Bush signed the bill in secret because it was WRONG to do

I wrote about this earlier. This is just wrong. It is wrong to give open authority to bureaucrats on lending allegedly private mortgage companies money. It is wrong to bail out private citizens because they used bad judgment in getting mortgage loans. We are getting hosed.

Here is the story.

With none of the fanfare that usually attends a landmark bill becoming law, President Bush signed the huge housing rescue bill just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, shortly after he arrived in the Oval Office.

Only a few aides and administration officials were present, including Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Steve Preston and James B. Lockhart III, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The White House announced the signing by e-mail moments later.

The bill, the biggest overhaul of housing law in decades, provides a lifeline for an estimated 400,000 homeowners facing foreclosure, and provides assurances to the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose books are loaded with bad mortgages.

The bottom line is that it is another tax increase

Don't be fooled. Penalties that are levied for such things are nothing but a tax in disguise. Furthermore, when levied by agencies that are not accountable to the tax payers and not by our legislature, they are taxation without representation. At least this one is a law passed by the NC Legislature rather than a bureaucrat's fiat.

From WTSB's news page:

Vehicle Insurance Coverage Lapses Will Cost More Starting July 1
Starting Tuesday, July 1, the penalties charged to vehicle owners who habitually drop liability insurance coverage will increase. The change, which results in stiffer penalties for repeated offenses, will affect vehicle owners who have numerous insurance lapses within a three-year period. The new law, passed by the General Assembly in 2007, is the first change in the insurance lapse penalty of $50 since 1957. The new rates will be $50 for no previous lapses within three years, $100 for one previous lapse within three years, and $150 for two or more previous lapses within three years. Insurance companies are required to notify DMV within 20 business days after they issue a new or replacement policy, terminate a policy or reinstate a policy. DMV then sends a letter to the vehicle owner requiring his response within 10 days. Resulting actions are based on the vehicle owner’s response and his record of accidents and financial responsibility. Owners may face a combination of penalties or revocation of vehicle registration.