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What is going on in America?
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Mod
I am a short sale master. I've been in the trenches for 5 years, and you know what? It all comes down to character types, personality and level of delusion, not just credit and income quite frankly...80-90% of the foreclosures are happening to people who never should have owned homes in the first place the way our system is set up. You basically had people with tenant mentalities trying to be owners and wanna be investors getting in way over their heads.
I'll tell you one thing, anybody with any money should be throwing it at real estate and especially property management RIGHT now because it's going to normalize really soon.
The question for me is, why is the government interfering so much just to save face? Why don't they want it to correct itself? All of this subsidization is doing nothing but sling-shotting things in the other direction. Capitalism should work the way it's intended...companies should be allowed to come and go, make mistakes, rise and fall.
I heard something a few years back about the government wanting to take over all debt...mortgages, credit cards, car loans, everything...
I didn't see how that could happen until I started seeing interest rates drop, no doc loans, 450 qualifying, 80/20s, 1-2-3's....
Then it made sense. I don't know if that's their ultimate goal, but it sure seems to be on pace if so.
What's going on in America? How severe is this financial crisis? Why is such dramatic action suddenly required to correct an economy that our leaders continue to claim is fundementally sound? Can our country survive the economic impasse? Have our leaders and our government officials failed us?1) The American people have been lulled into stupidity by bullshit notions such as "good debt." WTH is that?! It's never, ever, EVER good to be in debt. If you cannot afford something, you do not deserve to own it. PERIOD.
That's not to say that loans are inherently bad. If you can borrow money and beat the interest rate then that's a good thing. Perhaps THAT is what "good debt" is. But that meaning has been twisted. It has been twisted by people who profit from loans. The average American starts off owing the owners of our country for a college education, and keeps on for the entirty of his or her life through credit cards and mortgage loans. Whatever happened to saving money and living within in your means? Bling Bling my ass!
2)Politicians and those in power will (and have) always acted in their own, personal, best interest. What is best for them is "best for the country."
3)They pay lip service to the country being in great economic shape just like Mother Teresa paid lip service to God in her final years. She no longer believed but she thought it would be too painful to admit the truth to the world so, better to lie your ass off to the fools and the wise will figure it out on their own.
4)Our country will survive, but will the Constitution? The Bill of Rights? Our republic? I'm not sure.
5)I'll be fine...I don't owe anyone anything.
Sonia,I, like you, am a real estate broker as well as a mortgage broker. I do wish you are right in stating the market is presently going back to normal. Unfortunately, I just do not share your vision. Yes, I hope we will ultimately return to a more viable market place, but I see no signs of abatement at this time. Personally, I think the market will remain in disarray until the short sale, foreclosure and huge inventories are dealt with. In the meanwhile, I see more short sales, more foreclosures and a continued reduction in housing prices.
I fear the FED and our government are of like opinion. Why else would they continue to inject massive amounts of cash, lower interest rates and speculate their willingness to do whatever it takes to cure the economy. Just recently, the Treasurer of the US has announced a plan to give the FED still more power over the financial dealings in our country. Personally, I think this is a giant mistake. For the last decade the Fed has been in the business of creating asset bubbles. The dot com crash can be traced to the easy money policies of the FED as can the current housing and mortgage crisis. And now the FED is at it again with easy money, and my only question is where is the next bubble?
In the menwhile, the world is tiring of our extravagances as is indicated by the dollar devaluations. Presently, much of the world is turning away from the dollar and it appears the dollar can lose its position as the primary reserve currency of the world. Even with this potential disaster, the FED continues to reduce interest rates and print still more billions of dollars. Is the FED out of control, and if so, why endow them with still more power over our economy? I think our country is in a dire financial crisis, and the FED is doing nothing else but providing a temporary solution which has the ability to result in hyperinflation and the total loss of our financial integrity.
Hi Rob,I agree with you on many points. Our government leaders, our major businesses and much of our population has lost touch with the basics of good economic policy. As a nation, we have squandered our resourses and depleted our industrial might for the sake of a few dollars of profit. I call this policy economic self destruction and I think it is a direct result of unchecked capitalism--today anything is fair as long as it is profitable. Don't get me wrong--I think capitalism and the concept of self interest is great, but I believe it needs to be modified so as the general welfare of our country and our citizens is given priority in all matters economic, social and political.
In our present day dilemma, I think it is critical Americans wake up to the fact we do not have a representative government and sieze the opportunity to make a difference before it is too late!
Mod
I'm actually luckier than most because in my area, things really are just normal. It's different, and not as easy to sell homes retail or get good loans as it was not even 6 months ago, but it's actually what a fairly normal market would be doing. Plus, a lot of people see that. That's why so many investors and homeowners are still flocking to Charlotte.
Either way, I really don't care. I hear everybody say it's a crisis, but I think people should focus more on getting stock in U-Haul, investing in property management companies, and maybe even REITs (although I hate those things).
I see the positive in all of this, fa sho lol.
Mod
I may get a 15% interest hard money loan on a house with 6 points or just pay a private investors 12% interest on a house. That's debt and it's high risk, but it's also realllly good LTV, where if I couldn't pay it, they would get the house. Also, say you get a loan at 5% interest and turn around and loan that money out to someone else for 13-15% interest. THAT's excellent debt. Again, as long as there are failsafes and as long as this is a short term situation. The key to good debt is that it makes you massive amounts of money for your trouble, as safely as possible, and in short bursts of time. Even long term Net Operating Income structures are cool (for instance renting a house to a tenant for $1200 a month when you only pay $750 on the mortgage.) But even then, the name of the game is to be as liquid as possible.
Again, nothing is black or white ever.
You're right about your other points as well. (Even the debt thing, you're not wrong...people just need to understand the definitions and applications of things before they fall into traps)
But yeah our government sucks big fat donkey balls, but that's why I advocate getting to a point where they don't govern you, lol. Or...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.....then beat 'em. But not only is that difficult, who's to say that once you get into politics, lobbying, corporate big wigginess, that you won't succumb to the same greed and complacency that most people in those positions have now? We are all only human after all :-(
Sonia,Bravo for the positive attitude, but I would caution you to remain realistic. Just look at the FED and the dramatic moves they are making and I sense something is more than wrong in our economy. The big boys may well have pissed away the hard won American advantage, and we just may be on the edge of an economic collapse. Americans are not being told the entire truth on the current economic problem, but be aware that the slow leaking of distressful information is a tool frequently used to prevent panic.
I, personally, would not purchase stock in either property management of REITS as the real estate market is still too speculative. I gather more comfort presently in precious metals, commodities and maybe TIPS.
Stephen said: Americans are not being told the entire truth on the current economic problem, but be aware that the slow leaking of distressful information is a tool frequently used to prevent panic. Yep ... and the Fed chair is one of the leading scholars about the US Great Depression. When I see him doing so much out of the ordinary ... I become very concerned. Something is scaring the crap out of him and he ain't telling us what that is ... But with the continued drop in Interest Rates, I don't think inflation is getting the top billing and a recession is just an expected part of the economic cycle; no need to throw out the playbook here ... So I'm thinking it is something worse.
personally, would not purchase stock in either property management of REITS as the real estate market is still too speculative. I gather more comfort presently in precious metals, commodities and maybe TIPS.
Except that everybody else is already there. The nearly 1/3 of the price of oil is hedging against market volitility and the expected continued weaking of the US dollar ... TIPS and metals are in similar boats. If you are not already in these, you are still making a bet that things are going to be worse then everybody else believes it will be. Chances are there is still a fair amount of up side, but who know how quickly all of that will come down once that bubble breaks.
Mod
I'll do more homework, but honestly, real estate is always the place to be. It just depends on what side you're on. Also, I agree on the precious metal route, but personally my next moves are going to be on the FOREX.
Thanks Sophia...good debt is real, but I maintain that to the vast majority of Americans it's too dangerous to mess with. Most Americans do not understand the concept. It's like giving everyone a firearm - some people will use it correctly, most will shoot a loved one in the middle of the night because they were scared.Of course using debt to fund income works - so long as the income nets a better rate than the debt it's a good situation. And, just like in gambling, so long as you aren't playing with your rent money.
Too many Americans decided to gamble with their rent money.
I wish I had more of a mind towards investing. I think I'm just starting to work up the monthly capital to do it, but I still want to have enough money saved "just in case" before I really invest.
Kristjan,I agree there must be something worse than just a recession and I fear the FED has lost control. Notice the number of FED announcement on lowering interest rates or injecting hundreds of billions which are followed by a series of financial rallies which are of shorter durations. I think the FED and the US dollar is fast losing its impact. The other important and neglected issue is inflation. Is the FED stoking the inflationary fires by throwing massive amounts of dollars into the system. Dollar devaluations continue to signal too many dollars. I sense we could be coming into a monumental adjustment.
Good comments on commodities, but consider this--the stockmarket is on a roller coaster ride and reacting severly everytime the FED speaks; the housing market is in disarray, and appears to be far away from any bottom; the financial markets are in a quandry that no one seeks to define; and the dollar will, no doubt, continue to fall as a result of the torrent of cash being released by the FED. As long as this situation continues, I will stick with commodities, precious metals and TIPS just to get rid of dollars before they devalue even more. Think this way for a moment---could there be a dollar bubble? Shades of hyperinflation!!!
Sonia,Forex seems safe in light of the FED's actions ---as long as you bet against the dollar!! Why is the FED doing what it's doing to the money supply?
Good comment Rob! Now if you could only convince our government that it is not in our best interest to gamble with America's treasury. Here's a thought--Perhaps many of us are simply following the lead of our government, our culture and our economic system in making financial decisions. If so, this would explain the entire housing and mortgage mess!!
Mod
I'm all for the FOREX and yes, mainly against the dollar, because that's what the FED folks and gov and corp bigwigs are doing.
Real estate may not have reached it's rock bottom, but it's at a bottom for sure. In stocks and real estate, you buy low, sell high, sure. But it's best to buy over a period of time, so if I bout 100 shares of stock today for $5 a share and next month it's lower at $3 a share, but I know it's a staple or a cow and that it will rise again, I'll buy 100 more shares. That way I have 200 shares at $4 a share. So if it shoots up to $15 a share....sweet.
Same with real estate. Now is most certainly the time to buy and hold....if the market drops more....buy and hold more, lol. Real estate will absolutely with out a doubt 100% guaranteed go back up. Money is made when you buy, not when you sell. ;-)
Why is the FED doing what it's doing to the money supply. Because they are profiting from it.
This is all a setup.
I think they're trying to institute NESARA (It's hard to see from that link, but that's NOT a good thing)
Either way, that's another story.
Sonia,I sense and share your frustration.
Just in the event you may be interested, I cover the money supply, illegal immigration, the trade agreements (NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, etc.), the housing and mortgage crisis, trade deficits, labor unions, international outsourcing and a numer of other social, economic and political issues in my novel "The Road to the Third World".
Mod
Mod
like color purple, ms. loren, or the hagia in istanbul :-)
Hi Sophia, Sorry about Sonia--a little dementia I suspect! I would be interested in your suggestion for book review/discussion. How do you suggest we arrange it for a group participation?
I think the only people to worry are those with lots of assets and an inflated sense of their own living conditions and daily necessities.I think eventually there's a top-off in terms of expansion; capitalism can't work forever. Eventually, the backbone of the service sector, for instance, will want better wages and they will begin to have desires to advance into the middle class. I dont think we have the infrastructure at ANY level to deal with the influx of immigrants and their children. Not to mention that the vast majority of their income does not go into American consumerism, it goes to buying milk, basic medicine, and rent money for their families back home.
That's just what I see on a daily basis on the streets; that's what I hear when I talk to these people.
So, essentially the answer to the original question posed is the fact that the 90s showed lots of people, under false pretenses, that they could own homes, live in suburbia, have access to good "white" schools. And now, it's not that simple because of the war, gas prices, and massive immigration amongst other things.
May I pose a new question...
I think it's quite easy to figure out my answers to this next question.
Where is the new "skilled" labor class going to come from? What industry, what socio-economic level, what ethnic background?
LOL Sophia, but unfortunately you may be correct. Industrially, we are pretty much automated. Unfortunately, skilled workers are being let go because a machine can do it faster, but, someone has to look after the machines which means more skilled personnel, just less of them than were needed in the past. Look at what is happening in the mortgage industry. Automated Underwiter. If it doesn't kick a loan to the curb, all the mortgage broker has to do is call an appraiser, maybe, and do the paperwork. Of course, in todays market the automated underwriter IS kicking deals out to real underwriters with even stricter guidelines if you don't have A+ credit, a long standing great job and an outstanding debt to income ratio. I know I'm preaching to the choir but it really is frustrating when you have someone that is shopping in their price range and has shown good performance with credit and you have to fight to get them approved. Don't get me wrong, I get people everyday that think they can afford something they can't. The problem is, they get pre-approved for an amount and think that is what they deserve to shop for. Come closing time, assuming they actually get the loan, they are stuck with a payment that leaves them eating Top Ramen for years, if they make it that far, and they're calling me wondering what went wrong. I have to tell them, "Well, I showed you and your mortgage officer showed you what your payment would be. I naturally assumed that you knew what you were getting in to." Unfortunately, some people just don't get it. Yes, some have been duped into bad situations, but if they had taken two seconds to think about it, I wouldn't be showing home after home that are short sales or foreclosures.OK, sorry about the rant. Just needed to get that off my chest.
Back to Gabers question, you know where a lot of the "skilled" labor is coming from. And they are catching on to "The American Dream" which may not be a good thing. There are people trying to save themselves and their families, but, they are also getting into financial trouble. I guess I don't have a real answer because the question, or problem, is becoming more complex. Where do we draw the line or do we just try to make things work? We are, or are becoming, slaves to the system and the system doesn't care.
As George Carlin said: "They call it The American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."
Mod
Yeah, he is a comic and philosopher as I see it. Here's a clip from youtube. You've probably seen it but I think it fit's here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ4SSv...
enjoy
Gabers,The illegal immigration issue is significant because it does severly impact our social welfare, educational and health care systems. Simultaneously, the illegals are driving down the wage levels for all Americans. Somehow, this important issue does not register in Washington,DC.
Presently, we do not need a new skilled labor class due to the exportation of jobs, companies and factories to foreign countries. Those that lost jobs still have their skills, but the exodus has been so thorough that most can not find a company in the USA to employ them.
By the way, our present reliance on foreign goods and services is costing us about 800 billion dollars a year. In addition, foreign countries are funding 45 percent of our national debt, and recently have been instrumental in salvaging some of our major financial firms. The question is how long foreign countries will continue supply our needs while receiving dollars that are losing value on a daily basis. For all practical purposes, our county has lost our financial independece!
Father,The entire housing and mortgage crisis can be traced to a single source---GREED. The FED issued the cheap money, the bankers scooped up the cash and produced an array of new, easy to qualify for, mortgage products, and sold them to the end users via a network of self serving mortgage brokers. The system, capitalism, worked perfectly as every step involved self interest, regardless of the future consequences. Suffice it to say, everyone made a profit at some point until the inevitable implosion. Now, we will all have to pay for the excesses of the FED, the banks, the brokers and the few who are left without a seat, in this classic finacial game of musical chairs.
Now, the FED is up to the same old trick of lowering interest rates and issuing trillions of dollars of new currency, even as the dollar is being devalued throughout the world. Hold onto your hat as it appears we may well be setting the stage for hyperinflation and the potential destruction of the American economy, as we now know it!!
Stephen,I agree and thank you for explaining the crisis we are in more succinctly than I could have. A colleague of mine and I have been watching what is happening over the last months, he thinks they are devaluing the dollar on purpose so the FED and others can buy back all of the bad investments overseas for pennies on the dollar and then raise rates again in hopes of recovery and then sell them off again at a profit. Sell high, buy low. I don't know if I agree with him, or if I got his drift right, perhaps you may have some insight. It is purely greed that has put the economy where it is now and it is scary. Some indicators are slowly coming up while others are going down. As my old teacher and mortgage broker told me, after the implosion, that things will come back but not to the extent that they were before. In class he actually ran me through a scenario where he played a greedy broker and I the unsuspecting buyer. He offered me a deal that sounded too good to be true, and it was. Point being, it is greed and if it's not checked yesterday, which it wasn't, we're in trouble. My friend, incidentally, also has predicted a MAJOR stock market crash in August. He's been right before on these issues and as you said Hold onto your hat if he's right. What is your take on that?
Father,I think your friend has an optimistic, but unrealistic theory on the devaluation of the dollar. One should understand that the USA is not devaluing the dollar, but rather the dollar is being devalued by foreign countries who believe our currency is worth less. The basic laws of supply and demand dictate that any commodity becomes less valuble when the supply is excessive. The dollar is one such commodity.
Additionally, our annual trade deficit is approximately 800 billion dollars which means we must overcome that enormous deficit if his theory is correct. Personally, I don't think that is possible in the forseeable future. Presently, foreigners are raising their prices on good and services imported to America in order to make up for the loss of dollar valuation. This means they will acumulate more of our dollars, unless, of course, they use some of the dollars to buy additional stock in Citibank, Merrill Lynch and some of the other American financial firms that are in trouble.
Inflation is the end result of overproducing dollars and we are just starting to see the tip of the iceburg. The FED in collusion with our government and our major multi-national corporations have been irresponsible in dealing with the money supply and the general welfare of the American people. I would like to think your friend is correct, but I know the theory is pie in the sky!
I think your friend is correct in predictiong a major stock market crash in the near future. The vacillating indices of the Dow, S&P and other formulas are indicative of a very unsettled market. The move to commodities such as oil, precious metals, farm products, agricultural products and many others has produced new highs for just about any commodity. This means that in addition to the FED overproduction of dollars, we will be assured of future increases in the prices of all goods and services as a result of these increases in the base materials. I think stock market prices could fall up to 60 percent once the underlying factors begin to take hold.
Imagine this for a moment. A stock market crash in a period of hyperinflation abetted by the FED producing more dollars. The case for national bankgruptcy becomes tenable in this scenario. Welcome to the Third World!
National Bankruptcy.I don't think the majority of Americans even know what that term means or entails for their personal lives. They've never had to stand in a bread line or eat ramen breakfasts.
Here's a theory.
When the enormous middle classes that are currently consuming in this country were young(er), how much adversity did they encounter?
Did most of these people just end up with a University degree and beyond; an expected sense of ownership and entitlement?
Did they encounter hardship in order to form a resilient self?
It doesn't appear that way; it seems that these middle class couples were given a lot by the great generation, by the expanding federal government, by accumulated wealth.
These are the people who will suffer the most, I feel.
Am I being a lower-class elitist brat?
Mod
I was just talking to my step-mom about that. My generation feels entitled. It's almost like we all "deserve" to have whatever we want, whenever we want and our consumerism and capitalism only reinforces this. That's the reason the country's in the shit hole it's in...people got a job, got married, and felt like the deserved a great new house to go with their great new life. They graduate college and feel that they deserve a brand new car. They become a doctor and feel they deserve to join their local yacht club and play golf.
We try so hard to fit into our own self-made stereotypes, it's disgusting. Funny thing about that though, if you don't you can suffer for it.
When I first got into real estate I had an old mercury topaz. I got a lot of looks from people when I pulled up that said "You're driving this and you want to help me???" ergo I didn't get too many deals. So, once I made a little money, I bought a '95 BMW 740i for just $7100...awesome car, tiny price tag, and I don't think I missed a deal from then on. I recall people (especially black people) actually stepping outside to see what I drove before they got back to me with a yes.
Now, I'm glad to be on a middle ground with my convertible sebring. It cost the same, I paid cash for that, too but it takes less gas, less maintenance, and is still nice enough to evoke a sense of trust in people.
Long story short....sometimes I understand why people can get into materialism, but there's just no sense in going overboard with it if you're not Donald Trump. But sure, sometimes it's not just about being flashy or deserving, but it's about being accepted by your own peers and clients.
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About the second item: Adversity.
I wonder if that's why America averages a war every 20 or 30 years? To spawn a sort of maturity or even a national solidarity? I find it funny that this war is doing the opposite...but if there were a draft or a more direct desire to go to war (ie - Pearl Harbor ... don't get me started on that one) the inherent "rite of passage" of it all may have been a positive side effect of the war.
Anyway, I think Bush utterly fucked his terms up. But it does beg the question...
Can America truly survive being peaceful and civil and respectful of other country's dilemma's? Do we need chaos to grow and smooth over our own inner-lusts for controversy?
hmm
Sophia,Gabers, Father I have a different take on materialism and wants. I feel if a person is willing to work towards a goal, he/she is entitled to realistic rewards once reaching that goal. It's not a generational thing or an entitlement thing. Rather, it is a reward for hard work and achievement.
Many people labor harder than others, but obtain less because their work is rated as menial. Because it is rated as menial, they get paid less and subsequently can buy fewer goodies. Others are blessed with the ability to work smarter. They generally work at jobs that require more intellectual thought and far less labor. These people are paid much more and consume the majority of goodies in our society. Both jobs are important to society as the field worker picks tomorrow's meals while the smarter worker prepares an accounting statement, runs his own business, or perhaps has carved out a lucrative niche in the real estate business. The point is that most Americans are willing to work for a living, albeit with different skills, and are entitled to the fruits of their labor.
There is something amiss in our country today, and that is the idea that people feel they are owed a living. I disagee--the vast majority of Americans are more than willing to work for a living. They simply desire a reasonable living. I would caution that it is important that we not lay the cause of today's economic problems on the many Americans who struggle to make a living. I'm talking about the husband and wife who must both work in order to achieve the same level of gain as the great generation did with just one bread winner in the family. I'm talking about the laborer or single housewife who must work 2 and 3 jobs to make ends meet. I'm talking about the family who will lose their home tomorrow because someone in the family lost a job, or were sucked in by some asshole mortgage broker, or have seen the value of their home fall to 50% of their mortgage.
There is blame , but the blame must be placed with our government who has steadily vacated the needs of our people in favor of the deep pockets of lobbyists, special interests and multi-national corporations. It is these people that have conjured the dot com fiasco, the housing crisis and the mortgage debacle. They have created the financial mess we are in, while squandering our national advantage. And while some of us see fit to blame the American worker, the people who created the mess are forgiving each other with grants of hundreds of billions of dollars. While we should be outraged and totally pissed with our government who refuses to represent our citizens, we instead grow complacent and point the finger of guilt at one another. Too many of us are brainwashed with political spin. We need to wake up, start a revolution and take America back to the days when Democracy was a real and living dynamic, rather than the hypocrisy it has become today!
Stephen, while I do agree that some people get things they have worked hard for and have jobs/skills that allow them to afford their needs/wants, there are others that work hard and still find themselves wanting. Not just for unjustified material items, but for necessities. I entered the real estate world because my other job as a bar manager wasn't cutting it. I do a lot of things at that job that deserves better pay. While some corporations and businesses do pay their employees appropriately, mine does not. I have seen this with other people and their jobs. They usually, if they are able and hard working, move to another company that does compensate them appropriately. However, as we see so many corporations sending jobs overseas to save money on labor, they are also cutting wages here. I do see your point in blaming the government for vacating the needs of our people. By giving the corporations the means to do what they want, they are slitting the financial throat of the American worker, making it harder for those with great skill and a sound work ethic to gain employment that allows them to get those things they want. I do see others that live above their means, they work, but they do spend money on things when that money could go to more necessary needs. For instance, like Sophia with her old car, I drive a '93 Nissan Sentra that has seen it's day and I need something better, yet for some reason I've spent money on things I don't necesarily need when I should have been saving for a new car, which in my business, says a lot to my clients as to who or what I am. I have changed my spending habits, of late, because I do want to gain more respect from my peers. I don't feel like this is wrong because I am working and saving to gain this need/want.There is definitely a lot of finger pointing going on, but where do we start. How do we convey our message to the government and to the other powers that be, i.e. corporations, that this has to stop?
I do believe that Americans need to understand that just because they have a skill and work hard this is not enough and they do not necessarily deserve a certain job. They need to work and progress and hope things work out. It's a frustrating subject and I'm starting to ramble, so I will finish by saying that we must take action now before the situation bankrupts us all. WHERE and HOW do we start?
Mod
By that I mean, absolutely any and everything is a two way street. Yes, the government is facilitating these things, but it took people who believed their government gave a rat's ass about them to institute them. Even now, after this foreclosure mess, I still see people buying homes interest only, or 80/20 or whatever. In other words, I like to look at it like a chart:
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DENIAL & BLAME
Sure when anything bad first begins, it's the ignorant untested masses who fall prey to the scheme, but as time goes by people (B) should be able to discern from their fellow man's experiences, yet they STILL endure the folly of their ordeals.
But even given this, the pie in the sky doe eyed pavers of the way (A) still hold part of the blame for not doing their homework, not looking at reality, and not listening to their parents when they say "if it's too good to be true, it probably is".
I'm not unsympathetic. I just feel that if I fucked up somewhere in my life, it's my fault. Point blank. I mean, look at it this way...so what if it IS solely the government's fault? How is that in any way going to empower me? My only recourse is to BMW (bitch moan and whine) and push against a brick wall of a system. Now once I realize that I am also culpable, to any degree, I begin to ask what changes I can make and THAT's when real progress occurs.
Father,I do not mean to imply that people are due their every whim. I believe people who are willing to work for a living shoud be able to earn a living. I don't mean a minimum wage, but rather a living wage.A person should be able to make enough money to live reasonably--that is, be able to raise and feed a family, provide adequate shelter and health care. This is the basis of any reasonable civilization, and it should be available in the USA, where our workers have made this country the greatest and wealthiest country in the history of mankind.
We start now by taking our country back. There are hundreds of millions who struggle for a living as opposed to the one million plus who own the vast majority of our wealth. The relatively few wealty obtained their fortunes on the backs of the many who earned the fortunes for them. We need some serious income redistribution or a very serious revolution.
Sophia,You take me back to the root of the housing fiasco. For the better part of 4 years, it was a time when no one could do any wrong. Money was readily available,homes were rapidly appreciating, home buyers were able to get into their dream home, home owners were able to borrow against their increased equity, investors made fortunes flipping homes, mortgage brokers were in high cotton and real estate was a dream job which paid far more than the effort required. And just as the vein in a gold mine finally plays out, so too, the too good to be true real estate rush came to an abrupt end.
Left holding the bag were some investors, many homeowners and a relatively few financial brokerage houses. Our government, with the assistance of some foreign wealth funds have elected to bail out the biggest offenders--the financial corporations. By and large, the wealthy will survive. At the same time, our leaders hesitate to assist home owners because they feel they might create a "moral hazard". What absolute bullshit!! The moral hazard has been in place for many years. It started with laws that favor the rich and oppress the poor and middle class. It was elevated when our elected representatives began responding to the special interests while offering a deaf ear to their constituents. And now, moral hazard has matured as the wealthy are protected while the rest of us need fend for ourselves. A lot of people fucked up in the housing and mortgage debacle, but it appears that the Joe Lunchbuckets of our country may wind up the only offenders to be totally fucked!
I can take a beating and shoulder blame as well as most people, but I refuse to be stupid about it! Americans need to stand up and demand a fair and equitable government that will represent the general welfare of our country. Complacency has placed us in the untenable position we are in today. Further procrastination will only make the situation worse. Demand, not ask, your representative to do his job. If he refuses , be a pain in his ass. We must take take our country back--by vote if it is still possible or by revolution, if we must.
I believe all things are possible if one truly believes, and works towards definitive goals. I think it is possible that, one day, Americans will ,once again, have representative government. Like all elusive things, it will be difficult to achieve, but we can do it!
Who will be the next president of our dysfunctional government?
How outraged would Americans be if Obama lost the election to Clinton because of super delegates?
Stephen said: How outraged would Americans be if Obama lost the election to Clinton because of super delegates? Some ... mostly hard core Obama supporters. Most would get over it. I think we have pretty much accepted the fact that our process sucks. The Republican's would LOVE it though.
Meanwhile, the real estate market is in a free fall as short sales, foreclosures and skimpy sales lead the way to declining house values. Add to this the crisis in our mortgage industry and it appears millions more may soon be losing their homes!
The Fed has dramatically reduced interest rates in order give the economy a boost. And now, the government has decided to give the FED new economic powers thereby changing large pieces of our economic infrastructure. The stock market continues to have huge swings while the dollar continues to be devalued in the world markets.
My questions to each of you is -- What's going on in America? How severe is this financial crisis? Why is such dramatic action suddenly required to correct an economy that our leaders continue to claim is fundementally sound? Can our country survive the economic impasse? Have our leaders and our government officials failed us?