We’re going to have to endure this misguided lines of argument from those savvy business reporters, and CNBC’s Diana Olick is at the head of the pack. So we might as well take on her poor arguments about the foreclosure fraud settlement directly.

I think I’ve made my position on the foreclosure fraud settlement pretty clear. Nevertheless, there’s a time to stew and a time to figure out how to make this work as well as possible. I think there are some tangible steps that can be taken, if not to improve the deal, then to improve housing policy overall to the benefit of homeowners rather than bank balance sheets.

We can talk about official malfeasance or conservative demonization but a lot of this has to do with the fact that the traditional media, the sources where most people get their news, don’t understand pretty much anything about housing. I mean not even the most basic stuff.

The Administration will release details on its mass refi proposal today, which is a bid to increase funds in the hands of homeowners at a low cost to the government. This is a stimulus policy, which could be effective depending on the scale. But refis aren’t enough to save people’s homes, and certainly not underwater homes.

Former Obama Administration transition official Mike Lux was the first to report that the liability release on foreclosure fraud “looks tight.” In other words, the release is limited to mostly post-crisis conduct, basically robo-signing and servicer abuse. Private right of action would still be available under any settlement – Attorneys General cannot stop the right of an individual to sue over misconduct – and there would be no criminal liability release. In addition, these avenues of inquiry would still be available.

Tonight the President will deliver the State of the Union Address, at the beginning of his run for re-election. Unlike Obama’s other addresses to a joint session of Congress, I wouldn’t expect this one to produce much in the way of a legislative blueprint. It’s an election year, and most of the major issues will be determined by the outcome of that election. The President will instead try to set the agenda for the fall campaign with this speech, and the early excerpts show his focus on an economy “built to last.” Not unlike a Ford truck.

Small hints have been dribbled out to journalists ahead of tonight’s State of the Union Address, which in an election year invariably signals an attempt by an incumbent running for re-election to set the terms of the debate, to state what they will campaign on throughout the year. Looks like the focus will be on tax reform, housing, energy, but how will this President go to confront an obstructionist Congress and his own instincts?

The 1% protects the 1%. That’s all we’re talking about here. The problem for the Administration is that millions of homeowners have paid the price for this protection racket, and there’s an election coming up. So the effort will be made to create a fig leaf of a “solution” to “fix” the housing market and benefit homeowners.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) has become the third House Republican discovered to have received a sweetheart loan as part of Countrywide’s “VIP” program. The program became notorious when conservatives jumped on the revelations that Democrats Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad received cheap loans through it. But it was always clear that influence peddling is a bipartisan sport in Washington, and it was inevitable that some Republicans would get found out.

At Bank of America, the situation is dire. We’ve been expecting a possible crackup of the big bank, which made some of the worst purchases in business history in acquiring Countrywide and Merrill Lynch. Now, Yves Smith notes that BofA may have to pull out of key areas of the country in order to survive