President Obama presented a plan shortly after taking office to keep Americans in their homes by giving banks the taxpayers’ money in order for the bailed out banks to rework loans so mortgage payments can be reduced. But the banks have failed to do that as they have failed at everything else for the American economy and its people.

How long will Americans wait for results as jobless rates rise to an high since 1983 and more people lose their homes?  Take this poll:  http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/427966

Loan modifications rise; many don’t pare payments
Foreclosure prevention efforts grow, but fewer than half of loan modifications reduce payments

• Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer
• Friday April 3, 2009, 10:10 am EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lenders are boosting their attempts to avoid home foreclosures, but fewer than half of loan modifications made at the end of last year actually reduced borrowers’ payments by more than 10 percent, data released Friday show.

It’s scary that banks can change some numbers in their computers based on a FASB standard change and suddenly it has created profits.  Did this create jobs?  How will it help people stay in their homes and avoid foreclosures?  Do these profits allow dividends, i.e. cash paid out to shareholders?

The action by FASB, an independent accounting standards-setter, came after Congressional pressure to help banks that have been forced to record billions of dollars in lower values for distressed assets because of frozen markets.

Investor groups opposed the change, saying it would let big banks conceal the real value of their toxic assets.

KEY POINTS:

* FASB allows banks to apply new mark-to-market guidance in the first quarter of 2009.

* FASB says the objective of mark-to-market accounting is to set a price that would be received by a bank in an “orderly” transaction in the current, inactive market. It says an “orderly” transaction for accounting purposes does not include the forced liquidation or a distressed sale of an asset.

* FASB agrees to drop the presumption in mark-to-market accounting that all transactions in an inactive market are distressed unless proven otherwise.

* FASB clarifies when banks are required to take write downs on impaired assets, letting them record smaller losses on their income statements.

Even board members of FASB disagree when it came to a vote on the changes:

Two of the five FASB board members, Thomas Linsmeier and Marc Siegel, voted against the change in reporting of such impaired assets. They argued it was the sort of decision bank regulators should make, because it could affect banks’ capital positions, and that the FASB had been pressured by Congress to take it.

Many pundits have hesitations and have commented on the action:

“Now you’re going to leave pricing back in the hands of management teams that may not have done a great job over this cycle, and you’re going to have to trust them that they really are marking these things to a model and a price that is reasonable. It takes us back to the same thing: We’re probably going to give more leeway to the management teams that you trust … than those you don’t.”

President Obama and Treasury Tim Geithner clearly had an agenda of attempting to get G-20 nations to spend more stimulus within G-20 nations’ borders.  However, getting some early feedbacks from the G-20 representatives, President Obama and his cabinet decided to drop their initial targets for other nations.   What does the leading nations know that President Obama and Treasury Secretary don’t know?

President Obama, despite having dropped their targets for the G-20, they still persisted on urging the other leaders to spend to jump start the world economy that “knows no borders”.  But the Europeans are resisting such urgings saying they have done all that they can and cannot do more without jeopardizing their budgets.

In response to U.S. calls for more government spending, the EU has said it is doing its part with a package that amounts to between 3 and 4 percent of Europe’s gross domestic product. The $780 billion amounts to about 5.5 percent of the U.S. GDP, but is spread over two years.

While the U.S. is expected to continue to urge European countries to spend more, that will likely be a tough sell. With the exception of Germany, Great Britain and France, most European governments’ finances are already stretched to the limit.

However, despite a laundry lists of things to follow up on, the G-20 nations did agree to further expand the lending powers of the IMF to help the poors of the developing nations to ride through this world wide economic meltdown.

They also unveiled a $250 billion expansion in the IMF’s reserve currency — the special drawing right — to boost liquidity in the global financial system by expanding member countries’ foreign exchange reserves. They committed to selling IMF gold to help poor countries..

G-20 to give $1 trillion to IMF, World Bank

• Jane Wardell, AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — G-20 leaders pledged an additional $1 trillion to restore credit, growth and jobs in the world economy on Thursday, announcing a broad raft of measures designed to hasten the end of the global financial crisis.

The leaders also declared a crackdown on tax havens, regulation of hedge funds and a new supervisory body to flag problems in the world financial system.

“Today the largest countries of the world have agreed on a global plan for economic recovery and reform,” said the host, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

A sweeping G-20 communique appeared to bridge the gap between the United States and major European countries over how far to push changes on regulation to curb the market excesses that led to the current crisis.

The result of the dramatic one-day gathering was swiftly praised by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy praised President Barack Obama and Brown at the end of the meeting, despite having threatened earlier to walk out if unsatisfied with the outcome. The French leader said Obama helped in creating consensus and in persuading China to agree to publish lists of tax havens.

Sarkozy said Obama was a “very open man” and “completely in line with what we wanted: that politicians take their responsibilities.”

European and U.S. markets surged ahead Thursday as the outcome of the summit came into view.

While they did not announce any new stimulus measures — as some in the United States had hoped — Brown said the $1 trillion deal to boost funds for the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other global institutions was unprecedented.

“For the first time we have a common approach to cleaning up banks around the world to restructuring of the world financial system. We have maintained our commitment to help the world’s poorest,” Brown said. “This is a collective action of people around the world working at their best.”

The G-20 leaders also said that developing nations — hard-hit and long complaining of marginalization — a greater say in world economic affairs. They said they would renounce protectionism and pledged $250 billion in trade finance over the next two years — a key measure to help struggling developing countries.

The leaders also agreed to new rules on linking executive pay to performance, Brown said.