Why would federal officials announce such lenient rules before the scientific work is finished?

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His or her loan will be modified (interest rate reduced or principal forgiven) and because of new more lenient HAMP rules, when she or he defaults again, the loan can be rejiggered yet one more time.

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Although foreign banks must also hold big slugs of bonds, they had more lenient priority-lending rules until now.

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The USDA's critics, such as the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO), say the USDA is far too lenient in enforcing the rules governing federal subsidies.

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