Did Bank of America Write the Housing Bailout Bill?
"We call it the 'Bank of America bill on steroids.'"
-Anonymous House staffer
>
The staffer was referring to the Dodd-Shelby bill that would let mortgage lenders off the hook for bad loans, ultimately shifting the burden to taxpayers.
The Bank of America paper referenced is this document, a PDF marked Confidential and Proprietary, titled the "FHA Housing Stabilization."
This was first picked up by the NY Examiner, followed by the National Review Online, who noted that "the similarities between BofA's ideal bill and the bill before the Senate are obvious." Then lastly, an LA Times blog, LA Land, put all the separate pieces together with this post: Did Bank of America write the Dodd bailout bill?
The White House has now promised to veto the bill. That suggests that, barring any last minute changes, this Housing Bill looks to be DOA.
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I don't understand why a realistic bill can't be hammered together. It should reflect the following realities:
Home prices remain elevated;
Artificially propping up home prices is counter-productive;
Those Homeowers who are in houses they cannot and never could afford are going to have to give up those homes and move;
The banks that made these bad loans to unqualified borrowers are going to have to take the writedowns;
It is not the taxpayers responsibility to bailout borrowers who are in over their heads, or lenders that made bad loans.
How hard can that be? (Do I really have to do everything myself?)
>
UPDATE: June 25, 2008 10:55am
I see the Washington Post has discovered this story . . .
Vital Part of Housing Bill Is Brainchild of Banks
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post, Wednesday, June 25, 2008; D01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR2008062401389.html
>
Sources:
FHA Housing Stabilization
Bank of America, March 11, 2008
Download: BoA FHA Housing_Stabilization.pdf
Did Bank of America write the Dodd bailout bill?
Peter Viles
L.A. Land, June 21, 2008
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/06/did-bank-of-ame.html
NRO Doc Drop: BofA-Scripted Bank Bailout Looks Awfully Similar to Dodd-Drafted Housing Bill
National Review, June 20, 2008
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODJkN2Q3NTY0MjAwYjJlNTY0NTJmMWEzZTI1OGZjZTg=
Bank of America PAC money behind Dodd's Countrywide loan
Timothy P. Carney
The Examiner, Jun 19, 2008 1:37 PM
http://www.examiner.com/a-1449448~Bank_of_America_PAC_money_behind_Dodd_s_Countrywide_loan.html
Monday, June 23, 2008 | 09:30 AM | Permalink
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"The banks that made these bad loans to unqualified borrowers are going to have to take the writedowns"
Perhaps you have a better view out your window, are pigs flying ?
.
Posted by: VJ | Jun 22, 2008 8:43:14 PM
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