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http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/13/obama-drops-veto-hammer-republicans-plans-gut-wall-street-reform.htmlObama Drops The Veto Hammer On Republican Plans To Gut Wall Street Reform
By: Jason Easley
Monday, April, 13th, 2015, 7:28 pm
President Obama threw cold water on Republican plans to gut Wall Street reform and consumer protections by threatening to veto both GOP bills if they should reach his desk.
The White House first threatened to veto a Republican bill that would allow manufactured housing lenders to raise the cost of loans to consumers:
The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 650, which would weaken key consumer protections and provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Because H.R. 650 would weaken key consumer protections and provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, if the President were presented with H.R. 650, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.
Immediately after the veto threat on H.R. 650 the White House followed up by threatening to veto H.R.685 that would also weaken consumer protections for people who are buying a home:
A fundamental component of Wall Street Reform is its requirement that lenders, before extending mortgage loans, make reasonable, good faith determinations that mortgage borrowers have the ability to repay the loans. The law provides lenders with protection from liability under this requirement if their loans satisfy certain clear criteria and thus are Qualified Mortgages. One of the criteria is that the up-front costs (points and fees) not exceed three percent of the total loan amount. During the housing bubble, many lenders front-loaded mortgage loans with points and fees and therefore had less incentive to determine a borrowers ability to repay. Moreover, excessive, front-loaded points and fees contributed to predatory lending behavior, steering borrowers into more expensive mortgage loans.
H.R. 685 would revise the Truth in Lending Act to allow certain charges to be excluded from the definition of points and fees even when the lender or its affiliates receives the fees. By exempting certain fees from the three percent cap, H.R. 685 would allow lenders to increase the cost of loans and still be eligible for Qualified Mortgage treatment. This revision risks eroding consumer protections and returning the mortgage market to the days of careless lending focused on short-term profits.
Because H.R. 685 would weaken key consumer protections and provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, if the President were presented with H.R. 685, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.
Republicans in Congress are attacking consumer protections in an effort to turn back the clock to the days when Wall Street crashed the U.S. economy. For those who say government doesnt matter, and that both parties are the same, I suggest that they examine what Republicans are trying to accomplish. President Obama is the only person standing in the way of a Republican agenda that is designed to only serve corporations and the wealthy.
Both of the Republican bills are backdoor assaults on consumer protections and the regulations that were put in place after the last Republican president was a friend of Wall Street. Politics does matter. President Obama and Congressional Democrats are standing up to stop Republicans from returning the country to the bad old days of too big to fail.
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Billionaire profits at every step, from building to selling to high cost lending
Public Integrity & The Seattle Times
By Daniel Wagner Mike Baker
12:30 am, April 3, 2015 Updated: 8:57 pm, April 6, 2015
[font size=1 color=gray]Kirk and Denise Pitts purchased their mobile home in 1997. They still owe more than $39,000 on the home and land, which were valued at $33,100 in 2013. Here, the Pitts and their son, Caine, stand in front of their home in Knoxville, Tennessee. Daniel Wagner/Center for Public Integrity[/font]
Editor's note: This is a joint investigation of The Center for Public Integrity and The Seattle Times.
Denise Pitts walked into the pawn shop not far from where she bought her mobile home in Knoxville, Tennessee, and offered up her wedding rings for $100. Her marriage wasnt over, but her husband was battling cancer and, Pitts said, her mortgage company told her the only way to keep a roof over his head would be to sell everything else.
Across the country in Ephrata, Washington, Kirk and Patricia Ackley sat down to close on a new mobile home, only to learn that the annual interest on their loan would be 12.5 percent rather than the 7 percent they said they had been promised. They went ahead because they had spent $11,000, most of their savings, to dig a foundation.
And near Bug Tussle, Alabama, Carol Carroll has been paying down her home for more than a decade but still owes nearly 90 percent of the sale price and more than twice what the home is worth.
The families dealers and lenders went by different names Luv Homes, Clayton Homes, Vanderbilt, 21st Mortgage. Yet the disastrous loans that threaten them with homelessness or the loss of family land stem from a single company: Clayton Homes, the nations biggest homebuilder, which is controlled by its second-richest man Warren Buffett.
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Duppers
(28,127 posts)Last edited Mon Apr 13, 2015, 11:53 PM - Edit history (1)
He votes and supports Democratic candidates and supports renewable energy sources.
The date given that the first couple in this article purchased and financed their Clayton home, as quoted, was 1997. Guess what...Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) didn't purchase Clayton Homes until 2003, so his lending company had nothing to do with this. I know the company who did.
On edit, additional info supporting the fact that billionaire Buffett is not a totally bad guy: http://www.democraticunderground.com/112769024
Duppers
(28,127 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 15, 2015, 05:47 AM - Edit history (1)
Damn, damn, damn! I didn't know Buffett was that closely aligned with Kevin Clayton, pres. of Clayton Homes!
From HuffPo article, I just now read:
"The GOP bill that passed on Tuesday would allow companies to charge very high interest rates on mobile home loans -- up to about 14 percent in the current market -- while still getting the benefit of the doubt in court for predatory lending cases. ...
The GOP bill was introduced by Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), who received $10,900 in campaign contributions from Clayton Homes employees in the 2014 election cycle (Editorial: Freely? I bet not.)
...
Buffett uses the Manufactured Housing Institute to lobby for his perks indirectly. Clayton general counsel Tom Hodges and 21st Mortgage president Timothy Williams both serve on the MFI board. Buffett's employees give thousands of dollars a year to the group. (again... Freely? I bet not.)
...
President Barack Obama issued a veto threat against the mobile home deregulation bill on Monday, and Democrats largely voted against it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/14/manufactured-housing-republicans_n_7065810.html
Wow! Holy crap. I'm sooo frickin' disappointed in Buffett.
Edited for spelling.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Man's a phony, billionaire huckster.
Elizabeth Warren scares him though, so at least there's that:
NoJusticeNoPeace
(5,018 posts)Cha
(297,823 posts)fadedrose
(10,044 posts)I don't think he wants to be taken to the wood shed by Warren...she was yelling in the Senate about the failure of the Dodd-Frank Bill to smash City Bank, and now they want to weaken its consumer protections...!!
Our President knows to tread lightly on any bills that gives banks power to screw people.
They are like Batman & Robin, or Lone Ranger & Tonto when it comes to Wall Street.....
Cha
(297,823 posts)zappaman
(20,606 posts)Yeah, I'm sure.
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)On whom he can depend....he can veto the bills, but if Elizabeth has a hissyfit when they have their arguments, she will turn some votes and it may not be necessary for him to use his veto.
Most bills don't have tagalong female she-monsters clutching them with their sharp claws and even sharper tongue, ..and when Lizzie gets mad, that's what she is...she is fearless!!
My President (bless him) never loses his temper like she does, but I bet he gets a kick out of her like we all do.
Gawd love them both....
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,741 posts)spanone
(135,906 posts)and why the fuck don't the citizens throw them out of office when they only act to protect corporate interests???
hellifiknow
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)William769
(55,148 posts)vkkv
(3,384 posts)rpannier
(24,345 posts)An Auburn Tiger or LSU Tiger fan may come on and think you're talking about the Crimson Tide
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)madokie
(51,076 posts)give them no quarters
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)BadgerKid
(4,559 posts)I am confused.
840high
(17,196 posts)rpannier
(24,345 posts)Good for him
But, I'm sure rMoney would have done the same
Thanks for posting babylonsister
for you
Duppers
(28,127 posts)Here's a big K & R !
sheshe2
(83,968 posts)Kick and Rec~