A Financial Reform Wish: End All Support for Housing Market

Tuesday was certainly an interesting day here in Massachusetts! Scott Brown pulled of what could be the biggest upset in history with his win. Congratulations to him and to the voters of the Commonwealth.

I have seen plenty of write ups saying this vote was a total repudiation of the Health Care bill and to an extent it was that. I have also read that this vote is a vote against President Obama and the Democrats. It was not that at all.

The core of the voter movement here was a general sickness over elected officials everywhere doing whatever they pleased with no regard for the will of the people. You have seen this across the nation and it is not relegated to a democrat / republican thing. TARP, AIG, Health Care backroom deals, multiple mortgage handouts for dead beats, the list goes on. Nobody wanted any of this and the government rammed it down out throat regardless. This has to change and I hope the message was heard around the country; No seat is safe if you have been or will be a party to these kinds of odious bills that nobody wants. [R], [I], or [D] will not save you.

Financial Reform Wishlist

"I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good
I wish I was the full moon shining off a Camaro's hood"

Pearl Jam "Wishlist"

I am feeling like maybe, possibly some real change could come on the financial end of things after the special election. I may be crazy, but I can have a wishlist!

I was thinking about this section today and it was funny because in one step all the ills of the financial system could be exposed and then the process of dealing with them could begin in earnest:

End All Support for the Housing Market

It can't be that simple, right? Well I did not say pleasant, but yes, the entire financial system hinges on government home price supports.

Consider the following points:

• We have no idea what mortgage rates would be in a "normal" market due to FED interference;
• Banks are STILL holding tons of mortgage debt at mark to myth prices based on the hope housing snaps back or they can sell them all off to the FED at par;
• The VAST majority of the country (including all you innocent renters getting royally screwed here) are not a party to failing mortgages and make their payments on time. The punishment of the masses for the misdeeds of the few is morally corrupt, and worse, encourages those weakest among us to play that system;
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the stash of foreign holders of much US debt and all the tap dancing done for those two firms is to support continued US debt buying. This needs to be discussed openly;
• The FHA has now become another repository for terrible loans and will result in yet another massive bailout. What next? Another acronym? How about an original idea?
• Under cover of "this is helping YOUR home keep its value" these games are really to help big banks avoid bankruptcy.

My only wish is for all government intervention in the housing market to end. This would cause all the problems, lies, balance sheet issues and hidden losses to come out in the open. The ripple effect would be enormous.

I am not a fool, and I understand that a move like this would cause "the end of the world as we know it" but I think we could get through it somehow. We may even find that it is the end of the world as THEY know it, and maybe that is worth the struggle.

The people responsible for the debt crisis have yet to be fully exposed, much less held accountable. Bondholders, investors, and defaulting mortgage holders have walked while the rest carry the load. This must end. There is no other one area or item that can enable the true financial reform process we need so badly to happen as powerful as the housing issue.

Jesse's Americain Cafe has some insights on how to deal with the banking issues today and I would point you here for a stirring read.