From Open Left:

On Ellen Tauscher: Two days ago, I asked Open Left readers to contact Representative Ellen Tauscher's office, urging her to stop listening to the financial services industry, and start listening to threatened homeowners. Her communications director contacted me today to point out that she voted in favor of the rule on HR 1106, which implies support.

Quite frankly, this is exactly the kind of B.S. a Congressional staffer will tell a caller, in the hopes that it'll sound so wonky and weedy that the caller will think the staffer must know more about the situation than the caller does, and that the caller will just accept it and leave them alone.

Now in most cases, the staffer does in fact know more about the situation than the callers do. But in this particular case, the staffer has chosen to represent Tauscher's vote in favor of the rule on H.R. 1106 as support for the underlying bill. And that's just not the case, as we know. For one thing, Tauscher has been in all the press reports on the bill, cast as an opponent of the bill's sponsors -- Barney Frank and John Conyers -- even if the articles actually appeared to reverse their positions. Reversed or not, there's no attempt in any of them to portray Tausher as being aligned with Conyers and Frank. But when have you ever heard about a bill's sponsors opposing their own bill? I think you'll agree that's a pretty damn rare event. So if a bill's sponsors support the bill, and Ellen Tauscher's working in opposition to them, then she's... what? She's opposed to the bill. She can make all sorts of claims that she supports it in theory but just wants certain modifications made, and that's totally legitimate (if not necessarily true). But that only ends up undoing the staffer's argument about voting for the rule.

My suspicion is that the House leadership agreed to postpone proceedings on the bill so long as its opponents didn't foul up the works too badly, and agreed to vote for the rule so that general debate could go forward, and whatever problems there were with the legislation could be addressed over the weekend and voted on this week. In addition, the rule makes in order a manager's amendment which encompasses certain changes to the bill demanded by Tauscher and her gang. What changes are they, and how do I know Tauscher wanted them? Back to Open Left:

Here are the changes to HR 1106 that Ellen Tauscher's office indicates she worked out with the Judiciary committee:

   The [Judiciary] Committee made several changes to the legislation that improve the uniformity of the process and to ensure we pursue other remedies prior to sending a debtor into Chapter 13. These changes include:

   1)      Clawback (shared appreciation) - Increase in the percentage for the 1st 5 years

   2)      Improvements to mitigate the effect of the legislation on FHA insured and VA guaranteed loans

   3)      Ensure that judges use FHA appraisal guidelines in determining the fair market value of the property rather than on an ad hoc basis

   4)      Mandate that the debtor make equal monthly payments when restructuring debt (predictability in payouts)

   5)      Specify that in addition to a phone call requesting a loan modification, the debtor must certify that he/she provided income, expenses, and debt to the holder of the mortgage.

   6)      Judge must deny judicial modification in cases where the debtor can afford the loan. The loan has to be unaffordable and not just underwater, which prevents wealthy people from taking advantage of falling real estate prices.

   7)      Ensure the debtor receives credit counseling, which can occur after filing bankruptcy, but has to happen before the judge approves the workout plan.

   8)      A GAO study to see whether this is working and the effect it could have on debtors, access to credit, etc.

   9)      Make sure that a judge considers whether a qualified loan modification was offered. The definition of a qualified loan modification is kicked to the Administration and the regulators.

   10)   Extend the pre-filing requirement to request a modification from 15 days to 30 days.

So, Tauscher's office indicated that these were changes she worked out with the Judiciary Committee. That's a pretty clear indication that she wanted them made, yes?

Now look at the rule she voted for. Only four amendments are permitted. Check out number one on the list:

1. Conyers, John(MI):

(REVISED) The amendment would (1) require courts to use FHA appraisal guidelines where the fair market value of a home is in dispute; (2) deny relief to individuals who can afford to repay their mortgages without judicial mortgage modification; and (3) extend the negotiation period from 15 to 30 days, requiring the debtor to certify that he or she contacted the lender, provided the lender with income, expense and debt statements, and that there was a process for the borrower and lender to seek to reach agreement on a qualified loan modification.  It also would require a GAO study regarding the effectiveness of mortgage modifications outside of bankruptcy and judicial modifications, whether there should be a sunset, the impact of the amendment on bankruptcy courts, whether relief should be limited to certain types of homeowners.  The GAO must analyze how bankruptcy judges restructure mortgages, including the number of judges disciplined as a result of actions taken to restore mortgages.  The Amendment would clarify that loan modifications, workout plans or other loss mitigation plans are eligible for the servicer safe harbor.  Requires HUD to receive public input before implementing certain FHA approval provisions.  With respect to the HOPE for Homeowners Program: recasts the prohibition against having committed fraud over the last 10 years from a freestanding prohibition to a borrower certification.  Would amend the National Housing Act to broaden eligibility for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) or "reverse mortgage."  Would provide that the GAO must submit to Congress a review of the effects of the judicial modification program.  Would require the Comptroller of Currency, in coordination with the Director of Thrift Supervision, to submit reports to Congress on the volume of mortgage modifications and issue modification data collection and reporting requirements. Would express the Sense of Congress that the Treasury Secretary should use amounts made available under the Act to purchase mortgage revenue bonds for single-family housing. Would express the Sense of Congress that financial institutions should not foreclose on any principal homeowner until the loan modification programs included in H.R. 1106 and the President’s foreclosure plan are implemented and deemed operational by the Treasury and HUD Secretaries.  Would establish a Justice Department Nationwide Mortgage Fraud Task Force to coordinate anti-mortgage fraud efforts. Would provide that the Treasury Secretary shall provide that the limit on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage that may be modified using EESA funds shall not be less than the dollar limit on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage that may be purchased by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation that is in effect at the time the mortgage is modified.

Look familiar?

Yes, the changes Tauscher wanted were incorporated into the first amendment made in order by the rule, that was to be offered by Chairman Conyers.

So of course she voted for the rule.

Now, that amendment was approved by the Rules Committee last Wednesday night, the 25th of February, and the rule was adopted on Thursday morning, the 26th. That locked in place that the voting on the bill would include a vote on an amendment incorporating Tauscher's list of changes.

So why, if she supports the bill, would work on it be suspended on the afternoon of Thursday, the 26th? She "supports the bill," and voted for the rule that locked in a shot at making the changes she proposed to the Judiciary Committee, and yet here we are, waiting over the weekend for... what, exactly?

Ellen Tauscher supported the rule because it made an amendment in order that would incorporate her list of demands. That's all. But she must clearly want more changes, because even after winning these concessions, the bill is still stalled, and the news reports on the stall have Tauscher's name all over them.

I'd be really interested to know the name of the staffer who tried to sell Chris that load of crap.

ACTION UPDATE: Firedoglake has some online action tools for you to use to help your Representative and Speaker Pelosi stand up to the Tauscher nonsense. (I don't think they put it quite that way, but that's the way I'd say it. I think the Speaker's on the right side here, and wants to be "made" to do the right thing.)

• Contact your Representative
• Contact the Speaker