Letters to the Editor

• @sonoflood, there are leaders and there are followers...

  [Read the article: John McCain's plan to ignore the economy]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  I suppose you're impressed by Hillary's call for a "high-level emergency working group" to respond to the mortgage crisis. Ummmm... substantive. A helluva good idea, no?

  Better than McCain certainly, but a bit belated if you ask me. In fact it sounds an awful lot like Obama's call for a "homeownership preservation summit" in a letter he sent to Bernanke at the Federal Reserve and Paulson at the Treasury Department over a year ago, long before this was of crisis proportions. To wit:

  March 22, 2007

  Dear Chairman Bernanke and Secretary Paulson,

  There is grave concern in low-income communities about a potential coming wave of foreclosures. Because regulators are partly responsible for creating the environment that is leading to rising rates of home foreclosure in the subprime mortgage market, I urge you immediately to convene a homeownership preservation summit with leading mortgage lenders, investors, loan servicing organizations, consumer advocates, federal regulators and housing-related agencies to assess options for private sector responses to the challenge.

  We cannot sit on the sidelines while increasing numbers of American families face the risk of losing their homes.

  And while neither the government nor the private sector acting alone is capable of quickly balancing the important interests in widespread access to credit and responsible lending, both must act and act quickly.

  Working together, the relevant private sector entities and regulators may be best positioned for quick and targeted responses to mitigate the danger. Rampant foreclosures are in nobody's interest, and I believe this is a case where all responsible industry players can share the objective of eliminating deceptive or abusive practices, preserving homeownership, and stabilizing housing markets.

  The summit should consider best practice loan marketing, underwriting, and origination practices consistent with the recent (and overdue) regulators' Proposed Statement on Subprime Mortgage Lending. The summit participants should also evaluate options for independent loan counseling, voluntary loan restructuring, limited forbearance, and other possible workout strategies. I would also urge you to facilitate a serious conversation about the following:

  * What standards investors should require of lenders, particularly with regard to verification of income and assets and the underwriting of borrowers based on fully indexed and fully amortized rates.

  * How to facilitate and encourage appropriate intervention by loan servicing companies at the earliest signs of borrower difficulty.

  * How to support independent community-based-organizations to provide counseling and work-out services to prevent foreclosure and preserve homeownership where practical.

  * How to provide more effective information disclosure and financial education to ensure that borrowers are treated fairly and that deception is never a source of competitive advantage.

  * How to adopt principles of fair competition that promote affordability, transparency, non-discrimination, genuine consumer value, and competitive returns.

  * How to ensure adequate liquidity across all mortgage markets without exacerbating consumer and housing market vulnerability.

  Of course, the adoption of voluntary industry reforms will not preempt government action to crack down on predatory lending practices, or to style new restrictions on subprime lending or short- term post-purchase interventions in certain cases. My colleagues on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs have held important hearings on mortgage market turmoil and I expect the Committee will develop legislation.

  Nevertheless, a consortium of industry-related service providers and public interest advocates may be able to bring quick and efficient relief to millions of at-risk homeowners and neighborhoods, even before Congress has had an opportunity to act. There is an opportunity here to bring different interests together in the best interests of American homeowners and the American economy. Please don't let this opportunity pass us by.

  Barack Obama

  Permalink Tuesday, March 25, 2008 12:43 PM

• @ independent thinker

  [Read the article: Rev. Jeremiah Wright isn't the problem]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  I'm sorry, but a "completely sane, educated, Democratically-minded voter" is not one who is convinced that Obama will

  "let Muslims into the country and they will overtake us!!"

  I've got relatives like that, too. But despite my familial affinity, I consider them neither "completely sane" nor "educated". Rather, ignorant and deluded.

  Permalink Tuesday, March 25, 2008 01:09 PM

• "Geriatric social x-ray"

  [Read the article: Nancy Reagan to endorse McCain]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  Wow. The potent application of a circa-80s literary reference to a circa-80s relic... brought me right back to those dark times.

  I stand in awe of you, sir. In all sincerity, that's a good'un!

  Permalink Tuesday, March 25, 2008 01:57 PM

• nancyh, actually it wasn't McCain's advisors who suggested he'd had a "senior moment"...

  [Read the article: Rev. Jeremiah Wright isn't the problem]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  ...it was his spokesperson, Britt Hume. At least, I believe that to be his official title.

  At any rate, I feel better knowing that McCain is merely approaching senility. It beats being either plain ignorant or an outright liar. Not by much though...

  Permalink Tuesday, March 25, 2008 02:06 PM

• Forget Kansas...

  [Read the article: Clinton camp releases Pennsylvania ad]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  ...what's the matter with Pennsylvania?

  Permalink Tuesday, March 25, 2008 02:09 PM