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Dr. John Rodgers solution to save homes from foreclosure

Rick Lowe

Dr. Rodgers recently announced his remedy to save homes from foreclosure.

1. "…reduce the Central Bank Prime Rate from 5.25 per cent to 2.25 per cent or lower,…"
2. Banks "could reduce the principal on their troubled mortgages by 50 per cent,.."
3. "…the Government should take immediate steps to establish a Foreclosure Trust Fund."… of $150 million.

Read his entire "plan" here… and here…

Admittedly times are difficult and families losing their homes must be devastated, but to suggest that reducing the Prime Lending rate to 2% would help save a home from foreclosure is mere political rhetoric. I wonder if he worked the sums? The Nassau Institute did. Go here… to see their piece from June 2011.

Secondly, to state that banks should reduce the principle of mortgages in default by 50% is reckless. Banks lent money to the borrowers in good faith, at market values, and besides banks here are not responsible for our economic woes.

And thirdly, government has no money to establish a Foreclosure Trust Fund. As Milton Friedman is reported to have said, government has no money, they must take it from the taxpayer one way or another - taxes and or debt etc.

Now if Dr. Rodgers wishes to establish a private fund to attempt his scheme, I say go for it.

It's always curious how so many of us justifiably take issue with government programmes, yet believe that we can design them and everything will work just fine. Freiderich Hayek called that sort of stuff The Fatal Conceit. Specifically he said:

"The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."

What is said at election time in an attempt to gain political power should be filtered through the finest of mesh.

Hard times like this is when families need to come together to best see how they can help each other. Sometimes forclosure is the only option. Other people have been lucky enough to move in with their family members and rent their home so keep the payments current.

Even with his scheme, Dr. Rodgers laments, "You can't save all of the mortgages. Some of them are going to go down because people have no jobs and no monies at all."

I'm not in favour of taking tax dollars from Bahamian's so people in the political class can decide who they want to give it to. They want to appear to be helping with other peoples money. Heck that's easy.

I would prefer the private sector, people with like minds to Dr. Rodgers, risk some of their money to be altristic with. Who knows, I might even make a donation.

Duane Sands Freedom of Information Act Senate Contribution

 

Dr. Duane Sands

 

David Ben- Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister once said that “The test of democracy is freedom of criticism.”

These insightful words provide a globally relevant, historical context for our deliberations today.
Freedom of speech is a fairly new and recently acquired (realized) right in this country.

We are here today to further entrench the concept of freedom and to deepen our Bahamian democracy.

It is yet another step…

Beginning with the elimination of political victimization…. Which, Madame President, was the single greatest failure of the original PLP and which … still embraced by factions within today’s iteration (of the GOP of the Bahamas) has continued to be an albatross around the necks of the “new PLP.”
Since the dawn of our independence, countless Bahamians have been told to shut their mouths… to not speak out about injustices witnessed… corruption encountered or dishonesty or unethical behavior uncovered.

In the formative years of my life… shortly after establishing my own definition of my adolescent self, I can vividly recall being told … and hearing many other Bahamians being counseled “You can’t say nuttin bout dat publicly…” Less they find themselves jobless… Hungry… and ostracized. Unable to make a living… Or worse… to have their families hurt, reputations irreparably damaged or characters assassinated. Or labeled publicly and ceremoniously as “A liar.”

It was a dark time in our history… a time that we should have long passed… but which we have revisited far too recently and far too often.

Unfortunately, as a country… we have not eliminated the climate of political persecution (perfected by the PLP) that sends the message… toe the line and you will be well cared for.

Step over the line… and you are history!

Those older times were very dark days.

As an historical reality, they led to the emergence of a group of freedom fighters now known as the dissident eight. They created the movement that has done most… if not all of the finish work of the Bahamian democracy. And now has the distinction of doing not only the finish work … but installing most of the infrastructure of this modern Bahamas.

Lessons in Freedom: Egalitarian Fallacies Galore!

Tibor R. Machan

I assume that writers like me want to be read, not ignored. But, alas, there isn’t much we can do about this except perhaps fine tune our craft. Even that merely improves the odds. None can make others read one’s works. Thousands are simply left unread. (Do they actually burn all those unread copies?)

Or take chefs who would naturally want the public to prefer their cuisine. Still, only a few customers will give it a shot. Or all those artists whose works hang in galleries but without being viewed by visitors. Or museums no one goes to. Or athletics no one cares much about, like the ones that were popular with my family, fencing and rowing. Just compare their fan base with football and baseball!

It’s all so unfair, one might shout out, especially if one is convinced that fairness is the highest value in society, which is the essential message of egalitarianism. From everything we know it is clear that life isn’t fair. What we forget is that there’s nothing wrong with that at all. People pick pretty or colorful flowers while weeds are not taken home and placed in vases, not most of the time. How unfair is that?! Most people have preferences for the company of certain types of other people, by no means for just anyone, let alone for everyone. Your favorite actor or comic or singer isn’t going to be everyone’s favorite. And so it goes, on and on without end.

Senator Duane Sands on the Auditor General's Audit of the Ministry of Housing and National Insurance

Rick Lowe

It's not often I get to watch the proceedings of the House of Assembly or Senate, but managed to watch the presentation by Dr. Duane Sands in the Senate yesterday. His comments in support of a Freedom of Information Act were very good and we will post his speech here on Friday.

However, part of his presentation included the tabling of the Auditor General's "Value for Money Audit Report" on the Ministry of Housing & National Insurance for the years 2002 to 2007, and the only word that came to mind as he read excerpts was "surreal".

Standing to offer the Oppositions point of view, Jerome Fitzgerald proceeded to mock the report and suggested it cleared the former Minister of Housing and National Insurance name from any wrong doing. Emphasising that Mr. Gibson did not take one cent of the publics money or the report would have said so.

Judging from the excerpts Dr. Sands read, the ministry was no less than chaotic and in fact the Auditor General reportedly found that the operation of two of the bank accounts were in "contravention of the law and financial regulations…"

Surely on those counts alone, Mr. Fitzgerald should have offered an apology to The Bahamian people. But instead he chose to laugh about it suggesting that his party was only trying to help Bahamians.

From where I sit, accountability of the political class and civil servants is one of the biggest issues, if not the biggest, facing our country going forward. If we dismiss the Auditor General's report and it's very serious implications so flippantly what does that say about Fitzgerald's sincerity? Hiding behind altruistic rhetoric does not absolve the former MInister or the employees of the Ministry of Housing and National Insurance of the reports findings.

It really is a sad day in our beautiful little country. It leaves me numb.

Cato Unbound and "Due Process of Law"

Rick Lowe

We often hear people - including the political class - and mostly lawyers at that - ridiculing the Judiciary, and informing us how if they were elected Prime Minister they would fix it post haste.

The most recent "debate" is how the current administration has failed on the issue of crime and there are far too many known criminals and murderers out on bail.

If my failing memory serves me correctly, about two years ago now, Parliament passed a Bill, unanimously I might add, that anyone charged with murder could not be granted bail.

Now if someone is charged with a crime and sits in jail for five years  without the case against them proceeding, they should be released. If we can't process a matter within five years it points to us, the ineffectiveness of the workers in the system, not necessarily a bad law.

That said, would be satisfied with the arbitrariness of the political class being allowed to dictate the outcome of cases? My short answer is, no. A little bit longer answer is, we no longer live under a Monarchy where the King or Queen dictates their personal form of justice.

Is it perfect? Of course not. But I do think it beats mob rule.

But I digress, Cato Unbound has done it again with an excellent discussion on What Is Due Process during February 2012.

The Lead Essay is by Timothy Sandefur and is entitled Why Substantive Due Process Makes Sense. Read it here…

Hope you enjoy it.

Follow Germany's lead: Relax regulations to help create employment

Rick Lowe

A British MP has suggested that their Parliament "copy the Germans and make things simple for business". [More…]

1. The Germans are making it easier to hire staff for "mini-jobs".
2. They're relaxing of dismissal regulations, and
3. Allowing part time workers for indefinite periods.

All smart moves in trying to rejuvinate employment.

I think its quite amazing when governments realise it's their own policies that are the problem and have the willingness to change them.

Lessons for our political class maybe?

Don't miss Dr. Tibor Machan on Ayn Rand & the Right to Liberty

Click here... to register at The Nassau Institute's secure site.

 

Elton John - Song of the week - February 20, 2012 - Stinker

Rick Lowe

Few people can write and sing ballads better than Elton John (& Bernie Taupin), but his great rock stuff is often over looked. And Stinker, from his 1974 release Caribou, is one of those songs.

Here's some of the lyrics:

Say what you will but I'm a stinker
I come crawling up out of my hole
Dirt in my toes, dirt up my nose
I'm a perfect curse to pest control

Visit his web site here… and if you don't have any of his music by now you better go out and buy some…please. You won't regret it. I'm partial to his older stuff form the late 1960's and 1970's, but none of it disappoints.

Enjoy Stinker, below.

Elton John Stinker

Nasty politics: There's nothing new under the sun

Rick Lowe

"Nothing new under he sun" might seem like a cliche but it's true.

How about these quotes from the US election of 1800.

"John Adams is a blind, bald, toothless man who wants to start a war with France. While he's not busy importing mistresses from Europe he's trying to marry one of his sons to a daughter of King George. Haven't we had enough Monarchy in America?" Thomas Jefferson

"John Adams is a hideous and hermaphroditical character with neither the force and firmness of a man or the gentleness and sensibility of a woman." Thomas Jefferson

"If Thomas Jefferson wins, robbery, rape and incest will be openly taught and practiced. The air will be wrent with the cries of the distressed, the soil will be soaked with blood and the air black with crimes. Are you prepared to see your dwellings in flames, female chastity violated, children writhing on a pike?" John Adams

Back in the 17 and 1800's they did not have You Tube, Facebook, and Twitter or e-mail to get their messages around, but it goes to show that there really is nothing new under the sun when it comes to nasty politics.

Did things change in the 1960's? In a BBC article by Andrew Marr entitled, President John F Kennedy and the art of dirty politics, confirms there was little change.

"And yet… Kennedy beat Nixon not simply with his ads, his sound bites, his jingles, the carefully posed photographs and the downright lies he told about his health. He beat Nixon by not standing for anything beyond rousing banalities."  More…

And in The Bahamas today, it's no different.

In the final, will symbolism over substance and nasty campaigning win the upcoming election, or have we grown past all that and will vote based on facts and performance both past and present?

Branville McCartney on the Prime Lending Rate

Rick Lowe

I stand to be corrected, but I've been made to understand that in a recent speech Mr. McCartney indicated that he will see to it that the Central Bank of The Bahamas drops the Prime Lending Rate to 2% from the present 4.75% should he become Prime Minister.

Whether his suggestion was that he would drop the rate to 2% or by 2% the savings on a car loan or mortgage would not be enough to save a loan or mortgage from default. See Nassau Institute June 12, 2011.

In addition, the Prime Minister of our country does not have the power to dictate to the Central Bank what the rates should be. Not if you wish to keep our currency stable and inflation in check as much as possible that is.

Two quick points come to mind.

1. It is nothing more than populist rhetoric to suggest to people that a 2% prime lending rate will save their homes. In fact it's really cheap politics and will only disappoint the electorate when they fully understand or feel the consequences of this action.
2. Mr. McCartney spends a lot of time informing us how many powers he will take away from the Prime Ministers post should he be elected. Well that sounds good, but to say that and then suggest he will dictate policy to the Central Bank, is well contradictory in the extreme don't you think?

When will some in the political class begin to be honest about the effects of public policy? When we are in the position of the Greeks?