Even the WAPO knows it is the same policy

Obama's new Gitmo policy is a lot like Bush's old policy
By Dana Milbank
It was another important moment in the education of Barack Obama.

He began his presidency with a pledge to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay within a year. Within months, he realized that was impossible. And now he has essentially formalized George W. Bush's detention policy.

With Monday's announcement that the Obama administration would resume military tribunals at Gitmo, conservatives rushed out triumphant I-told-you-sos. Liberal supporters again felt betrayed. Administration officials had some 'splainin to do.

We can only hope the 'splainin is that he finally learned something.

Purim in Wisconsin? - Page 1 - Marvin Olasky - Townhall Conservative

Once again, it is all about the comments. This is the clearest explanation of the lies of the big government push for the unions in Wisconsin that I have found. Read the article, read the comments.

Commenter Big_D_ Wrote:

"Wisconsin is leading the charge -
I had the opportunity to listen in on a Tea Party Patriots conference call this evening, where I listened to a couple of GOP House members and the WI lieutenant governor, as well as several others, speaking about the current fight over fiscal responsibility being waged in Washington and in several state capitols.
One speaker was Bob Williams of Sunshine Review, who framed the real issue being addressed in Wisconsin more succinctly than I have heard it before.

The Unions, the Democrats, and the Media have a narrative that this is about viciously depriving union members of their right to collective bargaining. (more detail at http://www.statebudgetsolutions.org/issues/detail/unions)

This is a lie (ok, it is a gross misdirection of attention).

The most important part of the Wisconsin bill is restoring the right of personal free choice to Wisconsin citizens who are in state government jobs (including teachers). It stipulates that public employee unions must hold an annual election to reaffirm the will of their members to be organized. This is similar to, but different than, “Right to Work” which allows individuals in a union shop to opt in or out of the union.

That is what the whiners and fleebaggers are so afraid of. They aren’t afraid of providing more employee contributions for benefits—they already offered to do that. They aren’t really so afraid of the limited restrictions that would be placed on “collective bargaining”—specifically that they could no longer collectively bargain for benefits, or for salary that would outstrip the CPI. Remember, they are “collective bargaining” with themselves, via the people they get elected with their union money (except, thankfully, last November). Their employer—the taxpayer—is not in the collective bargaining room. This is the fundamental difference between public and private employee unions. So if there wasn’t “collective bargaining”, they could probably get what they want anyway.

Now they are organizing recall campaigns against GOP state senators, who have been doing their jobs as their constituencies elected them to do, while their Democrat fellows have been hiding outside of extradition range.

I think that if everyone understood these facts, and the imperative facing most states to cut spending or be bankrupt, the public outrage at this travesty of the Democrat power-brokers would be deafening.

You know that several other states are in early stages of doing the same, or similar, things. If Wisconsin prevails, it will embolden additional states to take this difficult but necessary step toward fiscal recovery.

ON WISCONSIN!!"
Purim in Wisconsin? - Marvin Olasky -

Be Bold, or Go Home - - Mike Needham - Townhall Conservative

As you can probably tell from these posts, Townhall Conservative is one of the blogs I check out daily. Some days they really hit home, some days not so much. Today they are hitting home. Go take a look at them, they post some really good stuff.
Be Bold, or Go Home - Mike Needham - Townhall Conservative

A Word of Warning for Hill Republicans -- Carol Platt Liebau - Townhall Conservative

I agree that most politicians, be they Republicans or Democrats, STILL. DON'T. GET. IT.
We, the American people have had it. Enough. Either get to work on the deficit,or get out. Once again, the comments are the most telling part. Read the comments.
A Word of Warning for Hill Republicans - Page 1 - Carol Platt Liebau - Townhall Conservative

Yep, Obama's G-Men Are Part of the Mexico Problem

The ATF put a lot of guns in the hands of Mexican cartel killers -- who killed with them. This is another story that broke on the conservative sites and blogs a few weeks ago and the mainstream media wouldn't touch because it indicted their Golden Boy. But now it's on CBS, so even the Liberals have had enough here.

Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico
ATF agent says "Fast and Furious" program let guns "walk" into hands of Mexican drug cartels with aim of tracking and breaking a big case
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml

Union Contracts, Not Pay, Are States’ Problem

A fair and balanced story from the New York Times. (Even a broke clock is right twice a day...) It is encouraging to read the level-headed comments that agree and see that clarity sometimes comes even to readers of the Times.

". . .It has become conventional wisdom to say that public sector unions are inherently problematic because they can use their political influence to win lavish pay from politicians. But that’s not quite right. The real problem with most union contracts for public workers is not the money — it’s almost everything else. "

Read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/business/02leonhardt.html?_r=1

Collective Bargaining for Public Employees is Wrong

Time to review the simple truth: Collective bargaining for public employees is wrong because it is a conflict of interest.

Management is elected -- often because of huge donations from the union that management will end up negotiating with. So the unions put their money behind the candidate that will make them the best deals. It is about deal making, not about public service and fiscal responsibility. Public employees should not be able to strike either.

It has happened and is happening. And many unions' overly-lucrative pensions (which are drowning states in debt) are the evidence. Pensions negotiated with people they had a strong hand in electing. It is the fox guarding the hen house as much as any conflict of interest in the private sector. The conditions that allow it to happen should not exist. That means no collective bargaining for public employees. It is that simple.

Furthermore, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin should say it loud and clear. Not hide behind his short-term budget goals.

Democratic congressman thinks the unions should ramp it up

Actually he says, "It's time to get bloody." From the NH Journal:

Dem Rep to unions: Time to get ‘bloody’
by Patrick Hynes

A Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts is raising the stakes in the nation’s fight over the future of public employee unions, saying emails aren’t enough to show support and that it is time to “get a little bloody.”
“I’m proud to be here with people who understand that it’s more than just sending an email to get you going. Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary,” Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Ma.) told a crowd in Boston on Tuesday rallying in solidarity for Wisconsin union members.
Capuano’s comments come at a time when there is heightened sensitivity to violent rhetoric in the wake of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-Az.) shooting in January.
Capuano is considered a leading contender to take on Sen. Scott Brown in 2012.
This is not Capuano’s first brush with violent rhetoric. Last month Capuano said, “Politicians, I think are too bland today. I don’t know what they believe in. Nothing wrong with throwing a coffee cup at someone if you’re doing it for human rights.”

You will notice I am using red for highlights today, I am seeing red over this type of politics going on in my United States of America.

We need some recruiters for our cause to combat this

I've seen this in scattered readings this morning but I am presenting the LA Times article here.  It is one of the most bold, aggressives moves I have ever seen to be put forward to keep our "grand leader" in place. 

Obama recruits an army of community organizers to carry his 'movement forward for years to come'
The community organizer who became president has launched a massive pre-reelection year campaign to assemble and train an army of new community organizers to carry Obama's "movement forward for years to come."

Strengthening "our democracy" presumably has something to do with reelecting the revered leader in 2012.

However, the recruiting message says nothing about politics or election campaigns and strangely talks in military terms of "a grassroots program that aims to put boots on the ground and help foster a new generation of leaders -- not just to help win elections but to strengthen our democracy in communities across the country."

The message about what it calls the "Summer Organizing Fellowship" adds: "Effective organizing doesn't happen in a vacuum. It takes commitment, time, and hard work to build a movement around a cause." It does not specify what the "cause" is, other than promoting Obama and his agenda.

News of the community organizer drive went out in an e-mail to millions of supporters and past donors Tuesday night by the ongoing arm of the Obama campaign, Organizing for America.

It appealed for workers of all ages to volunteer to undergo professional organizational training this summer for stationing in communities all over the nation to drive President Obama's social and political agenda.

The cadres "will be assigned to a specific community," the message informs, "where they'll work to organize supporters street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood."

Their job will involve recruiting additional Obama workers, running Obama-related events, knocking on doors to talk of Obama "and lay new groundwork to carry this movement forward for years to come."

"In the end," the Obama campaign appeal says of the community organizer corps, "their work will take our grassroots power to an impressive new level."

The appeal cites as one role model Nikki Giancola who underwent the training, then quit her middle school teacher's job to become a regional Obama field director and the satisfaction she felt "in helping millions of people."

Another community organizer, Paras Patel, tells of one unforgettable moment actually meeting the leader for whom they all labor, President Obama. "He shook my hand," Patel recounts, "and told me that he was proud of me."

No mention of an Obama organizer flag, uniform -- or salute.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Americans, be afraid, be very afraid.

It looks like gov't unions have lost the Washington Post

Three editorials from yesterday do not support them.

Our fiscal paradox: Governments too costly to function
by Michael Gerson

....To fund commitments made to the providers of services, services must be cut. So piles of money go to government pensions and benefits instead of roads, education or mental health services. This is one of the primary reasons the public resists tax increases. A tax increase used to provide an actual public service might have a shot at support. But a tax increase to prop up a system that consumes endless resources while cutting services is a harder sell.

Government pensions, an obesity epidemic
by Richard Cohen (definitely not from the Tea Party) key points:

....
Like Reagan, Walker has tapped into a feeling of disgust - the always-dangerous sense that you and I have played by the rules and saved for our modest retirements, while government workers, on our dime, have run off with pensions they do not deserve. We feel we have been played for a fool.
To their credit, some union leaders have recognized that they have gone too far. They have - or will - agree to givebacks, and the teachers unions are acknowledging that they have to do something about incompetents. (Still, if there are cutbacks, it will be done by seniority - meaning some very good but young teachers will be let go.)
......
It was one thing when unions went after giant corporations run by guys who played golf at restricted clubs. But when it comes to government workers, we are the boss and we pay the bill. To quote what Sam Spade told the woman he loved in the "The Maltese Falcon," "I won't play the sap for you." When it comes to public-sector unions, my sentiments exactly.

Public employees must help rein in unaffordable pension and benefits costs
(they are really getting strong on the position in this editorial) key paragraph:

If the government-employee union movement wants to retain public sympathy and support, it must show definitively that it understands why so many people who are not Tea Party Republicans nevertheless worry about the cost of state and local pay and benefits. After all, Democratic officials - from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo - have also targeted unsustainable personnel costs. No one should demonize public employees, who by and large are as hardworking as their private-sector counterparts. But efforts to rein in unaffordable public-sector compensation are not necessarily an attack on workers and their rights. Public-sector workers and their unions should help lead the national search for equitable, creative solutions to the fiscal crisis of the states and local governments.

Obama has shown his true colors in more than one way this week

The Wisconsin fiasco as orchestrated by the Democratic Party and approved by him has just about overshadowed what he was planning to do in the United Nations by comdemning Israel.  Here are some articles about both.

‘Class War is Here’: Video of Socialists Rallying in Wis. Supports Beck’s Theory - from Glenn Beck's The Blaze

Wisconsin Madness as Seen by the ‘Little People’
No longer basking in the glow of the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl victory, my friends on the other side of the Illinois/Wisconsin border are positively beside themselves at the insane behavior of their public servants. Pajama's Media

Obama and unions: Many in labor movement frustrated with president - read all of this one, they are frustrated not with his stance with the union but for overseas jobs. His
Wisconsin/Union stance is just fine.

US vetoes UN resolution on Israeli settlements- Washington Post

The U.N. veto and the real headline -Washington Post opinion by Jennifer Rubin
The final paragraph tells the whole story:
Sure, the U.N. once again has proven itself to be a hot-bed of anti-Israel rhetoric. But let's be clear what really happened this week. The U.S. representative, while reluctantly casting a veto, joined the pack of jackals that seek to make Israel the culprit for all that ills the Middle East. Shouldn't THAT be the headline?

About that oil and gas decision I just mentioned --

This was in the Washington Examiner.

Federal judge to Salazar: Stop stalling drilling permits
By: Mark Tapscott

Federal District Judge Martin Feldman today gave President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar 30 days to act on five applications seeking permits to drill in the Gulf of Mexico submitted months ago by a Louisiana firm.

In issuing the directive to the government, Feldman, who sits on the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisian, noted that "it is undisputed that before the Deepwater Horizon disaster, permits were processed, on average, in two weeks’ time. In stark contrast, the five permits at issue have been pending from four to some nine months."

The permits were sought by Ensco Offshore, which is based in Broussard, LA. Virtually no new drilling has occurred in the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, despite the fact the U.S. depends upon drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico for roughly a third of its oil and natural gas.

When that third isn't produced, it has to be replaced and that means more OPEC oil being imported by the U.S. and more of our dollars going to the international cartel. Unfortunately, Feldman doesn't seem optimistic that things are going to improve any time soon:

"It is also undisputed that these delays have put off indefinitely drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Ensco has incurred significantly reduced standby rates on its rigs and has been forced to move some of its rigs to other locations around the world. It is unclear when Gulf drilling will resume. The government’s assurances have been inconsistent."

Read more at the Washington Examiner

Equal Protection from the Obamacare bill

This is what I have been thinking since I first heard of any waivers from the law for certain states, then for certain people.  That is definitely not equal protection.  Dedroy Murdock addresses that issue in an article in National Review.

Unequal Protection You Can
Believe In
Obamacare waivers violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

Twenty-eight of these United States — encompassing 164 million people, 53 percent of America’s population, and 285 Electoral College votes — are suing the federal government to stop Obamacare. This litigation challenges the constitutionality of Obamacare’s mandate that individuals purchase health insurance. The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to decide, once and for all, whether the Constitution’s Commerce Clause empowers Congress to force Americans to conduct commerce.

Shattering the Obamacare Death Star, however, may require slamming it from multiple directions. Hence, an additional legal strategy should address this law’s apparent violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause — which explicitly applies to the states, but which the Supreme Court has more or less hitched onto the federal government as well.

Obamacare is not being enforced equally at all. As of February 9, the Obama administration had granted 915 waivers, mainly to influential organizations, major companies, and pro-Democratic labor unions. Those less lucky or less well connected have a different option: Obey Obamacare.

Read the whole article.

Do they really not understand the Vinson Ruling or are they just playing games.

I'm pretty sure they are just playing games.   They have ignored the ruling and know they have crossed a constitutional boundary in not just the Obamacare case but in the oil drilling debacle in Louisiana. Read this.

Feds ask Florida judge to clarify meaning of health care ruling

(NewsCore) - The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to clarify the immediate impact of his ruling last month that declared the new health care law unconstitutional, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

US District Court Judge Roger Vinson in Florida, considering a challenge to the health care overhaul by a group of 26 states, ruled Jan. 31 that the entire law must be declared void. Judge Vinson found only one part of the law unconstitutional -- the provision requiring individuals to carry health coverage or pay a penalty -- but he said it was impossible to disentangle that part from the rest of the law.

If I can understand that  part why can't the administrations lawyers?

Texas has a lot of Energy and Energy Politics

This is strictly a Texas Issue- do we combine some of our agencies; do away with others; or live with the status quo?  This is from the Texas Tribune.

Energy or Railroad: Are the Politics Different?
by Ross Ramsey
What’s in a name?

Every two years, political reporters here haul out the story explaining that the Texas Railroad Commission has little to do with trains and everything to do with the oil and gas business. But that’s a little-known thing in the greater community, where work and kids’ soccer and grocery bills are of more immediate concern. It’s not like the label tells you what’s in the box. And, besides, trains are kind of cool.

But lawmakers are considering a list of changes at the agency, including the name — to the Oil & Gas Commission or to the Texas Energy Commission. Another proposal would cut the number of elected commissioners from three to one, focusing all of the attention on one election every four years. That would raise the political profile of the office and would give voters a hint at what they’re deciding.

This is just a hint of what is going on. Go to the Tribune site and read the article. Then take a look at the rest of the site.

VDH - on the decline

Decline is in the Mind
It’s over? Really?

In the last two years, we have a heard a constant litany of “decline,” as in America is over as it once was. Fifth-century AD Rome is often evoked, as are the contemporary economic miracles in China and India to “prove” inevitable American waning. A few of the more imaginative declinists see us as Justinian’s Byzantium, a crumbling power vainly trying to hold on to a world long lost, with a Detroit no different from a half-populated failing Byzantine city in the Levant. This time around — remember our past serial crushing by the supposedly superior Soviet system of the 1950s, the Japanese, Inc. ascendancy of the 1970s, the EU soft power dominance of the 1980s, and the present Chinese supermen of the 21st century — we really, really, really are through, as if semi-literate suburban lounging American teens, with baggy pants, ears plugged with hip-hop, and sleeve tattoos will soon be slaving away to satisfy their new growling Tiger Mom People’s Republic bosses.


The gloomy prognoses come from both the anguished conservative who sees the culprit as the erosion of American individualism and self-reliance, and the new Obama coalition that thinks a sense of exceptionalism abroad is synonymous with arrogance and imperialism, and at home was symptomatic of an inherent unfairness, a downright mean country that, thank god, had to change. The one gags at the foul whiff of decline, the other sees it as an aroma of welcome reset. Both confess it is here, both unwelcomed and welcomed.

For the conservative, the depressing symptoms are staggering debt, as in the Obama administration plans to equal all the red ink of all prior administrations in nearly five or six years of planned governance (at $1.6 trillion a year that is not a hard thing to do). Surely, the president’s legacy for the next quarter-century will be ubiquitous line graphs and pie charts proving in an eye blink that the Obama administration was the mother of all borrowers. There is more, of course. We awoke one morning and suddenly General Motors was analogous to the Postal Service, its suspect, now politically incorrect competitors the far better run Fed-Ex-like Toyota or Ford. Abroad the bows, the apologies, the euphemisms for terrorism, the realignment to embrace enemies and snub friends, the deer-in-the-headlights, make-it-up-as-you-go-along diplomacy — all that was the unfortunate result of a larger desire to take the U.S. down a needed peg or two in a new multilateral fashion.

In this present age, no one in this administration in the abstract can explain why Israel is a more humane place than Syria — and why that fact deserves our preference. Or why Japan plays more by the rules than does China, or why Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic deserve our empathy and support in a way Russia does not. Or why a jail in Guantanamo is more humane than any outside the fence in Cuba. (In truth, the inmate at Gitmo has access to better food, health care, and freedom of religion than the “free” man in Castroland). In short, traditionalists are aghast at the last two years, and see it as a sort of gangrene that has spread from a long festering but heretofore treatable old wound.

I really didn't plan to copy this much of it, but there is more, much more. Go read it all.

Liberal, thy name is Irony.

One of my favorites, Richard Fernandez, writes his Belmont Club in Pajamas Media now. Today he takes on liberal irony.

Context Change
The Berkeley City Council, after passing a resolution calling for the resettlement of detainees released from Guantanamo in the United States, voted against inviting such persons to live in their fair city, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Earlier, an organization called “Move America Forward, proposed in a statement that Berkeley City Council members ‘go live in GITMO where they can hang out with hundreds of terrorists.’ The group said it would pay for their air fare.”

Meanwhile, Nir Rosen, who scoffed at Lara Logan’s assault in Tahrir Square, was fired from his position as fellow at the NYU’s Center on Law and Security. Jim Geraghty at the National Review says he never thought to see the day, but is glad the Center on Law and Security did it anyway. {read this part here]
.....
Why the outbreak of reason? A succession of recent events, from the financial crisis to the wave of unrest sweeping the Middle East, has created a new sense of mortality in everyone. Dick Morris, in an article titled “The Damage Obama Has Done,” presents a table, which while not entirely the best source for identifying the various factors which went into causing the change, nevertheless gets the point across: reality hurts. For all its shortcomings, Morris’ table best explains our new psychological world.

Be sure to read Morris' blog here.

The Corner takes on the Muslim Brotherhood; talks about Christie;

They usually have some good stuff.  Today is no exception. 

The Real Face of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Delusions of Its Supporters
by Ron Radosh

Much has been written about the Muslim Brotherhood in the past few weeks, and for good reason. Since no one disputes that at present they are the most organized and ready-to-go political force in Egypt, there exists sound worry that they are well placed to assume power — if not immediately, then in the near future.

At present, the Brotherhood leaders pledge to not seek a presidential candidate and to be content with having a place at the table, as they do in the coalition that is meeting to write a new Egyptian constitution.

Their apparent stance of moderation is leading many pundits to proclaim that they are not a threat, that they remain but one force in an Egypt whose rebellion was sparked by non-Islamist and even secular-minded Egyptians, mainly composed of the country’s youth. Some have argued that their position has been exaggerated by those dreadful neo-cons who wish only to find a new reason to extend America’s imperial reach in the region, and who want our country to be the power guiding and later putting in place the kind of government friendly to U.S. interests.

Read the rest here.

‘Put Up or Shut Up’: Christie Takes on Entitlements, Obama, and the House GOP
by Daniel Foster

New Jersey governor Chris Christie said today he believed President Obama was “missing an historic opportunity” “to do the big things” that will right the course of the country for the next generation.

“I look at what’s happening in Washington right now and I’m worried,” Christie told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute, after an introduction from Henry Olsen that described him as “the most consequential governor of New Jersey in at least 100 years.” He said the president’s speech in Arizona had encouraged him that Obama had the momentum to deliver a State of the Union address that would tackle difficult issues. He even “feared as a Republican” that the president would use the speech to “cement reelection.”

“What I was looking for that night was for my president to stand up there and challenge me,” Christie said. Instead, Obama focused on “investments” (Christie used air quotes) like high-speed rail and electric cars, calling them “the big things” (a phrase, Christie noted, that he had used in his own State of the State speech two weeks prior).

“Ladies and gentlemen, that is the candy of American politics. That’s not the big things,” Christie said.

The big things, according to Christie, are entitlements: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Read it all.  Sign up for their daily newsletter, they will send you all the links.

How many more were there?

By now you all know about the CBS reporter, Laura Logan, being brutally assaulted during the uprising in Cairo. She was saved by some good people who were Muslims  and did not approve of the assault, and by about 20 police officers of the same mind. It occurs to me to wonder how many Muslim and Christian women are assaulted every day, and during that series of events, who were not saved, those whom we did not hear about? 

We read of the terrible toll taken by rape victims in those countries.  The Now women seem not to notice. the honorable Laura Bush addressed those issues.  What have we heard from the liberal women of the world? Nothing, so far as I can see.

Bye bye Frannie, Bye bye Freddie

Is a little reason actually coming from the administration?  This would indicate it may be.  Maybe some of the adults are giving advice nowadays.  The Washington Post has these articles.  Guess I should go check out what the New York Times is saying about it.

Obama report on Fannie, Freddie plan may boost mortgage rates
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Brady Dennis

The Obama administration wants to raise fees for borrowers and require larger down payments for home loans as part of a long-term effort to restructure the nation's housing market. But it warned that these measures could boost mortgage rates and make it harder for home buyers to secure the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, a mainstay of American home buying for decades. 


In a long-awaited white paper, the administration said it intends to wind down the federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and curtail the Federal Housing Administration to help reduce the government's outsized role in mortgage funding.

The housing finance system, which has ensured that Americans can get home loans, came crashing down in the financial crisis, helping fuel millions of foreclosures and the recession.

Obama administration proposals to reduce federal role in housing market
By Dina ElBoghdady

The future of Fannie and Freddie
The White House is going to propose a range of options to reform Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the mortgage market, which could cause changes to the face of American housing.

The Obama administration is pressing to scale back the federal government's role in the mortgage market. On Friday, it presented Congress with several proposals that would raise the costs of federally backed loans, a move designed to help the private sector better compete with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. Here are some highlights from the administration's report:

FEES

-NOW: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac negotiate "guarantee fees" with lenders. Those fees are usually included in the interest rates paid by borrowers. When borrowers fall behind or default on their mortgages, Fannie and Freddie use these fees to pay their mortgage bond holders. As for the Federal Housing Administration, it charges borrowers an annual premium that is used to compensate lenders for loans gone bad.

- LATER: The administration proposes raising guarantee fees over the next several years, which would boost interest rates on loans backed by Fannie and Freddie. Starting April 18, the FHA will raise its annual premium by a quarter-percentage point. For the vast majority of loans, the premium will rise from 0.9 percent to 1.15 percent. That means that a borrower who takes out a $170,000 mortgage (the average FHA loan size) would pay an extra $34 a month.

There is much more explanation, read it here.

Here is the startling part:(Didn't they start this mess?)

It's all about Dodd-Frank
By Ezra Klein

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be wound down. The government will continue to use taxpayer money to make it cheaper and safer for Americans to take out mortgages on home purchases. The administration is offering a range of options for how that commitment will be structured in the future, as they don't want to commit to any one path only to see the Republicans tear them apart for it. Those, I think, are the headlines out of the Treasury Department's new report on the future of housing finance. But I'd add one more: The implementation of Dodd-Frank really, really matters.

More here.

This from a Federal Reserve Member:

Federal Reserve board member: U.S. investigation into mortgage servicing has found 'widespread weakness'
By Ariana Eunjung Cha

The preliminary results of a multi-agency federal review of the mortgage industry has found "widespread weaknesses" that impair the function of the housing market and hurt consumers, according to Federal Reserve board of governors member Sarah Bloom Raskin.

"We have reached the point where this sign of failure is hindering our economy's ability to rebound," Bloom Raskin said in remarks prepared for delivery to mortgage finance executives at a conference in Utah Friday evening.

Bloom Raskin said that she has seen "little to no evidence of improvement" until now despite the government scrutiny and that things remain similar to when the crisis began in 2007.

Bloom Raskin offered what she called her "initial thoughts on how to rebuild an important but currently dysfunctional sector of the housing market."


One of the major problems, she said, is that mortgage servicing operates on a "flawed business model that creates misaligned incentives."

For instance, she said servicers are paid on an annual fee basis by loan originators but that means that they are being paid too much when the loans are current but perhaps not enough when the loans are delinquent because there are additional costs associated with managing troubled loans.

"The current model also rests on the expectation that, in good times, servicers are using some of the residual income to build out systems and procedures to handle the pressures that come with worse times," she added. "Unfortunately, as we have seen, this has not happened."

Bloom Raskin also suggested that the pooling and servicing agreements that govern securitized mortgages should be more detailed about what a servicer can or cannot do: "They should explicitly allow for loan modifications and other non-foreclosure workout actions when they are determined to lead to a smaller loss to the investor than would a foreclosure."

Bloom Raskin called on "relevant private sector actors need to think beyond their bottom line and focus on how their firms' actions are or are not contributing to the economic recovery."

While Bloom Raskin said in her speech that she did not want to dwell on how the industry came to such a crisis and instead focus on solutions, she did take some time to issue a harsh reprimand to mortgage brokers, loan originators, loan securitizers, sub-prime lenders, Wall Street investors and ratings agencies whose "selfish free-for-all," she said, "ultimately led to an economic slide the effects of which are still visible in the boarded-up houses and sheriffs' foreclosure notices posted all over America.

It's interesting to see there is some logical reasoning going on.  But nowhere have I see it said on the Washington Post that the government wishing to "spread the wealth" and create more homeowners caused the problem.  Somehow maybe they have gotten the message that people who cannot afford homes should not buy them.