Obama Admin Envisions Life Without Congress

Obama Admin Envisions Life Without Congress

In the ongoing merger between the Obama campaign and the Obama administration, the White House just sent out an e-mail to its supporters championing a new website that will tell you if you qualify for refinancing under President Obama’s new plan:

Hello —

President Obama’s plan to give mortgage relief to responsible homeowners boils down to one important principle. He wants to simplify the refinancing process.  

And the very first step is to let people know if they would benefit from the President’s proposal — so we’ve built a tool to help answer that question.  

Just enter a few basic facts about your mortgage, and this tool will help you figure out if you currently qualify for easy, low-cost refinancing — or whether, like millions of families, you need Congress to act to help you lower your interest rate.  

Get started now.  

Once you click on the link, the fun begins. Remember the part of the e-mail just above where it says that Obama wants to give mortgage relief to “responsible homeowners”? Well, let’s say you live in a house with a mortgage that isn’t covered by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the Department of Agriculture, or the Federal Housing Administration. Let’s say your mortgage is for less than $750,000. And let’s say you haven’t made your mortgage on time for the last six months. What does the Obama website say? You’re good to go:

You may qualify for refinancing if Congress acts.

Get current on your mortgage payments. Then, if Congress passes President Obama’s refinancing proposal, it will be easier for homeowners like you to refinance, even if you owe more on your home than it’s worth.

Banks will compete for your business and the process will be simpler for you, with less red tape, no more tax forms, and no more appraisals — just a lower interest rate.

Because we can’t wait for Congress to act, President Obama has already taken steps that may help homeowners like you.

Well, goody gumdrops! Sure, you don’t sound too responsible. But to hell with that – Obama wants to help you! In fact, if you’re underwater on your home and have a mortgage with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, so long as you’re current on your mortgage, you can get refinanced under Obama’s plan – or at least you’ll “likely qualify for refinancing if Congress acts.” There are only a few options under which you won’t qualify for help: if your mortgage is above $750,000 (don’t want to help those rich folks), and if you have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan on which you’re late.

But leave aside Obama’s efforts here to be your mortgage broker. Focus instead on the fact that the Obama White House is now notifying broad swaths of Americans what Obama can do for them – if he just doesn’t have to worry about that pesky Congress. He can’t champion his achievements, and he knows he won’t be able to pass an idiotic plan like this. So instead, the White House is living in fantasyland, asking Americans to support Obama because of what he would do if he were dictator.

Then Obama gets to the stories:

As tens of thousands of people have spoken up and written in to the White House, we’ve heard one message loud and clear: The refinancing process is anything but easy to navigate.   

Even homeowners who have done everything right and made all their payments on time are getting caught up in unnecessary red tape. Sitting down and reading through some of these stories is a powerful reminder of why it’s so important that we get this done right away.  

One mom in Maryland, raising two teenage boys by herself, wrote in to say that she’s working 15 hour days to make her mortgage payments and keep current on her bills. Another family from Illinois is hoping to lower their mortgage payments so they can help pay for college for their kids. One woman in Arkansas called the President’s plan a “no brainer” and talked about how much good it would do for the broader economy.  

So if you are like these people and think that both you and our economy could stand to benefit from the President’s refinancing plan, give the tool a try, then take a moment to share it with your friends:  

http://www.whitehouse.gov/refi

Thanks, 

Brian

Brian Deese

Deputy Director

National Economic Council 

It’s getting more and more difficult to tell these days where the White House ends and the Obama campaign begins.

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