After all, their purchase of Dubious T-bills (no longer in limited edition, thanks to besotted seaman-like spending habits) prevented US interest rates from hitting double digits . . . mid-double digits!

Can we blame it on the Chinese? Please?

Although I respect the mortgage company I went through (USAA) I was completely shocked to discover that they approved my loan before they confirmed that I would be receiving rental income from the condo that I was going to keep.

In essence they approved a second mortgage based on just my employment income (which wouldn’t have covered the two mortgages).

I was stunned, I can remember telling people in my office that what the mortgage company did should be a crime. It really sets people up for failure. I think most people assume that creditors behave in a prudent manner when authorizing loans.

You still haven’t shown any evidence that you said or wrote anything about the mortgage industry. Thus I will continue waiting until you prove your assertion before giving credit.

Isakson sounds like what I said over two years ago. Would you call isakson a liberal or conservative?

Isakson wants to tighten lending practices

By Shannon McCaffrey
Associated Press Writer

ALPHARETTA - U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson warned business leaders on Thursday that unless the mortgage and banking industry tightens lending practices Congress is likely to do it for them.

The Georgia Republican told the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce that he believes “a few bad actors” are to blame for the nation’s subprime mortgage woes, but that the Democratic-led Congress is poised to step in unless the industry volunteers more transparency.

“Government’s responsibility is to regulate when an industry fails to regulate itself,” Isakson, of Marietta, said.
“It would be a shame because of a few bad actors to overregulate an entire industry that is otherwise doing well.”

Isakson said that already a pair of Democratic presidential contenders - Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut - have floated proposals aimed at reining in the industry.

He called Clinton’s plan to provide a pool of funds to help at-risk homeowners dodge foreclosures “the worst thing you could do.”

The only way for the industry to avoid government meddling is to be proactive, Isakson said.

“They have to say ‘we need transparency, here are the standards we are going to impose,”‘ said Isakson, who made his fortune in a family-owned real estate business.

The U.S. economy has been reeling from subprime mortgages, loans given to people with imperfect credit or low incomes. Weak home prices and rising interest rates have made it increasingly difficult for borrowers to keep up with their payments; delinquencies and foreclosures are sharply rising.

Isakson declined to comment Thursday on the men’s room sex scandal that has engulfed fellow Senate Republican Larry Craig, of Idaho. Isakson is one of the six U.S. senators on the Select Committee on Ethics that will hear a complaint filed against Craig.

“As a good jurist, I have to hear all the facts and it would be inappropriate for me to make a comment without hearing all the facts,” Isakson said.

Georgia’s other U.S. senator, Saxby Chambliss, was in Southeast Asia on a congressional trip and unavailable for comment. Chambliss is up for re-election next year.

A growing list of GOP lawmakers have called for Craig to step down after learning of his guilty plea in an airport men’s room on a disorderly conduct charge. Among them is Republican presidential contender, Sen. John McCain, of Arizona.

I guess this is what Bush meant by ‘compassionate conservatism’ — a euphemism for big nanny liberal.

Bush to unveil first steps on mortgage crisis

POLITICO-President Bush is set to unveil his first detailed steps to intervene in the subprime mortgage crisis that threatens to throw hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes and send financial markets into a tailspin.

He plans to announce a variety of measures in the Rose Garden on Friday morning that are designed to help struggling homeowners with subprime mortgages avoid foreclosure and will declare that lending practices need to be tightened, according to administration aides.

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5581.html