This article could have just as easily been entitled, “How Republicans Pulled a Fast One”. They wanted to make it easer for Banksters to foreclose on homeowners, so they had an obscure Rep put forward a stealth bill for unanimous consent, without their usual fanfare, and it worked. The Bill moved to the Senate, where everyone thought it must be non-controversial, so it passed by unanimous consent there too. Thank goodness someone in the White House actually read the damn thing!
President Obama stepped into a growing political furor over the nation’s troubled foreclosure system Thursday by vetoing a little-known bill that critics say would have made it easier to evict homeowners who missed their payments.
The decision to block the measure, which Congress passed without debate, came as members of the president’s own party have urged the administration and federal regulators to more actively address the crisis over flawed foreclosures.
Meanwhile, attorneys general from about 40 states vowed to band together to investigate reports of fraudulent documents and of banks seizing property without having clear ownership of the mortgages.
At least 10 states – with Iowa and Delaware being the latest – are seeking to expand a voluntary freeze on foreclosures by some of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders to include more companies and more regions. And calls have increased for a nationwide moratorium – a move that could deal a blow to the earnings of big banks and grind to a halt the sale of millions of properties in foreclosure.
In the middle of a heated election season, a growing number of politicians have been eager to weigh in on the matter – and are taking pains to rebuke the financial institutions at the core of the controversy.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called Thursday for the national freeze, and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D) demanded that big lenders stop foreclosures in his home state of Nevada.
This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other key Democrats called for federal investigations of allegations that mortgage lenders improperly evicted people from their homes.
But Democrats were trying to figure out Thursday how they allowed a bill to pass that critics say would introduce more fraud into the system, a Pelosi staff member said. It was sponsored by Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.), the first measure he sponsored that passed.
Even he was surprised that it passed, his spokesman said.
"There is absolutely no connection whatsoever between [the bill] and the recent foreclosure documentation problems," Aderholt said in a statement.
The vetoed bill, which is two pages, would have required local courts to accept notarizations, including those made electronically, from across state lines. Its sponsors said it was intended to promote interstate commerce. Lawmakers saw no problems when the House approved it in April by a voice vote, which leaves no record of votes. The Senate passed the bill unanimously last week.
But as the lack of a proper paper trail in mortgage documents came to light, the idea of relying on electronic notaries triggered protests from real estate lawyers and consumer advocates. Relying more on electronic notaries, they warned, could allow more fraud into the system… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Washington Post>
I don’t really blame Republicans for this. They govern exclusively for the benefit of criminal corporations and the richest one percent. So for them to try to sneak a bill that helps banksters and screws American homeowners is nothing new. That’s just what Republicans do, and any voters dumb enough to believe their lies and vote for them risks their own well-deserved punishment, Republican government.
However, I am furious with my own party, the Democrats. How dare you allow a bill to pass the House and the Senate without having any idea what it contained?!!? You should hang your heads in shame! Never let such a travesty happen again!
19 Responses to “Proof that Legislators Pass Bills Without Reading Them”
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So here’s the deal. All of these mortgages were bundled and sliced into a thousand pieces and then sold as hedge investments with each investor holding a lien on every mortgage in their CDO and receiving a piece of the monthly house payment from a few pennies to a few dollars.
When someone being foreclosed demanded that the original mortgage papers be produced very few banks can do that because they destroyed the original document by selling it to a broker bank who then made it a part of a bundle (usually within 30 days) with everyone owning a piece of each INDIVIDUAL mortgage in the bundle. By allowing out of state certifications from institutions that did not sell the original mortgage the agency who notarizes the document saying what the bank foreclosing has presented to the court is true and accurate suddenly goes from committing fraud to complying with Federal law. Which in practical reality stops the home purchaser from fighting by demanding the original documentation of the mortgage with their actual signature on it.
As for the left letting this through both the house and senate without knowing what they were sending on. Shit that sounds like business as usual and more or the only bu-patisanship you will see ever work again. Trickery and system manipulation.
The funny thing is that in order for the foreclosing banks to clear the CDO’s up they would have to buy each and every piece of ever bundle back in order to make the original document valid again (if they could find it).
When I first read about this bill, I checked it out and thought that it sounded kosher. I was still a bit fuzzy on just how this bill related to foreclosed properties but your summary was perfect. I comprehend just why this legislation was a terrible thing. It is sad that some Democrats cosponsored this bill and that the GOP snuck it in there…
I think they have some explaining to do…
I’m glad that the president won’t sign it…
I agree, Kevin.
Well said indeed, Mark,
Very disappointing, indeed. Especially on learning:
Source:
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/10/07/obama-veto-banks/
Thanks, Nameless. Any bets as to who?
Devious, sneaky Republicans and lazy Democrats—just another in a long line of examples of Republican hypocrisy. Publicly, they villify the big Wall Street banks, but privately, they try to sneak through a bill which helps them. What does being a Republican mean?
R eactionary
E lite
P aranoid
U ntrustworthy
B ackward-looking
L ying
C antankerous
A rrogant
N ot fit to govern
That just about sums it up.
The one letter you’re missing is easy:
I diots
Amen to both. 😀
What – they are too lazy to have one of their staffers read a 2 page bill? Why are we paying these people again? 😯
That’s the $64,000 question, isn’t it?
However, I am furious with my own party, the Democrats. How dare you allow a bill to pass the House and the Senate without having any idea what it contained?!!?
A spine is a terrible thing to waste, and the dems really need to find theirs.
Beach, I don’t think this is a spine issue. I think their staffers were too busy on campaign issues to do their jobs.
I second Lisa G.’s response. What ARE we paying these people for if they fail to do their jobs? We elect public officials expecting them to fulfill some basic responsibilities.
Amen, Ahab
We’re on the same wave length again. I hope a lot of people are posting about this, since it doesn’t seem to be getting much news coverage, and people need to know just how sleazy Congress is. It’s even worse than everyone thought.
The same gridlocked constipated Senate that sits there filibustering and delaying and placing anonymous holds for months on end, suddenly comes to life and gives instant approval to a sleazy piece of stealth legislation, one day before they leave for recess. A little ironic, no?
It really stinks, doesn’t it?
I’ve always thought the reason these senators and republicans had these gigantic staffs was so they would carefully read the proposed bills to catch such provisions as this. Were not any of them on the job?
Oops. republicans should read representatives.
They were busy looking for campaign money, maybe?