On mortgage rates, government should keep significant role, Obama says

[n2doc]

By Zachary A. Goldfarb, Monday, August 15, 8:48 PM

President Obama has concluded that the government must continue to play a significant role in the nation’s mortgage market, extending a federal loan subsidy for most home buyers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Obama, who has promised a new vision for how the nation finances home buying, has directed a small team to develop a proposal that would largely maintain the government’s role as an insurer of mortgages for most borrowers. The proposal could even preserve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants owned by the government, although under different names and with new significant constraints, said people knowledgeable about the discussions.

The president’s decision to preserve a major role for the government marks a major milestone in the effort to craft a new housing policy from the wreckage of the mortgage meltdown and could mean a larger part for Fannie and Freddie than administration officials had signaled.

If this approach became law, it probably would keep in place the kind of popular home loans that have been around for decades — 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with relatively low interest rates.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/on-mortgage-rates-government-should-keep-significant-role-obama-says/2011/08/15/gIQA8wP0HJ_story.html?hpid=z1

[DCKit]

1. Sorry, but I can't see where they've done shit to keep people in their homes.

If anything, they've done exactly the opposite. The DOJ would have to double their staff if they went after those banks (still) using robo-signers, Anthony Mozillo and all his pals are still walking free and Wall St. hasn't begun to pay for their role in the mortgage mess - and that's just off the top of my head.

Yep, 'cause we didn't have enough of incredibly damaging "Say one thing, do another" with BushCo.