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Touting his administration’s new proposals on housing and education policy on Thursday, President Obama also said he had more work to do on both issues -- work that would require another four years in office.
The president today announced a $25 billion deal that requires the five biggest mortgage-lending banks to provide financial help to qualified homeowners and, in a separate speech, declared 10 states eligible for waivers from parts of the No Child Left Behind education law that measures school success.
Praising those 10 states for accepting the administration’s offer of NCLB waivers in exchange for “higher benchmarks for student achievement,” Obama also subtly reminded the audience that these new efforts will take years to implement -- well into what would be his second term, in fact.
“This is not a one-year project. This isn’t a two-year project. This is going to take some time,” he told a group of teachers and school superintendents in the East Room of the White House.
And while he praised the mortgage settlement, part of which funds remittance for improperly foreclosed-upon families, he added that his administration still needs to ensure that the banks fulfill the terms of the settlement, which could take up to three years -- again, the middle of his potential next term.
“We're going to make sure that the banks live up to their end of the bargain,” Obama said, speaking in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. “If they don’t, we've set up an independent inspector, a monitor, that has the power to make sure they pay exactly what they agreed to pay, plus a penalty if they fail to act in accordance with this agreement.”
While he emphasized his administration’s leadership in the measures he announced today, Obama also urged for Congress to be his partner in future efforts, jabbing his frequent foil for not doing enough to further his priorities.
On the mortgage issue, Obama urged Congress to pass his plan to give more homeowners the option of refinancing their loans, which was announced last week.
“To build on this settlement, Congress still needs to send me the bill I've proposed that gives every responsible homeowner in America the chance to refinance their mortgage and save about $3,000 a year,” he said. “It's only going to happen if Congress musters the will to act.”
And Obama also blamed legislators for making him go it alone on education reform.
“In September, after waiting far too long for Congress to act, I announced that my administration would take steps to reform No Child Left Behind on our own,” he said, referring to his announcement last year that he would allow states to skirt some of the law’s mandates like full proficiency of all students in math and reading by 2014.
While he did give shout-outs to some members of Congress who supported his administration’s plans, Obama added, “We haven't been able to get the entire House and Senate to move on this.”
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I do. and will when we all vote again for the person we know is doing the right thing.
I don't yet believe the right person has entered the arena....but, I do have many dogs and a lot of friggin kennels
The right person is in the arena right now.
yes - he's the right person if your goal is turning American into a dependant socialist country
I do not think that any of these efforts that our President wants to pursue actually require him to remain in office to continue. I am sure that any new President would be fully capable of continuing activities if they so choose.
Please understand that I have no formal training in the law so this is just an uninformed opinion. Concerning the mortgage scandal, " robo signing" documents is a form of forgery. In some communities forgery is illegal. Using forged documents to transact business I would think constitutes fraud. Fraud is against the law is some communities. If any of the fraudulent documents are sent through the mail that would constitute mail fraud. If the telephone was involved in the fraudulent transactions that would constitute wire fraud. I would think that any bank personnel involved could be found guilty of criminal activity and would be subject to jail time. I would think that someone who lost their home due to such illegal activities would have grounds to sue in civil court and besides recovering actual damages may also be awarded quite a bit in punitive damages. It seems that the primary purpose of this mortgage settlement is to protect the banks from criminal prosecution and to cheat dispossessed home owners of substantial awards that could be gained through civil litigation. I do not think that the federal government should be protecting banks when such illegal activity is involved. Maybe some sort of class action law suite in in order.
Unfortunately "your boy" is just a protege of Saul Alinsky........except controlled by George Soros and of course the insatiable desire to amass large sums of money.
cheat dispossessed (this really means "disposable") home owners of substantial awards that could be gained through civil litigation.
alinsky...soros...= Glen Beck in his basement screaming with his fingernails screeching on a blackboard.
OReilly = Laughing his own ignorance away by interrupting the truth.
I'm surprised you would bring them up here.
funny thing is - when you fact check statments made by Orielly or Beck - you find they know what they are talking about and tell the truth.Fact check mathews , maddow, blitzer or obama for that matter...well...
I knew you all along.
You would rather believe Chuck Toad and Brian "O-bj" Williams, life long dimwits, paid by GE that put the un-vetted in the white house with Soros along with the mindless Hollywood.....................Rush Limbo has a higher IQ than does both of these cocker spaniels combined. And, I don't even listen to Rush.....my IQ is higher than even his.
dont take my word for it pt - try it yourself. Theres no shame in being wrong, its only a shame when you refuse to have your point of view changed when you realise youve been wrong
Very few were really homeowners....... When a renter is lead by some sleazy mortgage broker to "qualify" the renter, when the renter had big debt on his Caddy Escalade and the deal went down like this. Renter lies to the sleazy broker, sleazy broker enacts the 125% loan with loan proceeds to pay off the Caddy so the renter now qualifies for the "purchase" of the overpriced home with funds the bank supplied. The bank didn't do the qualifying, the sleazy broker did. The bank is "clean", the renter got his Caddy paid for and usually his credit cards (he used to purchase the 55 inch flat screen and a lot of other sh!t) and then lived in the overpriced home for two years without making payments.
You want me to cry for the renter, the bank, the sleazy broker or Franklin Raines (big supporter of obama that took a 90 million dollar bonus when he left Fannie and Freddie) or Barney Frank the help to orchestrate the entire deal?
you really want to pull your hair out? To know thats its STILL business as usual at fannie mae
No, I do not...
who's fault is this?
They didn't prosecute Franklin because he had too much on obama, he was holding the gun.
whos fault? the people currently in charge
Who's to blame here?
Give you a clue, they number 535....throw them all out and start with Americans, no deals on health care, no life-time pensions...just 125K for max of two terms and the ride is over. They will have much more a stake than the losers we have there now.
It was way more than two years and you all know it.
what was way more then 2 years?
I do not know what 535 is.
Barney Frank approved this back in 2006.
Actually it was '04
These people had these home way longer than two years.
The bank is "clean", the renter got his Caddy paid for and usually his credit cards (he used to purchase the 55 inch flat screen and a lot of other sh!t) and then lived in the overpriced home for two years without making payments.
Unfortunately you have selected a certain group to fit this bill.
This went farther than this.
Sure, many did. A guy I know, his son had a really nice joint for 3 years.......paid zip, no taxes, no insurance, no payments just utilities. They didn't even bother him for a couple of years.
And that one was a divorce action, bank was totally clean. The two split after a huge refi.........they qualified then split, ruined their credit but had cash to by other properties, son married and stored cash like a bandit
Do you feel this guy's type was in the majority of of the foreclosures?
No, there are hundreds of different scenarios and many or most were just basic BS on the part of the borrowers and the sleazy mortgage brokers. I know that some "smb" moved to Brazil, Mexico, etc. Now live on their yachts.........cash & pay only for the slip, basics and diesel. They were like printing "well qualified borrowers" in their little sweat shops.
You make this sound painlessly simple. Effectively easy to blame someone as well.
They ripped off anyone and everyone that walked thru the door. Anybody. Many are still hanging on. You have seen the stories...they have no food but have a roof over their head.
You have been dooped into believing the people that signed up for these loans planned to get away with something. It seems.
In other words...people like your friend screwed the banks.
"well qualified borrowers" in their little sweat shops.
Tell me why The President is to blame for this? I really don't understand.
Answer me this......take a deep breath and try very hard to be honest (at least with this one answer)....you did blame GW for the housing meltdown, right?
Many did intentionally screw the banks, some were just lead to believe.....they really were renters..they had no idea of what home ownership is, how much work is involved...they should have just stayed where they were renting. Now because of all of this, housing construction stopped, there are maybe millions of homes unoccupied and this (combined) is driving the price of rentals up very quickly...I know, trust me I know. Thank you
Why are they blaming The President for the "Housing Crises" that started in..2004?
I blame Ted Kennedy for hiding obama in a closet, wouldn't let him vote because we all see what happens to you regardless of how you vote (take a look at Rick right now)...he was never vetted, didn't have the business knowledge, etc. Barry wasn't ready, still isn't and he has this ridiculous notion of taking from one family (most of which worked very hard) and plans to give it to another for basically no justification for that.
He's trying to fix and help settle this mess, but it wasn't Obama's doing in the first place.
so many empty homes should bring the price of rent down.
Come on now, you're smarter than that...........ever hear of supply and demand, the population is continuing to grow, houses are forced empty, no construction like we typically have...........THERE IS A SHORTAGE!
You said thank you and I'll take that as goodnight.
I blamed Bush but also blamed the sleezes on the boats.
But the sleezes came years later ...I had to hear about what was going on and sift thru all the crap to make a decision
Have a good one (night)........we'll chat again one day!