SUN EDITORIAL:
A deepening crisis
White House’s slow response to foreclosure mess has done little to help homeowners
Sunday, March 9, 2008 | 3:09 a.m.
The foreclosure crisis has shaken the nation’s economy, and the Bush administration’s response hasn’t inspired confidence. The White House, for the most part, has been content to let the market work itself out — no matter that millions of people are in jeopardy of losing their homes.
On Tuesday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called for a “vigorous response” to the crisis, adding “more can, and should, be done.”
That more should be done is obvious to anyone in Las Vegas — neighborhoods here are filled with empty, foreclosed homes. Nevada has the ignominious distinction of leading the nation in the number of foreclosures per capita.
Last year the White House made great fanfare of sponsoring a mortgage industry group that trotted out several feel-good, do-little proposals, including phone hotlines and vague promises to work with homeowners in arrears. The administration has bragged that in the first seven months of the program, it has helped more than 630,000 homeowners who have subprime loans. But the overwhelming majority of those “helped” received only more time to catch up on late payments, which is merely a stay of the inevitable foreclosure.
On Thursday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson came to Las Vegas and unveiled the administration’s latest plan, which will temporarily ease the rules to help more people qualify for federally insured loans. But that plan is like the rest: too little, too late.
In a meeting Thursday with the Las Vegas Sun’s editorial board, Jackson said he was “between a rock and a hard place” in trying to address the problem.
“We want the free-market system to work,” he said, “but in the process it has hurt a lot of people.”
While administration officials are straddling the fence, the nation continues to slide deeper into the economic mire because of the foreclosure crisis. USA Today reported last week that financial research service Moody’s Economy.com listed Nevada as one of five states already in recession.
In the meantime, the White House is working to kill comprehensive proposals that might actually provide relief, such as one offered last month by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Reid’s plan, which would help cities and homeowners rebound from the crisis, was attacked largely because of a provision that would change bankruptcy rules to help people caught in the foreclosure crisis.
The White House’s obstructionism is unconscionable. This is time for bold action. If the White House can’t provide that, it should get out of the way and let Congress work.
Discussion: 2 comments so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Man, 26, dies in collision with truck traveling at 100 mph
- Nevada’s just not for us, many top high schoolers say
- Casino venue in Singapore will have Las Vegas flavor
- CityCenter completion might spur home foreclosures
- MGM Mirage: CityCenter not affected by debt woes
- Fontainebleau retail component seeks bankruptcy
- Metro admits to improper release of criminal history data
- Holiday Auction 2009 items
- Real estate experts cautiously optimistic about market
- For Paul Stanley and KISS, rock and roll is not over
Blogs
The Kats Report
Could a savior of shuttered Las Vegas Art Museum be ... Peter Max? (5 Comments)
For Paul Stanley and KISS, rock and roll is not over (5 Comments)
Twenty years ago today, Human Nature took root on the farm (1 Comment)
Robin Leach's Las Vegas Celebrity Watch
Photo Gallery: Donny Osmond’s triumphant return to the Flamingo
The Kats Report
'DWTS' champ Donny Osmond still deft afoot in return to Flamingo (8 Comments)
Politics: The Early Line
Meeting of GOP governors draws challengers, not Gibbons (5 Comments)
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Oscar loves forcing developers to sign labor peace agreements, Culinary loves the city's downtown plans and all is forgiven (10 Comments)
Calendar »
- 28 Sat
- 29 Sun
- 30 Mon
- 1 Tue
- 2 Wed
-
KISS at the Pearl
The Pearl at the Palms
-
Christopher "Kid" Reid at the LA Comedy Club
LA Comedy Club @ Trader Vic's
-
Stevie Wonder at MGM Grand
MGM Grand Garden Arena | 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
UNLV Rebels vs. Louisville at the Thomas & Mack Center
The Thomas & Mack Center | 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
-
Joe Perry Project at the House of Blues
House of Blues | 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Vicente Fernandez at the Mandalay Bay Events Center
Mandalay Bay Events Center | 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
Jay Leno at The Mirage
Terry Fator Theatre
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati











Another example of not taking responsablity of ones actions. It's not the goverments responsabiity to bail everyone out all the time.
My tax dollars should be used to bail out someone who didn't understand what they were getting into?
I had a business that didn't do well in 2003, can I ask for money because I didn't fully understand the business?
Yes, OUR tax dollars are meant to help out those less fortunate, for whatever reason. It just so happens that I'm one of those people that you don't want to bail out, yet it had absolutely nothing to do with not taking responsibility for my actions. It had to do with ten of thousands of medical bills on top of the inability to work. So, who is worthy and who isn't in your little world?
Would you rather have a neighborhood full of empty boarded up houses and a destroyed economy? My (fairly new) neighborhood already has three empty houses...and I don't want more. It's creepy, and it's sad. And, even though I don't need your tax dollars to help me, I'm willing to let MY tax dollars help others keep their homes, regardless of why they're in trouble.