CRE

While there are certainly CRE projects which were absurd and no amount of help will rescue them from failure, it is also the case that there are some projects which are near-completion but which are having a hard time finding that last bit of financing. I'm not interested in bailing out the developers, but it's probably not such a bad thing to try to bail out near-completed projects so that they can at least be completed.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday a government program intended to spark lending to consumers and businesses is still necessary even with other emergency lending programs winding down as the economy recovers.

''An ongoing need still clearly exists'' for the program, which also is aimed at making sure loans flow to the troubled commercial real estate market, Bernanke said in brief remarks to a conference here sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

My point is that letting developers go bankrupt is one thing, but having them go bankrupt and leaving projects 3/4 completed due to lack of financing is another.