Tag Archives: The Cato Institute

A declaration by President Barack Obama to end the war in Iraq helped drown other news Friday, including apparent moves by the White House to float a housing finance stimulus plan in the next few weeks. Some of the initiatives currently under wraps include an expansion of the Home Affordable Refinance Program and a selloff in mortgage-backed bonds by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to invite private-sector investment back into the housing finance system. The Federal Housing Finance Agency plays a major role for either proposal.

Lawmakers called into doubt the role of the historic 30-year fixed-rate mortgage Thursday, with Senate committee witnesses alternately arguing for and against it. At issue: whether the benchmark loan, available since the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, stabilizes the housing finance system or weakens it. Witnesses alternately upheld and criticized the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, with the former characterizing it a buttress of wealth for homeowners and the latter calling for more consumer choice and clarifying its role in the crisis.

In a rare move, 37 state attorneys general backed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director-nominee Richard Cordray in a recent letter of support to Senate party leaders.

Following a better-than-expected jobs report Friday, emerging news reports suggested that the Obama administration could submit in full a controversial refinance proposal that sources say would allow eligible homeowners to refinance their mortgages at current rates. Government officials remain mum about exactly when officials and policymakers will see the proposal, but continue to offer snippets about their intentions for it. The one stumbling block for the proposal: the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency cut corners in the analysis it deployed to review and accept a $1.35-billion repurchase settlement from Bank of America over mortgage-backed securities for Freddie Mac, effectively ensuring that losses for the GSE would continue, according to a report released Tuesday by the agency's inspector general. The report concerns two buyback agreements between the mortgage giant and GSEs last year, with profit margins totaling $2.87 billion for the deal.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke again made waves Wednesday with an announcement that the central bank plans to sell $400 billion in short-term Treasuries to keep a heel on still-low interest rates and offset widespread fears that the U.S. economy may soon enter a downturn. The move follows successive efforts from the Fed, which more recently pledged to keep interest rates low until 2013. Speaking with MReport, economists largely panned the effort.

If recent remarks by Treasury adviser Raj Date signal anything, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau means to press forward with the responsibilities enshrined for it under the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB holdover, who filled the shoes of Elizabeth Warren, now a Senate candidate, explored events in the lead-up to the controversial bureau even as an unwavering Republican opposition holds the line. Assuming responsibility for 18 consumer financial laws, the CFPB has moved forward with rules and proposals.

President Barack Obama rolled out a $447 billion jobs bill and touted a major refinance proposal in a recent address, estimating that some 2.9 million homeowners could refinance their mortgages at current rates.

A confirmation hearing for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director-nominee Richard Cordray largely went as expected for the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday, with Democratic members defending the federal agency and Republicans heaping criticism on it. Lingering tensions found their way into exchanges between lawmakers from both parties, in and outside the committee room. For his part, Cordray used his opportunity before the Senate Banking Committee to reassure lawmakers about his intentions.

Partly in response to suits brought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Friday, stocks for a number of the 17 companies-turned-defendants sank Tuesday, with Deutsche Bank leading the way down midday. Market watchers across the country offered up their reactions, with some portending considerable fallout for the economy and others waving away notions that a settlement by the banks would weaken the housing recovery. Deutsche, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, and others all saw their shares decline Tuesday midday.