Archive for Politics
Webb: It’s Smear After Smear
October 28th, 2006 • Politics
Webb told Washington Post radio that to pull excerpts from his writings “and force them on people, sort of, like pound them over the head with them,” rather than having someone read the entire book “is just a classic example of the way this [Allen] campaign has worked. And you know, it’s smear after smear.”
Why Democrats Are Losing The Culture War
October 26th, 2006 • Politics
Most voters worry about escalating challenges to family stability and the losing battle to instill good values in their children instead of the materialism and coarseness peddled by popular culture. They fear that our society has developed a casualness about life, especially as science has made it easier to manipulate and create beings.
9/11: 2,973 Dead – Pearl Harbor: 2,403 Dead
October 22nd, 2006 • 6 comments Politics
There has been endless talk over the last few years about the loss of constitutional rights after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11/01. Controversies have swirled around the adoption of the Patriot Act, warrantless wiretaps on overseas calls to suspected terrorists and even the Swift program of tracking terrorists funds in overseas banks. However, some perspective might show that this concern might be a little exaggerated and in fact largely unfounded.
On September 11, 2001
After the attacks on the WTC buildings no such camps were established for Muslim-Americans. In the interest of national security, the Bush administration authorized the NSA to secretly intercept calls originating in the United States that were calling suspected terrorists abroad without obtaining a warrant. The rhetoric from the left has been soaring but the fact remains that this is hardly an unprecedented suspension of constitutional rights and in the opinion of this author a reasonable, proportionate response.
Schwarzenegger Hacked?
September 11th, 2006 • Politics
California Highway Patrol officials have opened a criminal investigation into “multiple” breaches and illegal downloads by outside hackers into the computers of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office, after an embarrassing private taped conversation was leaked last week to the Los Angeles Times, administration officials told The Chronicle.
Sen. Obama: Iraq is a dumb war
August 16th, 2006 • 1 comment Politics
JUNCTION – Sen. Barack Obama combined sharp criticism of the Bush administration and Congress with thoughts about his own priorities at a town hall-type appearance at Gallatin County schools Monday.
During a question-and-answer session, Obama pointed to many problems he perceives with the conduct of the war in Iraq. Sometimes war is a necessary option, he said. But Iraq is, “A dumb war. We haven’t thought it through,” Obama said.
In other news Ted Kennedy called President Bush a “poopyhead”.
Drunk Driving Laws: Discriminatory Against Alcoholics?
August 16th, 2006 • Politics
In a recent study performed by David Strayer of the University of Utah drivers talking on their cellphones performed significantly worse than drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08%, the legal limit in 47 out of 50 states
This study begs the question, if the purpose of traffic laws is to protect the citizenry using public roads, are current laws against drunk drivers discriminatory? A driver caught talking on their cellphone is typically required to pay a fine and continue on their way, whereas a person who has had as little as one drink can have their license revoked and even their car seized depending on the state in which the ofense takes place. Could a drunk driver successfully overturn a conviction because the laws are discriminatory against a person with a disability? IANAL, comments?
National Association of Realtors: biggest lobbying group in all of DC
August 15th, 2006 • 2 comments Politics, Real Estate
I came across an interesting piece on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website. Apparently the bureaucrats in HUD have no idea how the mortgage process works and are completely unaware of the DOJ pressing their anti-trust case against the NAR. From their publication entitled Looking for the best mortgage they state:
Whether you are dealing with a lender or a broker may not always be clear. Some financial institutions operate as both lenders and brokers. And most brokers’ advertisements do not use the word “broker.†Therefore, be sure to ask whether a broker is involved. This information is important because brokers are usually paid a fee for their services that may be separate from
and in addition to the lender’s origination or other fees. A broker’s compensation may be in the form of “points†paid at closing or as an add-on to your interest rate, or both. You should ask each broker you work with how he or she will be compensated so that you can compare the different fees.
But, the mortgage broker has to be making their money somehow right? You might reasonably believe HUD when it tells you that the cost has to be passed on to the customer right? Wrong. This myth has propagated from the fact that while both direct lenders and mortgage brokers are governed by the same laws, there is one distinction. A posting on Wikipedia might help clear up the confusion:
The difference between the “Broker” and “Banker” is the banker’s ability to use a short term credit line (known as a warehouse line) to fund the loan until they can sell the loan to the secondary market. Then, they repay their warehouse lender and obtain a profit on the sale of the loan. The borrower will often get a letter notifying them their lender has sold or transferred the loan.
Brokers must also disclose Yield spread premium while Bankers do not. This has created an ambiguous and difficult identification of the true cost to obtain a mortgage. The stricter Broker disclosure requirements, especially the Good Faith Estimate, can often create the illusion that they are charging more to obtain the exact same mortgage when compared to a Banker, when in fact they may cost the same or the Brokers offer may even be less costly.
Anyone that has worked on both sides of the lending business understands that both retail lenders and brokers, who sell their loans to the wholesale divisions of those same direct lenders, are regulated by Section 32 of RESPA governing acceptable fees charged to the customer. These fees combined cannot exceed 6% of the total transaction. Real estate agents on the other hand regularly charge 6% of total fees on EVERY transaction yet they are given a rousing endorsement on their website here
Choosing the right person to sell your home is one of the most important steps of selling.
Could this have anything to do with the NAR being the number one PAC in terms of campaign contributions? They come in even higher than the trial lawyers according to OpenSecrets.org
Now why would a mortgage broker be held to such stringent laws while direct lenders are given a pass? Let’s follow the money. On OpenSecrets.org we find that the commercial banking lobby ranks 9th among all lobby groups in total donations to political candidates.
Commercial Banking interests contributed $30 million in the 2004 election cycle. The National Association of Mortgage Brokers reports that mortgage brokers have only contributed $1.9 million since 1999.