Paulson-Bush League

John Burns is a real estate guru who's usually right on the money. He certainly is with this:

We can't find anyone credible who believes the Paulson-Bush plan that was announced on December 6 will significantly help the housing market.

Still, that doesn't mean Congress can't make it worse.

The few hundred thousand people that would be eligible for protection under Paulson-Bush are not enough to impact the market, particularly if you consider that some of these folks got into their houses with zero money down.

Now if you had nothing in your house and your payment was about to go up a few thousand bucks a month due to nothing other than your stupidity in selecting your loan, which option would you choose?

1. Fill out all kinds of papers and hold onto the house as it continues to fall in price from whatever price you paid for it, so it might be ten years or so before it gets back up to break even.
   
   
2. Walk away from it, lose nothing, rent for a while, and buy a home that's just as nice for less once you've got your credit straightened out.

See why Paulson-Bush is more about doing something than doing something intelligent?