NOTE: This began as an open thread, but has become a discussion of the House of Representatives failing to pass the Wall Street Bailout, and the Dow Jones dropping 777 points as a result.
There is no Prince William County Board of Supervisors meeting scheduled for tomorrow. The next meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2008.
I think mortgage bankers took a handful of crappy, questionable loans and bundled them in with more solid loans with the expectation that the good would override the bad – and they wouldn’t get caught having to buy anything back. The real estate agents got their cut as did the developers/builders, bankers, loan originators/processors, real estate lawyers, surveyors, title examiners, county coffers. On top of that, some thieves added a bit (?) of mortgage fraud. But the people in position of power were the ones holding the purse strings, not Joe Sixpack who took his equity to buy a boat or his first house.
I’ve bought several houses and I never met a real estate agent who didn’t try to get me to max out on a mortgage. When I remodelled my present home, the bank tried to get me to max out. Naive or greedy buyers may not know to turn down that “too good to be true” offer.
Various blogs have been yelling “housing bubble” and “economic crisis” for quite a while before the mainstream media, the main real estate spokesmen, and congress paid attention.
The mortgage packets have both good and bad mortgages in them. Often they are geographical. Most people pay their mortgages on time.
Why are the packets worthless? They are worthless because the houses have depreciated in value. They are like unsecured loans. The houses have depreciated because of the foreclosures.
Mando, you and I can both pull out experts. I am just going to rely on Warren Buffett. Frankly, I don’t want to risk my assets on your academic theories. You are very conservative. I am very moderate. We will probably rarely agree.
And yes, I do believe anyone who quotes academia is blowing smoke. I think we are well past theory and who to blame. I just want to fix it.
Moon-howler, if I were a billionaire I’d be out there making myself some sweetheart deals as well. How do you think the “Robber Barons” of the 30’s made those fortunes which carried their families through generations? So, unless you’re a Robber Baron in the making, you might want to think about taking a more conservative stance.
I don’t usually copy over a comment I have posted elsewhere, but I can’t think of any better way to say this:
I just found out that the new version of the bailout that they’re voting on today and tomorrow is WORSE than the first…it’s an omnibus pork bill with something for everyone whose vote they need to get it to pass, plus the $700 Billion, of course. Anyone that thinks this bill has anything to do with the best interests of the American people after this is brain dead!!
@AWCheney
It went from a page and a half on monday to over 400 pages today. THAT should tell you something.
AWCheney, you should go on the new thread (Brookings) and argue with Second Alamo. He sounds equally convinced that the crisis mandates that we take action.
I’m already taking personal action ShellyB. I never thought to check if Frank Wolf had voted for this…it never occurred to me that he would. I found out today that he had. It was like getting hit in the solar plexus. I’ve known Frank for a VERY long time and called his office DEMANDING to speak to him and telling his people, in no uncertain terms, what my problem was and what I was going to do about it. He wasn’t there but I was told to expect a call from him, so we’ll see. As soon as I do (or after 5 pm, which is the deadline I’ve given them) I’ll come back here and let you know what’s up.