The bad news is, if you already lost your home you’re not gonna get more than two stacks for your sorrows… The good news is, if your loan is bigger than what your house is worth, the bank has to restructure your loan and help you out!

Here’s the details:

Federal officials announced Thursday that 49 states have accepted a $25 billion foreclosure-abuse settlement with the five largest mortgage lenders — a deal that primarily helps underwater homeowners but pays just $2,000 to those already wrongly foreclosed upon.

The bulk of the deal requires the banks to reduce some loans and refinance mortgages for underwater borrowers. Oklahoma was the lone holdout to the agreement.

President Obama described the deal as a “landmark settlement” that would “begin to turn the page on an era of recklessness” while speeding relief to hard-hit homeowners.

It is the biggest settlement involving a single industry since a 1998 multistate tobacco deal. Under the agreement, five major banks — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial — will reduce loans for nearly 1 million households.

Those who lost their homes to foreclosure are unlikely to get their homes back or benefit much financially from the settlement. For those improperly foreclosed upon, the banks will cough up checks of $2,000 to about 750,000 Americans. The banks will have three years to fulfill the terms of the deal.

The deal was geared more toward homeowners who are struggling to make payments now, yet still have possession of their homes. The agreement requires the banks to commit a staggering amount of money toward changing loan terms. At least $10 billion will go toward reducing the principal for borrowers who are delinquent or underwater borrowers at risk of default. At least $3 billion will go toward refinancing. Other payments will go toward state governments, and the federal government, to “repay public funds lost as a result of servicer misconduct,” according to the Justice Department.

Obama, noting the damage the housing bubble did to the broader U.S. economy, said no single action would heal the housing market. But he described the settlement as an important step, one which would address alleged abuses by mortgage lenders — like using fake signatures in the foreclosure process.

“These practices were plainly irresponsible, and we refused to let them go unanswered,” Obama said.

All but one of the 50 states agreed to the deal. Oklahoma, the lone holdout, will receive no money. That state’s attorney general had opposed the massive fine included in the settlement, and reportedly was concerned the penalty went beyond the scope of the original investigation.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the deal would “hold mortgage servicers accountable for abusive practices.”

The conditions will be overseen by Joseph A. Smith Jr., North Carolina’s banking commissioner. Lenders that violate the deal could face $1 million penalties per violation and up to $5 million for repeat violators.

During the financial and housing crisis, home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. Many companies processed foreclosures without verifying documents. Some employees signed papers they hadn’t read or used fake signatures to speed foreclosures — an action known as robo-signing.

Under the deal, the 49 states have said they won’t pursue civil charges related to these types of abuses. Homeowners can still sue lenders in civil court on their own, and federal and state authorities can pursue criminal charges.

Bank of America will pay the most to borrowers as part of the deal — nearly $8.6 billion. Wells Fargo will pay about $4.3 billion, JPMorgan Chase will pay roughly $4.2 billion, Citigroup will pay about $1.8 billion and Ally Financial will pay $200 million. This does not include $5.5 billion in federal and state payments.

The deal also ends a separate investigation into Bank of America and Countrywide for inflating appraisals of loans from 2003 through most of 2009. Bank of America acquired Countrywide in 2008.

The banks and U.S. state attorneys general agreed to the deal late Wednesday after 16 months of contentious negotiations.

New York and California came on board late Wednesday. California has more than 2 million “underwater” borrowers, whose homes are worth less than their mortgages. New York has some 118,000 homeowners who are underwater.

In addition to the payments and mortgage write-downs, the deal promises to reshape long-standing mortgage lending guidelines. It will make it easier for those at risk of foreclosure to make their payments and keep their homes.

The settlement would apply only to privately held mortgages issued from 2008 through 2011. Banks own about half of all U.S. mortgages — roughly 30 million loans.

Seems like Barry O meant what he said in his State of the Union Address after all. It’s not gonna make him too popular with the Wall Street cats, but he prolly lost that battle a long time ago. Hopefully this helps get America closer to where we need to be.

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Bey got all types of work done during her pregnancy, didn’t she?

In the months leading up to the birth of her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, Beyonce was busy shooting videos and promotions for her album 4, but she also made the time to design gear for President Obama’s re-election Campaign. Bey and her mother Tina Knowles participated in “Runway to Win,” in which a number of celebrities and fashion icons are tapped to design T-shirts and other items for President Obama’s re-election campaign.

According to New York magazine, the effort was spearheaded by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who wrangled a number of her friends and fashion world peers to design shirts, tote bags, scarves and bracelets for the Obama campaign.

In addition to Beyoncé, Diddy and hip-hip impresario Russell Simmons, others who’ve thrown in include First Lady Michelle Obama fave designer Jason Wu, as well as Rachel Roy, Narciso Rodriguez, Marc Jacobs, Diane Von Furstenberg, rag & bone, Altuzarra, Alexander Wang, Tory Burch and Tracy Reese.

Beyoncé’s effort, designed in conjunction with her mother, Tina Knowles, is a $45 white T-shirt with the phrases “yes we can,” “words do inspire” and “transform a nation together,” randomly scattered across the front in different fonts. (Simmons and Diddy’s shirts have not yet been revealed.”

The current fundraiser is a sequel of sorts to a similar campaign in 2008 called “Runway to Change,” and the proceeds will go to the Obama Victory Fund. Pre-orders are being taken now and all the items are slated to go on sale online on February 7.

Here’s a look at the Knowles design. Would you cop this for $45 and a good cause?

Do you think any of the current Republican candidates’ campaigns will be able to match the Obama campaign’s star power?

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SMH, Conservative Slander Season continues.

During an episode of The 700 Club, Pat Roberston revealed to his viewers that he had an extensive conversation with God about the 2012 presidential election. And Roberstson says that God told him who would be in the White House come February of next year. And apparently, the homie G-O-D wants NO PARTS of Barack Obama.

According to Robertson, God doesn’t support President Barack Obama’s agenda and says that only “overwhelming prayer” can bring a new leader who will stop the country from “disintegrating”:

Your country will be torn apart by internal stress. A house divided cannot stand. Your president holds a radical view of the direction of your country which is at odds with the majority. Expect chaos and paralysis. Your president holds a view which is at the odds with the majority — it’s a radical view of the future of this country, and so that’s why we’re having this division. This is a spiritual battle which can only be won by overwhelming prayer. The future of the world is at stake because if America falls, there’s no longer a strong champion of freedom and a champion of the oppressed of the world. There must be an urgent call to prayer.

What sir?

On Tuesday, however, Robertson said that God told him the nation’s downfall would be triggered by an economic collapse. He suggested that God told him this would come about if Obama was elected to another term.

“And God said, this is not my judgment, they are bringing it upon themselves,” Robertson explained

And yes. He is serious.

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President Obama Shuts Down Claims That He Practices Appeasement. President Obama let the GOP know that it ain’t a soft bone in his body as they like to swear out that he practices “appeasement.” When a reporter asked about Republican candidates taking aim at his approach to foreign policy, (Continue….)

When the checks stop coming in, the bulls*** apologies start.

On Monday morning, when Hank Williams, Jr. was poppin’ all that yang on Faux News, someone actually gave him a chance to clean up his statement comparing President Obama to Hitler. They pointed out, very clearly, that he had just compared the President to one of the most hated people in history. To which he responded, “”That is true, but I’m telling you like it is, you know.” No type of remorse whatsoever.

Then ESPN pulled his song from this week’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast, making it known that, so far that was the only check Hank wouldn’t get. But that was warning/punishment enough.

His statement Tuesday went beyond his Monday statement, in which he said “my analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point.”

On Tuesday, the country singer stated: “I have always been very passionate about politics and sports and this time it got the best or worst of me.

“The thought of the leaders of both parties jukin’ [sic] and high fiven’ [sic] on a golf course, while so many families are struggling to get by, simply made me boil over and make a dumb statement, and I am very sorry if it offended anyone. I would like to thank all my supporters. This was not written by some publicist,” Williams wrote.

“Jukin’ and high fiven’” though??? Clearly this guy wasn’t apologizing to President Obama, or any other Black person in America. So what was the apology really about?

Earlier Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League condemned Williams’ comments and praised ESPN for pulling his “Are You Ready for Some Football?” musical recording that opens “Monday Night Football.”

“The Holocaust was a singular event in human history, and it is an insult to the memory of the millions who died as a result of Hitler’s plan of mass extermination to compare the Nazi dictator to any American president,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director and a Holocaust survivor.

“Hank Williams Jr. should know better. He owes an apology to Holocaust survivors, their families, and the brave American soldiers who gave of themselves to fight the Nazi menace during World War II. The last thing we need is to enter another election cycle on a sour note tainted with inappropriate, tired and over-the-top analogies to the Nazis,” he said.

“ESPN responded appropriately and did the right thing in pulling the Hank Williams Jr. football song from the airwaves,” Foxman said.

Ooooooh. Jews were upset. THAT’s what the apology is all about.

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When will these celebrities learn that corporations are not about being embarrassed alongside their spokespeople?

Just hours after going on Faux News and comparing the President to Hitler, Hank Williams, Jr. came up missing on Monday night.

“Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood,” singer Hank Williams Jr. said in a statement issued this evening.

Williams was responding to ESPN pulling his song “All My Rowdy Friends,” from tonight’s Monday Night Football broadcast, featuring the Indianapolis Colts facing off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in response to some rather pointed language about President Obama — Hitler was invoked — that Williams used earlier in the day.

In a statement ESPN — a sister organization of ABC’s — said: “While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”

“All My Rowdy Friends” has been the theme for Monday Night Football since 1991.

Williams said in his statement this evening: “My analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me — how ludicrous that pairing was. They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the President.

“Every time the media brings up the tea party it’s painted as racist and extremists — but there’s never a backlash — no outrage to those comparisons,” Williams said. “Working class people are hurting — and it doesn’t seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change.”

What does any of that have to do with Hitler though, dummy?

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Our beloved POTUS turns 50 today. And to celebrate it, he spent the evening making it rain for his re-election campaign in Chicago last night.

Despite an appearance by fellow Chicago-rilla Jennifer Hudson, the event was pretty lowkey, and missing one key person…

President Barack Obama turned his 50th birthday into a 2012 campaign fundraising bonanza last night, buoyed by a hometown crowd after a ‘frustrating’ period locked in a debt battle with Republicans.
He received a warm welcome from a crowd of 2,400 who heard performances from Jennifer Hudson and Herbie Hancock, at a time when his job approval rating is near the lowest of his presidency.
Mr Obama made clear in remarks to a big audience at a music auditorium and to supporters across the country that he is focussing on spurring job growth now that the debt debate is behind him.

But mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Mr Obama’s wife Michelle, who was not pictured at the event – and it is unknown if she was actually there.

The president also used this opportunity to address his post-death ceiling plans.

‘We know we’ve still got a lot of work to do on the economy,’ Mr Obama said.

‘I hope we can avoid another self-inflicted wound like we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, because we don’t have time to play these partisan games.’

‘It doesn’t matter how tough it gets in Washington because I know you’ve got my back. I know we will bring about the change that all of us believe in. We’re in for a long battle.’

A group of Latino activists protested Mr Obama’s record on immigration outside, chanting: ‘Yes you can, no deportation!’ and ‘Hey, hey, Obama, don’t deport my mama!’, reported the Washington Post.

There had been speculation for days as to whether the President was going to make it to his own fundraising 50th birthday party – a plush affair at a $40,000 a night ballroom in Chicago.

We’re sure that this wonderful photo opp isn’t the final presidential birthday celebration.

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In a last minute speech last night, President Obama took to the mic to explain America’s debt ceiling issue to the people in terms we can understand.

Putting the current debt concerns in perspective, the President explained how we got to our current situation: going from a surplus in 2000 to a trillion-dollar deficit by the time he got in office. While admitting that both Republicans and Democrats played their part in creating the current deficit, the President went on to break down the balanced plan he, most Democrats, and a few Republicans in Congress have been trying to get passed… which seems to make a lot of sense to us, and would reduce the deficit by four trillion dollars.

Guess what’s holding it up the process though?

Notice how the President made it clear that this is nothing new?

House Speaker John Boehner came back in his own speech, basically claiming that the President is bugging.

“The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen.”

Directly challenging the president, Boehner said there “is no stalemate in Congress.”

He said the Republicans’ newest legislation would clear the House, could clear the Senate and then would be sent to Obama for his signature.

The back-to-back televised speeches did little to suggest that a compromise was in the offing, and the next steps appeared to be votes in the House and Senate on the rival plans by mid-week.

Despite warnings to the contrary, U.S. financial markets have appeared to take the political maneuvering in stride – so far. Wall Street posted losses Monday but with no indication of panic among investors.

Without signed legislation by day’s end on Aug. 2, the Treasury will be unable to pay all its bills, possibly triggering an unprecedented default that officials warn could badly harm a national economy struggling to recover from the worst recession in decades.

Obama wants legislation that will raise the nation’s debt limit by at least $2.4 trillion in one vote, enough to avoid a recurrence of the acrimonious current struggle until after the 2012 elections.

Republicans want a two-step process that would require a second vote in the midst of a campaign for control of the White House and both houses of Congress.

So in other words, y’all want to put a band-aid on this problem instead of giving it the surgery it needs and putting our economy on the path of rehabilitation? Make sense. SMH.

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Shelly-O took to Massachusetts to rally up support for her husband’s second term. The lovely First Lady expressed her loving concern for her husband and highlighted Obama’s dedication to the nation and somehow flawlessly fused concern and support. Like the POTUS, she’s equally powerful with her words … and convincing.

First lady Michelle Obama gave a fascinating insight into just how heavily the weight of office rests on her husband’s shoulders and how the job of president has taken it’s toll.

Speaking at a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee in Massachusetts she told of his total dedication to the job and told how she worries about the increasing number of lines on his face

She said: ‘I see the worry creasing his face. I hear the passion and determination in his voice. ‘You won’t believe what these folks are going through;’ he told me that last night.

“‘Michelle, it is not right. We’ve got to fix this. We have to do more,’”‘Barack always reminds me that we are playing a long game.’ He reminds me, as I said to you, too, that change is slow.’He reminds me that change doesn’t happen all at once, but that if we keep showing up, if we keep fighting the good fight, doing what we know is right, then eventually we will get there, because the truth is we always have in this country. We always have.’

Michelle Obama said that when her husband first told her he was planning to run for president she had serious doubts about how it would affect their young family.

She added: ‘I was proud of the work that he was doing in the Senate. And I thought that he would make a phenomenal president. ‘That wasn’t the issue. ‘But, like a lot of folks, I still had some cynicism about politics. And with two young daughters at home, I was worried about the toll that a presidential campaign would take on our family.

‘So it took some convincing on Barack’s part. And by ‘some,’ I mean a lot; he’s still paying back.’

Mrs Obama said that it was going on the campaign trail in 2008 and getting out an meeting voters – that led to her having a change of heart.

She added: ‘It’s about meeting people one-on-one, hearing what’s going on in their lives.’

‘But I think that the last four years have shown us the truth of what Barack has always said: That if any child in this country is left behind, then that matters to all of us, even if she’s not our daughter, and even if he’s not our son.

‘If any family in this country struggles, then we cannot be fully content with our own family’s good fortune, because that is not what we do in this country.’

Awe, she loves her some him! It’s clear that she supports him and holds him down when the press and Capitol Hill politicians are trying to sabotage his agenda. Every good man needs a Shelly-O.

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