It is just getting worse...Stupidity is spreading

It just is getting worse! Last weekend in my Sunday paper, the USA Weekend supplement had an article about the new mortgage forms. The clueless author (Richard Eisenberg) either got suckered in by someone or else he did not do his research. First of all he claims that the new Good Faith Estimate (GFE) will save consumers an average of $700, but gives no basis for this claim. In fact this form will do NOTHING to save anyone any money. This is just typical BS coming from the good folks at HUD. You know the ones that gave us the Truth in Lending form (TIL)? It says nothing that the old form did not tell us or other related forms say that are already in the standard closing package. Everything offered by this stupid new form is more of the same "disclosure" that was always available or assumed by anyone who did their homework when applying for a mortgage. Mr Eisenberg is even as dense to refer to this as a "streamlined" federal form when in fact the old one was A SINGLE PAGE!
The touted advantage of being able to compare "apples to apples" is a myth. First of all this was the same line we were given with the introduction of the TIL and it has proven to be one of the most useless and confusing forms ever created. Second of all it ignores the fact that there are differences in lender pricing, daily fluctuations in mortgage rates, costs variances between types of loans and long term costs of buying points ( Are you listening Ilyce Glink?).
The industry is being choked by government posturing, unnecessary regulations and stupid paperwork. Add that to the spineless underwriting, suffocating guidelines and incompetent management of the major lenders, and you have a system broken This is keeping thousands of well qualified borrowers from helping us get out of this mess we are in.