Posts Tagged ‘President Obama’

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The State of the Union Speech You Should Have Heard

Tuesday, February 19th, 2013
President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economy at Shaker Heights High School,Shaker Heights, Ohio, Jan. 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economy at Shaker Heights High School,Shaker Heights, Ohio, Jan. 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

If you watched President Obama give the State of the Union , you might be scratching your head over his failure to speak, except for a brief mention, about what will one day fill at least a chapter in history books as one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression.

Instead, the president appeared to be taking his cue from the story The Emperor’s New Clothes. Much like the emperor, the American public has fallen victim to swindlers – in this case the banks – with everyone believing that the nation’s economy is as splendid as the emperor believed was his fine clothing.

If I were King For a Day, my State of the Union address would have gone a little differently:

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, fellow Americans:
Let me start by saying I know it appears on the surface that the economy is improving, but look around you. Who among your family, friends, co-workers or acquaintances hasn’t suffered at the hands of the banking industry?

Those with any savings to speak of continue to get a pittance worth of interest. Those who purchased homes at the height of the economic crisis remain underwater and continue to face the prospect of losing their home. Our housing market is not healing at the pace it should and homeowners do not enjoy the protections they were promised.
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Posted in Big Banks, President Barack Obama, Wall Street | No Comments »

Why President Obama Will Win

Tuesday, November 6th, 2012

Roy Oppenheim’s commentary was originally published on Yahoo! Homes and is being republished on South Florida Law Blog with their permission.

I Voted!Last week a reporter asked me whether or not I thought President Barack Obama had done enough during the foreclosure crisis.

I told him no, of course, and that if Obama does not win a second term, it would be because of housing. When Obama campaigned back in 2008, he campaigned as a populist, yet that did not hold over once he took office. He has at times seemed more interested in bailing out banks than homeowners.

If Gov. Mitt Romney had more strongly positioned himself as the candidate for Main Street, rather than as an advocate for big business, then perhaps this election would not be as close as it is.

But he too has failed to realize the importance of housing as a political issue. The folks in foreclosure and its impact on the real estate market, even days before the election, just is not being talked about by both political parties.

Most homeowners I have come across are keenly aware of this fact. So if neither candidate has done enough to address how to stabilize the housing market, then who wins?

I wasn’t certain before Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc on the Northeast. But now in the storm’s aftermath, we are seeing a president who is taking charge, and as they say, being presidential. And when you have staunch Republicans like Gov. Chris Christie singing the president’s praises, you have to wonder if Romney’s window of opportunity has closed.
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Posted in Housing Market, Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama, Presidential Election | No Comments »

An Open Letter To President Obama

Wednesday, June 13th, 2012
US President

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Monti of Italy aboard Air Force One, June 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Dear Mr. President:

As you know historically, since the great depression, refinancing mortgages has been this country’s exit strategy when it comes to pulling us out of the economic ditch.

So it’s nice to see that you are now pushing Congress to pass refinancing reform. It’s the most effective and efficient way to craft a bailout that actually helps everyone.

I’ve seen a number of bailouts which have been structured to save the banks, the bankers, and their bondholders. But never the average Joe.

But the truth is everyone, from the government to the private sector, relies on the consumer to keep the economy going. Saving the banks has so far done nothing to get us out of the economic doldrums.

So your effort to put a few hundred extra dollars in homeowners pockets is certainly a step in the right direction. I sincerely hope this isn’t an election year ploy and a true effort to rev up the U.S.’s economic engine. But you’ve got a long way to go to convince me and the American public that you are serious.

We’ve all heard the speeches, from you and countless other politicians. But what we need now is action.

Since your White House staff is soliciting the public’s opinion on this policy, please allow me to make this direct appeal to you sir.

Continue your focus on the underwater homeowners who are as you like to call them, ‘responsible’. In our efforts to save the ones who have fallen behind, it seems the vast majority of them (9 out of every 10 underwater homeowners are still paying their mortgages) have been forgotten and left out in the cold. You need to do more, much more.
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Posted in President Barack Obama, Refinancing | 6 Comments »

Robosigning Settlement Proves Sky Was Falling! Chicken Little Was Right!

Friday, February 10th, 2012

Yesterday’s robosigning settlement that all but one state ultimately signed off on, was far from perfect.

Let’s make that perfectly clear.

Depending on what you have read, you might be outraged, you might be relieved, you might be overjoyed. And the target of your wrath or sympathy might depend on your own personal perspective.

But make no mistake about it, yesterday was a day of reckoning, for me, and much more importantly, for the people I represent.

Yes, the banks got a slap on the wrist and the money they are trickling back to the homeowners won’t make up for the systemic fraud these lenders engaged in, and make no mistake it was fraud at the highest level.

I wish I could personally put the handcuffs on each CEO who allowed robosigning to occur.

But here’s the silver lining, now we have a reengaged President, who is anxious to see the job done. We have Eric Schneiderman on the case, and he is going full-speed right at the banks.

They may have not gotten the flogging they deserve, but I am optimistic that they surely will.

Conservatives can blame the borrowers all they want, and certainly not all were faultless. But the banks were the grown-ups here, they should have known better. They had the chance, in the midst of the housing boom, to stop, take a breath and take a look back at what they had done.

They didn’t.

The truth is no amount of money would have been enough. And since we can’t put the banks in jail, they got what was in essence a very public shaming. And people’s eyes were opened. What you have now learned, can not be unlearned.
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Posted in Bank Fraud, Big Banks, Eric Schneiderman, From The Trenches, President Barack Obama, Robosigning, Roy Oppenheim | 7 Comments »

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