eisenhowergal

Let GM Fail

It's obvious that the reason we see the GOP so adamant about letting GM fail..as opposed to the financial institutions (not to mention the bonuses the CEOs get for completely ruining their companies) is that the autoworkers are unionized and the financial workers (unfortunately for them) are not. The GOP would happily do anything to cause workers lose their union rights. If anything, this financial crisis brings even greater attention to the fact that we need unions in place to protect workers' rights..now more than ever! The Greed is Good crowd will never let up..so we can't, either!

Peter Schiff on the Housing Market and the Rescue Plan

The acerbic, downright nasty attitude toward real estate borrowers, evidenced here by many, certainly encapsulizes a deep and prevailing ignorance afflicting this country now, regarding the true nature of this crisis. One of the most shocking misconceptions is that said borrowers are "uninvested" in their properties. Are you functioning under the misapprehension that, unless you are in a position to pay 75% down for your house, you don't own it? Funny, haven't noticed the lenders Schiff refers to as "owning the properties" either paying the property taxes, the utilities or any other upkeep on those properties..just collecting the exorbitant interest payments. First of all, in spite of massive propaganda to the contrary, most homeowners, including those who have purchased or refinanced within the last five years, have put down payments on their properties, and most weren't "speculators", looking to "flip" those properties in three months. Those folks, the ones who turned over loan after loan, with nothing down and no committment..who, in collaboration with the lenders, drove the prices way up in the process, are long gone and out of it, by now.

Instead, they've morphed into the pack of vultures that is presently hovering over the foreclosure properties..driving down the property values farther and faster than anyone could rationally, possibly imagine. When Schiff puts the words "lender" and "suffer" in the same sentence, I must reach for the barf bag. Once you are granted a license to do business in a particular capacity, once you profess to be a qualified professional in your field, you automatically assume certain responsibilities for your actions, not to mention those of a legal nature. Far too many in the industry conveniently turned a blind eye to the consquences of their actions, with impunity, yet they are the so-called "professionals" entrusted with the public's confidence. Guess that's better referred to as a "confidence game". It's widely overlooked that most people with mortgages (which is just about everyone who owns a home) are suffering now, too..even without adjustable payments. If you have no need to sell your property for any reason, consider yourself fortunate, but many people (to relocate or retire, or for other family, medical, or employment reasons) do. Good luck to them.

Traditionally, real estate has been considered as viable an investment as anything ever offered in the stock market..moreso. In fact, although most in my generation were rarely educated in the ways of Wall Street, it is now considered an imperative to "invest" in something..hence my puzzlement at the national schizophrenia surrounding this situation. You do the best you can, you try to educate yourself as thoroughly as possible, to make the right decision. You are, however, constantly reminded that, if you want to retire with anything other than publicly subsidized housing in your future..INVEST! Perhaps there should be a box on the purchase contract requiring that the buyer possess both a law degree and a PhD in economics, or be barred from ever purchasing a home. For those who are piously pontificating upon the virtues of renting and not buying, decrying the owning of real estate, I ask..well, what's in YOUR portfolio? Do you have a 401K..an IRA..an REIT? Do you invest in anything, at all? Then, shut up. You own real estate, too. Schiff and his pompous fellow graduates of the Marie Antoinette Academy of Social Awareness speak of working people's lives as though they were pieces on a Monopoly board.

What shall they do, Peter..trade in the Mazzerati for a Ford, or change from a nanny to day care? Oops, they're already driving the Ford, and never could afford a nanny in the first place. I refinanced my house to buy a rental property, not to flip it. It was supposed to be there for my retirement, as I am now of that age. For the ignorati amongst us, real estate traditionally appreciates at a steady but relatively small rate each year. There are sometimes rather rapid adjustments in both directions, but eventually, they are relatively minor and smooth out. What folks don't seem to realize now is that, in the space of less than five months, I've watched my rental property depreciate to prices, not only below what I paid four years ago, but below prices of twelve years ago! the home I live in, bought fifteen years ago, is worth little more than I paid for it. California's prices have been high, but that is NOT normal!! I now can't afford to sell..even though my health is not so good, I must consider retirement, and pretty much HAVE to sell at a huge loss. I lose it all. The lending institutions were the leaders in fomenting this speculation, and their rush to foreclosure has fomented the decline in values, even more rapidly.

What the foolish zygotes in this crowd don't seem to understand is that, regardless whether you've owned property or not during the past five years, everyone is going to be negatively affected by this, in one way or another. Need I mention that property values affect property taxes, which affect public services, which affect your personal safety and well-being every day. Life is funny, and pride cometh before the fall, as they say. Today you may feel secure, but tomorrow you may find yourself with some unforseen personal emergency. Whether you offer real-estate or another form of security, the credit crunch is going to affect you, either by availability or by rate, or some other factor. If you need to sell, you will never get a fair price now, and won't you be surprised when you find that your job has also, albeit unexpectedly, been affected by this crisis. In the predicted two years until the "correction" occurs, many millions of people will be ruined by this needless fiasco..this home price tsunami. I sympathize with Joshua and appreciate the comments by Logical. You begin to wonder if everyone is in an oblivious trance, or whether stupidity has just become a national contagion, when you see some of the asinine commentary expressed here and elsewhere.