Lawmakers to probe housing "bubble," mortgages (DUH!)

[NVMojo]

These are the same jerks who passed the bankruptcy bill as the housing bubble was starting its downward fall last year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers will question some leading government and industry economists about the perils of a possible 'housing bubble' in a Wednesday hearing.

Lawmakers wanted the session "because we've heard a great deal about the possibility of a housing bubble for several years now," said Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican from Colorado.

The hearing, "The Housing Bubble and its Implications for the Economy," will be held in an open session of the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m..

Next week, the same committee will hold a hearing on the growth of innovative mortgage products that have mushroomed along with the housing sector.


Lawmakers behind Wednesday's hearing said that they were concerned that a steady flow of soft housing data could put the nation's economy in peril.

more...

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-09-12T191303Z_01_N12323829_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-ECONOMY-HOUSING-SENATE-DC.XML&from=business

[Webster Green]

1. How far behind the curve are those morans?

I got their fucking probe right here!

[Robbien]

2. Barn door/ horses

These guys are like Congress. Let the bad stuff happen and later set up some kind of ineffectual panel to investigate the problem. Nothing will come of it, but they can say they covered their asses.

[gratuitous]

3. Don't misunderstand Congress' concern

They're not talking to the people who've got their necks on the chopping block; they're calling in "leading government and industry economists" to talk about this so-called peril. They could give less than two shits about the poor bastards who are going to see their lives ruined by a crushing debt load. Their main concern is going to be that the loan sharks don't get burned for writing bad loans. After all, there are only so many legs that can be broken, but the money in the Treasury goes on and on forever! Mortgage insurance will almost imperceptibly morph into mortgager insurance.

[Trajan]

4. A 'steady flow' of idiotic, selfish, wrongheaded ....

plutocratic republican economic policies have put the nations economy in peril ....

[Born Free]

5. Get Greenspan

They should haul Greenspan in and make him testisfy under oath - at a time when interest rates were near their lowest points he testified that people should get mor eAdjustable Rate Mortgages knowing they were wrong as they could do nothing but go up. The people with the Adjustable Rate Mortgages are the one's that will be hurting as rates go back up - and Greenspan knew this, yet they were willing to sacrifice America's economic future to keep the bush team looking as good as they possibly could. Greenspan traded the future of America to help bush and then bailed out before the shit hit the fan. Just as Americans were misled to war in Iraq, Greenspan misled them on the housing bubble.

[Eurobabe]

6. Why do you think Big Al left? To spend more time with Andrea Mitchell??

[GeorgeGist]

7. They don't call him 'quickdraw' fur nuttin...

"Lawmakers wanted the session "because we've heard a great deal about the possibility of a housing bubble for several years now," said Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican from Colorado.