Liar Loans

Today on the radio I heard an advertisement from Townstone Financial, a mortgage company. Their ad says, "It's not the interest rate, it's the payment." In light of the second wave of defaults hitting (really Alan Zibel of the Associated Press, only the second wave??), it seems like the industry has learned little if they allow this kind of advertising to take place. The liar loans of the past focused on no documentation and low payments with whatever interest rate or fees, because all they want you to do is pay the interest or minimal principal for a few years. Meanwhile, what you are not paying in principal or waived interest gets tacked onto the principal balance and then the loan resets in three years and you're screwed because your payment, which is no longer interest only, triples. Nice. Hopefully these monkeys will go the way of Countrywide, American Home Mortgage and Indymac. I also hope the government doesn't bail out the bastards.

Kyle Orton has been named the Bears starting quarterback in case you missed it. I'm happy it's not Rex, but it probably matters little. The Bears did nothing to enhance their offensive line (draft pick is out hurt and they needed three not one), QB position or WR.

But I looked back to last year and I wonder....on offense are we better or worse? Cedric is gone and Forte is here. That's an upgrade. The offensive line is basically the same...sadly. Our wide receivers are worse since Berrian's gone. But Olson will have another year of experience at tight end. Hester is going to be used more on offense as well. I think our offense, overall, might actually be better this year!! Our defense was banged up early and we still went 7-9. Hmmm, makes me think that with a weak schedule, maybe we could do a little better than that. Interesting.