You didn't specify that. You said there were no options. Nice backpeddle.

There are options for VA, FHA, Freddie, Fannie and even USDA for refi. If you have a loan that falls outside of those options, then you're in the extreme minority. Even with private bank loans, there are internal programs for refinancing an underwater house even over 100% LTV.

90%+ of mortgages are backed by Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae.

I was also able to refi for about 3.2% with a poor LTV due to HARP. The original point you were trying to make was so dense and under-informed it's mind bottling.

It's pretty clear the decrease in refis year over year is due to interest rates being about 1% higher than they were last year.

There are issues with purchase money mortgages, particularly for non-Qualified Mortgages, a new term of art under Dodd-Frank, and banks being able to lend, but that's a whole different issue and one that will likely sort itself out in the coming year.

In fairness, I believe this is a new mortgage origination number rather than the percentage of the entire mortgage market.

Yeah, I know there is little to no strategic interest here but I'm good with us helping. Its good to see that Britain and China will help also. Waiting to hear the details.

310 killed in latest Boko Haram attack; kidnapped girls still missing - CNN.com

Send the SEALS in and Boko Haram will turn a Whiter Shade of Pale.

















(alright, it's the best I can do without my morning coffee)

Can I say that Boko Haram are thugs or is that racist?

Depends on whether or not they would talk trash after a football game.

By all means, let's get more involved in Syria.

My Way News - Rebels blow up historic Aleppo hotel in Syria

My reaction to this was "hmmm".

Nearly half of all home sales all-cash deals
http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/08/real...sh-home-sales/

Yeah ... hopefully that's roughly the same reaction that a variety of law enforcement agencies had as well.

Isn't there some big move by hedge funds to buy family homes and then rent them out(and presumably wait for the next big price bubble to sell)? I would assume those are mostly cash deals.

I've gotten a bunch of unsolicited offers to sell my house for cash - they want to tear it down and build a bigger house on the lot to sell. (My house is old, and tiny, but is on a big lot in a nice area). There's a lot of new construction in my neighborhood, I suppose from similar deals.

Not really. The move by hedge funds is to make higher interest rate loans to non-qualified mortgage buyers and then package those loans in bulk into securities. Hedge funds in general don't want to manage properties.

I wonder how Dennis Rodman is interpreting this?

Stay cool Obama.

U.S. criticizes racist North Korean screed against Obama - The Washington Post

I didn't know one of my uncles spoke Korean.

People are lining up to vote for that guy in the midwestern primaries

Keith Crisco dies at his home just days after primary | abc11.com

edit: Since the headline doesn't give the key detail, this is the guy who was locked in the primary battle with Clay Aiken in NC.

Hmmm....

Seventy-one year old man suffers a fall and dies at his home. Not sure I see much of a story there.

He's a congressional candidate, that's pretty much "a story" anywhere.

Hell, the jokes have already begun about Clay "I'm Not Finishing Second THIS Time" Aiken.

Unless he slipped on....cooking oil.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN.

Well, some voters did think he was {wait for it} a slippery character.

GROAN

I think we need a new thread after that one.

Nah, I suspect no one wants to go back to the days of dozens of "POL" threads that we had from '06-'10....

I do

I'm not a fan of the superthread concept

+1

Besides, it's much easier for me to troll Jon if everything's neatly in one thread. :D

It's ok, we'll just have a new thread in 2017 for the next Prez ;).

Honestly, I doubt we'll have time given all the posting we'll be doing about the end of Game of Thrones.

So an Idaho federal judge declared the state's gay marriage ban unconstitutional. Pending a stay (which I guess is likely), the weddings start Friday. I've always kind of wanted to go to a rushed "beat the court stay" gay wedding and reception, maybe I'll get an invite. If only to convince my girlfriend that's the way to go (courthouse and party v. months of planning and tens of thousands of dollars - but also, a rushed gay wedding party would be fun.). I wonder what impact this will have on next week's primaries, which the media and candidates are playing up as a battle for the "soul of the Republican party" in Idaho. The tea party thing has kind of fizzled out nationally, but it seems to be growing a little here. Big business is supporting a couple of prominent tea partiers is elections against regular Republicans. And its a closed primary, so the far right has a real shot. I registered for a party for the first time in my life just to vote. The results could have some interesting ramifications for me career-wise.

I had no idea you lived in Idaho.

Moved here in 2006. (Edit: I'm a New England transplant with law school in between.....there are kind of surprisingly a TON of northeast transplants here.)

The job market must be picking up. The homeless guy that's been living in one of my sheds for the past three years found himself a job.

Couldn't get the embedded video to start at the right time, but it gets good at 34:16 for about 30 seconds.

The Idaho Governor GOP Nominee Debate

There's totally not enough spiritual warfare in politics.

And this debate lacked usual perennial candidate "Pro-life". That's his name, he's an organic strawberry farmer, and I believe he opposes abortion.

The general governor election in November will include a libertarian candidate who won a private contract to supply prosecution services to Idaho's second largest county. It was a big contract, supporting dozens of employees. The county paid him up front. He transferred the money to his private account, apparently just spent it all, ran out of money to run the prosecution office, and resigned. And then he was acquitted of the subsequent criminal charges. He was accused of falsifying evidence in that case, was charged with that, and was acquitted again. (There were also two hung juries in there somewhere) Then last week he got acquitted when the U.S. Attorney's office went after him for bankruptcy fraud.

Started it at 34:16, listened to the guy talk about spiritual warfare, thought it was amusing, starting laughing when they changed to a wider angle and saw the guy next to him....

Moderator: That question was about taxes.

That's where I lost it.

Barlow: Mayor Quimby, you're well-known, sir, for your lenient stance on crime. But suppose for a second that _your_ house was ransacked by thugs, _your_ family tied up in the basement with socks in their mouths, you try to open the door but there's too much _blood_ on the knob --
Quimby: What is your question?
Barlow: My question is about the budget, sir.

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F02.html

SI

33:50 ftw

I would love to vote for a guy named "Butch" Otter at least once.

Not bad, but he's still got a ways to go to match Donald Sterling here.

I didn't realize Joad Cressbeckler was based on a real person.

Old, Grizzled Third-Party Candidate Threatens McCain's Base - YouTube

what the fuck

Descent is the highest form of patriotic

Dola,

In that Idaho debate video, I kept waiting for a "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!" that never came.

Makes the GA primary seem normal. The one where there was a fight to see who was the most conservative culminating in a "you didn't even vote for Saxby Chambliss" barb that had the frontrunner speechless. These commercials are silly, they all just say that the person supports guns, wants to end Obamacare, and will value the sanctity of life and marriage...better than their conservative opponent.

I've done it. Our governor rides a horse and wears a cowboy hat. And he's the least goofy of the 4 candidates, and also the most liberal. And there's nothing at all of substance on the Democratic side. Which makes sense, because the November election is a formality. Even though Idaho did have exclusively Democratic governors all through the 70s and 80s and half the 90s. Weird state.

The saddest thing about this primary -- 7 candidates worth -- is that there really doesn't seem to be but one candidate worth a shit in the entire affair ... and he stepped on a third rail with me the other day & ended his chances of getting my vote. A motley collection of RINO's and frauds if there's ever been one. Even worse, these are the best options available in November.

Truly, this is quite possibly THE most depressing race of my voting life.