Morning Bell: “I Just Lost Another Loan to Obama!”

Conn Carroll / April 10, 2009

The New York Times reports this morning: “He is not a mortgage broker. But for a time on Thursday, President Obama seemed to be playing one on television, urging Americans not to miss out on rock-bottom refinancing rates. … Seldom has the president sounded so much like the host of a late-night infomercial, stopping just shy of imploring people to call the toll-free number at the bottom of their television screens.” We don’t get to say this very often, but the New York Times is dead right. Here are some actual quotes from the President of the United States speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House yesterday:

[I]f you are having problems with your mortgage, and even if you’re not and you just want to save some money, you can go to MakingHomeAffordable.gov — MakingHomeAffordable.gov — and the way the web site is designed, you can plug in your information and immediately find out whether or not you are potentially eligible for one of these — one of these mortgage refinancings.
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Again, the web site is MakingHomeAffordable.gov — is that right? MakingHomeAffordable.gov — so get on the web site, find out what’s available.
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So take advantage of MakingHomeAffordable.gov and that will allow you to figure out exactly how to proceed on this in a way that’s making you money, saving you money, as opposed to costing you money.

As Dana Milbank quipped: “I just lost another loan to Obama!” (more…)