Bank Profits & More Bailouts

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I don't know about you, but each time I read about giant bonuses and huge profit margins due to the generosity of our government I seethe as a person and professional.  This LA Times article exposes yet another bail out windfall - http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-onewest20-2010feb20,0,880625.story

It has been a tough year all the way around.  I don't want to begrudge anyone a profit.  Even a big profit.  But according to one You Tube site the FDIC offered a sweet deal to OneWest Bank which covers investor losses over $2.5 billion.  The FDIC adamantly defends their position and the agreement with OneWest.  http://budurl.com/p8g6

The real answer is probably somewhere in between, but I do know from my little microcosm of the real estate world here in Portland Oregon, there are real people hurting.  Sellers that have lost jobs and are losing their homes.  Lenders ignore pleas to modify loans and then sell the loan to another service provider for a fraction of the cost, creating confusion and chaos for the seller to try and redirect their efforts.  All without a change in looming foreclosure timelines.  The bank doesn’t miss a beat.

And what do you think about the special bailout of 5 states announced by the White House?  Again, personally and professionally I look at Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada and think about how many investors and speculators bought rows and rows of homes in these communities that allowed unbridled building.  Michigan has its own set of issues so we will leave them alone.  Now we are setting up a special fund because they have been so hard hit.  How can this be that our government is willing to create and additional $1.5 billion bailout for the people that took higher than normal risks.  Many of these same risk takers also received higher than normal rewards before the fallout occurred.  Is there anyone out there that thinks this is wrong?

Slowly we are gaining ground by doing the right things.  It is a fragile perch that could topple again with the above kinds of actions.  Maybe it is time to get involved and demand your representatives be held accountable for their special interest actions.  I am not a political person, but I am rapidly approaching the “Mad as Hell” mode with the nonsense going on.  It is hard to focus on my true passion of helping people make a move to or from a home to the next phase of their lives with all this extraneous stuff going on.

What’s on your mind?  For service with integrity, passion, hard work and client focused services, call Linda Heinrichs today www.portlandmetrohomesforsale.com

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