Say Anything Blog

As recently as yesterday.

Remarks yesterday by Republican Kit Bond who’s opposing the Countrywide bailout bill.

BOND: While I would like to keep as many homeowners in their homes as possible, this strategy is more likely to result in a large bailout for lenders, while protecting a very limited number of borrowers.

In particular, [the Congressional Budget Office] estimates that under this program, quote, “Mortgage holders would have an incentive to direct their highest-risk loans to the program,” close quotes. For a modest write-off, lenders who were in a number of cases either fraudulent or negligent in their treatment of borrowers will be able to clear out many of their problem loans.

At the same time, CBO estimates that the cumulative default of the home program would be about 35 percent, meaning that one out of every three loans refinanced would fail. Creating a new federal program that takes on the worst of the worst subprime loans, which will hurt [the Federal Housing Administration] and ultimately the taxpayers, is extremely troubling.

I wonder if they can count on the support of Kent Conradwide?  Well there were two procedural votes yesterday on the issue.  On the one to refer the item back to committee (to delay or kill it I suppose) Kent didn’t vote.  Is that why we sent him to Washington to NOT vote for issues of the state.  I realize that he probably did that because he’s in a no win situation BUT who put himself in that position?

Conrad’s unethical pandering for a bargain loan has hurt North Dakota by removing our vote from the Senate in this instance.  Certainly we can tolerate that once, but who’s at fault?  Kent Conradwide.