AZ BlueMeanie

The Blue Meanie is an Arizona citizen who wishes, for professional reasons, to remain anonymous when blogging about politics. Armed with a deep knowledge of the law, politics and public policy, as well as pen filled with all the colors stolen from Pepperland, the Blue Meanie’s mission is to pursue and prosecute the hypocrites, liars, and fools of politics and the media – which, in practical terms, is nearly all of them. Don’t even try to unmask him or he’ll seal you in a music-proof bubble and rendition you to Pepperland for a good face-stomping.

Sen. Richard Lugar rebukes fellow Republicans over New START treaty

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The one Republican in Congress universally considered to be an expert on nuclear security policy is Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN). On Wednesday, Sen. Lugar had enough of Arizona's Senator Ostruction, Jon Kyl, putting partisan politics ahead of U.S. national security. "In a stunning rebuke to members of his own caucus, Senate Foreign Relations Committee … Read more

Update: U.S. Nuclear Security Depends Upon This Guy?

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly rips on Arizona's Senator Obstruction, Jon Kyl: Republicans had made Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) their point man on the issue — it's not clear why, since Kyl has no background or working knowledge of the issue — and he made specific objections to the Obama administration clear. … Read more

List of Redistricting Commission applicants pared down to 40

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by Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings The Commission of Appellate Court Appointments met on Monday to solicit public comment on the more than 70 applicants for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Ultimately, the leadership in the lege will choose four members (2 Ds and 2 Rs) and those four will select the fifth member, an … Read more

Foreclosuregate Update: Victim Compensation Fund In Negotiation

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

For a better understanding of the Foreclosuregate scandal, I recommend this interview at Bloomberg News http://www.bloomberg.com/video/64555006/ (sorry, no video embed).

New York City Comptroller John Liu discusses his request, on behalf of the city’s Pension Funds, to directors at Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. to conduct independent audits of their banks’ mortgage and foreclosure practices. Liu speaks with Carol Massar on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop With Betty Liu.”

In other developments, the 50 state attorneys general and the country's biggest lenders are in negotiations to create a nationwide fund to compensate borrowers who can prove they lost their home in an improper foreclosure. States, mortgage lenders in talks over fund for borrowers in foreclosure mess:

The fund would present a solution for both sides, helping banks avoid lengthy and costly court challenges from homeowners and aiding state investigators in their efforts to seek relief for homeowners who were wronged, the officials said.

Discussions are continuing over the size of the fund, who would administer it and what kind of proof homeowners would have to present to get access to the money. But there is a consensus between the lenders and state officials that some sort of financial remedy is necessary to avoid the turmoil that could result from homeowner challenges.

Any settlement between the banks and attorneys general almost certainly would force lenders to put more resources into modifying the loans of homeowners who missed their payments, rather than rushing toward foreclosures, state officials said. The banks could also be barred from foreclosing on homeowners while simultaneously negotiating mortgage modifications.

The fund, the first of its kind in the mortgage industry, would mirror victim-compensation efforts set up in recent years in response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the shootings at Virginia Tech and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

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Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading a joint, 50-state investigation, declined to comment Tuesday on the specifics of the group's negotiations with the banks but said that hammering out details could delay a final agreement for a few months.

Miller said that's because the remedies being discussed go far beyond the problem of "robo-signing" and into deeper problems facing the mortgage servicing industry.

"We want to be more creative and figure out a way to make the system better," Miller said in an interview. "For instance, rather than having them pay a huge amount of fines, much of that money [could instead] go to adequate resources to make this work."

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The attorneys general have been negotiating with each bank separately but pressing for similar terms. The state officials have been focusing on the three largest servicers – Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo – hoping agreements with those companies will serve as a model for others.

For Senator Obstruction, partisan politics trumps national security

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Despite the best efforts of the White House and the Pentagon to kiss Sen. Jon Kyl's ass and make him feel important enough to support the New START treaty, Arizona's Senator Obstruction put partisan politics – denying President Obama a foreign policy success and hampering his future ability to negotiate treaties – ahead … Read more