Word: congressed
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...July, Congress allocated $300 billion for a new plan, Hope for Homeowners, to help borrowers stay in their houses. It went into effect this month, but analysts warn that it won't stop the rise in foreclosures. An April report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that banks would refinance only about 400,000 home loans, possibly fewer. And in recent congressional testimony, officials from JPMorgan Chase said only about $2.5 billion of its home loans (some 14,000 borrowers) of the $845 billion in home loans it services would qualify for the program. Worse, warns the CBO, nearly...
...lost for homeowners, however. A number of economists have recently proposed new plans to stop foreclosures, seeking mechanisms to buy up and refinance individual home loans. Last week, Congress began discussing a new $150 billion stimulus plan focused on helping individual households. "I think the focus is shifting," says Gene Sperling, a former economics advisor to President Clinton who now advises Senator Barack Obama. "Pretty soon, I think we are going to see measures that are more targeted toward homeowners than we have seen...
...free-market autocrats stand in far better shape than the rest of the world. With their massive cash reserves, current-account surpluses and, often, capital controls, countries like China can better weather a downturn (China probably will still grow by 9% this year). And with no pesky U.S.-style congress to stand in their way, they don't have to worry about anyone vetoing their plans to stabilize their economies...
...representatives in Washington had better straighten up. With this kind of leadership, who needs Congress? Joe Myers, Mesa, Arizona...
...shocked you would place so little blame on the people who borrowed more money on their homes than they could possibly pay back. I agree that the lenders were silly and that Congress should not have strongly encouraged such lending. Yet people effectively became speculators in home values rather than homeowners borrowing to finance a purchase. Peter Sallerson, NEW YORK CITY...