Dems are having lobbyists write the housing bill and Dems brag about helping banks not homeowners

[Robbien]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/why-is-ellen-tauscher-hel_b_171165.html

I've talked to probably a dozen people involved with the bill allowing bankruptcy judges to write-down mortgages, which would reduce foreclosures by 20% and wouldn't cost the taxpayers one dime. Every single person I spoke to said the same thing -- it's disgusting that banks are writing the legislation, watering it down so it is meaningless with the help of Ellen Tauscher and the New Democrat coalition:

"The New Dems' position is the banks' position," a senior Democratic aide involved in the bankruptcy negotiations complained on Friday. "New Democrats are shills for the banks."

On Saturday I wrote about the efforts of former Wall Street investment banker Tauscher to gut the legislation on behalf of banks, who are holding out hope that they can unload their bad loans on taxpayers and never have to take responsibility for their mistakes.


I promptly got a call from Jonathan Kaplan, Tauscher's press secretary, who said that the New Dem's Executive Director Adam Pase, a former lobbyist for predatory lenders who worked to undermine regulation of subprime loans, was not working on this issue. Nor, he claimed, was Tauscher taking the lead. He said Tauscher was only trying to help homeowners before they got to bankruptcy court, and wasn't trying to weaken anything.

Lo and behold, this morning we find not one but two articles where Tauscher brags about her leadership of an effort to "limit the scope of the bankruptcy bill as much as possible," saying that "it shows we have bench strength, and it shows we can flex." Adam Pace was circulating memos on the bill, and an article in Roll Call this morning states that he is "widely credited with bringing a sharp organizational focus that has reinvigorated the group."

The upshot? Nancy Pelosi "buckled" and suspended consideration of the housing bill at a time when it is desperately needed.

(You can tell Speaker Pelosi to stand up to Tauscher, the New Dems, the banks and the lobbyists here.)

[Name removed]

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[Robbien]

3. Surprised that they are bragging about purposely hurting their voters

and helping banks.

Not surprised they are hurting their constituencies, just surprised they are bragging about it. Also not surprised they lied when FireDogLake called. On the same day they bragged to the media about leading the charge to protect banksters, they told FireDogLake they had nothing to do with it.

[TacticalPeek]

2. What a revolting development this is.

:grr:

[marshall]

7. Same shit, different asshole

As the saying goes.

[fasttense]

4. Seems to me that our gubermint is more interested in protecting the top 10%

of Americans, the uber wealthy parasites, and ensuring they continue their parasitic ways then in recovering the economy.

If these bad loans are causing all this problem, then allowing people to change the loans and writing down their value is the only way to get this economy back on its feet. When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in Sept., Lehman mortgages were trading at 22 cents on the dollar. That my friends is what a real estate loan is really worth - 22 cents on the dollar. That is what the market values them at.

If the market had been allowed to play out without the bush interfering, people would have bought those devalued mortgages and gone back to the borrowers and negotiated maybe 25 cents on a dollar (giving holders a 3% profit margin). Instead, the bush bailout gave our tax dollars to the banks to cover their losses with absolutely No Write Down for the bad loans the banks made.

So now, the American middle class is giving banks tax dollars to cover the bank's bad loans AND still the middle class has to pay back the full (inflated) overrated price of their own mortgages. If bush had not interfered, your mortgage loan would be costing you 75% less today.

Obama and the Democratic Congress don't seem to be doing anything differently.

Obama needs to fire Geithner and Summers.

[Name removed]

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[leftchick]

6. it is the 21st century robber barons

same shit different decade.

[rucky]

8. A veto would be in order.

Otherwise they'll try to pull shit like this his whole term.

[Mojorabbit]

9. Perhaps it is tiime to call

and email Tauscher.
http://www.tauscher.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=966&Itemid=103

[liskddksil]

10. Tauscher could use a primary challenge

I believe its a safe Democratic district, so it should have someone better than this representing it.

[gaspee]

11. Of course they are

Senator MBNA is vice president. I don't know what anyone expected, but this is what I expected.

[tbyg52]

12. It's the corporations, stupid!

(I keep trying to get than meme taken up.... ;) )