Month: August 2009

Yikes! – About half of U.S. mortgages are seen to be underwater by 2011

Tim Geithner call your office!

The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.

Home price declines will have their biggest impact on prime “conforming” loans that meet underwriting and size guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bank said in a report. Prime conforming loans make up two-thirds of mortgages, and are typically less risky because of stringent requirements.

“We project the next phase of the housing decline will have a far greater impact on prime borrowers,” Deutsche analysts Karen Weaver and Ying Shen said in the report.

Of prime conforming loans, 41 percent will be “underwater” by the first quarter of 2011, up from 16 percent at the end of the first quarter 2009, it said. Forty-six percent of prime jumbo loans will be larger than their properties’ value, up from 29 percent, it said.

“The impact of this is significant given that these markets have the largest share of the total mortgage market outstanding,” the analysts said. Prime jumbo loans make up 13 percent of the total market.

via About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011 | Reuters.

I wonder what “The One” will do about this? Cash for Refinancing?

Here’s why:

The drop in home prices is fueling a vicious cycle of foreclosures as it eliminates homeowner equity and gives borrowers an incentive to walk away from their mortgages. The more severe the negative equity, the more likely are defaults, since many borrowers believe prices will not recover enough.

Homeowners with the riskiest mortgages taken out during the housing boom have seen the greatest erosion in equity, in part because they were “affordability products” originated at the housing peak, Deutsche said. They include subprime loans, of which 69 percent will be underwater in 2011, up from 50 percent in March, Deutsche said,

Of option adjustable-rate mortgages — which cut payments by allowing principal balances to rise — 89 percent will be underwater in 2011, up from 77 percent, the report said.

Regions suffering the worst negative equity are areas in California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and West Virginia. Las Vegas and parts of Florida and California will see 90 percent or more of their loans underwater by 2011, it added.

“For many, the home has morphed from piggy bank to albatross,” the analysts said.

It is classic; The textbook reason why you DO NOT give home loans to high risk persons. Because they are the first to lose their jobs when the economy takes a dump.  This is the invention of the Clinton Administration. But yet, no one on the left wants to blame slick willy. Call it the Clinton bubble, call it a huge screw up by the Democrats. I call it reality. Welcome to the Obama Economy and the Democratic Future, brought to you by Clinton stupidity.

A Blogger friend of mine needs help

realmeHis name is Sammy, He is Jewish.

I razzed him once about something and pissed him off. After a while, I felt like a dick and apologized. After we became friends, I learned much about Sammy, I found out we had much in common.

Anyway, Sammy’s now looking at some hard times right now; I can relate; many can, times are tough. I however, have a safety net of sorts. Sammy does not, he is toughing it out and making due. Job prospects are bad and he might have swallow hard and do the Walmart thing.

If you can head on over to Sammy’s Blog and give a buck or two. Consider it an act of charity to a man, who is not drinking the Kool-Aid.

Click here to read Sammy’s Blog Posting.

…..and Thank you.

BREAKING NEWS: Democratic Rep Brad Miller's Life Threatened over Healthcare Bill

Sigh….Why do people do dumb crap like this?!?!?!

Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) will not be hosting any town hall events this August — instead, he’s making himself available to constituents for one-on-one meetings about health care reform — and at least part of the reason is this: His offices have received threatening phone calls, including at least one direct threat against his life.

“We had no town hall events scheduled for the August recess anyway, but in light of everything that’s happened — we have received a threatening phone call in the D.C. office, there have been calls to the Raleigh office,” said Miller communications director LuAnn Canipe, in an interview with TPM. The threatening call in question happened earlier this week.

“The call to the D.C. office was, ‘Miller could lose his life over this,'” said Canipe. “Our staffer took it so seriously, he confirmed what the guy was saying. He said, ‘Sir is that a threat?’ and at that time our staffer was getting the phone number off caller ID and turning it over to the Capitol Police.”

They haven’t heard anything back from the police yet, but they did get the caller’s number. So this could develop into something soon enough.

via Dem Congressman’s Office: His Life Has Been Threatened Over Health Care Bill | TPMDC.

This is extremely wrong and very stupid.

Blue Crab Boulevard calls B.S.:

First of all – he had no town hall meetings scheduled – so what, exactly, is he canceling? Let’s face it, Propaganda Points Memo is not exactly a trustworthy source for anything resembling truth, but in this case, the claim is so egregious that it begs for confirmation.

Either produce a police report or stuff your report. This event, according to the report, was reported to the Capitol Police. Produce the report.

A congressman who had no plans to hold town hall meetings excitedly reporting that he is canceling all of his nonexistent town hall meetings stinks out loud of publicity stunt. Produce the report.

Or else you are a fraud. No middle ground here.

Well, I am not taking any chances. To All of the visitors here at PoliticalByline.com. Let me make this absolutely clear. I DO NOT CONDONE, AT ALL; THE USE OF THREATS  OF OR ACTUAL PHYSICAL VIOLENCE TO ACCOMPLISH A POLITICAL GOAL! THAT IS TERRORISM AND IT IS WRONG! 😡

I personally hope that whomever the bonehead was that made such a threat will end up spending some quality time behind bars. While I opposed to the socialism of the Liberal Left; this sort of nonsense is uncalled for and must be stopped. We have a peaceful process in this country, it is called political discourse and elections. Let us stick to that please. We are not Iran or North Korea people, let’s not act like them.

Others: Firedoglake, Now! Hampshire, Glenn Thrush’s Blog, Blue Crab Boulevard, Talking Points Memo and D-Day



William Jefferson found guilty on 11 of 16 counts

One Word…. Good.

Via Nola.com:

In the 16-count indictment, Jefferson was charged with soliciting bribes and other crimes for a series of schemes in which he helped American businesses broker deals in West African in exchange for payments or financial considerations to companies controlled by members of his family, including his brother Mose, his wife, Andrea, their five daughters and a son-in-law.

01nwJeffCase
William Jefferson - Shakedown Artist

Jefferson, 62, who represented the New Orleans-based 2nd Congressional District for nine terms, will now face sentencing by Judge T.S. Ellis III, who earlier meted out stiff sentences for lesser figures in the case. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Jefferson faced 235 years in prison if convicted on all counts, and will still face substantial prison time.

Prosecutors asked that Jefferson be held as a flight risk, but the judge allowed him to remain free pending his sentencing scheduled for Oct. 30. A forfeiture hearing will be held Thursday to decide what assets Jefferson will have to surrender.

The verdict comes four years after the Aug. 3, 2005 raids of Jefferson’s homes in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., in which the FBI found $90,000 in cash hidden in the freezer of his D.C. home, money the government said Jefferson was going to deliver as a bribe to Atiku Abubakar, then vice president of Nigeria, to gain his help with a telecommunications deal in Nigeria being pursued by Lori Mody, a Northern Virginia businesswoman.

The money was the lion’s share of $100,000 in FBI cash that the congressman was videotaped receiving packed in a briefcase days earlier in a suburban Virginia parking lot from Mody, who, beginning in March of 2005, had become a cooperating witness for the FBI, secretly taping her conversations with Jefferson.

The jury did not find him guilty on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which was the count linked to the money in the freezer.

While Mody did not testify at the trial, the jury heard segments of her taped conversations with Jefferson along with more than six weeks of testimony from government witnesses, including iGate Inc. CEO Vernon Jackson and Mody financial adviser Brett Pfeffer, both of whom are serving time after pleading guilty to their involvement in the bribe schemes, and hoped to see their sentences reduced in exchange for their testimony against Jefferson.

Jefferson did not testify in his own defense and his formal defense lasted only about two hours. In his closing argument, lead defense attorney Robert Trout presented his client as a man whose dealings had placed him in an ethical “gray” area, but who had not broken the law.

I will simply say this; as a non-partisan Conservative blogger who knows full well that there is corruption on both sides of the aisle, I will simply say this. I am very pleased that this man was caught. I only hope now that it does not stop this guy; but rather continues with others that are extremely corrupt up on capital hill.

Exit question: How long till the race baiters like Al Sharpton come out saying that this bust was racially motivated?

Others: Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, , Macsmind, Flopping Aces, Blue Crab Boulevard Wizbang, Patterico’s Pontifications,