Folks, whatever your political leanings, you need to watch what is happening in Washington DC these days. The government is getting more and more into the business of the business of America. And this includes real estate.

Senator Feinstein of California has arranged 25 billion dollars to go to the FDIC, which then awarded a contract to her husbands company at above market rates to sell foreclosures. Even if this is on the up and up, it is still shady.

But with the government forcing itself into the private sector and using it’s influence to choose the winners and the losers, you have to start watching Washington.

And you have 3 choices:

• You can play the game and buy influence and business,
• You can ignore it and lose out to your rivals, or
• You can work to change Washington and it’s dynamics.

But the days of ignoring government and hoping it stays out of your way are disappearing fast. And if you do not believe me, try to sell foreclosures while competing against Senator Feinstein’s husband.

On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms.

Mrs. Feinstein’s intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn’t a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments – not direct federal dollars. via  Washington Times.

Related posts:

1. FDIC Will Focus PPIP on Real Estate
2. Financial Criminals Will Pay. Just Ask Senator Shelby – BusinessWeek
3. Federal Reserve Offers TALF To Commercial Lending
4. Washington Programs That Are Destroying The Real Estate Market
5. Chinese To Buy 2 Billion in Mortgage Backed Securities