Posted 7/30/2008 09:43:00 PM by Douglas

It's hard to pin down the dumbest thing G'dumb has done, but this definitely makes the top five.

President Bush signed a housing bill Wednesday intended to rescue about 15 percent of the cash-strapped homeowners in fear of foreclosure in the next year or so.

Early in the morning and out of public view, the president signed it without fanfare in the Oval Office, adding his signature to a measure he once threatened to veto. The White House said he was accompanied by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston and other administration officials.

Think there was a reason the bill was signed in the shadows of darkness? I wonder why.

The president also was sensitive to complaints by fiscal conservatives, who object to the raise in the debt ceiling and the bailout for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders. Some, but not all, were mollified by the bill's establishment of a regulator with stronger reins over the two companies and the new "consultative" role overseeing the companies for the Federal Reserve.

Wait, he's a "conservative" right? Fiscally conservative, right?? Gebus, what an embarrassment. The nuts and bolts:

The measure includes $300 billion in new loan authority for the government to back cheaper mortgages for troubled homeowners; $3.9 billion for communities to fix up foreclosed properties causing blight in neighborhoods; and $15 billion in tax cuts, including an expanded low-income housing tax credit and a credit of up to $7,500, to be repaid, for some first-time home buyers.

Man, I sure was tired of paying my mortgage. Guess I'll just stop. But how can I get in on this action

Q: But doesn't this provide an incentive to NOT pay your mortgage, if you're barely keeping ahead of bills and are underwater on your house, so you can qualify?

A: No. If your situation deteriorates enough, the bank may reject any possible new loan.

"Turning yourself into a financial basket case is not going to work," said Dan Seiver, a finance professor at San Diego State University. "If you turn into a complete deadbeat, the servicer is going to just foreclose and dump it."

If they're not looking for deadbeats that can't pay their mortgage, then who are they looking for??