Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Housing Crisis Foretold One Year Ago On This Day

But Barney told us that this wasn't true.

2008 U.S.A. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae Bailout
14th July 2008 : Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who own or guarantee about $5.3 trillion worth of home loans about half of all US mortgages have seen a loss of confidence by the market due to the mortgage forclosure increase and the drop in property values in the United States. Both company Shares have been under increasing pressure and have lost as much as 80% of share value in just 12 months . The Fed has given the green light for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York authority to lend any money needed to allow them to continue providing mortgages at 2.25% and will expand its current line of credit to the two companies and buy shares of the companies if needed to prop up share price in these troubled times. Congress is also to approve a package next week which includes a foreclosure rescue to help strapped homeowners get new, more affordable government-backed mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration.

Typical government program. When it's obvious that it's a failure, don't fix it, just prop it up with more money. Our money.

Minimum Wage Hits Blue States Hardest

Minimum wage legislation is as archaic as unions are, but like unions the minimum wagers will probably end up owning the shop.

A great read from Taxman Blog
An increase in the minimum wage is coming in a couple of weeks (July24). And guess what? It will hit blue states hardest........
...

The same breakfast could cost $10 in a New York diner and $5 in South Carolina.


Of course the mandated breakfast in New York will taste like the pavement of New York while the breakfast in South Carolina will include eggs, pork products and grits with butter and salt. Yummy. At half the price.

One more proof that government should not be in the business of business. They make lousey businessmen and they also make lousey and expensive cooks.

Taxpayers To Become Largest Slumlord In History

First, Congress ordered banks to give mortgages to people that didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of paying them. Now, Obama and Congress want to keep that voter bloc in play by subsidizing bad loans, bad legislation and bad habits. With your dollars.

Obama mulls rental option for some homeowners-sources
Under one idea being discussed, delinquent homeowners would surrender ownership of their homes but would continue to live in the property for several years, the sources told Reuters.

Officials are also considering whether the government should make mortgage payments on behalf of borrowers who cannot keep up with their home loans, tapping an unused portion of a $50 billion housing aid kitty.

As part of this plan, jobless borrowers might receive a housing stipend along with regular unemployment benefits, the sources said.

This will cause Barney to put on his best purple dress and dance the night away doing an Irish jig with his friend Chris.

Repudiating Christ With Graciousness

Resolution D025 draws mixed responses
One day after adopting Resolution D025 by a 2-1 margin, Episcopal Church bishops on July 14 offered various interpretations when asked about the measure's purpose, its impact and why they voted for or against it.

All those interviewed agreed that the declaration makes a dramatic statement about the Episcopal Church's stance on the ordination of gay and lesbian persons -- including their consecration as bishops -- that cannot be ignored.

"We've made ourselves pretty clear," said Keith Whitmore, assistant bishop of Atlanta, who voted for the resolution. "The consequences of doing that are rather obvious."

...

"There will be some people who choose to leave the church and some who will have a very, very hard time with it. But I don't see it, as I read it, as strident and difficult as some people suggest it might be, because there's a graciousness about it."

Though the Archbishop of Canterbury has stated this will split the Church with Anglicans to one side and Episcopals on the other, the obvious question is how long until the homosexual incursion on the teaching of Christ succeeds?

On Rowan Williams:
It is very difficult to avoid the conclusion that Williams' drawing back from being an advocate of the homosexual agenda when he became Archbishop of Canterbury was simply tactical. His contribution to the movement previously had been immense, not least through his seminal lecture 'The Body's Grace' of 1989 which lent the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) theological respectability. At the time of his appointment, the Rev'd Richard Kirker, then General Secretary of the LGCM, issued a press statement noting that 'For over 20 years Rowan Williams, a noted theologian, academic and author, has eloquently advocated that Christianity and homosexuality should be viewed as wholly consistent with each other.'

The Episcopal Church has strayed into heresy and Canterbury is simply sniffing the wind to see if it's safe to follow. Sad.