This isn't exactly the topic of the day, but it is important and I have been meaning to write about it, so here goes. The federal government is proposing new rules affecting mortgages that I suspect could become somewhat controversial:

... the federal government is proposing new mortgage finance rules under which only home buyers who can afford a minimum 20 percent down payment on a conventional loan would get a shot at the best available interest rates and terms.

[...]

But some of the requirements that federal agencies and the Obama administration are proposing in the same plan have gotten much less attention, yet could prove just as troublesome to consumers:

- Strict mandatory debt-to-income limits. Under the proposal, to get the best mortgage rates, you would need to spend no more than 28 percent of your gross monthly income on housing-related expenses, and you couldn’t have total monthly household debt that exceeds 36 percent of your income.

There would be no flexibility to go beyond those ceilings, unlike in today’s marketplace, in which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac consider debt-to-income ratios along with other factors through their electronic underwriting systems. Freddie Mac, for example, has an overall debt-ratio limit of 45 percent of an applicant’s stable monthly income....

Speculation is rife in Washington, DC, today that we're headed for a government shutdown.

Frankly, at this point, I'm struggling to see how we avoid one.

The House passed HR1, the Continuing Resolution, which was necessary because Democrats, when they controlled both chambers of Congress as well as the White House, couldn't get it together to pass an actual budget (what a bunch of clowns).

The Democratic-controlled Senate, of course, won't pass HR1.  

The Republican-controlled House now, in an effort to avert a shutdown placed on the cards because of the Senate's inaction under Harry Reid, has offered up another stopgap measure that would fully fund defense for the remainder of the year but would otherwise cut $12 billion-- not a huge sum.

And this morning, we learn the White House has said "no dice" to that, just like they've been seen to say "no dice" to compelling Harry Reid and Senate Democrats to avert a government shutdown by getting serious about the CR.

If the government shuts down as now seems likely, it's worth remembering that that's a situation created by Democrats who refused to deal.  And that the White House didn't merely allow this to happen, they wanted it, and proved that by saying "no" to a measure specifically designed to avert a shutdown after they and other Democrats failed to do their jobs in the first place.

UPDATE: Boehner's spokesman's read seems to be about the same as mine: "If the WH rejects a sensible, 1-week funding bill, they are significantly increasing the chances of the govt. shutdown."  Yep.  [intro]

Phil Klein basically lays it out here:...