Forget the cartoon and Burris, Obama's Housing Plan is the real news today...

[Barack_America]

...and it is fantastic.

From whitehouse.gov

9 million +

The housing plan President Obama unveiled today could directly help up to 9 million people -- but indirectly, it will help all of us.

"In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to continue to deepen," President Obama said today in Phoenix, AZ. "But if we act boldly and swiftly to arrest this downward spiral, every American will benefit."

He laid out the four key elements of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan:

1. refinancing help for four to five million homeowners who receive their mortgages through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac

2. new incentives for lenders to modify the terms of sub-prime loans at risk of default and foreclosure

3. steps to keep mortgage rates low for millions of middle class families looking to secure new mortgages

4. additional reforms designed to help families stay in their homes

"The plan I’m announcing focuses on rescuing families who have played by the rules and acted responsibly," the President said, "by refinancing loans for millions of families in traditional mortgages who are underwater or close to it; by modifying loans for families stuck in sub-prime mortgages they can’t afford as a result of skyrocketing interest rates or personal misfortune; and by taking broader steps to keep mortgage rates low so that families can secure loans with affordable monthly payments."

We've put together a few documents that will help you understand the plan, how it will work, and how it will affect you:

Executive Summary
Fact Sheet
Housing Example Sheet
Q&A

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/18/9-million-plus/

[Captain Hilts]

1. Yes, I agree. This is being lost among all the arugments about personalities here. Kick! nt

[Barack_America]

2. Thank you. I fully expect this to sink.

Not scandalous enough for GD-P, you know?

But it is a good plan, and one that really sticks it to the mortgage companies.

[Captain Hilts]

3. It's focused on mortages held by Fannie and Freddie, but that's a good start. nt

[damonm]

4. Not if I have anything to say about it - K&R!

[polmaven]

21. Nor I...

This is a K&R all the way!

[politicasista]

5. kick

I want to understand more about the mortgage crisis because it's pretty close to home. :kick:

[louis-t]

26. I urge you to learn. Lack of info gives repug lies

a chance to become folklore. Rush the Stupid is saying Obama's plan will cause homeowners to "stop paying mortgage payment so they can get bailed out" and "it's not fair to those who pay on time." Totally misleading, but that's what repugs do. Anyone who gets 60-90 days behind can't get bailed out anyway. I'll say it again: EVERYONE in this country that owns a home or Real Estate (including Rush the Stupid) is seeing their values drop AS WE SPEAK. The only way to get values to rise again is to get the foreclosures on the market now off (sell them) and stop the next massive wave of foreclosures from happening.

[Cha]

6. Anybody who loves our

country wants this to work.

Best of Luck to the Housing Plan and the Stimulus Bill.

[Barack_America]

10. Agreed. And thanks. It seems to me that any day the message is not on Pres. Obama's plans...

...is a good day for the GOP and a bad day for our country.

Burris and the racist cartoon are silly things, the housing crisis is serious stuff and we should be thankful that we finally have a real President to lead us.

:hi:

[yellerpup]

7. His address and explanation of this today was fantastic.

K&R! Everyone should know. Everyone should say THANKS!!! :dem: :dem: :dem:

What a pleasure to have a president who can tell us what he is doing (in words we can understand) and open up the process so we can be sure he is doing just as he said he would do. This guy is BUSY!

[FrenchieCat]

8. Agreed!

and said so: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8207680

[Fly by night]

9. K&R

[KittyWampus]

11. I wonder if most DU'ers would classify it as Progressive.

[girl gone mad]

12. I haven't seen all of the details..

but certain aspects make me nervous.

[Barack_America]

14. What aspects?

Asking out of genuine curiosity.

[girl gone mad]

23. I'd like to see details on recourse..

will these borrowers be allowed to walk away as easily in the future if they still can't make the mortgage patments?

My other concern is with so much emphasis on lowering monthly payments. In re-writing the loans, many borrowers will end up with more debt, not less. I hope that they are getting good advice because as painful as it may be in the short term, foreclosure might still be the best option.

Overall, the plan makes sense. The devil will be in the details.

[KittyWampus]

15. fair enough. I'd be interested in your assessment

[Barack_America]

13. I would have to think so.

Renegotiation of mortgage interest rates reduces the profit mortgage companies get out of the loans.

From what I gather, the GOP is proposing that the government address the housing crisis by helping homeowners pay down the principal of the loan, while keeping the interest rates. What this would do (again, from what I gather) is make the government cut a big fat check to the mortgage company for approximately 30% of the value of the home, while the mortgage company also gets to keep their profit margin for the remaining portion of the loan.

[KittyWampus]

16. my problem- despite being a know-it-all, on this topic I'm just not sure. Economics

really is terribly complex. And it involves a lot of psychology. And politically, Democrats will always be at a disadvantage due to decades of Republican spin on anything remotely pro-Labor, pro-Worker or pro-Working Class as "Socialist" and hence evil.

[Barack_America]

18. Well, the way I see it is that every mortgage has two parts...

The principal (actual price of the home) and the interest (the extra paid to the bank for providing the loan).

Reducing either one of these is going to help the homeowner.

Writing down the principal of the home would best benefit the homeowner would help the homeowner the most, at the expense of the mortgage company, which makes me think that this is NOT what the GOP is advocating for.

Writing down the principal of the home with the government cutting a check to the mortgage company for the amount of the write-down is blatant corporate welfare, which makes me think that this IS what the GOP wants.

Reducing the interest on the loan is more of a middle ground; the mortgage company loses out a bit and the homeowner loses out a bit (considering though their payments will now be affordable for them, they are still in a home that is probably over-valued). It seems to me a "middle ground" approach is probably a wise one.

[Clio the Leo]

17. thank you! NT

[Peacetrain]

19. Thank you,, you are correct..I came online and saw that cartoon and my hair stood

on edge. A reality check is much appreciated :hi:

[Barack_America]

20. It's an awful cartoon, but a distraction from Obama's agenda.

:hug:

[uponit7771]

22. If the rates get drivin down to around 4% then that's real help otherwise banks keep them up near 6

[indimuse]

24. K&R!!

GOBAMA!

[RRTX]

25. Do not bail out and claw back on the profiteers

Buyers in mortgage trouble were not creditworthy, knew it, and jumped in anyway. They got too much house for their income. Supposedly they claim they can pay, just not at the new level on their mortgage. There is clamor to rescue them at the expense of those who pay for their mortgages and who pay taxes. The solution is to let the house go and move into a rental they can afford and then, doing it the old fashioned way, over time, work up to doing a straight forward, non-kinky purchase with, probably, a fixed-rate note. Thus, these folks are taking a hit but not passing on the subsidy to those who do pay and to taxpayers, etc. These people are not going to be homeless. They are simply going to be living in property commensurate with their incomes.

The note holders. Well, they were greedy suckers. They suffer the consequences of default, foreclosure, etc. So be it.

Claw back the profiteers? Those who cashed in on the scam over these past few years took their profits, many of them, lots of profits from the closing table.

"Claw back" laws would rectify this a bit. Retro-actively tax them. Civil ex post facto laws of the Congress are not per se unconstitutional. Those who made lots of money off the sub-prime scam should be forced to pay taxes on their ill-gotten gains. Not easy to identify all of them, to establish cut-offs, and to actually find cash to capture for taxes but the project is a just one and would go a long way to building some public confidence in lawmakers.

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

27. This gets a kick and a rec. Thx

[tekisui]

28. Great news and a great plan. knr~

[proReality]

29. K&R n/t

[OwnedByFerrets]

30. I will kick but add this....many progressive economists are today

giving this a big thumbs down. Listening to Thom Hartman, I get the feeling that this is NOT a good proposal.

[Janice325]

31. Thanks for the link.

I'm going to check it out in detail later.

k&r

Edited 'cause I can't spell today.

[Fire1]

32. Great News!! I can benefit from two items in this plan. K&R