HOUSING CRISIS CONTINUES TO BE IGNORED

July 9, 2009

In what can only be described as hiding their heads in the sand, Congress continues to find time to address every and any issue except the housing crisis. The most critically "at risk" component of our economy is being completely ignored and we have to ask why is there complete silence on the subject? The answer is most likely that lobbyists for the banking and mortgage industries are doing a stellar job.

You just have to wonder what kind of "sweetheart" deals are being cooked-up to keep a lid on the crisis? Maybe Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) is waiting for better refi terms, since his initial "Friends of Angelo" home loan from former Countrywide Mortgage CEO Angelo Mazilo (the details of which have never been revealed to this day!) is probably not so favorable in today's market. Even after numerous calls for details of the favorable under-the-table mortgage, Dodd has successfully been able to sweep the issue under the table for years.

There must be a really major reason for the silence, because ignoring it for much longer will destroy our economy. It doesn't matter how much money they throw at other institutions (e.g., banking, insurance, automobile), without a strong recovery in housing, the economy is doomed. It's going to be ugly when homeowners finally wake-up and discover that, after faithfully paying their mortgage every month for years, not only have they lost all the equity in their home, but now they're actually underwater in the loan. Worse of all, they'll realize that elected governmental officials and their appointees were instrumental in facilitating the continued collapse and they'll also discover that recovery of their investment isn't going to happen. On that fateful day, I hope our elected officials and their cronies have ...., well let's just let them figure that one out.

We are demanding some REAL action NOW!