffin called America, but it’s coming and I want all the people I know and love to understand that these banks did not just take on high risk loans, they created these foreclosures by violating banking laws. Almost every major lending institution owns these types of loans because they were so lucrative.
In the congressional hearing these companies defended themselves trying to argue that 50% of the people do not call to work out other options when they fall behind. This is hogwash. They tell you to call and then route your calls to a voice messaging machine. They do not answer you. They send back checks for pay off. They don’t tell you the pay off until the week before foreclosure. They do every dirty trick in the book.
They are in the business of stealing homes, and making lots of money doing it.
Christine Pelosi up on msnbc…
coffee’s ready…
BlueStateRedHead @ 16
As promised, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/27/234036/74
katie Jensen @ 19
Courage and keep posting on it. We need to hear the it can happen to people like you side of the crisis.
Another Rattus visited us yesterday, Rep. John McHugh, in upstate NY.
According to our him, “He would like to remove the troops as fast as possible, but without sacrificing progress that has been made”.
Well, I looked up his voting record and he votes party line especially in regards to IRAQ.
He also stated “I work for you, and if my party is wrong, it’s wrong”.
I hate when people lie, don’t you?
Have to go write a thoughtful letter to Mr. McHugh now.
egregious @ 17
Exactly, buckets of cash to lenders. Cheap houses for the slumlords. It’s a win-win for freedom!
These guys are so delusional about the economy in America. It was largely based on credit and so much of the “consumerism” is going to lead so some weirdness. Creditors are going to be showing enormous losses as they won’t get blood from a stone.
The big banks and financial firms are discovering that their “paper” is not worth shit and the value of the companies, their shares and so forth are sinking faster than the Titanic.
Their solution? More low interest loans to the big financial institutions to keep them solvent. What a joke. Too much credit.. let’s add some more. Can’t pay the loan… let’s do a refi and (take a fee) everyone can go on spending what they don’t have.
The train wreck is going a pace. It will probably be slow and gathering momentum. Peak oil has arrived. The Saudis say they will pump more but they are unable to.
They lie about the economic indicators and everyone out there knows it.
Let’s rearrange the deck chairs for a better view of the icebergs.
Thanks for posting that, BlueStateRedHead. I have a friend who was childhood friends with Don Siegelman’s wife. They’ve had such hell to deal with. She was in a terrible car accident several years ago which she barely survived. They’re good folks and the fact that they got Roved pisses me off to no end.
Katie,
I’m sorry for your misery. I have had to deal with SSI in the past, not the the nearly to the extent that you are going through. Enough “banging my head against the wall” incidents to NEVER want to have to do it again.
My daughter was given a 1 months notice to vacate her apt.. Her landlord is being foreclosed.
There are also another whole class of victims of this disaster, renters. They were lucky to find a place, as rentals, already tight will be nearly impossible when this mess expands.
Good Luck to all of you who have to deal with this, thoughts and prayers are with you!
Katie Jensen
Thanks for sharing your story. Thank you for your refusal to let THEM win.
I lost my first house in the aftermath of the 1980’s Savings and Loan mess(JOHN MCCAIN)
in Arizona and went through hell.
Kate Jensen @ 19.. what an amazing story. It’s a game of p*ker with a stacked deck. The house never loses and the more you play the worse you are.
The whole notion of a “credit rating” is so bogus. Who gives a shit? What do you need credit for unless you borrow money!
How about we begin more pay as you go and leave the money changers, loan sharks, fee mongers out of the game. They are blood suckers who add NOTHING of value to the economy.
Screw em.
Good luck, Katie, and keep fighting!
geez, Katie – keep us posted…
Diane @ 23, would you consider changing up your name a bit so we don’t get our comments mixed up?
They target african americans, the elderly and women. I bought my house by myself. No man to co sign the loan, this was the flag that got me a sub prime loan. I feel most sorry for people who do not have the education and resources that I have. I post this for them. I will be okay. My lawyers believe they can get punitive damages (in my state, I can’t have them, they go to an education fund) but it will straighten out my loan and I have managed to survive these huge payments on my income alone. So we will be fine. But I ache for all those people who do not have the knowledge and resources to fight this. Their will be many homeless. And many have already lost their homes.
Katie Jenson at 19,
I truly know first hand what the banks are doing. I have had the same trouble in a earlier house and now my daughter barely got out of a similar situation.
She changed where her husband’s paycheck gets direct deposited. And the direct deposit did not go through and the mortgage payment bounced. She resubmitted it and it went through but there were $13.00 is fees. So when she made the next payment she added the $13. Well, the mortgage company (or their computer) did not deposit the check because it wasn’t in the correct amount, it was OVER the exact amount.
And thus began the late fees and charges. She sent another whole check which also got bounced, but by then the next month’s payment was due and they refused that one too, because the amount was incorrectly credited against the wrong amount. She was forced to pay two mortgage payments together (a strain beyond belief – she could not buy groceries for a month for the 4 kids) and then, and only then would the mortgage company take a look at the fees. Doubt she will ever get them back, totaling about $250, and several late notices on her credit report which she is challenging.
Banks are becoming more and more bloodthirty for every penny as the economic outlook becomes even more dismal. And, as you say, the law and administration are all on the mortgage company’s side.
Sick. But we knew that.
George Simian @ 18
The Republic Party is able to consistently fool their voters into thinking that issues like gay marriage are the most important ones to those voters. The Party is now searching for that set of issues for the next election.
It’s up to the Democrats to prevent this traditional bait-and-switch. Of their success, I’m not hopeful.
Pretty soon there is going to be a help wanted sign at GOP headquarters.
Hastert, Lott and this guy in two days.
I like it.
The social issues work much like that of a pick pocket…hey look over there!! and out comes the wallet. There is nothing more frustrating to me than seeing a family of four struggling on two incomes to make ends meet, saying they are pro Bush/republican. They cannot see what has happened to them. But boy!! they hate the mexicans and gays. I suppose that’s the price of hatred.
GrandmaJ @ 34
Yet, the tax-cuts-fix-all Preznit is not held accountable for having created the conditions that created this situation.
Rats leaving sinking ship.
Is Paulson next? I used to think he might be one of the few adults in the W Administration but I changed my mind when he misbehaved at some meeting in China a year or so ago. (Don’t remember details, but it was something like he came on stage & made an announcement before the Chinese rep showed up, which is VERY bad manners in a country that he’s supposed to be an expert.)
Anyhow, he is now one of the leading lights on the economy in the Administration. Wonder how long he can withstand the mortgage debacle headlines.
grandma J,
That’s truly how the ball gets rolling. And in my case it was compounded by their refusal to take my calls. So I couldn’t straighten anything out when it happened. It just mushroomed and before long they say, you owe this amount, and there is no one standing to tell you, that the fees don’t have to be paid.
Once it’s on paper, and they won’t take your calls, the courts believe them. Unless you sue them back. These cases have often been lost because you have to find a lawyer that is willing to go through your statements and escrow account with a fine tooth comb. Most of the lawyers I talked to when this was starting did not want to mess with it. They told me, just file bankruptcy, we don’t have enough time to fight the fees. Even then, there is much controversy about what court you fight the fees in, bankruptcy or federal?
My lawyers are going with the bankruptcy courts because they know the judge, but it has so much to do with the judge who will hear the case. It’s really disgusting. Luckily, my bankruptcy judge is pro consumer and they feel he will be sympathetic. The whole thing buys me time to get my money in order and hopefully will at the very least straighten out the loan so they cannot foreclose once I am out of bankruptcy.
At least we have the prospect of the “Clinton Party” ready to ride in and save the day. I’m starting to sleep better already.
“My lawyers are going with the bankruptcy courts because they know the judge, but it has so much to do with the judge who will hear the case.”
I believe that’s called “judge-shopping”.
Ok, now we’ve got real America (and they “create their own reality”) and we’ve also got the Reality Based Community.
And pretty soon words and logic will have no meaning. It’s all getting sucked down a memory hole!
I guess no one gives a rats ass for the chief of staff request that one resign before labor day if they are leaving….or was that just another Shrubco lie to give cover to KKKarl
Want to improve Democracy? Do public financing of elections and replace the so called adversarial system of “justice”.
his hands are out as if he’s looking for a handout… I thought Republicants were against entitlements?
katie Jensen @ 40
Fees are their lifeblood. It’s all about the fees.
corporate welfare is alive and well. And their won’t be any investigations into corporate welfare fraud…because those corporations only make innocent mistakes while all those ugly poor people are trying to rip us rich folks off!!!
Politicians becoming lobbyists after “public service” is a bi-partisan endeveor.
Does the “Real” in America stand for “Republican Elite Are Loaded”?
Christy’s got a new question–have we reached the tipping point?
ccmask @ 50
Republican Elites.
New thread from Christy:
Have We Reached the Tipping Point?
At the rate the rats are leaving the ship, no one may be running the government… oh wait…never mind, that’s happening now…
Guess this dude is also leaving so he can immediately land on K Street.
Attaturk!!!!! how ah ya?
Things Come Undone @ 9
Dodd has already put out some legislation, but I haven’t heard any talk about it.
The idea is to let mortgage lenders choose to renegotiate the terms with home owners. That would help them all to keep the cash flowing and people in their homes.
I’d also prefer to see a more people-oriented version whereby individuals having trouble making their house payments because of ballooned ARMS could petition a court to have them refinanced.
Why we haven’t heard any more about this is a mystery to me.
I agree, it would help if Edwards or Obama called for something to help homeowners.
Of course, it would have to be carefully designed to help people who are actually living in their home and for people who haven’t just been speculating in real estate.