GSE Reform Dead

From HousingWire:

GSE leadership no longer expecting reform

The government-sponsored enterprises are getting back to their core mission, shaking the idea that a resolution to conservatorship is just around the corner and reshaping their business models to reduce risk to taxpayers while expanding access to credit.

That was the message from Timothy Mayopoulos, president and CEO Fannie Mae and Donald Layton, CEO of Freddie Mac, speaking on the “A Conversation with GSE Leadership” panel at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 102nd Annual Convention and Expo in San Diego, California. Nearly 4,500 real estate finance professionals are in San Diego this week for the convention.

Earlier Monday, Fannie Mae announced it is simplifying the lending process for lenders and borrowers with a series of updates to its mortgage offerings. One of the biggest changes is that beginning in mid-2016, Fannie Mae will require lenders to use trended credit data when underwriting single-family borrowers through Desktop Underwriter. Fannie is working with Equifax and TransUnion to provide the data.

Mayopoulos said that the company’s primary revenues are now coming through guarantee fees as a stable, more reliable revenue source, he said, and that the company is shifting more credit risk to private investors.

He called it a “more sustainable and reliable business structure.”

Layton noted that the GSEs are into their eighth year of conservatorship, and that a “big bill” out of Washington to “redo our entire housing finance system” is years away.

“Conservatorship will be with us for a while. And there is no playbook for running a company in conservatorship,” Layton said.

Layton emphasized the focus on credit risk transfer.

“Credit risk transfer is our entire business model now,” Layton said.

He said that Freddie Mac has rid itself of the early conservatorship mindset, which was hesitant, waiting to get orders from government, and not sure if it was about to end.

“We’re focusing on our classic mission to support families by increasing stability, liquidity and affordability of mortgage market,” he said.

This entry was posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Politics, Risky Lending. Bookmark the permalink.

84 Responses to GSE Reform Dead

  1. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  2. yome says:

    Freddie wants the 3% Down payment back

    SAN DIEGO — The Federal Housing Finance Agency and at least one of the federally-backed buyers of mortgages appears ready to double down on their pledge last year to expand lending to borrowers who otherwise might be difficult to qualify for traditional loans, with Freddie Mac hinting that even more low down-payment loan programs could be on the way.

    Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton told an audience at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in San Diego on Monday that the surprise announcement last year by FHFA Director Mel Watt instructing his company and Freddie Mac to buy loans with down payments as low as 3% was a net positive and that more low down payment products could be on their way in the next year or so.

    Currently, mortgages with less than 3% down payments comprise about 11% of the overall mortgage market, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based real-estate research firm. After the mortgage crash, most low down payment loan products evaporated because they were seen as too risky.

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/freddie-mac-ceo-wants-more-low-down-payment-mortgages-2015-10-20

  3. Juice Box says:

    Pretty simple private capital has to be ready to take over first. That will never happen, the free market distortions created by the government are now too big to overcome, nobody want’s low yield long term mortgages, with no guarantee other than you get the keys to a crap shack after the “home owner” wrecked the place. Much easier to make money many other ways.

  4. anon (the good one) says:

    @Salon: “Conservatives have been losing for years & they just don’t give a damn any more. They want to explode the system”

    “Republican voters are in a fiercely anti-political mood. As a result, the usual ways voters judge a candidate – experience, governing achievements, mastery of issues – have been devalued. People are looking for candidates not only to give voice to their anger but to amplify it. Reason has given way to demagogy…Such rhetorical recklessness damages our political culture as well as conservatism, a philosophy that should be grounded in prudence, moderation and self-restraint…Mr. Carson doesn’t abide by such niceties, and he may be accurately gauging the mood of many Republicans. The Times reports that advisers who once fretted about his inflammatory rhetoric have now decided to let Carson be Carson.”

  5. nwnj says:

    That’s stupid anon, even for you. Take a few minutes(for you days/weeks) and figure out the difference between conservatism and progressivism. Who is it that wants to “fundamentally transform America”?

  6. grim says:

    Imagine being a lender in NJ. Writing a 4% mortgage with less recourse than a subprime car loan that yields 3x the return.

  7. leftwing says:

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    October 20, 2015 at 5:30 pm
    …Can’t wait to see what society has in store when the majority of the population serves no purpose.

    Are you kidding?!??!

    You’re seated in the front row already and the show has started. Grab some popcorn and soda, it’s a double length feature.

    Literally one-half of the population contribute so little to society that the Federal government – which taxes anything that moves – looks at them and says “you do so little there is nothing we can take from you.”

    What is in store? Look at the movie screen.

    Transfer of resources from productive uses to unproductive activities, contributing to movement of the productive activities out of jurisdiction.

    Increase in the financial (tax) burden of those producing leading to their departure from productive activities or from the jurisdiction altogether.

    Market manipulation to ‘equalize’ society (eg, fog the mirror loans) leading to spectacular financial dislocations like 2008 (trick question: if only 50% of the population earns enough to even be taxed how does one support 70% home ownership rates).

    Undercutting of the financial framework and stability of the country to wallpaper the above financial transgressions (eg, ZIRP, national debt) leading to decades of financial stagnation.

    Exacerbation of latent societal differences between the productive and unproductive factions leading to major social fractures along political, social, and religious lines.

    Feels to me we are about a third of the way through the show.

    Regarding the ending I’m not one prone to wild eyed tin foil hat predictions. These issues, and their amplification by people like yourself whose mantra seems to be that if we only continue to double down on these failed policies everything will work out, will result in the end of the US as we know it. Mark it down. Within 50 years the economic situation will be dire enough and the societal and religious differences so wide we will see a fracture. Likely along the southern border again, maybe centered around Texas this time. Who knows. Doesn’t matter.

    There is no alchemy. No world power has survived, let alone prospered, by promoting the least of society at the expense of the best.

  8. Comrade Nom Deplume, living well off the carrion of the left says:

    Left,

    When the majority of residents in a definable and manageable region find that those outside their region are dragging them to the bottom, they will throw off the shackles. Secession won’t come about because of hatred or social division. It will come about because of survival instinct. People who renounce citizenship vote with their feet but the issue they are voting on is survival, not some trivia over who is schtupping who.

  9. leftwing says:

    Nom, agree.

    The societal factors exacerbate the flows and make a worst case scenario more likely though.

    Kind of down the lines of “you can take my money, or you can take my gun and other rights, or you can legislate your belief system on me no matter how personally distasteful” but if you do all three – enough.

    Camels back and straw etc.

  10. yome says:

    Another blame Millenials

    Too many Pot holes? Blame Millenials

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/too-many-potholes-blame-millennials-2015-10-20

  11. chicagofinance says:

    left: more nostalgia? get an STD at SDT….

    leftwing says:
    October 21, 2015 at 8:56 am

  12. chicagofinance says:

    Kollege (jj Edition):
    A 56-year-old Florida man, the former head of a for-profit college, is scheduled to go on trial in Miami federal court on Wednesday for using strip club exotic dancers — so-called “hot mommas” and “the sluttiest girls” — to lure unqualified students to his school.
    Alejandro Amor, who ran the now-shuttered FastTrain College, defrauded Uncle Sam out of $6.5 million in student loans over nearly four years by enrolling the students — some of whom didn’t even graduate from high school — it is alleged.
    FastTrain operated seven campuses across Florida.
    Amor is accused of illegally enrolling 1,300 students without high school degrees, then telling the students to lie on financial aid applications in order to get Pell Grants and other federal loans.
    For-profit colleges — which typically get 90 percent of their revenue from federal student loan programs — have been rocked by scandal in recent years. Even the biggest ones, like University of Phoenix, have been accused of serious violations and paid hefty fines.
    Three small players have faced criminal charges, and each settled long before trial. Amor is the first to go to trial. He faces up to five years of imprisonment.
    Jose W. Gonzalez, a former FastTrain employee who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors, said in an affidavit that Amor instructed him to “hire the sluttiest girls he could find” and “some hot mommas” from local strip clubs as admission reps.
    Codefendant Anthony Mincey called the strategy of using strippers to recruit “snatch and grab.”

  13. Juice Box says:

    re: when the majority of the population serves no purpose.

    Yup the practice of senilicide, they will get sent out into the snow first.

    My high school social studies teacher used to tell us that when we got older would be holding pillows over the faces of the elderly while they sleep. I have feeling he may be off by a at least a generation.

  14. chicagofinance says:

    Kollege (jj Edition):
    A 56-year-old Florida man, the former head of a for-profit college, is scheduled to go on trial in Miami federal court on Wednesday for using str!p club exot!c dancers — so-called “hot mommas” and “the slu^tiest girls” — to lure unqualified students to his school.

    Alejandro Amor, who ran the now-shuttered FastTrain College, defrauded Uncle Sam out of $6.5 million in student loans over nearly four years by enrolling the students — some of whom didn’t even graduate from high school — it is alleged.

    FastTrain operated seven campuses across Florida.

    Amor is accused of illegally enrolling 1,300 students without high school degrees, then telling the students to lie on financial aid applications in order to get Pell Grants and other federal loans.

    For-profit colleges — which typically get 90 percent of their revenue from federal student loan programs — have been rocked by scandal in recent years. Even the biggest ones, like University of Phoenix, have been accused of serious violations and paid hefty fines.

    Three small players have faced criminal charges, and each settled long before trial. Amor is the first to go to trial. He faces up to five years of imprisonment.

    Jose W. Gonzalez, a former FastTrain employee who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors, said in an affidavit that Amor instructed him to “hire the slu^tiest girls he could find” and “some hot mommas” from local str!p clubs as admission reps.

    Codefendant Anthony Mincey called the strategy of using strippers to recruit “snatch and grab.”

  15. Juice Box says:

    One thing about the GSEs their research can definitely scare bankers, builders and investors away from housing investments.

    Here is a nice read, skip to the charts on page 14. Price of Oil and the effect on housing in oil producting states, charted in increments of $10 a barrel. $40, $50, $60, $70.

    House Price Risks in Oil-Producing States: Repeat of the 1980s?

    http://www.fanniemae.com/resources/file/research/datanotes/pdf/housing-insights-082815.pdf

  16. Alex says:

    And in other “economic recovery” news, “Credit Suisse estimates that 25% of Americans are in this situation of a negative net-worth.”

  17. Fast Eddie says:

    …Can’t wait to see what society has in store when the majority of the population serves no purpose.

    From what I can tell, we’re halfway there. And no one is exempt.

  18. phoenix1 says:

    12 JB

    RomneyVoucher would have the same effect as throwing grandpa into the snow, only it sounds much nicer. Raising the S.Security age, etc, has a similar effect.
    People are only living as long as they do because of the healthcare system dumping unlimited funds into practically unviable beings. Once this stops or slows down, you will see the change beginning….

    re: when the majority of the population serves no purpose.

    Yup the practice of senilicide, they will get sent out into the snow first.

    My high school social studies teacher used to tell us that when we got older would be holding pillows over the faces of the elderly while they sleep. I have feeling he may be off by a at least a generation.

  19. phoenix1 says:

    13.
    Same as in this video from PBS. No one wants to earn money the hard way when it’s easier to take advantage of someone else.. And since this is a white collar crime, he will do less time than a guy somewhere caught smoking a joint..

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/

  20. phoenix1 says:

    10 yome
    That will only increase over time. Younger people are not going to have the luxury of having 1 protoplasm bag/2000sf ratio anymore.
    The infrastructure above and below is deteriorating. The protoplasm bags that built these things built them to last. Your tunnels are old, your bridges are old, your roads are old. No money put back into them as overpaid lazy people collecting checks and not physically doing anything. Water main breaks everywhere- just exactly how old are the pipes under your development, will they last till you die-or till your kid does- is ANY money being put away for a future new installment of these?

  21. nwnj says:

    #18

    Not sure I would go as far to say no on wants to earn money the hard way, but we’ve been in a stagnant or contracting economy for the better part of a decade. I’d say it’s become very difficult to make an honest buck.

    It’s impossible to ignore that the primary growth areas of the past few years have been at best borderline legal(e.g. Uber, MJ, fantasy sports), or there is an exploitive element(Wall Street, offshoring, hiring illegals etc.).

  22. phoenix1 says:

    19 redux.
    But hey, lets throw money at shoveling sand back from the ocean onto my lovely waterfront beach lest I be denied the beautiful view I lovingly long for….

  23. leftwing says:

    Chi, LOL. More than one friend married a sister from there.

    Aggies? Farmers love fat calves……

  24. nwnj says:

    The best new business models now either seem to be to find something that was previously illegal and attempt to make it legitimate by presenting it as “new technology”, or find a segment of the workforce making a good living and trying to syphon off a piece.

  25. leftwing says:

    Taking my oldest up there. He has the grades, scores, and the prerequisite extracurriculars. Just don’t know though….Admissions are so crazy now. Another world.

  26. phoenix1 says:

    20 nwnj

    Could have not said it any better. Can’t compete against those that cheat.
    There are no more ethics-no respect for hard workers either.

    “I’d say it’s become very difficult to make an honest buck.”

  27. What Fannie and Freddie need is some financial innovation like multi-generational, fixed payment, interest only mortgages, with invisible escrow. Just keep making the same payment forever and don’t pay attention to your growing loan balance which will be inherited by your children and their children. Some lucky generation will eventually be able to sweep enough cash or pixels up in the street to pay off the balance.

  28. Comrade Nom Deplume, living well off the carrion of the left says:

    [11] chi

    Wow, memory lane. Their house was a few doors down from ours. Naturally, the goon/jock house pledges painted “me” under their letters. Those of you who remember their Greek will get it. anon, google it.

    We had so many acronyms for SDT, it wasn’t funny. I had plenty of GFs from sororities but none from there. Truth be told, no reason to fish those ponds with Smith and MHC so close.

  29. phoenix1 says:

    23. This is why I try to hire only people who actually do the work in their own companies.
    I never hire an electrician, plumber, etc, with 500 trucks.
    To lazy to pick up the wrench- I don’t need or want you.

  30. [3]Exactly right. Without a federal guarantee we will be back to 1932 – Five year balloon mortgages. If you can’t refinance or pay off in 5 years, you’re done. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Everybody gets to “own” a home for 5 years and then back to renting for the rest of your life.

    Pretty simple private capital has to be ready to take over first. That will never happen, the free market distortions created by the government are now too big to overcome, nobody want’s low yield long term mortgages, with no guarantee other than you get the keys to a crap shack after the “home owner” wrecked the place. Much easier to make money many other ways.

  31. phoenix1 says:

    26. Naah,
    When medicare goes broke, any money you don’t have hidden somewhere will go right to the coffers of the modern medical center.
    I envision the day when your kid will be offered the option of letting grandma die vs keeping the inheritance…..

  32. phoenix1 says:

    31 Only in the USA…
    Need an antibiotic in Mexico- go to local pharmacy and buy it.

    Need one in the USA- Walmart has it for only–$4.00. That’s right, only $4.00.
    Ultra cheap, ultra safe, vetted by the FDA.
    One problem, you can’t buy it without a $100.00 prescription……

  33. This problem will fix itself. Enough of them will trip and die while crossing the street while texting that they’ll eventually rise up, beg their parents for some travel money, and take to the street fixing potholes. Occupy potholes! I imagine some one will have to develop an app first, though. It’s hard to work a shovel with one hand. Ooooh! Google self-shoveling shovel!

    Another blame Millenials

    Too many Pot holes? Blame Millenials

  34. phoenix1 says:

    31 Only in the USA…
    Need an antibiotic in Mexico- go to local pharmacy and buy it.

    Need one in the USA- Walmart has it for only–$4.00. That’s right, only $4.00.
    Ultra cheap, ultra safe, vetted by the F D A
    One problem, you can’t buy it without a $100.00 prescription……

  35. leftwing says:

    “your kid will be offered the option of letting grandma die vs keeping the inheritance”

    I’m already there. Living will, if I’m vegetative decision goes to counsel, not kids, with explicit instructions to pull the plug.

    Can’t imagine any worse ‘legacy’ for my kids than putting them through months of he11 – emotion and time – while I have tubes jammed up every orifice and the accounts get drained.

    If I kick today, bank the great memories and the money. Go out and have a nice filet and celebrate the good times.

  36. Juice Box says:

    re: # 2 6 – I like the idea of disposable homes. The Japaneses have perfected it, half of all homes in Japan are to be demolished within 38 year cycle. There is virtually no market for used crap-shacks in Japan. The have created a housing system creates where owning a home creates no wealth, the expectation is you will sell your home for less than you paid and it will be demolished, this creates lots of demand and jobs. Per capita there are twice as many construction workers and four times as many architects in Japan as the USA.

  37. chicagofinance says:

    Those girls dated the football players, but when they finished their B.S. in HDFS, it was time to settle down with a Theta Chi mensch……a good boy going to dental school or something……

    leftwing says:
    October 21, 2015 at 11:08 am
    Chi, LOL. More than one friend married a sister from there.

    Aggies? Farmers love fat calves……

  38. nwnj says:

    #28

    I was thinking more about the wall st legions inspired by a leeches like warren buffet.

    Clearly his strategy is to buy profitable companies with established workforces and look for ways to slash the workforces compensations while exploiting tax loopholes not available to non politically connected. That’s going on everywhere.

  39. Juice Box says:

    re @ 32- Pillows are a growth industry.

  40. Alex says:

    Millennials will try to fill the potholes with tweets.

  41. chicagofinance says:

    left: my neighbor in collegetown was a sister and she de-pledged saying that they were a bunch of jappy b!tches……anyway, she slapped me once because she was a fitness freak and I asked her whether she did kegel reps to have a muscular vag!na?

  42. Confirmed by WMT stock price.

    And in other “economic recovery” news, “Credit Suisse estimates that 25% of Americans are in this situation of a negative net-worth.”

  43. 1987 condo says:

    Ackman has some year with Herbal Life vs Valeant

  44. 1987 condo says:

    No Biden run

  45. 1987 condo says:

    Best way to win is to not run, ask Paul Ryan

  46. Libturd in Union says:

    Biden not running should be good for Sander’s. Expect the MSM to spin this and everything as a positive for the coattail rider.

  47. chicagofinance says:

    Stu: how much VRX did you have?

  48. Juice Box says:

    Icann backs Trump with $150 million super pac.

    “NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor activist Carl Icahn tweeted on Wednesday that he is forming a Super PAC with an initial commitment of $150 million, representing the biggest one-time injection of money in the history of such political action committees.

    Icahn, who supports presidential candidate Donald Trump, said he is targeting “inversions,” which occur when a company changes its domicile, often outside the United States, to take advantage of lower tax rates elsewhere.

    “Right now, as we speak, there are many companies planning to leave this country,” Icahn said in an interview with CNBC. “It’s so simple to do something about it, it’s a no-brainer.”

    Icahn said on CNBC that the incentive for companies to leave the U.S. via inversion deals could be eliminated by legislation allowing big companies to repatriate funds held offshore at a discounted tax rate – an approach also favored by Trump.”

    http://news.yahoo.com/icahn-launches-super-pac-150-million-biggest-one-155942174–sector.html

  49. Fast Eddie says:

    Millennials will try to fill the potholes with tweets.

    Top ten all time line ever posted on this blog.

  50. Libturd in Union says:

    ChiFi: none I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned them?

    I don’t own a single pharma, biotech, insurer, etc. Well I have some JNJ that I’ve owned forever, but that shouldn’t count.

    Club sold most of NVO today. Other club still owns some GILD, but I think we have opted to sell a bunch of that of as well recently.

  51. Libturd in Union says:

    My Pr1cel1ne call was pretty good. A1r Le@se, not so much.

  52. chicagofinance says:

    I had no VRX…nor ever……I was using insurer exposure (life) as a synthetic hedge for rising rates…..I got clipped a bit on that one…….trying to decide how much different pharmas and biotechs are merely being smacked around because of overuse of XLV/IBB versus something fundamentally wrong happening……

    Libturd in Union says:
    October 21, 2015 at 1:39 pm
    ChiFi: none I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned them?

    I don’t own a single pharma, biotech, insurer, etc. Well I have some JNJ that I’ve owned forever, but that shouldn’t count.

    Club sold most of NVO today. Other club still owns some GILD, but I think we have opted to sell a bunch of that of as well recently.

  53. Libturd in Union says:

    I agree. Those ETFs are most likely causing HFT-like effects on the underlying stocks. Especially when the ETFs are made up of so few of them.

  54. Libturd in Union says:

    I just looked and over 50% of IBB is made up of just 7 biotechs. If people are jumping in and out of IBB like a subway train, it certainly would negatively impact those 7 biotechs.

    The only ETFs I use are VUG, VO and VB. Currently, I’m only in VUG which is a little too overweighted in Apple, IMO. But the rest of it is made up of 100s of underlying issues.

  55. D-FENS says:

    @Mark_J_Perry: CHART: Compared to 50 years ago, the world in 2012 used 68% LESS land to produce the same amount of food. https://t.co/LN4aTRGsUl #capitalism

  56. phoenix1 says:

    58. Roundup is your friend….

  57. Juice Box says:

    re # 56 – Hasn;t the world population has grown 300% since 1965?

  58. yome says:

    In the end,it is about revenue

    Every year, police officers seize tens of thousands of rifles, shotguns, machine guns and other firearms from criminals across the country. While many agencies destroy these weapons, a growing number of police departments are selling them instead.
    And it’s not always by choice.
    Since 2009, at least 11 states have passed laws that either encourage or require police departments to sell seized or recovered guns — with some banning police from destroying guns altogether, according to an exclusive CNNMoney analysis of state laws.
    Such laws used to be far less common. While it’s hard to track exactly how many states have historically pushed police departments to sell seized guns, agencies in only a few states were actually forced to sell them prior to 2009. Kentucky was the first to ban the destruction of guns in 1998, a law that has served as inspiration for the recent wave of legislation.
    Behind this trend are powerful special interests like the National Rifle Association (NRA), which argues that the fear of these guns getting into the hands of criminals is “absurd” and part of an anti-gun agenda. It says that by destroying guns, police departments are not only eliminating perfectly functional weapons, but also throwing away a potential source of revenue.

    http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/21/news/police-selling-seized-guns/index.html?iid=hp-toplead-dom

  59. yome says:

    Everyone has seen the news stories about how Representative Paul Ryan, the leading candidate to be the next Speaker of the House, is a budget wonk. That should make everyone feel good, since we would all like to think a person in this position understands the ins and outs of the federal budget. But instead of telling us about how much Ryan knows about the budget (an issue on which reporters actually don’t have insight), how about telling us what Ryan says about the budget?

    It is possible to say things about what Ryan says, since he has said a lot on this topic and some of it is very clear. In addition to wanting to privatize both Social Security and Medicare, Ryan has indicated that he essentially wants to shut down the federal government in the sense of taking away all of the money for the non-military portion of the budget.

    This fact is one that is easy to find if a reporter is willing to do five minutes of research. Ryan directed the Congressional Budget Office to score his budget plans back in 2012. The score of his plan showed the non-Social Security, non-Medicare portion of the federal budget shrinking to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2050 (page 16).

    This number is roughly equal to current spending on the military. Ryan has indicated that he does not want to see the military budget cut to any substantial degree. That leaves no money for the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, The Justice Department, infrastructure spending or anything else. Following Ryan’s plan, in 35 years we would have nothing left over after paying for the military.

    Just to be clear, this was not some offhanded gaffe where Ryan might have misspoke. He supervised the CBO analysis. CBO doesn’t write-down numbers in a dark corner and then throw them up on their website to embarrass powerful members of Congress. As the document makes clear, they consulted with Ryan in writing the analysis to make sure that they were accurately capturing his program.

    So what percent of people in this country know that the next Speaker of the House would like to permanently shut down most of the government? What percent even of elite educated policy types even know this fact? My guess is almost no one, we just know he is a policy wonk.

    CEPR

  60. Ragnar says:

    Maybe this is the intellectual inspiration for the Maplewood Halloween school party ban:
    https://www.facebook.com/GaiasDancingIndigoChildren/photos/a.1000386693339003.1073741828.997352860309053/1085852148125790/?type=3&fref=nf

    Below a photo of little girls dressed up as an American Indian, Egyptian, and a gypsy is this delightful commentary:
    Please help support our campaign to make Halloween a safe, fun, tolerant and inclusive experience for all. We have already received an outpouring of support (despite some minor criticism from racists) and would like to take this opportunity to touch on cultural appropriation. A multicultural society cannot be achieved by white-colonists treating the cultures of those they dominate as a “dress up game.”. How would you feel if someone slaughtered and enslaved your ancestors, then generations later, their descendants treated your people as a costume? White-colonists don’t “borrow” from other cultures or pay homage to them. They destroy them, then claim them as their own. Good parents teach their children to respect others. Are you a good parent?

  61. Ragnar says:

    yome,
    Great, if only Paul Ryan was as willing and able to cut government as much as your propaganda suggests, he’d be the best Speaker of the past 30 years.
    And after that job is done, you can apply to the NJReport Friskies Food Bank for nutritional support.

  62. yome says:

    Get Big Government out of our lives
    Hurricane Katrina: Government response is to slow

  63. grim says:

    Icahn activist investor in usa.com? In it for the long haul? Surely he could have his ambassadorship to China with 1/3rd of that.

  64. grim says:

    33 – Broken windows?

  65. The Great Pumpkin says:

    That’s the reality. As much as everyone hates big govt, the minute a disaster hits, the majority look upon the govt like a god, praying for govt assistance. The really funny part about this situation is that all the govt haters suddenly have the biggest hands out. Never fails.

    yome says:
    October 21, 2015 at 4:51 pm
    Get Big Government out of our lives
    Hurricane Katrina: Government response is to slow

  66. chicagofinance says:

    You are a real rock-ribbed American…..

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    October 21, 2015 at 5:47 pm
    That’s the reality. As much as everyone hates big govt, the minute a disaster hits, the majority look upon the govt like a god, praying for govt assistance. The really funny part about this situation is that all the govt haters suddenly have the biggest hands out. Never fails.

    yome says:
    October 21, 2015 at 4:51 pm
    Get Big Government out of our lives
    Hurricane Katrina: Government response is to slow

  67. leftwing says:

    65. Bit my tongue but for a while have thought the same thing. That night originated with an earlier proposal from his economics minister that breaking windows and demolishing buildings would offer an opportunity for employment to idle masses. When the ethnicity of many of the insurers was discovered it took a different turn…

    Chi, good memories, poor Chapter House. You omitted, ever get a real answer on the muscles lol.

    Be up there Mon. Wish my guy luck.

  68. NJT says:

    Back in late 2011 after the hurricane my finished basement was…a disaster. Didn’t have the disposable dough to fix it up again ($30,000) and was wanting to sell before the storm (actually had a buyer). So, a few days later I’m at a ‘back to school’ night for the kiddies and the Mayor is there. He asks me: “Did you get your money yet?”. I asked him “What are you talking about, you getting looking to get re-elected?”. No he said “…Your money from FEMA”.

    Yup, Morris County was declared a ‘disaster’ zone and grants were being given out. Took about an hour online to apply (WOW, they know more about you than the IRS and FBI combined). Guy showed up to take pics. and I got a hefty check direct deposited three days later. Unbelievable! I guess someone likes me/us.

    At this point I think me and Uncle Sam are even.

    *The place was almost on top of a mountain (Greenpond/Copperas Ridge) and had NEVER flooded (Since 1955).

    Anyone else here apply for and get that grant?

  69. Libturd in Union says:

    I applied and got nothing.

  70. Juice Box says:

    Re: 69 – my mom got the same payout, a much smaller amount for Irene. The little ole lady club she belongs to all did the same. She is having her basement refinished this week finally, new french drains and sump plus sheet rock etc. That basement flodded every year since I was a kid, all we did was open the drain and sweep out the water, walls were paneling so we would just let it dry out back then.

  71. Alex says:

    49-

    Thanks Fast Eddie!

  72. Juice Box says:

    What kind of crap reporting is this? It was AOL not some server in the linen closet.

    “The hackers, who claim to have illegally accessed Brennan’s personal server last week, are believed to have supplied WikiLeaks with this information and are threatening to release more documents.”

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/21/politics/john-brennan-hacked-cia-director/index.html

  73. Juice Box says:

    Speaking of yield in mortgage investments.

    “Joshua Siegel is bringing back a version of one of the most toxic financial vehicles ever devised and arguing that this time it’s going to be different.

    His StoneCastle Financial is among the funds that are reviving the collateralized debt obligation, or CDO.

    CDOs stuffed with mortgages and their derivatives caused billions in losses around the world during the 2008 crisis. The CDO that StoneCastle put together is another kind. It’s backed by subordinated debt issued by about 35 community banks, some of them so small they don’t have credit ratings. Subordinated debt is paid off last in a bankruptcy, so issuers typically compensate buyers with higher yields than on other borrowings.

    Citigroup Inc., which completed the $250 million deal for New York-based StoneCastle this month, calls it a collateralized loan obligation, but it’s a structured security that walks and talks like a CDO. Moody’s Investors Service plans to give it a rating of A3, six grades below Aaa, according to people with knowledge of the deal. Bank bonds rated A typically yield 2.5 percent. Through the wonders of financial engineering, StoneCastle’s Community Funding CLO yields 5.75 percent.

    “A CDO is just another word for financing,” Siegel said in an e-mail. “What matters are what assets are being financed.”

    This isn’t the first time Siegel pooled small-bank debt into a structured financial product. At Salomon Smith Barney in the late 1990s, he proposed bundling banks’ trust-preferred securities, a predecessor to subordinated debt, into so-called TruPS CDOs.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-20/cdo-revival-led-by-hedge-funds-pinning-hopes-on-smallest-banks

  74. Juice Box says:

    If you skip the link “Through the wonders of financial engineering, StoneCastle’s Community Funding CLO yields 5.75 percent”

    I wonder who will get stuffed into this?

  75. Juice Box says:

    re # 64 – Nah Icahn is just bringing the white knuckles of Wall St into the game. Expect Trump to get more than Jeb, since well Jeb is dead.

  76. 1987 condo says:

    #56…nice how the math works out.

  77. Very interesting article! thanks, it was just what I was searching for!

  78. I sincerely appreciate this story and definitely hope see more posts like this one in the future!

  79. I really appreciate this article and very much hope see more posts like this one in the future!

  80. Noah says:

    Would you be fascinated by exchanging hyperlinks?

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