We don’t always get time to air an interview in its entirety. It can be an agonizing process deciding what to keep and what to leave out. Today, I didn’t have much time to agonize, so a couple of newsworthy questions were left out. I asked House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank about the FBI’s operation “Malicious Mortgage” and also about Treasury Secretary Paulson’s call for greater powers for the Federal Reserve to regulate. To me, these ideas fit hand and hand. (Unfortunately, they didn't fit into the time allotted to the interview.) Perhaps if someone was actually checking the loan documentation, or requiring that documentation in the first place, the portfolio funds would not have held these funds and there were be no reason to hide them from investors.
Some people argue that you can’t regulate ethics and some people will cheat. This may be true, but tighter reigns on the players in the real estate and mortgage market may have save a lot of pain.
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AS A LONG TIME STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF MR. FRANK, I FEEL COMPELLED TO INITIATE MY FIRST COMMENT DIRECTLY TO HIM. IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE IN GOVERNMENT "OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE," PLEASE REPRESENT ALL OF US HURTING FROM THE STIFLING ECONOMIC PRESSURES WE ARE SADLY IN. I AM BEGGING THAT YOU RECONSIDER THE CURRENT HOUSING LEGISLATION WITH REGARD TO THE PROPOSED $8,000 TAX CREDIT GIVEN ONLY FOR "NONOCCUPIED HOMES". THIS TAX CREDIT WILL BE THE ABSOLUTE UNDOING OF US POOR WORKING SLOBS WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO PAY OUR MORTGAGES AND HANG ON WHILE TRYING TO SELL OUR FAMILY HOMES IN A DEPRESSED MARKET. WITH THE TAX CREDIT, WHO THE HELL WILL BUY MY HOME IF THE ONES DOWN THE STREET COME WITH 8K SAVINGS...EVEN IF THEY ARE BRAND NEW, OR FORECLOSED...I DON'T STAND A CHANCE!!!!I AM AN AVERAGE JOE WHO FEELS ABANDONED BY THIS PROPOSED LEGISLATION...IT IS UNFAIR IF THE CREDIT IS NOT EVENLY DISTRIBUTED AMOUNG ALL STRUGGLING HOME SELLERS THIS YEAR! PLEASE STIMULATE THE HOUSING MARKET FOR ALL CITIZENS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO KILL OURSELVES WITH A GOOD WORK ETHIC AND RESPONSIBLE BORROWING TAUGHT TO US WITH LESSONS LEARNED FROM OUR DEPRESSION-ERA PARENTS! MY PLEA IS NOT JUST FROM ONE VOICE, BUT I SPEAK FOR ALL U.S. CITIZENS WHO OCCUPY HOMES THEY NEED TO SELL IN ORDER TO STAY AFLOAT. IT SEEMS WE ARE BEING PENALIZED FOR NOT WALKING AWAY FROM OUR PROMISES. REDUCING OUR HOMES' PRICES ANOTHER 8K OR MORE, JUST FOR PARITY WITH YOUR TAX CREDIT FOR OTHERS IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE!! YOU PROMISED TO REPRESENT ALL...SO PLEASE HELP US!!!!