A federal rescue of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost taxpayers as much as $25 billion, Congress' top budget analyst said Tuesday. ...more

July 22, 2008

It's time to put an end to the charade that no one ever believed. ...more

July 19, 2008

We knew it could happen, even though they said it wouldn't. The government is using our money again to haul private companies' hindquarters out of the fire - this time it's troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ...more

July 16, 2008

Memorial Day is upon us again, while our American troops wage war on two fronts. We live in strange times here in the United States. ...more

May 9, 2008

The Federal Reserve reported Monday that more banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages, other types of consumer loans and business loans in response to a spreading credit crisis. ...more

May 6, 2008

Even the American Dialect Society knows how risky home mortgages are these days. ...more

January 6, 2008

Late payments on a cluster of consumer loans, including those for autos, home improvement and certain home equity loans, climbed in the summer to their highest point since the country's last recession in 2001. ...more

January 4, 2008

People taking out home mortgages may gain new protections soon against shady lending practices as the Federal Reserve seeks to back even the riskiest borrowers, already hit hardest by the housing and credit crunches. ...more

December 16, 2007

Consumers grousing about soaring gas prices often focus on the big oil companies and anyone else who might profit when it costs more at the pump. One culprit that doesn't always get blamed when prices rise - a weak dollar - could draw more attention in the coming year. ...more

December 15, 2007

Most Americans feel compassionate about anyone facing foreclosure. Witnessing more than a million people staring down foreclosure due to home mortgages leaves all us wanting to save people from this sad situation. But before we spend billions in taxpayer dollars for a bailout, we need to consider how this happened in the first place. When we do that, we'll see that most of the people losing their houses never should have qualified for a home loan in the first place, and that predatory lenders are to blame for most of this mess. The Bush administration reached a deal with mortgage bankers to freeze interest rates on some sub-prime mortgages for five years. Other limitations apply, and only about 225,000 people will benefit from it. In fact, it's fair to say that if these homeowners are already in trouble, freezing interest rates won't help much – if at all. ...more

December 9, 2007