Remarks by the President (Dubya) on Homeownership (2002)

[TomCADem]

Who said that George Bush was not successful? He managed to promote liberal lending rules where anyone with a pulse could get a loan to purchase a home that they ultimately would not be able to afford:

:sarcasm:

http://www.hud.gov/news/speeches/presremarks.cfm

The third problem is the fact that the rules are too complex. People get discouraged by the fine print on the contracts. They take a look and say, well, I'm not so sure I want to sign this. There's too many words. (Laughter.) There's too many pitfalls. So one of the things that the Secretary is going to do is he's going to simplify the closing documents and all the documents that have to deal with homeownership.

It is essential that we make it easier for people to buy a home, not harder. And in order to do so, we've got to educate folks. Some of us take homeownership for granted, but there are people -- obviously, the home purchase is a significant, significant decision by our fellow Americans. We've got people who have newly arrived to our country, don't know the customs. We've got people in certain neighborhoods that just aren't really sure what it means to buy a home. And it seems like to us that it makes sense to have a outreach program, an education program that explains the whys and wherefores of buying a house, to make it easier for people to not only understand the legal implications and ramifications, but to make it easier to understand how to get a good loan.

There's some people out there that can fall prey to unscrupulous lenders, and we have an obligation to educate and to use our resource base to help people understand how to purchase a home and what -- where the good opportunities might exist for home purchasing.

Finally, we want to make sure the Section 8 homeownership program is fully implemented. This is a program that provides vouchers for first-time home buyers which they can use for down payments and/or mortgage payments. (Applause.)

So this is an ambitious start here at the federal level. And, again, I repeat, you all need to help us every way you can. But the private sector needs to help, too. They need to help, too. Of course, it's in their interest. If you're a realtor, it's in your interest that somebody be interested in buying a home. If you're a homebuilder, it's in your interest that somebody be interested in buying a home.

And so, therefore, I've called -- yesterday, I called upon the private sector to help us and help the home buyers. We need more capital in the private markets for first-time, low-income buyers. And I'm proud to report that Fannie Mae has heard the call and, as I understand, it's about $440 billion over a period of time. They've used their influence to create that much capital available for the type of home buyer we're talking about here. It's in their charter; it now needs to be implemented. Freddie Mac is interested in helping. I appreciate both of those agencies providing the underpinnings of good capital.

There's a lot of faith-based programs that want to be involved with educating people about how to buy a home. And we're going to have an active outreach from HUD. (Applause.)

[Tikki]

1. Believe me...a refi, today, is all about...

those fine prints and complexities..and we aren't complaining...


The Tikkis

[peacetalksforall]

2. Excellent work. Thanks for posting. Orchestrated. Exquisitely orchestrated and a

grand win for Goldman-Sachs and everyone they decided could be their friends. We have to admit that Republican Party with some Dems created excellent think tanks - job well done for the rich - the job of bringing this country down. They figured it all out a long time ago.

And some say there is more to come?

Is $6.00 the goal - $6.00 as in $6.00 an hour for the poor of this country? Enough to buy the necessities at Wal-Mart?

Thanks for the 'expose' through quotes.

Every person with their head buried in the sand should be made to read this. We we we - he kept saying we were the ones to arrange this.

[johncoby2]

3. wow. Great catch!!!!

[sandnsea]

4. Low-income home ownership was not the problem

The shifty mortgage schemes, supposed investment vehicles, and credit default swaps were the problem. The financial bastards took the help people needed and used it to enrich themselves and destroyed the global economy in the process.

[TomCADem]

6. Bush's Remarks Weren't Limited To Low Income - Helping The Private Sector...

...encouraging loans, and removing regulatory impediments were not limited to low income homeowners, nor was the mortgage melt down was not caused by loans extended to low income homeonwers.

[Ian David]

5. Dubya was never President. n/t