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Elizabeth Warren's Chance in the Sun
Elizabeth Warren has been all over the media of late. This lady is a
‘hot property’. And with good reason. She has all of the credentials.
Harvard Professor, eight books, the Chairperson of the Congressional
Oversight Panel, she’s on the list of the top fifty “Most influential
lawyers in America” her name even has come up as a candidate for the
Supreme Court.
Not only does she have the credentials, she has a look. There is
something about her that when she talks to the camera you get a warm
feeling and think, “Finally there is someone who is making some sense
of this mess!”
I think she is blowing smoke.
Today there was another Congressional hearing on the status of mortgage
defaults in this country. We have a significant portion (20+%) of
homeowners that are now underwater on their mortgage. The big banks went
to the Hill and swore they were doing just about everything to
unscramble the eggs. Our boys from JPM said that it would cost
“hundreds of billions” to write down the principal of the mortgages that
are underwater. 'Heaven forbid that that would happen', was the
warning. I was left wondering what the real value of their book was
given their defense that they could not afford to realize the embedded
losses.
The simple fact is that of the 1.1 mm who have requested mortgage relief
only 170k have gotten it so far and almost all of those have been
temporary reductions in monthly payments but no reduction in principal.
It is nearly two years since this blew up. We have made almost no
progress in addressing it. We are kicking a can down the road and hoping
that ZIRP finally causes some housing inflation to balance the books.
That is not working at all. It is just causing bubbles outside of
residential real estate.
Ms. Warren had strong words regarding the bank's stubborn position today.
From her interview
on ABC World News:
“It really is stunning
that this is the position that we are in. The American taxpayers have
shoveled out 100’s of billions to rescue these financial institutions
and now those same institutions don’t want to be part of the solution”.
So she gets more respect and more visibility for bashing the banks. But
my question for Ms. Warren is, “What are you doing in your own back
yard?”
Warren should look at the numbers and start stirring this pot to where
she might actually get something done. Right in the House. She can call
up Barney Frank and get the numbers. She could have lunch with Shaun
Donovan over at HUD. He has all the info for the FHA. Even better she
could take the time to drop over to see Mike DeMarco at the FHFA. He has
tons of numbers too. The all have the same number for what they have
contributed to principal debt relief. The answer is close to zero.
The ultimate cost of the Washington mortgage lenders will exceed $500
billion. As of today it is a blank check. It will be many multiples of
the net costs of the TARP. So when Elizabeth talks of “shoveling
tax-payer money” there is no greater shovel full in history than
what exists right now in D.C. The idea that “Those same institutions
don’t want to be part of the solution” should not extend to the 70%
of the mortgage market that Washington now owns is flawed logic. And
she is well aware of that fact.
I’m not sure what ‘office’ Ms. Warren is pursuing. She could set a very
high bar if she stood up to the plate and directed her rancor and
visibility toward the Agencies. She could influence the outcome of this.
She can either lead, or she can bad talk the private sector. If she
does step up she will have the support for any office she wants. If she
doesn’t, she may go back to Boston and teach.
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Agree on two points.
I think her intentions are good and she has no power.
My take is that she is a Don Quixote archetype. Way above her pay scale, but still tilting at windmills.
She deserves support.
intentions in one hand .Keynesian bullshit in the other
look its easy these people are Harvard trained . sure they have good intentions ,, but at who's expense.
they push away at a solution . riding across the river of denial on the back of an alligator thinking it to be a log.
a whole nation trained in ass backward economics .
and ivory tower types pushing on a string
I agree that she deserves support. I think that if she felt she had some support and half a chance of getting something important accomplished we may see her attacking the problem in a more dynamic manner...But I feel she's become aware of the fact that her position is just window dressing. That's got to be a discouraging thing to come to grips with for her...and a sad statement on the state of things for we the people.
I do like her. I do support her. I'd love to see her hit it out of the park for us...but, sadly, I wouldn't bet on that happening.
It's a shame really.
Look at her eyes. She is a loon.
You don't say. Perhaps you should repeat it again.
Look at her eyes. She is a crazy loon.
Look at her eyes. She is a crazy loon.
A quick read of the argument does not follow the history. This reads like a hit piece, when she should be applauded IMHO.
She has been on message for YEARS. And is now getting critical mass because she saw what many of us saw early on.
Paul Revere did not make his ride for a plum job down the road. He was doing what he thought was the right thing to do at the time.
Hopefully history will look at Ms. Warren in the same light.
+1000
I wish she would do a playboy centerfold spread in a naught teacher getup. Fuck this housing bullshit. Short-term instant gratification via nudie pictures is where it's at.
Maybe someone could Photoshop her head onto Pam Andersen's body.
Now THAT would be hot!
She's a partisan and Keynesian. Economically, she wants to preserve and protect a flawed and failed paradigm. Even if she does truly believe in the viability of this paradigm and acts on honest motives, it just means that she's sincerely confused.
Recommendation: Fade.
Fully agree.
I had been a fan of Warren until I listened to an interview on NPR several months ago. Although she understands the problem (underwater mortgages), I believe her approach to the problem is wrong.
Here was the exchange on NPR: A caller called in and lamented that he saved during the housing boom because he realized the 'owners' were only doing financing tricks to buy. Now he wants to buy a house, but prices are still artificially high because the banks are keeping prices high by not foreclosing or writing down loans.
Warren's response was basically, "Sorry to hear that, but it's a systematic risk issue. The only way to solve this is by preventing foreclosures and supporting the banks. I saw it when I lived in Texas during the S&L crisis in the 1980s. You would be worse off today if all these homes go into foreclosure, or if the big banks go under. We must manage the problem."
I lost a lot of respect then. Why must the two go hand-in-hand? The banks are having their/our cake and eating it too. Either support the banks and allow foreclosures, OR force loan modifications and prevent foreclosures. Either one would would solve the problem. Instead we're paying for both. The problem won't be resolved until prices come down.
And, why does she think they can control the market? Apparently she believes 1,000 Congressmen and bureaucrats in DC know better than 330 million people in the market.
(Obviously, I don't think either should occur.)
The answer is: no one wants housing to get to a "buyable bottom" because they know what they will find...a basement full of monopoly money.
We are Japan (delaying price discovery), except Japan had a big savings rate. We have consumers that save nothing and never saw a credit card that wasn't worth using.
If this MS Warren is an answer , we are already beaten. Send her packing back to the liberal establishment.
Maybe she should give Sarah Palin some lessons!
What stupidity. Get off your derangement. Mock the one person we all know had nothing to do with TBTF and the mortgage criminal racket.
Call McCain a freakin crook? Yes fine. Progressives are freakin queer.
Here is why the banks don't do anything in simple terms:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssl5yb7FewA
FDIC Director of Public Affairs Andrew Gray said, "It is unfortunate but necessary to respond to blatantly false claims in a web video that is being circulated about the loss-sharing agreement between the FDIC and OneWest Bank. Here are the facts: OneWest has not been paid one penny by the FDIC in loss-share claims. The loss-share agreement is limited to 7% of the total assets that OneWest services, and OneWest must first take more than $2.5 billion in losses before it can make a loss-share claim on owned assets. In order to be paid through loss share, OneWest must have adhered to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
now, so it’s not necessarily a winning move for Republicans to
be seen as allied with the banks,” Elliot said.
This from Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601108&sid=a0B3wSha93d0
Time for the TEA Party
www.Campaign for Liberty.com
http://patriotpost.us/
http://oathkeepers.org/oath/
Man, I am furious about that video!!!
First the create credit and money out of this air to loan to people with interest.
They they create a bubble.
They they pop the bubble.
Then they profit on the short sales and forclosures.
And the majority of working americans get stuck with the bill? is this insane?
Jefferson was correct.
!