Obama’s housing plan and the American ruling class

[IndianaGreen]

Obama’s housing plan and the American ruling class

21 February 2009

US President Barack Obama's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP), announced Wednesday, will do little to alleviate the enormous financial pressures on working class families caused by plummeting home prices.

It does not reduce the outstanding debt, or principal, that homeowners owe the banks, which for millions of Americans now surpasses the value of their homes. Even in its modest stated aims—to reduce monthly mortgage loan payments for a portion of embattled homeowners—HASP will in most cases depend on the voluntary participation of private banks. It does nothing for the hundreds of thousands of renters thrown out onto the streets by evictions and foreclosures against their landlords.

While complete details of the plan for loan modifications from private banks will not be released until next month, it is already clear that there will be innumerable hurdles designed to make it very difficult for homeowners to qualify. Anyone who is deemed able to "afford" their present rates will not qualify. If a mortgage company decides that refinancing a loan will cost them more than sending the house into foreclosure, moreover, they will be free to deny refinancing.

The haphazard and ineffectual character of Obama's proposal for the housing crisis, like his stimulus bill, does not arise from mere technical deficiencies. Rather, it is conditioned by the demands of the financial elite that Obama represents, which will brook no limit—no matter how mild—to its power and prerogatives.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/feb2009/pers-f21.shtml

[sam sarrha]

1. i have lost faith in him, i hope the best for him, but i dont see it come'n. where is the change?

[Brucie Kibbutz]

2. I notice that

the Obama Defense Force around here isn't as persistent as it used to be. I wonder why that is? :shrug:

[IndianaGreen]

3. Obama is not the enemy. He is an ally and criticism at him must be in that context

Part of the problem, and the most obvious part of it, is that Obama has loaded his Administration with a bunch of war hawks and DLC pukes that fell all over themselves in support of PATRIOT and Iraq War and that, until very recently, had enabled Bush's many crimes.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

4. I didn't say he was the enemy.

Those are your words. I was merely referring to the people that insist he is above criticism.

[natrat]

5. he is a politicianworking within a structure owned by a couple hundred rich sociopaths