The Goat Pen

I"m not sure he cares whether it gets passed. If it dies, its because of republicans.

You really want to be John Boehner and tell 30 million Americans you're the reason they can't save $200 a month on their mortgage?

after they've been reminded the banks received $7.7t in bailout?

If it dies, its because of republicans.


Perxactly....that's the Obammer campaign for 2012.

if that is indeed true, its a slick move

It's his only move....unless he wants to run on his accomplishments when he had control of both houses.

that may be true, but its not like a republican would be above doing that.

The bigger argument will be keeping people in homes that are upside down with balloon payments rather than having those homes foreclosed on (most of which now belong to the middle class or higher). Truthfully, I've been wondering why banks were more willing to foreclose than to work out new loans anyway. They end up selling the homes for a fraction of what they are worth.

Then I find out that banks made more money by putting people in balloon payment plans on the resale market and that they weren't necessarily offering conventional loans to many who actually qualified for them.

Obama will try and run on his record, while at the same time saying he could have done more if it weren't for the recession he came in with and a Congress (after 2010) and Senate (through the filibuster) that wasn't interested in the country but was only interested in defeating him and there are statements from Republican leaders that actually support that point. A poll a few weeks ago found that the majority of Republicans believe that the Republicans in Congress were obstructionists (what the poll didn't ask was whether they agreed with that policy)

From Bkln on Dec 29

Bklyn wrote:Scorecard of Obama's promises vs reality

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... /obameter/

I'm not sure how that stacks up against other Presidents and it's an interesting compilation as many items stall in the Legislative process (which is due to DEM and GOP controlled Congresses).

So, if you total up the 508 promises:

• 1/3 have been kept outright.
  40% have been kept or resulted in a compromise
  and 75% have been kept, compromised or are still in the works
  11% have been straight broken
  13% have been stalled

Obama will try and run on his record


I hope so, but there's absolutely no evidence of that so far.

but its not like a republican would be above doing that.


When repubs do it, it's going negative....attacking..., but it's a strategy now. One would expect more from the hope and change man.

Too early. The pubs don't even have a nominee yet. Right now, he just needs to continue to let them attack each other and do things such as opposed a payroll tax cut for the middle class while wanting to obstruct tax increases for the rich at the same time, allowing the Republican govenors pass tax breaks for corporations while increasing taxes on the middle class (as in Wisconsin)

overall that still doesn't really address the people who are truly fucked in this situation. Having a house payment with lower interest is great but being upside down is the problem. While allowing them to refinance is a great option, I just wonder how many people it really addresses.

Up until 2006, if you wanted to take another job or move to a better part of the country or even your own city, you put your house up for sale and it sold in 3 months or less and you didn't take a loss - at a minimum you covered closing costs and realtor fees for a net loss of 0. That type of mobility and money constantly changing hands fueled the housing industry and had tentacles into many collateral business. Even if you took out the whole home equity cash flow side of it, if a person could just sell their home without a net loss right now that would be huge. I'm not sure we'll see that type of situation again for another decade, if then.

Being upside down means you can't borrow against your home. But over 30 years, (the new term), the hope is that the home will eventually regain its value.

The bigger risk is being unable to pay the mortgage.

regardless of what Obama's actual record is, the public perception is what it is, and its not a man who came through on his election promises.

There are a number of high profile democratic supporters who have come out and said "I didn't expect him to do this!" and much of it is related to caving on republicans.

However I think much of what Obama has done is going to make it easier for independents and Reagan democrats to vote for Obama if anyone besides Romney or Paul wins the nominee ( and yes, I'm aware that Paul is not going to win the nomination - which again, helps Obama).

The reality is that in hindsight it easy to say that T.A.R.P. was a bad idea (or at least say it as a populist measure) but you'd be hard pressed to find a republican or democrat who was against it. Hell, it was Pelosi who held it up initially while McCain and Bush were begging Obama to support it. The stimulus spending is a gamble, right now most of the nation is holding it against Obama and congress for doing it, however if unemployment hits 7.4% by say...August, Obama is free and clear and able to say in his best Rick James voice "look bitches, Osama is dead and unemployment is almost back to tolerable levels, its a celebration". Not to mention his hella cuts to the military which sits well with the anti-war crowd that got him elected to begin with.

I think he is going to be a tough out for the GOP come election time.

I also fear what a lame duck Obama will do. Just like I would Rick James. Power is a helluva drug.

Owlman wrote:Being upside down means you can't borrow against your home. But over 30 years, (the new term), the hope is that the home will eventually regain its value.

The bigger risk is being unable to pay the mortgage.

I understand what it means, but right now you are either able to pay your mortgage or you're not. How many people are on the edge of keeping their house because of $200 a month?

I agree with you about the mobility thing though. I just think that's secondary to the problem of foreclosures for the increased payments that they can't afford and the unwillingness of banks to refinance a home that is now worth less than the amount owed on the mortgage

it's much more than $200 per month. The way the balloons were set up, many had their mortgage double once the balloons set in. It's not about lowering a fixed rate so much imo.

maybe there are alot of balloons out there. I figured by now all the sucker mortgages would have bene cleared out.

I also fear what a lame duck Obama will do. Just like I would Rick James. Power is a helluva drug

I've not seen that from any of those reelected in the past, in particular with a split congress. Much more likely, is that they will work together with the Congress, because the expressed purpose of the Republicans will not be to do anything to prevent Obama from being re-elected. If a Republican gets elected, it's unlikely that needed things will get done because the primary purpose of that President will be to get re-elected.

Military, medicare, medicaid, social security, long term debt (not short term the way some freshman Republicans are approaching the debt now), energy, infrastructure, tax policy. I doubt anything will be done on these with a first term President. Nixon went to China the first year of his second term. I don't think he could have done that his first term. A second term President has at most 1 and 1/2 years to get stuff done. A first term President has about 4 months the way it is now.

eCat wrote:maybe there are alot of balloons out there. I figured by now all the sucker mortgages would have bene cleared out.

Among the poor yes. But a lot more were done by the middle class who didn't lose their jobs but are facing major costs (my brother is one of them). These people have cashed in some or most of their retirement which has kept them in the home to this point.

I don't see him holding back because he thinks Biden has a shot at the presidency to extend his legacy.