Obama has used a pocket veto on HR 3808.  For those not familiar with this issue, see this post at Denninger's place.  Read the comments too, as Denninger has one of the best forum communities going.

Given the huge pending problem with the way in which mortgage titles have been recorded, this veto was incredibly important.  Hell, even the statement at whitehouse.gov sounds Presidential:

Today, the White House announced that President Obama will not sign H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010, and will return the bill to the House of Representatives.  The Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 was designed to remove impediments to interstate commerce.  While we share this goal, we believe it is necessary to have further deliberations about the intended and unintended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, before this bill can be finalized.

Notarizations are important for a large range of documents, including financial documents.  As the President has made clear, consumer financial protections are incredibly important, and he has made this one of his top priorities, including signing into law the strongest consumer protections in history in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  That is why we need to think through the intended and unintended consequences of this bill on consumer protections, especially in light of the recent developments with mortgage processors.

The authors of this bill no doubt had the best intentions in mind when trying to remove impediments to interstate commerce.  We will work with them and other leaders in Congress to explore the best ways to achieve this goal going forward.

I feel like I'm in Bizzaro-World, with a real President or something.  Knowing Obama, this will last all of about 15 minutes, but at least he got a very big one right.

Posted by: Hermit Dave at 04:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 309 words, total size 2 kb.