in canada we don't have those rapacious mortgages; we have variable rates but it is all spelled out in the mortgage and the increase or decrease is limited to a percentage relative to the bank rate. they never go up by such a ridiculous amount. my brother - from u.s. - had an old mortgage i was looking at - ten pounds of paper due to information requirements! but a lot of critical info is hidden within.
so now are these rewritten mortgages each going to contain all the same info as before - but in legible type? or closer to the top of the first page? what criteria will be used to determine eligibility? here it is not just one's salary - property taxes and heating costs are also subtracted to arrive at a realistic figure.
i have to say i never EVER believed that i could afford the highest mortgage amount thus arrived at; i know better. instead i deliberately picked a cheaper house but arranged the mortgage so it amortized earlier, picked a payment rate as if it were amortized an extra two years and paid in as short a time as i could manage - the extra $ i would be paying if i had the longer mortgage went directly to paying down principal. so when rates went up there was also room to manoeuvre. i'd rather have a cheaper house but one i can live in!
hvh
@
Sep 22, 2008 17:08:42 PM
Privately owned Fed helping other Bankers
We are the mercy of central banks. The Fed is privately owned by the wealthiest people in the world and they are bailing out other bankers and security investors rather than homeowners. The Fed bailed out AIG without any Congressional permission! The Fed prints as much money as they like for pennies and we pay full price plus interest. Put JFKs executive order (signed weeks before his assassination) to put our money back into the hands of Congress and dismantle the damn Federal Reserve and to hell with the rich bankers who own it. Home prices SHOULD go down, the bankers have created this world of inflation for us, let the bankers fail. Forget the Bailout. Why should we pay them more and more and more so they can charge us 25% on credit cards, then collect a bailout and THEN collect on the foreclosed houses they resell.
MM
of TX
@
Sep 22, 2008 16:43:13 PM
Where's Robin Hood?!
The thing that scares me the most is that the administration is wanting to ramrod this bailout thru quickly with apparently little safeguards in place. Bailing out all of these huge financial institutions with little safeguards and expecting the American taxpayer to foot the bill is entirely WRONG considering the huge salaries and bonuses these executives are being paid for extremely poor business management - and then let's give them all a "Get out of Jail Free" card and not hold them accountable for what their poor management has done. I see this as being somewhat related to when the government bailed out the airline industry and didn't hold them accountable either.
MzSaTx
of TX
@
Sep 22, 2008 16:40:05 PM
"stabilize housing prices" is a nice way of saying....
"stabilize housing prices" - You mean keep them overvalued. Way to tax everyone (to pay for the rich) while keeping the average family from ever buying an affordable home.
of PA
@
Sep 22, 2008 16:11:31 PM
What?
What's in it for me? Why should I put up $2,500 of my money for the fat cats?
Listen, I don't mind paying taxes, that's what gets me this great country, but I want to know what my money is being spent on? Want a new aircraft carrier? Reach into my pocket. Want to catch Osama Bin Laden? Here's money. But, you don't get any money until you tell me what I get out of the deal.
Where is Haliburton in all this, do they get anything?
Geoff Worstell
of CA
@
Sep 22, 2008 15:49:22 PM
compensation
since we, the taxpayers, are being asked to pony up $2300 EACH for this bailout, we should have at least some input on the details. First detail, ALL CEO's are fired immediately...no compensation, no bonuses. Also, treasury secretary paulson is also fired immediately.
These are decisions that any good functioning corporation would do before auctioning off their businesses.
NO foreign companies should be allowed to participate.
ALL details need to be spelled out in layman's language for the paying public before the bailout.
This is NOT a need for an immediate, desparate action. this requires well thought out planning before we jump in to "save" corporations that have already lied and cheated a trusting public.
Patricia Forbes
of AK
@
Sep 22, 2008 15:44:19 PM
Tell me why the banks can't refinace loans without refinance
charges and lawyers fees at lower interest rates so people would not have to forclose on their mortgages.
It seems to me this would help everybody.
rmiller
of VA
@
Sep 22, 2008 15:35:50 PM
Bailout is Bull
Bailing out the rich, come on give me a break! Wall Street gets another gift while the middle class in this country gets slammed again. Let them fail! They made the bad choices let them pay for it. The dumbest slogan I've heard this year is "To Big To Fail" nobody is to big to fail that's capitalism when one fails another one moves in to replace and usually the new company is better.
of PA
@
Sep 22, 2008 15:19:40 PM
WHAT!! Check out #2
..."Treasury wants foreign-based companies to be eligible to participate in the bailout." Tell me I'm dreaming! They move off shore to dodge taxes, environmental oversight, decent wages, and a host of other things that "make America great" Then the do business back here, swell their profits and get a tax break for that. NOW, this administration wants us, the workers they do not employ, to bail them out.
We need bailed out! Can we out source our congress?
hvh @ Sep 22, 2008 17:08:42 PM
MM of TX @ Sep 22, 2008 16:43:13 PM
MzSaTx of TX @ Sep 22, 2008 16:40:05 PM
of PA @ Sep 22, 2008 16:11:31 PM
Geoff Worstell of CA @ Sep 22, 2008 15:49:22 PM
Patricia Forbes of AK @ Sep 22, 2008 15:44:19 PM
rmiller of VA @ Sep 22, 2008 15:35:50 PM
of PA @ Sep 22, 2008 15:19:40 PM
JZaku of @ Sep 22, 2008 15:07:13 PM
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