quote:

And, you know, that's particularly outrageous is that the mortgage bailout, the Freddie and Fannie Mae bailout bill which was done this August which I also voted against because that nationalized the mortgage industry, that bill, Barney Frank voted language in that bill this summer which hard wires $420 of a $100,000 mortgage to ACORN, La Raza and other organizations like --

GLENN: That's an outrage. Why didn't the American people know? That's an absolute outrage.

CONGRESSMAN CULBERSON: And it is forever. It bypass -- I'm on the appropriations committee. It bypasses appropriations, bypasses the congress, it's in your closing documents. This from day forward we will all be paying 4.2% basis fee of $420 for every $100,000 mortgage in your closing paper will have papers. You'll have a new little line in there, a new fee that we're going to all pay to go straight to these affordable housing funds which the states then hard wire to La Raza, ACORN, groups like that.

quote:

CONGRESSMAN CULBERSON: There is going to be voter fraud. We don't know how massive it is but no question, ACORN and other organizations like them are going to be a big part of it because they have pled guilty. I mean, ACORN has literally pled guilty to false -- to fraudulent voter registration. And in Houston we discovered there's about 4,000 dead people on the voter rolls here. It's going on around the country. We're the only nation I think on the face of the Earth that doesn't have a citizenship list, a citizenship roll that you can just check the database against voter rolls, and ACORN has a long history of this, Glenn. And, you know, that's particularly outrageous is that the mortgage bailout, the Freddie and Fannie Mae bailout bill which was done this August which I also voted against because that nationalized the mortgage industry, that bill, Barney Frank voted language in that bill this summer which hard wires $420 of a $100,000 mortgage to ACORN, La Raza and other organizations like --
GLENN: That's an outrage. Why didn't the American people know? That's an absolute outrage.

CONGRESSMAN CULBERSON: And it is forever. It bypass -- I'm on the appropriations committee. It bypasses appropriations, bypasses the congress, it's in your closing documents. This from day forward we will all be paying 4.2% basis fee of $420 for every $100,000 mortgage in your closing paper will have papers. You'll have a new little line in there, a new fee that we're going to all pay to go straight to these affordable housing funds which the states then hard wire to La Raza, ACORN, groups like that.

quote:

ORIGINAL: gigigirrl

It might help if I expand the quote.

quote:

CONGRESSMAN CULBERSON: There is going to be voter fraud. We don't know how massive it is but no question, ACORN and other organizations like them are going to be a big part of it because they have pled guilty. I mean, ACORN has literally pled guilty to false -- to fraudulent voter registration. And in Houston we discovered there's about 4,000 dead people on the voter rolls here. It's going on around the country. We're the only nation I think on the face of the Earth that doesn't have a citizenship list, a citizenship roll that you can just check the database against voter rolls, and ACORN has a long history of this, Glenn. And, you know, that's particularly outrageous is that the mortgage bailout, the Freddie and Fannie Mae bailout bill which was done this August which I also voted against because that nationalized the mortgage industry, that bill, Barney Frank voted language in that bill this summer which hard wires $420 of a $100,000 mortgage to ACORN, La Raza and other organizations like --
GLENN: That's an outrage. Why didn't the American people know? That's an absolute outrage.

CONGRESSMAN CULBERSON: And it is forever. It bypass -- I'm on the appropriations committee. It bypasses appropriations, bypasses the congress, it's in your closing documents. This from day forward we will all be paying 4.2% basis fee of $420 for every $100,000 mortgage in your closing paper will have papers. You'll have a new little line in there, a new fee that we're going to all pay to go straight to these affordable housing funds which the states then hard wire to La Raza, ACORN, groups like that.

Now in the transcription he mentions voting against the bailout twice which would be 9/29 and 10/2 if I remember the days they voted correctly. But here he refers to some bill voted on in August. A bailout of Fannie and Freddie. I don't remember much about that. Can any one shed any light. That bill is what this congressman is talking about concerning the 4.2%.

quote:

ORIGINAL: GroupW

Isn't it sad that the LAST two places one should go for information on a bill are:
a) your local congressman,
b) the news.

Sometimes the only thing you can do is actually go and read the legislation yourself, an act which is so mind-numbingly boring that I can't blame people for being uneducated on the issues. Unless you're a congressman, in which case I think that's included in your job description.

I could be wrong about that, and based on comments I hear from many congressmen on the bill, I guess I must be.

quote:

ORIGINAL: cow451

quote:

ORIGINAL: GroupW

Isn't it sad that the LAST two places one should go for information on a bill are:
a) your local congressman,
b) the news.
c) any syndicated radio or TV or newspaper host/commentator/columnist

Sometimes the only thing you can do is actually go and read the legislation yourself, an act which is so mind-numbingly boring that I can't blame people for being uneducated on the issues. Unless you're a congressman, in which case I think that's included in your job description.

I could be wrong about that, and based on comments I hear from many congressmen on the bill, I guess I must be.

Correction: b) should be "any syndicated radio or TV or newspaper host/commentator/columnist"

quote:

ORIGINAL: GroupW

The first thing I noticed is that a 4.2 basis point fee would be 0.042% or $42.00

As basis point is 1/100 of a percent.

$42 is much more reasonable than $420. The average $100k mortgage only has about $250 worth of profit in it to begin with, so I have a hard time thinking a fee like this would be 2x what the bank even earns by making the loan.

rgod-
I think you've hit the nail on the head with respect to this non-issue. I'll see what else I can dig up.

Edit:
Here's the text of the final bill:

http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/FinalGSEBilll.pdf

Use of the Housig Trust Fund in section 1337 of the 1992 act as amended by the 2008 act is as follows:

Fund under this section is to provide grants to States for
2 use—
3 ‘‘(1) to increase and preserve the supply of
4 rental housing for extremely low- and very low-in5
come families, including homeless families; and
6 ‘‘(2) to increase homeownership for extremely
7 low- and very low-income families.

Excess funds are to be used for the Hope For Homeowners program previously authorized.

Note that no mention of ACORN is in there - the money is to be used for low and very low income housing specifically. No political use of the funds is authorized. The use of such funds for political purposes would be illegal under this act as an unauthorized use of public funds. Paragraph 7 of section 1337 as amended also limits the use of fund to the creation and/or rehabilitation of low income housing along with downpayment/closing cost assistance for first time homebuyers.

Authorized recipients of the funds are: state housing agencies, housing and community development entities (along with the authorized use of funds, that would preclude political advocacy programs such as also sponsored by ACORN) and tribally designated native american housing agencies.


Seems to me like Rep Culberson has either not read the actual legislation, doesn't even understand what a "basis point" is, and has completely misrepresented the issue to make a political point to people who don't have the time to get informed on what the actual bill is designed to accomplish. ACORN's low income housing non-profit section could receive funds under this program, but there would be fairly stringent rules surrounding the acceptable use of the funds.

I don't see a problem here.

quote:

ORIGINAL: gigigirrl

The Hope For Homeowners program which is referred to in the bill is a program of HUD FHA.
http://www.hud.gov/fha/home080730.cfm

Groups like ACORN would be most likely telling the people they work with about this program - helping them fill out the app and such. Here is their press release.
http://tinyurl.com/3jkwzp

So to say there is no connection would be not really true.