Election Year Pandering #2

As if it were not enough to have a stimulus package of rebates to some taxpayers. According to the NYT the Congress is now rushing to pass a housing relief package which could include "up to $200 million to expand counseling programs for homeowners at risk of foreclosure, $10 billion in tax-exempt bonds for local housing authorities to refinance subprime loans, $4 billion in grants for local governments to buy foreclosed properties and a $15,000 tax credit for purchasers of foreclosed homes or newly built homes that have been sitting vacant."

The leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, captured the spirit of the moment “This is not April Fool’s,this is serious business.”

One wonders whether any of these bozos, be they democrat or republican, actually believes that any of those tired proposals will do anything to respond to the issues that might have been raised by the housing situation. As discussed earlier, this "crisis" came about in part because of shady dealings of some brokers, loosening of traditional mortgage standards by the Congress and by borrowers misrepresenting their income. Why should the taxpayer bail out the third group? How will conditions improve for the first two groups because of the spending in this bill? Will adding to the deficit improve the credit markets?

Movement and Progress are not the same.