Just got this e-mail from the McCain campaign

darkcrow · October 2008

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14414.html

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made an overnight change in the homeowner bailout he proposed at Tuesday’s presidential debate, making it more generous to financial institutions and more costly for taxpayers.

McCain's staff says it was always meant that way.

When McCain sprung his surprise idea at the start of the debate in Nashville, his campaign posted details online of his American Homeownership Resurgence Plan, which would direct the government to buy up bad home mortgages, allowing strapped people to keep their property.

The document posted and e-mailed by the McCain campaign on Tuesday night says at the end of its first full paragraph: “Lenders in these cases must recognize the loss that they’ve already suffered.”

So the government would buy the mortgages at a discounted rate, reflecting the declining value of the mortgage paper.

But when McCain reissued the document on Wednesday, that sentence was missing, to the dismay of many conservatives.

That would mean the U.S. would pay face value for the troubled documents, which was the main reason Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) gave for opposing the plan.

A McCain campaign official explained the change: “That language was mistakenly included in the initial draft and it’s been corrected. It doesn’t reflect the intentions of the initiative, which necessitated the correction and the removal of the sentence. A simple mistake.”

Obama Campaign Economic Policy Director Jason Furman said in the campaign statement opposing McCain's plan: "John McCain wants the government to massively overpay for mortgages in a plan that would guarantee taxpayers lose money, and put them at risk of losing even more if home values don’t recover. The biggest beneficiaries of this plan will be the same financial institutions that got us into this mess, some of whom even committed fraud."

The McCain campaign estimates in both documents that the plan would cost about $300 billion.

sponger · October 2008

beachdweller wrote:

Only 4% of mortgages failed, and that did not bring down our economic system.

That 4% represents the portion of all mortgages outstanding. Whoever gave you that statistic was trying to mislead you.

In terms of percentage of mortgages created within the last 5 years, the percentage is much, much higher.

Please keep in mind that in the secondary mortgage market, which is measured in terms of mortgage backed securities, there were failure rates of up to 50%.

That is why foreign investors stopped purchasing mortgage backed securities from US investment banks.

Foreclosures flooded the market with homes at wholesale prices, which brought housing values down by 40% in a one year span.

So, in essence, the subprime mess was big enough to bring down Lehman Brothers. And because peoples' homes are now worth half of what they were worth one year ago, there is a major possibility that people will start walking away from their houses as they risk more by holding onto them than by defaulting and getting bad credit for 7 years. So, foreclosures could get even worse than they are now.

It was AIG that was brought down by the "shadow" market because it had held substantial credit default swap obligations in Lehman Brothers --obligations that it could not pay.

You're right that the "shadow market" problem is much, much bigger than the subprime mess. But, the thing to keep in mind is that the subprime mess is what TRIGGERS the "shadow market" chain reaction. I can expand on that further if you like.

OffHeGoes29 · October 2008

This is one of the reasons why I'm voting for McCain. He is a lot more direct and specific with answering questions. Obama IN MY OPINION, seems to avoid giving any kind of specifics about an issue, but seems to point the blame and talk about how we got into this mess. Thats great and all, but we have to work on a fix, while learning from our mistakes.

Just my two cents....not worth much.

darkcrow · October 2008

OffHeGoes29 wrote:

This is one of the reasons why I'm voting for McCain. He is a lot more direct and specific with answering questions. Obama IN MY OPINION, seems to avoid giving any kind of specifics about an issue, but seems to point the blame and talk about how we got into this mess. Thats great and all, but we have to work on a fix, while learning from our mistakes.

Just my two cents....not worth much.

From: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/#home-ownership

Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud
Obama and Biden will crack down on fraudulent brokers and lenders. They will also make sure homebuyers have honest and complete information about their mortgage options, and they will give a tax credit to all middle-class homeowners.

Create a Universal Mortgage Credit: Obama and Biden will create a 10 percent universal mortgage credit to provide homeowners who do not itemize tax relief. This credit will provide an average of $500 to 10 million homeowners, the majority of whom earn less than $50,000 per year.
Ensure More Accountability in the Subprime Mortgage Industry: Obama has been closely monitoring the subprime mortgage situation for years, and introduced comprehensive legislation over a year ago to fight mortgage fraud and protect consumers against abusive lending practices. Obama's STOP FRAUD Act provides the first federal definition of mortgage fraud, increases funding for federal and state law enforcement programs, creates new criminal penalties for mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud, and requires industry insiders to report suspicious activity.
Mandate Accurate Loan Disclosure: Obama and Biden will create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score, which will provide potential borrowers with a simplified, standardized borrower metric (similar to APR) for home mortgages. The HOME score will allow individuals to easily compare various mortgage products and understand the full cost of the loan.
Close Bankruptcy Loophole for Mortgage Companies: Obama and Biden will work to eliminate the provision that prevents bankruptcy courts from modifying an individual's mortgage payments. They believe that the subprime mortgage industry, which has engaged in dangerous and sometimes unscrupulous business practices, should not be shielded by outdated federal law.

Lots more here: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

blackredyellow · October 2008

OffHeGoes29 wrote:

This is one of the reasons why I'm voting for McCain. He is a lot more direct and specific with answering questions. Obama IN MY OPINION, seems to avoid giving any kind of specifics about an issue, but seems to point the blame and talk about how we got into this mess. Thats great and all, but we have to work on a fix, while learning from our mistakes.

Just my two cents....not worth much.

This point of view is a pet peeve of mine... As far as specifics, both candidates are about the same overall, offering some specific points, but being vague about everything else. We heard it with Kerry in '04, and now with Obama and it's usually from people on the right who won't bother to actually look up anything.

Kerry (who I had problems with as a candidate) would speak all day about plans on a specific topic and that same night all the republican talking heads would slam him for not having a plan. It's easy to repeat over and over that someone has no plan on anything if you don't bother reading or listening to what they have to say.

As this thread illustrates, there is also a double standard with changing positions... McCain does it and it's no big deal... Obama changes one word in a speech about something, and all of a sudden he is a flip flopper.

inmytree · October 2008

MattyJoe wrote:

My Friends,

Millions of Americans on Main Street are feeling the effects of our current economic crisis largely brought on by corruption and greed at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wall Street. Our next president must come into office with a plan to address the very root the failing housing market.

Last night, during my debate with Senator Obama, I announced my plan to fix the root of our problem and I'd like to share a little more with you today.

If elected president, I will direct my Treasury Secretary to implement an American Homeownership Resurgence Plan to keep families in their homes, avoid foreclosures, save failing neighborhoods, stabilize the housing market and attack the roots of our financial crisis.

America's families are bearing a heavy burden from falling housing prices, mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and a weak economy. It is important that those families who have worked hard enough to finance homeownership not have that dream crushed under the weight of the wrong mortgage.

For those that cannot make inflated payments or their mortgage exceeds the value of their home, mortgages must be re-structured to put losses on the books and put homeowners in manageable mortgages.

This Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes.

By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages the resurgence plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets.

I am ready to lead our country out of this financial crisis and I am ready to work with anyone and everyone who will help. Together, I know we can work together to find solutions for these challenging times. Please do your part today and spread the word about my new plan by forwarding this email on to your neighbors, friends, family and coworkers. Thank you for your time and support.

Sincerely,

John McCain

P.S. Homeownership represents the very core of our American economic system. This is not the time for politics. We must move aggressively to provide relief and stability for all Americans.

Sounds good to me.

McSocialist...?

Interesting...

I like the he adds a "P.S."....how cute...

mammasan · October 2008

MattyJoe wrote:

My Friends,

Millions of Americans on Main Street are feeling the effects of our current economic crisis largely brought on by corruption and greed at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wall Street. Our next president must come into office with a plan to address the very root the failing housing market.

Last night, during my debate with Senator Obama, I announced my plan to fix the root of our problem and I'd like to share a little more with you today.

If elected president, I will direct my Treasury Secretary to implement an American Homeownership Resurgence Plan to keep families in their homes, avoid foreclosures, save failing neighborhoods, stabilize the housing market and attack the roots of our financial crisis.

America's families are bearing a heavy burden from falling housing prices, mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and a weak economy. It is important that those families who have worked hard enough to finance homeownership not have that dream crushed under the weight of the wrong mortgage.

For those that cannot make inflated payments or their mortgage exceeds the value of their home, mortgages must be re-structured to put losses on the books and put homeowners in manageable mortgages.

This Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes.

By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages the resurgence plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets.

I am ready to lead our country out of this financial crisis and I am ready to work with anyone and everyone who will help. Together, I know we can work together to find solutions for these challenging times. Please do your part today and spread the word about my new plan by forwarding this email on to your neighbors, friends, family and coworkers. Thank you for your time and support.

Sincerely,

John McCain

P.S. Homeownership represents the very core of our American economic system. This is not the time for politics. We must move aggressively to provide relief and stability for all Americans.

Sounds good to me.

I'm not against helping out the average joe during this crisis, definitely prefer to help them out instead of the institutions who really screwed us over. The only problem I see with this is that the mortgage crisis is but a small portion of the problem. The real problem, as I understand it, is the mortgage backed securities and the damage from them has already been done. Now had McCain floated this idea prior to us spending $700 billion dollars I would have been aboard 100%. Now on top of that $700 billion he wants to spend another $300 billion, and trust me I would be saying the same thing if this was Obama's plan. Where are we going to get all this money from. We are already $11 trillion dollars in debt sooner or later our dollar is going to tank if we continue this and then guess what we will be in the same hole. Our elected officials have to try to find a way to fix this problem not just throw more money at it.

Gonzo1977 · October 2008

We need to generate some jobs. It's where this leak is coming from. We're putting gum over all these holes and doing nothing to find the source of the problem.

It now projected that between now and December that there will be close to $700,000 job lost in this country.

It's horrific.

Just got this e-mail from the McCain campaign

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