Well, these days the US homeowner could certainly use some good news, with foreclosures soaring to new heights, and apparently little viable remedy in sight. But, CitiMortgage, obviously feeling generous because of a sweetheart deal struck with the IRS, is placing a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions for a thirty day period.
Here is their reasoning:
"We hope that with this suspension we can make the holidays a little less stressful for our customers who are going through a very difficult time," Sanjiv Das, president and CEO of CitiMortgage said in a statement. "And we will continue to look for meaningful ways to assist our customers experiencing hardship."
Citi will halt foreclosure sales and evictions on approximately 2,000 borrowers already in line for foreclosure sales as well as another 2,000 that would have received foreclosure notifications in the next 30 days.
Wow! Thirty days? Are you sure? That certainly takes the long term sting out of a household which has been turned upside down by the 'pit and pendulum' reality experienced daily by folks who may face sleeping in shelters, or perhaps losing their beloved pets as they search for adequate housing. For a growing number, 'tent cities' and shelters are the answer.
But this shouldn't concern the good folks at Citi. After all, they got a sweetheart deal with the government:
The Internal Revenue Service on Friday, December 18th, issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government. As a result, Citigroup will be allowed to retain billions of dollars worth of tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.
Nice investment, if you can get it.
So, as a gesture of goodwill, they are granting people thirty days to relax and enjoy the holidays. Are they serious? Do they have any inkling of the twisted anxiety going on in the bellies of all affected homeowners? Do they really expect families to start singing Christmas carols, and simply forget about the fact that an auction of their home will soon take place on their respective County Courthouse steps?
Get a clue, you feckless moneylenders. Following suit, but demonstrating less generosity, Fannie and Freddie have offered a two week respite from the madness. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, now get out!
Postponing the inevitability of eviction likely worsens the post traumatic stress which will follow these people the rest of their lives. Perhaps Citi ought to do everyone a favor and enact an en mass foreclosure. Get it over with.
Then, the rest of us can yearn for the days of Hooverville and the 'penny auctions,' where neighbors surrounded the foreclosed property, and allowed entrance to the auction to no one but the affected owner. Often the bid was one penny. Something to think about.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Handing Over Spy Resources For Free - What?
CIA resources are being used for WHAT? You have got to be kidding me, the New York Times is trumpeting the reversal of another Bush Administration policy. An order to the CIA that will allow members of the leading intelligentsia access to top secret satellite data, to watch arctic melting?
Let me see if I have this correct. The New York Times (1) is breaking the news that the current administration is reversing the previous administration's treatment of CIA resources by placing CIA intelligence gathering resources in the hands of some sixty academic "smarty pants" to study what else... the failed science of global warming.
"Dr. Untersteiner (Professor from University of Washington ) will be able to take active moving picture views of the Arctic. He said (in recent New York Times article)... that Arctic thaws (emphasis mine) will open new fisheries and sea lanes for shipping..." Did I read that correctly, someone out there is still trying to tell us that the arctic is thawing? What part of the fact that the earth isn't warming and has been cooling for the past ten years, don't they understand?
Let's take a look at recent news stories: Vermont has 33 inches of snow dumped on it in one overnight snow storm, setting an all time record. Iowa temperatures are a solid 30 degrees below normal, temperatures in negative double digits this month. Seoul Korea is buried under the heaviest snowfall (11 inches) since they started measuring this type of weather in 1937. Beijing, China is the coldest it has been in 40 years. the temperature is running at a minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit. And what of Miami, for crying in your fruity cocktails, they are having their coldest weather in a decade.
So in spite of the obvious facts in front of them, the current administration's CIA, wants to reverse the Bush administration's decision to conserve the satellite's use to something actually related to the security of the nation, to making spy data available to Al Gore and his friends.
No matter the weather outside their windows, some folks in Washington are upset that there are actually people willing to be naysayers of the adventure. They are making the usual blanket objections, such as Bush was anti-environment and this really doesn't take away from the search for terrorists. This is really just using the information that is already there... free for the taking... using what no one is looking at... compelling arguments, perhaps.
Dr. Untersteiner added that the federal government had already adopted one of the prior report's "recommendations - to have reconnaissance satellites follow particular ice floes as they drift through the Arctic basin rather than just monitor static sites." Let me say that slowly for those who are upset with any opposition to this redirection of security assets.
Dr. Untersteiner stated that the government has decided to re-task the satellites to follow particular ice floes. The last time I checked the cost to re-task a satellite was a whole lot more than "free."
So much for simply making free "useless" already gathered information available to our "smarty pant" professors. More waste and abuse of my tax dollars for the continuation of studies attempting to prop up a failed science. Can someone get me a sweater, it is really "warming" up out here.
Let me see if I have this correct. The New York Times (1) is breaking the news that the current administration is reversing the previous administration's treatment of CIA resources by placing CIA intelligence gathering resources in the hands of some sixty academic "smarty pants" to study what else... the failed science of global warming.
"Dr. Untersteiner (Professor from University of Washington ) will be able to take active moving picture views of the Arctic. He said (in recent New York Times article)... that Arctic thaws (emphasis mine) will open new fisheries and sea lanes for shipping..." Did I read that correctly, someone out there is still trying to tell us that the arctic is thawing? What part of the fact that the earth isn't warming and has been cooling for the past ten years, don't they understand?
Let's take a look at recent news stories: Vermont has 33 inches of snow dumped on it in one overnight snow storm, setting an all time record. Iowa temperatures are a solid 30 degrees below normal, temperatures in negative double digits this month. Seoul Korea is buried under the heaviest snowfall (11 inches) since they started measuring this type of weather in 1937. Beijing, China is the coldest it has been in 40 years. the temperature is running at a minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit. And what of Miami, for crying in your fruity cocktails, they are having their coldest weather in a decade.
So in spite of the obvious facts in front of them, the current administration's CIA, wants to reverse the Bush administration's decision to conserve the satellite's use to something actually related to the security of the nation, to making spy data available to Al Gore and his friends.
No matter the weather outside their windows, some folks in Washington are upset that there are actually people willing to be naysayers of the adventure. They are making the usual blanket objections, such as Bush was anti-environment and this really doesn't take away from the search for terrorists. This is really just using the information that is already there... free for the taking... using what no one is looking at... compelling arguments, perhaps.
Dr. Untersteiner added that the federal government had already adopted one of the prior report's "recommendations - to have reconnaissance satellites follow particular ice floes as they drift through the Arctic basin rather than just monitor static sites." Let me say that slowly for those who are upset with any opposition to this redirection of security assets.
Dr. Untersteiner stated that the government has decided to re-task the satellites to follow particular ice floes. The last time I checked the cost to re-task a satellite was a whole lot more than "free."
So much for simply making free "useless" already gathered information available to our "smarty pant" professors. More waste and abuse of my tax dollars for the continuation of studies attempting to prop up a failed science. Can someone get me a sweater, it is really "warming" up out here.
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