The Foreclosure Crisis: A Government in Denial

Foreclosed homes behind a padlock in North
Las Vegas, 11/17/11. (photo: Jewel S
amad/AFP/Getty Images)

By Bruce Judson, New Deal 2.0

14 January 12

s we start the New Year, the executive branch and Congress continue to pretend the gravest risk to our economy and social stability does not exist: the ongoing foreclosure crisis. The financial crisis began with the housing crisis and it will not end until we resolve housing. Government policymakers who seemingly ignore this basic fact are leading the nation to another potential catastrophe.

This past week, a number of important events occurred in Washington, including important recess appointments by President Obama. However, the most noteworthy event did not make front page news: the Federal Reserve's (apparently) unsolicited memo to the committees of Congress that oversee financial services warning of the dangers the current housing market poses for the economy.

This represents an extraordinary action and underscores both the seriousness of the continuing crisis and the absence of meaningful discussion of the problem in Washington. Bernanke's memo reviewed federal actions to date and effectively concluded that they were unlikely to solve this national tragedy. The memo concluded, in part: READ MORE

The Foreclosure-to-Rental Screwjob

Mike Whitney, CounterPunch
Whitney writes: "The housing depression continues into its 5th year with no end in sight, mainly because the people who created the crisis are still in positions of power. And, they're still offering the same remedies, too, like handing the banks another blank check to save them from losses on their bad bets. 

That's what this new 'housing stabilization' boondoggle is really all about, bailing out the bankers."
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