Bush: NIE, Troops & Mortgages

From BCRW Nov.-Dec. posts
NFRW Political Briefing, Vol. 5, Briefing No. 31 - President George W. Bush, 12/4/07

President Bush Addresses NIE, Troops Funding & the Home Ownership-Mortgage Issue

NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) Report: "Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous, and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. … And I believe now is the time for the world to do the hard work necessary to convince the Iranians there is a better way forward."

Troops Funding: "Our troops are waiting on Congress to fund them in their operations overseas. Nearly 10 months ago, I submitted a detailed funding request. Congress has not acted. Our men and women shouldn't have to wait any longer."

Mortgage Crisis: "Secretary Paulson is working with a more complex industry than we've had in the past. And that's why it's taken a while … because not only do you have the lender, you now have a whole service industry that has arisen that will hopefully help people stay in their homes – that's their job – but you've also got people all around the world who now own U.S. mortgages and assets that are U.S. mortgage – bundles of U.S. mortgages." Read More......

Sowell: Blame Pols for Sub-Prime Crisis

American Thinker, August 10, 2007 - Rick Moran wrote,

Leave it to Thomas Sowell, the brilliant economist and conservative thinker, to show us why the housing market is collapsing and why the sub-prime mortgage industry is in crisis:

Attractive and heady phrases like "open space," "smart growth" and the like have accompanied land-use restrictions that made the cost of land rise in many places to the point it greatly exceeded the cost of the homes built on the land. In places that resisted this political rhetoric, home prices remained reasonable, despite rising incomes and population growth. Construction costs were seldom a major factor, for there was relatively little construction in places with severe building restrictions and skyrocketing home prices.

In short, government has been the principal factor preventing the "affordable housing" that politicians talk about so much.

Politicians have also been a key factor behind pushing lenders to lend to borrowers with lower prospects of being able to repay their loans. The Community Reinvestment Act lets politicians pressure lenders to lend to people they might not lend to otherwise. The same politicians are quick to cry "exploitation" when the interest charged to high-risk borrowers reflects that risk.

The huge losses of subprime lenders, some of whom have gone bankrupt, demonstrate again the consequences of letting politicians try to micromanage the economy.

The world markets are being buffeted by this crisis in America - all due to the credit worthiness of many sub prime lenders and the fact that it appears the rash of bankruptcies by homeowners may cause a credit crunch that would slow growth considerably. There are whispers that the Fed will lower interest rates slightly next month to ease some of the pressure. This would be a welcome move.

It would be even more welcome if politicians would ever learn to stop trying to fix something that already works quite well.

Read More......