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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (761545)	1/6/2014 1:21:13 AM
From: i-node	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574258

>> SS doesn't have a $10 T deficit. Of course it does. They call it an unfunded obligation, but it is a net accumulated deficit. Period, end of story. I have tried to explain this to people like yourself, who don't understand the difference between cash and accrual basis accounting. Many times, with no success. You're not going to be the first. I have never met a liberal who understands it. While I do believe most of you are stupid people, I don't think you're ALL that stupid. So, at least in some instances, it is just a matter of not wanting to understand it.

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (761545)	1/6/2014 1:22:03 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574258

Don't contradict Dave! He went to a highly rated school.

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (761545)	1/6/2014 8:25:38 AM
From: Brumar89	1 Recommendation Recommended By FJB Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1574258

Watt, Subprime Fox, Is In The Henhouse 25 Comments Fri, Jan 03 2014 00:00:00 E A14_ISSUES Posted 01/02/2014 06:50 PM ET Housing: Rep. Mel Watt is expected to be sworn in Monday as director of the powerful Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA. Mark that date — Jan. 6, 2014. It will live in infamy as the start of the next housing bubble. Republicans warned that the far-left Democrat was one of the affordable-housing zealots on the Hill who helped push Fannie and Freddie into the risky subprime market. They rightly argued that putting him in charge of regulating Fannie and Freddie would be letting the fox guard the henhouse. But after they effectively blocked his nomination by threatening a filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid changed longstanding Senate rules on filibusters. Now the Democrats can confirm presidential picks with a simple majority. And that's what they've done with Watt. His confirmation last month (with the help of two Republicans — Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Rob Portman of Ohio) is a big flipping deal, to paraphrase the vice president. FHFA controls Freddie and Fannie, who together control more than 90% of all new mortgages in the U.S. Following their post-crisis bailout and government takeover, their CEOs have been relegated to largely figureheads. The real power behind the mortgage giants now rests with a single bureaucrat in Washington. As FHFA chief, Watt can yank these CEOs around like puppets on a string. He not only will direct the hundreds of billions of home-finance dollars moving through the economy, but decide who qualifies to buy or refinance a house and who doesn't — until his term ends in 2019. The former head of the Congressional Black Caucus has a soft spot for borrowers who can't afford a house. Expect him to reboot the era of easy credit. Watch him use his control of Freddie and Fannie to return to the recklessly lax policies that caused the mortgage crisis. He's already undoing the solid work of his prudent predecessor, Edward DeMarco, who locked horns with the White House by tightening credit and winding down the failed agencies. Watt just signaled he'll suspend higher lender fees helping protect Fannie and Freddie from risk, because he thinks they make loans for low-income borrowers with weak credit too expensive. That's "unfair," you see. DeMarco's moves helped return Fannie and Freddie to profitability and helped them gradually pay back the Treasury for their bailouts. Whereas he protected taxpayers, Watt wants to protect deadbeats. A radical social activist with one of the most liberal voting records in Congress, Watt wants lenders to forgive principal on loans held by millions of delinquent borrowers rather than move them to foreclosure. He plans to have servicers of loans backed by Fannie and Freddie cut borrowers' loan amounts — and monthly payments — regardless of their creditworthiness. Watt's agenda, in short, is to turn Fannie and Freddie into welfare dispensaries. Starting in 2002, he pressured Freddie into doling out home loans to "welfare recipients" in his North Carolina district. The agency ended up buying billions of dollars in mortgages made to some 100,000 constituents with "impaired credit." Most of them defaulted. His biggest boosters during his seven-month nomination battle have been the same Acorn types who pressured regulators and banks to dismantle traditional lending standards before the crisis. They can't believe their luck. Watt shares their objective: relaxing underwriting rules so "disadvantaged" borrowers lacking credit and down payments can buy homes. Make no mistake, there will be millions more risky mortgages rubberstamped on his five-year watch. So remember Jan. 6: It's when the radical housing-rights crowd effectively took over the housing and mortgage finance industry in America. Read More At Investor's Business Daily: news.investors.com Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter \| InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook