The Presidential Candidates on the Economy

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...149580#89148996

In Their Own Words: Candidates on the Economy

In speeches this week, all three presidential candidates outlined their plans for addressing the housing crisis and the faltering U.S. economy. Hear and read the speeches of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; New York Sen. Hillary Clinton; and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)

"To prevent fraud in the future, I've proposed tough new penalties on fraudulent lenders and a 'home score system' that will allow consumers to find out more about mortgage offers and whether they'll be able to make payments. To help low- and middle-income families, I've proposed a 10 percent mortgage-interest tax credit that will allow homeowners who don't itemize their taxes to access incentives for home ownership ... The government can't do this alone, nor should it. As I said last September, lenders must get ahead of the curve, rather than just reacting to crisis. They should actively look at all borrowers, offer workouts and reduce the principal on mortgages in trouble. Not only can this prevent the larger losses associated with foreclosure and resale, but it can reduce the extent of government intervention and taxpayer exposure."

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

"I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers. Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy ... We should also convene a meeting of the nation's top mortgage lenders. Working together, they should pledge to provide maximum support and help to their cash-strapped but credit-worthy customers. They should pledge to do everything possible to keep families in their homes and businesses growing. Recall that immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, General Motors stepped in to provide 0 percent financing as part of keeping the economy growing. We need a similar response by the mortgage lenders. They've been asking the government to help them out. I'm now calling upon them to help their customers, and their nation out."

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)

"Right now, many mortgage companies are reluctant to help families restructure their mortgages because they're afraid of being sued by the investment banks, the private equity firms and others who actually own the mortgage papers. Because, remember, all of these mortgages were bundled up in these huge packages and sold around the world. So, you can't just go down to see your mortgage broker or your bank or your other lender to work out a deal, because they no longer own the paper. This is the case even though writing down the value of a mortgage is often more profitable than foreclosing — both for mortgage companies and for most of those who own the mortgages. That's why I will be proposing legislation, when Congress returns, to provide mortgage companies with protection against the threat of such lawsuits."

Got to say that John McCain has shown his true colors in this issue and any small inkling of support I might have had for his candidacy has swiftly evaporated - with that free-market, deregulation B/S he's pushing in the midst of an ongoing credit crisis.

Then again I'm not overly enthused about Obama and Clinton who are first and second in terms of campaign finance contributions from political action groups linked to the finance industry. They support regulatory reform of the lending industry, but they're not going out of their way to ensure that reckless lenders are held to account.

All in all a very stinky barrel of fish.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Got to say that John McCain has shown his true colors in this issue and any small inkling of support I might have had for his candidacy has swiftly evaporated - with that free-market, deregulation B/S he's pushing in the midst of an ongoing credit crisis.

Then again I'm not overly enthused about Obama and Clinton who are first and second in terms of campaign finance contributions from political action groups linked to the finance industry. They support regulatory reform of the lending industry, but they're not going out of their way to ensure that reckless lenders are held to account.

All in all a very stinky barrel of fish.

Laissez Faire economics are just a fallacy...never has it existed and then pretending to take a stand against government intervention is like calling for the cows after you let them out of the barn. McCain has admitted that he's not an export on economics. Who he would appoint to his cabinet would be more telling than his rhetoric. I think the same would be true for Obama and Hillary...although Obama has built his campaign from people who never worked in Washington before...that could be a refreshing change to what both McCain and Hillary would probably do - placing Washington insiders and longtime allies into their administration.

[kaydee457 13]

I've lived a loooong life thus far and frankly, John's strategy to cope with this problem is spot on. I've owned four homes in my lifetime, and each one I borrowed against responsibly.

I lost nearly 35k on a couple that were "subprime lenders" back in 2003. I had a house that I needed to sell before my capital gains exemption was to expire.

This couple placed earnest money on the house, was supposedly "pre-qualified, and pre-approved" but later could not consumate the deal.

It was found that they had judgements against them for not paying their rent in florida where they skipped out on their landlord.

They were going to purchase my house with *no down payment*, having borrowed that amount with a second loan for "home equity" that they haven't yet earned, and it's no wonder to me that we're having this supposed "credit" crisis.

These are the people that were buying houses. Not stupid people for the most part but simply people that should not have been allowed to purchase these houses. They were not the "duped, but rather the "dupers" trying to erase bad credit and the inabilty to own these properties with lots of deceptions. You know the type, those that "work the system".

These people I speak of stalled my sale just long enough to screw me out of my capital gains deduction fully knowing that they never qualified to buy the house to begin with.

McCain got it right. It's not the governments place to bail out such people.

As usual, the democrats paint these people as "victims" but in reality they're charlatans that were working the system to get what they couldn't afford.

Edited March 28, 2008 by kaydee457

[HAL 9000 96]

Too bad for Republicans that do not want to consider those responsible borrowers that have been impacted by other aspects of the economy (like losing their jobs so that corporate profits can increase by paying less via outsourcing) and, coupled to the rising cost of living associated with other reckless Republican maneuvers and tax strategies that have negatively impacted the actual working middle class... I have a feeling there is going to have to be a very big economical about face for McCain to earn votes from such a large segment of the population.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I've lived a loooong life thus far and frankly, John's strategy to cope with this problem is spot on. I've owned four homes in my lifetime, and each one I borrowed against responsibly.

I lost nearly 35k on a couple that were "subprime lenders" back in 2003. I had a house that I needed to sell before my capital gains exemption was to expire.

This couple placed earnest money on the house, was supposedly "pre-qualified, and pre-approved" but later could not consumate the deal.

It was found that they had judgements against them for not paying their rent in florida where they skipped out on their landlord.

They were going to purchase my house with *no down payment*, having borrowed that amount with a second loan for "home equity" that they haven't yet earned, and it's no wonder to me that we're having this supposed "credit" crisis.

These are the people that were buying houses. Not stupid people for the most part but simply people that should not have been allowed to purchase these houses. They were not the "duped, but rather the "dupers" trying to erase bad credit and the inabilty to own these properties with lots of deceptions. You know the type, those that "work the system".

These people I speak of stalled my sale just long enough to screw me out of my capital gains deduction fully knowing that they never qualified to buy the house to begin with.

McCain got it right. It's not the governments place to bail out such people.

As usual, the democrats paint these people as "victims" but in reality they're charlatans that were working the system to get what they couldn't afford.

Well its not quite that simple is it, nor is it restricted to borrowers. The situation we're currently in is partly due to, yes - irresponsible borrowing, but also irresponsible lending practices. He's essentially suggesting that "anything goes" lending didn't precipitate the current credit problem.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

All of the candidates should be promising to do something about getting us off our addiction to foreign oil. That would fix sooo many of today's problems, including helping our economy.

End the war on drugs...a complete failure.

Withdraw our troops from Iraq.

Revamp or dissolve the WTO as well as NAFTA.

Invest in renewable energy sources, public education and technologies that would help the environment.

[kaydee457 13]

I've lived a loooong life thus far and frankly, John's strategy to cope with this problem is spot on. I've owned four homes in my lifetime, and each one I borrowed against responsibly.

I lost nearly 35k on a couple that were "subprime lenders" back in 2003. I had a house that I needed to sell before my capital gains exemption was to expire.

This couple placed earnest money on the house, was supposedly "pre-qualified, and pre-approved" but later could not consumate the deal.

It was found that they had judgements against them for not paying their rent in florida where they skipped out on their landlord.

They were going to purchase my house with *no down payment*, having borrowed that amount with a second loan for "home equity" that they haven't yet earned, and it's no wonder to me that we're having this supposed "credit" crisis.

These are the people that were buying houses. Not stupid people for the most part but simply people that should not have been allowed to purchase these houses. They were not the "duped, but rather the "dupers" trying to erase bad credit and the inabilty to own these properties with lots of deceptions. You know the type, those that "work the system".

These people I speak of stalled my sale just long enough to screw me out of my capital gains deduction fully knowing that they never qualified to buy the house to begin with.

McCain got it right. It's not the governments place to bail out such people.

As usual, the democrats paint these people as "victims" but in reality they're charlatans that were working the system to get what they couldn't afford.

Well its not quite that simple is it, nor is it restricted to borrowers. The situation we're currently in is partly due to, yes - irresponsible borrowing, but also irresponsible lending practices. He's essentially suggesting that "anything goes" lending didn't precipitate the current credit problem.

Sorry. It is that simple.......

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I've lived a loooong life thus far and frankly, John's strategy to cope with this problem is spot on. I've owned four homes in my lifetime, and each one I borrowed against responsibly.

I lost nearly 35k on a couple that were "subprime lenders" back in 2003. I had a house that I needed to sell before my capital gains exemption was to expire.

This couple placed earnest money on the house, was supposedly "pre-qualified, and pre-approved" but later could not consumate the deal.

It was found that they had judgements against them for not paying their rent in florida where they skipped out on their landlord.

They were going to purchase my house with *no down payment*, having borrowed that amount with a second loan for "home equity" that they haven't yet earned, and it's no wonder to me that we're having this supposed "credit" crisis.

These are the people that were buying houses. Not stupid people for the most part but simply people that should not have been allowed to purchase these houses. They were not the "duped, but rather the "dupers" trying to erase bad credit and the inabilty to own these properties with lots of deceptions. You know the type, those that "work the system".

These people I speak of stalled my sale just long enough to screw me out of my capital gains deduction fully knowing that they never qualified to buy the house to begin with.

McCain got it right. It's not the governments place to bail out such people.

As usual, the democrats paint these people as "victims" but in reality they're charlatans that were working the system to get what they couldn't afford.

Well its not quite that simple is it, nor is it restricted to borrowers. The situation we're currently in is partly due to, yes - irresponsible borrowing, but also irresponsible lending practices. He's essentially suggesting that "anything goes" lending didn't precipitate the current credit problem.

Sorry. It is that simple.......

Then we disagree.

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

All of the candidates should be promising to do something about getting us off our addiction to foreign oil. That would fix sooo many of today's problems, including helping our economy.

End the war on drugs...a complete failure.

Withdraw our troops from Iraq.

Revamp or dissolve the WTO as well as NAFTA.

Invest in renewable energy sources, public education and technologies that would help the environment.

nothing about curtailing the flood of illegals?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

All of the candidates should be promising to do something about getting us off our addiction to foreign oil. That would fix sooo many of today's problems, including helping our economy.

End the war on drugs...a complete failure.

Withdraw our troops from Iraq.

Revamp or dissolve the WTO as well as NAFTA.

Invest in renewable energy sources, public education and technologies that would help the environment.

nothing about curtailing the flood of illegals?

It's not on McCain's top priority list..or anyone's for that matter.

[Marc and Olga 0]

I've lived a loooong life thus far and frankly, John's strategy to cope with this problem is spot on. I've owned four homes in my lifetime, and each one I borrowed against responsibly.

I lost nearly 35k on a couple that were "subprime lenders" back in 2003. I had a house that I needed to sell before my capital gains exemption was to expire.

This couple placed earnest money on the house, was supposedly "pre-qualified, and pre-approved" but later could not consumate the deal.

It was found that they had judgements against them for not paying their rent in florida where they skipped out on their landlord.

They were going to purchase my house with *no down payment*, having borrowed that amount with a second loan for "home equity" that they haven't yet earned, and it's no wonder to me that we're having this supposed "credit" crisis.

These are the people that were buying houses. Not stupid people for the most part but simply people that should not have been allowed to purchase these houses. They were not the "duped, but rather the "dupers" trying to erase bad credit and the inabilty to own these properties with lots of deceptions. You know the type, those that "work the system".

These people I speak of stalled my sale just long enough to screw me out of my capital gains deduction fully knowing that they never qualified to buy the house to begin with.

McCain got it right. It's not the governments place to bail out such people.

As usual, the democrats paint these people as "victims" but in reality they're charlatans that were working the system to get what they couldn't afford.

While I will agree that there are many borrowers that didn't read the fine print of what was being sold to them (and probably a few who knew exactly what they were doing), fact is these borrowers didn't decide to offer "No doc" loans or the interest only loans or the arms where you COULD pay less then the actual interest...all of which I believe got us into this situation...

I'm sure the lenders were COMPLETELY innocent as you seem to think, cause they make excellent money without the loans they sell

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

All of the candidates should be promising to do something about getting us off our addiction to foreign oil. That would fix sooo many of today's problems, including helping our economy.

End the war on drugs...a complete failure.

Withdraw our troops from Iraq.

Revamp or dissolve the WTO as well as NAFTA.

Invest in renewable energy sources, public education and technologies that would help the environment.

nothing about curtailing the flood of illegals?

It's not on McCain's top priority list..or anyone's for that matter.

exactly my concern and why i don't stomp around campaigning for mccain.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I've lived a loooong life thus far and frankly, John's strategy to cope with this problem is spot on. I've owned four homes in my lifetime, and each one I borrowed against responsibly.

I lost nearly 35k on a couple that were "subprime lenders" back in 2003. I had a house that I needed to sell before my capital gains exemption was to expire.

This couple placed earnest money on the house, was supposedly "pre-qualified, and pre-approved" but later could not consumate the deal.

It was found that they had judgements against them for not paying their rent in florida where they skipped out on their landlord.

They were going to purchase my house with *no down payment*, having borrowed that amount with a second loan for "home equity" that they haven't yet earned, and it's no wonder to me that we're having this supposed "credit" crisis.

These are the people that were buying houses. Not stupid people for the most part but simply people that should not have been allowed to purchase these houses. They were not the "duped, but rather the "dupers" trying to erase bad credit and the inabilty to own these properties with lots of deceptions. You know the type, those that "work the system".

These people I speak of stalled my sale just long enough to screw me out of my capital gains deduction fully knowing that they never qualified to buy the house to begin with.

McCain got it right. It's not the governments place to bail out such people.

As usual, the democrats paint these people as "victims" but in reality they're charlatans that were working the system to get what they couldn't afford.

Hmmm - I agree with a lot of what you say here. Unfortunately, a lot of people blame their financial illiteracy on someone else. And a lot of other peole seem to think that credit is this magical free thing that appears with no strings attached.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I will say that there seems to be an alarming number of people (including my current landlord) who claim to have been mis-sold their mortgages by salesmen who misrepresented the product they were selling.

[Peikko 1,575]

As with most things, there has to be a mix of bad lending, bad borrowing and bad advice. I don't think one group can be singled out and blamed for the problems that are now being faced. While it's always nice to think that one can educate those who make bad decisions, should that really be at the expense of those who made good decisions on bad advice, or who were talked into bad decisions by corrupt lenders?

Or should I say poor salesmen?