Pay No Attention to the Party Behind the Curtain

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PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE PARTY BEHIND THE CURTAIN….Citigroup has agreed to drop its opposition to “cramdown” legislation:

Key congressional Democrats on Thursday reached an agreement with financial giant Citigroup Inc. on a proposal to make it easier for bankruptcy judges to adjust the terms of home loans and possibly forestall many foreclosures.

….The breakthrough agreement boosts the chances that Democrats can push new laws through Congress that direct bankruptcy judges to rework mortgage terms by writing down the principal on the millions of homes that now are worth less than the mortgages they carry.

Most of the reaction to this announcement has been dismay that Congress had to “negotiate” with Citigroup in order to pass this legislation, but it’s important to get clear what’s actually going on here. The negotiation wasn’t really with Citigroup, it was with Senate Republicans, who have almost unanimously opposed this legislation in the past. With Citigroup on board, Durbin and Dodd and Schumer hope that other banks will hop on board too, and once the banks are on board then maybe a few of those legendary “moderate” Republicans will also see the light and do the right thing.

Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. But it’s Republicans that are the problem. Banks are just fronting for them.

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Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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