Monday consumer blog roundup

Here are the blog posts I starred in Google Reader last week. (If you use Google Reader, you can subscribe to my shared items.)

• The Alphonso Jackson Legacy. Mark Ireland comments on the Washington Post’s look at the legacy of HUD chief (and Bush appointee) Alphonso Jackson. While Jackson oversaw the government body in charge of housing, the housing economy itself was quickly flushed down the toilet. But for HUD itself, Jackson leaves a legacy of sorts in the form of a nice, new cafeteria and auditorium. [Consumer Rights Watch]
• ARM Industry Well-Prepared to Collect for IRS. Debt collectors make their case that the IRS should use private debt collectors to collect overdue taxes. [insideARM]
• Why People Should Be Allowed to Walk Away from Their Debts. From the completely opposite side of the fence comes Mechele Dickerson, who summarized discussions of “first principles” and bankruptcy—in other words, should debts be forgiven, if so by whom, and why. [Credit Slips]
• Foreclosures: Impact on Real Estate Market May Not be as Severe as Expected. Alex Stenback cites some data indicating that Minnesota foreclosures might not be quite as bad for the real estate market. The traditional real estate market is holding up rather well, in spite of the bad news. [Behind the Mortgage]
• Harvard Law School goes open access! Harvard Law School makes all of its faculty’s scholarly works available online, free of charge. [BoingBoing]
• Fannie Mae Destined To Become The Country’s New Subprime Lender. Back to Mark Ireland, who wonders whether Fannie Mae is going to be the new Big Subprime Lender, what with the push to get the government organization to help out struggling borrowers. Ireland wants to know if Fannie Mae will have to return to its formerly-prudent lending standards, or if the government will be bailing out itself before too long. [Consumer Rights Watch]
• House passes bill that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music. Finally, Cory Doctorow alerts consumers to a House of Representatives measure (sarcastically called PRO-IP) that would let RIAA demand forfeiture of things used in the violation of copyright. Like a house in which a consumer downloaded a copyrighted song. This blows the crime (infringing copyright by not paying a dollar for a song) way out of proportion to the punishment. Just the way the dirtbags at the RIAA want it. [BoingBoing]