Congress Enables Mortgage Bankers Profits

I have news for Mr. Obama in how to turn the home foreclosure crisis around.

Go after the perpetrators, including those members in Congress who afforded the banking industry to market "interest only" use right ownership to many Americans after the Keating mess of the 1980's in the previous unconstitutional Act of Congress in order to supposedly salvage the economy after the savings and loan collapses.

It is only by addressing the problem that this situation will be resolved, not in the symptoms and quick fixes that will create even greater problems again down the road. A government now in collusion with the banks and banking executives.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in today's article in the New York Times where it seems that one of the former executives at Countrywide is now making money hand over fist in buying up these bad debts which he was able to do under the provisions of the 700 billion bank bailout - the terms of which were never fully disclosed to the American public and which are now being overseen by the Department of the Treasury. It appears the Department is simply rewarding now these banking executives, since no charges were pursued against them for their part in the mismanagement of their banking institutions. This story is on a former executive of Countrywide, one of the largest mortgage banks involved prior to the September "collapse," Stanford Kurland.

In the photograph that accompanies the picture, it appears that Mr. Kurland just stepped out of one of Southern California's tanning salons.

While Mr. Obama is sacrificing the future of America's next generation and the American taxpayer's for this mess which Washington and the bankers created in their 1980's collusion, Mr. Kurland received over 200 million dollars in corporate stock in order to formulate his new "business," also due to the good will of Congress and his corporate legislative backers last September.

And the rub in this entire mess is that those subprime and creative predatory loans which Mr. Kurland had a major part in marketing through Countrywide, were resold on the stock exchange in order to cover those losses, leaving many investors now holding the bag. He and Washington continue raping the American people in the process - the foreclosed upon homeowners, the public in general in the bailout, and the shareholders of Countrywide.

In the most simple terms - Washington and Congress in September due to the terms of the bailout, and lack of accountability afforded to the Secretary of the Treasury in oversight, are enabling now the mortgage bankers not only to not be held accountable for their deeds, but to profit from them.

And the most horrible part of all is that the debts of the homeowners who have lost their homes after paying all those points and simply interest on those debts for however long they "owned" them, were already paid off since they were resold on the stock exchange to those also duped investors. A pyramid scheme now condoned and enabled to continue by Washington's lack of regulation over these national banking and financial institutions, and failure to prosecuted those banking executives involved.

Which was supported by both Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain in their senatorial capacity also back in September, with Mr. Obama now wondering how to "turn this economy" and the mortgage crisis around.

The article also focuses on one such homeowner being assisted by Mr. Kurland's efforts now due to an inability to make their current mortgage due to declines in the sales from their small business in now slashing the interest rate on their family's mortgage due to a and saving them now hundreds of dollars. I wonder why Mr. Kurland's banks were not so amenable to the thousands of others who have already lost theirs in such generosity, and also wonder what the future ramifications for such actions may be since this is exactly what occurred after the savings and loan fiasco that brought on this entire crisis. Slashing interest rates at the time through these creative loans practices. I wonder what the fine print is on the documents now this family will be executing in order to get this now discount, or how the fact that they were three payments behind at one point their future abilities if they should need to move and secure new financing or have to refinance as many people with fixed rate mortgages had to do when property taxes and other costs of ownership skyrocketed during the boom that got them into those floating or interest only loans to begin with at the start of this current housing boom and bust cycle?

I have a news flash for Washington - instead of wearing a Southern California tan and conducting interviews from his offices overlooking the Santa Monica mountain range, Mr. Kurland should be wearing an ankle bracelet.

And Washington getting back to basics in their Constitutional functions, and sufficiently overseeing and regulating these banking and financial institutions, and banning any and all executives like Mr. Kurland from working in the financial industry ever again.

The entire New York Times article can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/business/04penny.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig
http://www.backupamerica.org/