Obama, Housing and the Next Big Heist - Mike Whitney

``Let's not kid ourselves, the banks have figured out what many analysts have known all along; that low rates, mortgage modifications, and massive private investment (speculation) are not going to be enough to reflate prices and generate another housing bubble. No way. It's going to take a total breakdown in lending standards so the banks can, once again, provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to anyone who can sit upright and scratch his John Hancock on a mortgage app. That's what it's going to take to erase the 30% loss in the value on the stockpile of garbage mortgages the banks still hold on their balance sheets.''