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TMFBent (99.83)

Barney Frank: Loans for poor should max at $840K

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November 20, 2009 – Comments (16)

That's what he's saying here.

Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview that he planned to introduce legislation next year raising the maximum F.H.A. loan by $100,000, to $839,750. His bill would make the new limits permanent.

Read the rest of the story and you'll see the way these low down-payment loans are fueling speculative buying by people who have no business purchasing near million-dollar properties, who are putting only 3% down (meaning they'll be deeply underwater with only a tiny downtick in housing prices).

But Comrade Frank figures this is all just fine. After all, someone has to protect the poor from those evil bankers who won't let them buy $800,000 homes with no money down. And that someone, friends, is you.

 

16 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On November 20, 2009 at 8:19 AM, fmahnke (98.20) wrote:

Almost Unbelievable. Barney should return to Kids TV where he belongs.  I guess the good news is that he wasn't able to stop Ron Paul's Fed audit bill. 

I find it ironic that the same guy who told us Fanny and Freedie were in solid condition still has such a prominent voice.  Then again, we still have benny B and tiny tim running the show so we are cleary doomed in the short term 

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#2) On November 20, 2009 at 8:25 AM, AbstractMotion (77.62) wrote:

It still amazes me that we can be in a recession from the collapse of a huge housing bubble and this idiot is rushing in head first time and time again to repeat the exact same mistakes.  This is just beyond idiotic, someone needs to set down and have an intervention with this guy.

 

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#3) On November 20, 2009 at 8:34 AM, TMFBent (99.83) wrote:

Barney Frank or the knuckleheaded kids in that Times article in SanFran?

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#4) On November 20, 2009 at 8:35 AM, Gemini846 (94.90) wrote:

I think this is just an aknowledgement that the middle class are really poor.

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#5) On November 20, 2009 at 8:53 AM, TMFBent (99.83) wrote:

Not really. It's an aknowledgement that houses cost too much. Of course, one of the main reasons they do is that they get so many government subsidies.

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#6) On November 20, 2009 at 9:49 AM, alexpaz (97.58) wrote:

This guy Barney Frank is a joke, we need some fiscal dignity

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#7) On November 20, 2009 at 11:58 AM, blake303 (50.97) wrote:

The FHA Commissioner's quote about the loans being safe because the homes are for shelter is equally stupid and terrifying.

Out of curiosity - How can the limits be made permanent?  

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#8) On November 20, 2009 at 1:24 PM, JakilaTheHun (99.95) wrote:

Ugh.  Yet another reason why I don't trust Barney Frank having his tentacles anywhere near financial policy.

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#9) On November 20, 2009 at 2:52 PM, Bojac3728 (94.60) wrote:

Barney Frank needs to go back to funny farm. The liberal Democrats should take some advice from a great statesman who once said, " We contend that for a nation to try and tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle". In the next election, there will be a clean sweep out of office for the big spenders. 

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#10) On November 20, 2009 at 2:54 PM, Bojac3728 (94.60) wrote:

Sorry, the great statesman that I quoted was Winston Churchill.

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#11) On November 20, 2009 at 2:58 PM, TMFBent (99.83) wrote:

Let's not pretend this housing bubble lunacy is a liberal democrat thing. Johnny Isakson is responsible for pimping all of those other giant tax breaks for homebuyers.

The idiocy of inefficient handouts is embraced by the Republicans just as much as the Democrats these days.

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#12) On November 20, 2009 at 4:10 PM, ChrisGraley (99.78) wrote:

No one deserves to get government aid for an 800k house!

No one!

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#13) On November 20, 2009 at 5:57 PM, TMFBent (99.83) wrote:

CG obviously doesn't understand the finances of housing. How will prices go up if we don't give people who can't afford $800,000 houses enough money to afford $800,000 houses?

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#14) On November 20, 2009 at 6:19 PM, ChrisGraley (99.78) wrote:

I admit my ignorance. I assumed they would just wait till they dropped down to 400k houses. ;)

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#15) On November 20, 2009 at 6:41 PM, AvianFlu (80.47) wrote:

Barney Frank has always been able to make the news. Consider this true account from his past:

Frank confirmed Friday that he paid Gobie for sex. The representative answered a classified ad in the Washington Blade, the local gay weekly. "Exceptionally good-looking, personable, muscular athlete is available. Hot bottom plus large endowment equals a good time."  Frank paid Gobie $80 in cash for sex.

At last check, hiring prostitutes, gay or not, was illegal.
Tell me how blatant lawbreakers are able to rise to high levels of power in our country. I would really like to know.

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#16) On November 20, 2009 at 9:21 PM, floridabuilder2 (99.59) wrote:

TMF Bent,

One of the issues with housing is cost, but this mainly effects the more liberal areas of our country (northeast, west coast, etc...).  There are two reason why places like Texas, Ohio, and the Carolinas have affordable housing while more liberal areas don't....

1. NIMBY....  Oh no, I want to protect all the vegetation, and trees, and fauna.... now that I own my home.  So I am going to throw as many roadblocks up as possible to prevent more construction.  This drives up land prices 5x 10x what they are in other areas of the country.  When you elect left wing local leaders that want 70% open space when they subdivide then that means the 30% where you can actually build has to take on the cost of the 70% that is open.  I could go on and on about how NIMBY significantly drives up house costs which drives up sales price

2. Profers or in Florida impact fees....  This is when a local gov't charges the builder an up front fee for new schools, police, roads, etc.... never mind that a new house creates a new person paying property taxes they want to commit theft right out of the gate.  I have seen areas in California where the profers are 90,000 per lot!!!!!!!!!!!!  the builder doesn't eat that, he passes it along to the homeowner (still capturing a 20% margin on that number)

This doesn't even get into union vs. non union labor

At the end of the day Barney Frank should be pushing legislation that provides people with better property rights and less taxes which in turn would lower the prices of housing in the coastal markets..........  the only people who get wealthy from this are real estate attorneys and developers who can bull through the local govts

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