Obama Plan

The headline says, "Obama plan to lower home mortgage payments, but how much?"

"Obama's argument is that as more families refinance at a low interest rate, incidences of default and foreclosure will diminish, helping to stabilize home values and restore consumer confidence. The families who benefit will also get extra cash in their pockets each month, which they can use to buy other things in the economy or to pay down debt.”

Of course there are too many conditions:

"Participants must live in the home and be current on the mortgage. Availability would be more limited if a loan is deeply underwater (loan more than 140 percent of home value) or if borrower is unemployed."

Just tell Fannie and Freddie to do it. Refinance all borrowers who are current. Forget the appraisal. They have been the major roadblocks to refinance. They know who is current. Just press a button on their computer, send those borrowers a letter, "Your payment is now lowered to _____. "

This could be one small step for mankind. But the conditions will make it a very small step.