News Headline

Democrats think Obama's playing tax-cut extension fight well

Liz Rose — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:15:48 -0500

Robert Borosage was quoted in an article in the Miami Herald about the debate to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Reporters David Lightman and Leslie Clark wrote, "progressive Democrats and independent analysts say it's a different chapter: The stakes of the showdown aren't as high and liberals say the administration is showing a strengthened presidential spine.
"`He's made a change in his own strategy after the debt-limit debacle - after making concessions and every time being spit in the face, he's decided enough of that,' said Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, a liberal group. "I think he feels he's in a much stronger position to carry this forward."

TARP expected to cost U.S. only $25 billion, CBO says

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:45:17 -0500

The Troubled Assets Relief Program, which was widely reviled as a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street titans, is now expected to cost the federal government a mere $25 billion - the equivalent of less than six months of emergency jobless benefits.

A new report released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the cost of TARP has plummeted since its passage in October 2008, when policymakers thought that the world stood on the brink of an economic meltdown.

Bank Of America Tries To Frame Foreclosure-Gate As Simply A Case Of Misspelled Names

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 11:05:27 -0400

Since the foreclosure fraud scandal — in which banks were caught allowing “robo-signers” to approve potentially fraudulent foreclosure forms — first hit the national airwaves, Wall Street banks have been trying to downplay the extent of the problem, claiming that it only has to do with paperwork mistakes and not a compete disregard for due process and property rights. Wells Fargo and Citigroup both refused to implement foreclosure moratoriums despite their associations with robo-signers, and Bank of America and Ally Financial have both lifted their respective moratoriums.

Epitomizing the banks’ attempt to turn this into a story about mistaken paperwork — and not one about improperly throwing people out of their homes — Bank of America has come forth with an admission that it made “some mistakes” in its foreclosure process, but insists that they are “relatively minor”

If GOP wins, Expect More Obstruction

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:14:34 -0400

I'm cautious about the conventional wisdom that the Democratic Party is about to get flattened by a Republican steamroller. Pollsters are less certain than they'd like you to believe about who's a "likely voter" and who isn't. It's easy to imagine how Democrats, facing near-unanimous predictions of a wipeout, could bestir themselves to narrow the enthusiasm gap by just enough to turn a potential "wave" election into a regular midterm setback for the party in power.

Sorkin: Felix Rohatyn Looks Back, and Sighs

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:51:14 -0400

Felix G. Rohatyn, one of Wall Street’s last old wise-men, was sitting in his office at Lazard overlooking the Empire State Building on Monday morning.

At 82, Mr. Rohatyn has quite a history: he helped save New York City from bankruptcy in the 1970s, advised RJR Nabisco on its sale to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in the 1980s and sold Columbia Pictures to Sony in the 1990s before becoming ambassador to France under President Bill Clinton. In the last decade, he returned to Wall Street, first to Lehman Brothers and now to his longtime home, Lazard.

Mr. Rohatyn, whose revealing memoir, “Dealings: A Political and Financial Life” (Simon & Schuster), comes out in two weeks, is a proud man and has a lot to be proud of.

The New Tax Man: Big Banks and Hedge Funds

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:49:35 -0400

Nearly a dozen major banks and hedge funds, anticipating quick profits from homeowners who fall behind on property taxes, are quietly plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into businesses that collect the debts, tack on escalating fees and threaten to foreclose on the homes of those who fail to pay.

How Do We Judge the Homeowner?

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:46:16 -0400

In the rush to foreclosure, the banks and even government officials have been taking the position that the borrower/homeowners are fully to blame for the situations they find themselves in and that the paperwork technicalities just need to be worked out in order for there to be a just outcome, which is to say, a foreclosure.

The Washington Post's Entry in the "How Many Big Things Can You Get Wrong in a Short Article?" Contest

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:43:58 -0400

The Washington Post appears to have outdone itself in a discussion of the politics surrounding the foreclosure crisis. For beginners, it told readers that:

"Reviving the economy requires repairing the housing market."

What does the Post possibly think it means by this statement? Does it mean that reviving the economy means re-inflating the housing bubble? That's a novel economic theory. Maybe they should find an economist who won't laugh at it.

Bondholders Pick a Fight With Banks

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:39:39 -0400

As banks restart foreclosures they had suspended, bondholders are stepping up efforts to recoup losses on soured mortgage portfolios amid concern about sloppy mortgage servicing and underwriting practices.
In a letter Monday, a group of institutional bond investors raised objections to the handling of 115 bond deals issued by affiliates of Countrywide Financial Corp., acquired by Bank of America Corp. in 2008.

Foreclosure Fortune Buys Bugatti, Yacht, Mansions for Attorney

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:38:02 -0400

For Americans, the foreclosure crisis has wiped out fortunes, bringing destitution and homelessness. For Florida attorney David J. Stern, it has brought mansions, a Bugatti sports car and a luxury yacht. Florida has the third-highest residential foreclosure rate in the U.S., and Stern, 50, has made a fortune off the bust. His foreclosure-processing business has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue preparing documents for the cases that his law firm brings on behalf of lenders seeking to reclaim homes from borrowers who can’t pay their mortgages.