Viddler > All tags- subprime for seeprogress

Mortgages Are Troubled Assets - Rescuing the Economy

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:09:00 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/11/barr_mortgage_crisis_testimony.html Andrew Jakabovics of the Center for American Progress explains that the about face by Treasury Secretary Henry (Hank) Paulson misses the mark -- the troubled US mortgage markets are the root of the international financial crisis.

By seeprogress

Tags : bush, economy, money, mortgage, paulson, street, subprime, wall

Rescuing the Economy: The U Turn

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:35:01 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/11/restoring_confidence.html Michael Ettlinger of the Center for American Progress offers his thoughts on the Treasury's about face on the economic rescue plan as President-elect Barack Obama and a new Congress will take office in less than 70 days amid the greatest financial market and economic challenges our nation has faced since the Great Depression. The economy is likely in a recession—one that could be a long and deep. We are engaged in two wars overseas. Skyrocketing health care costs are consuming too great a share of our economy and threatening to create an unsustainable national debt. Our continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels exposes our economy to volatile oil prices and supply disruptions as well as the potentially catastrophic costs of climate change in the coming decades. Aggressive action is needed to restore economic confidence and growth. We need action now to stimulate the economy, starting at once and lasting as long as necessary. Immediate government investments can put us on a path to recovery while also speeding the arrival of accessible, affordable health care, an economy powered with clean, sustainable, and secure sources of energy, and an education system that prepares our children for good jobs and keeps good jobs in America. These steps will help the economy through a period of economic weakness and lay the foundation for shared economic growth in the decades to come. These investments in economic stimulus and recovery will contribute to a higher budget deficit in the short term. But we cannot be penny wise and pound foolish. Strong economic growth will do far more to put us on the path of fiscal health than shortchanging needed investments today.

By seeprogress

Tags : american, bush, credit, debt, ettlinger, greenspan, invest, market, money, mortgage, paulson, progress, street, subprime, treasury, wall

The Economic Crisis - No Bailout - Now What?

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:16:03 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/conservatives_pain.html http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/real_solutions.html Michael Ettlinger of the Center for American Progress offers his take on the latest news out of Washington and the financial markets after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President George W. Bush yesterday failed to convince a majority of their own party in Congress that the consequences of failing to pass their $700 billion financial rescue package could be catastrophic for the U.S. economy. The American people over the next few days will catch a glimpse of the consequences in financial markets, at their hometown banks, and at their jobs, but should congressional inaction persist we may not experience the full brunt for a month or more. That?s why these next few days will be so telling. If those who opposed the rescue package in Congress do not feel responsible for the leading edge of the problems they have allowed to grow?as prices fall, borrowing costs rise, and more and more small- to medium-sized companies and financial institutions are unable to access credit?then they are unlikely to change their minds about the bailout plan. If their constituents do not get antsy as the problems of Wall Street start to spread to the companies they work for and to their own access to credit, and they do not demand action?no action may be forthcoming. Will the financial markets spook enough of the dissenters to change their vote on the bill, which fell only 12 votes shy of passage? That probably depends most immediately on how dramatic the reaction is in the commercial paper market, which was largely done with trading yesterday before the bailout bill went down to defeat. This vital credit marketplace?where companies tap short-term credit to smooth out their cash flow needs to make payroll and pay suppliers in a timely fashion?could react sharply today. This morning?s record high for the benchmark

By seeprogress

Tags : bailout, bank, bush, congress, credit, debt, economy, lending, market, mccain, money, mortgage, obama, paulson, pelosi, republican, rescue, street, subprime, taxpayer, wall

Resucing the Economy - Neither Fair Nor Effective

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:22:02 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/fair_nor_effective.html Ed Paisley of the Center for American Progress shares his thoughts on the unprecedented economic bailout being planned by the federal government. Unless U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson?s first stab at a $700 billion rescue of the global financial system is revised to incorporate restructuring troubled mortgages, it will be neither fair nor effective. Paulson?s draft legislation attempts to rescue the balance sheets of Wall Street but does almost nothing for homeowners on Main Street. That?s a fundamental flaw. The U.S. housing market won't recover without restructuring of underlying mortgages that are troubled. Global credit markets will not respond to this exceedingly expensive plan unless we get our fundamentals right. Moreover, taxpayers will be saddled with increasingly worthless paper as many of the underlying mortgages fail. The Paulson plan demonstrates a disturbing disconnect between the ?mortgage-related assets? that taxpayers? $700 billion is being used to purchase and the necessary restructuring of the troubled mortgages themselves. Many hard-working Americans are having trouble paying on their mortgages, which in turn is driving down the value of their neighbors? homes across the country. Tens of millions of families have seen their home values plunge through no fault of their own. Nearly 1 in 10 American households?roughly 5 million?have a mortgage that is either in default or facing foreclosure. These are the families still struggling to pay their mortgage even after the earliest subprime borrowers have already lost their homes. Without provisions expressly aimed at helping these borrowers restructure their mortgages with the assistance of the federal government or through judicial modification, this grand plan to buy "toxic" assets from the financial institutions that engineered this market meltdown will not help the U.S. housing market rec

By seeprogress

Tags : american, bank, credit, debt, economy, fed, lehman, merrill, money, mortgage, progress, progressive, street, subprime, wall

Is the Housing Crisis Over? ASK THE EXPERT

Thu, 29 May 2008 05:24:05 GMT

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/05/helping_homeowners.html Andrew Jakabovics of the Center for American Progress sits down with our cameras for this latest installment in CAP's ASK THE EXPERT SERIES to answer these questions: Is the housing crisis over? What does the congressional legislation do and will it help? And what's left to be done?

By seeprogress

Tags : american, cap, credit, debt, estate, finance, house, jakabovics, money, mortgage, progress, real, realtor, subprime

Cut Poverty By 50% in 10 Years - www.HalfInTen.org

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:55:17 GMT

http://www.halfinten.org/index.html Half in Ten plans to reduce poverty in the United States by 50 percent within 10 years. Under the leadership of Senator John Edwards, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN), and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), have joined forces on the campaign to: (1) Elevate and sustain a focus on the situations facing the poor and middle class today (2) Build and strengthen an effective constituency to demand legislative action on poverty and economic mobility (3) Advance specific legislative and policy proposals that will deliver real benefits to struggling American families For more information on how to reduce poverty in America, see From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half by the Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty.

By seeprogress

Tags : american, credit, debt, economy, edwards, job, john, money, politics, poverty, progress, subprime

The R Word - What do YOU think about the US Economy?

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:20:03 GMT

American families are feeling the pressure of a tightening economy from all sides. They are burdened with massive amounts of debt that have become harder to handle due to accelerated house price drops and the stagflationary nature of the downturn. Jobs are going away, wages are flat, and benefits are disappearing, while prices are skyrocketing everywhere. Just like a balloon squeezed from all sides, family finances are increasingly being burst. And the overall economic outlook doesn't help. Massive trade deficits pose a drain on our national resources, slowing innovation means that we are generating less of what we need, and long-term budget deficits due to tax cuts for the rich are preventing the government from addressing the economic needs of America's families. THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS www.americanprogress.org

By seeprogress

Tags : bernanke, budget, bush, credit, debt, economy, fed, finance, foreclosure, mortgage, recession, subprime, wall

How Low Can You Go? The Housing Crisis Gets Worse

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:18:15 GMT

Who is being affected by the housing crisis? What are the broader economic consequences of the housing crisis? What should we do to stabilize the housing market?

By seeprogress

Tags : crediit, debt, economy, estate, finance, foreclosure, house, jakabovics, money, mortgage, progressive, real, subprime