Jane

Stimulus Plan Includes Tax Breaks: Stocks That Will Benefit

D McHattie, I couldn't have said it better! And I'd have loved to vote for someone other than the usual republican-democrat but on our state's presidential election ballot, there WAS no other choice and no write in option. It was the usual 'choose the least offensive candidate' election. I am disappointed in Obama's switch to support corporate welfare for the very people who caused these problems. Not sure McCain woudl've been any different, in fact I'm pretty sure he would've also been more of the same. This is not about party it's about pretty much ALL our elected officials being corrupt and incompetent. They all take industry lobbying and campaign money don't they? Therefore they are all looking out for corporate pals, not for their constituents.

Are Home Prices Still Too High?

The only way housing prices are going to be kept up is artificially, and even that can't last. None of this artificial bubble was going to last, and predictions were early and many, they were just not listened to by anyone in power to change the course of things: (IF ONLY we had seen...govt cracking down on fraud, the industry voluntarily choosing to act more responsibly, mainstream media choosing to educate buyers on the truth instead of regurgitating industry spin, and if buyers who had the opportunity to see what was going had not chosen to put on blinders).

Prices have to come down to what people can afford, and that means housing has a long way to fall unless govt wants to artificially inflate INCOMES to match the too-high housing prices. People have become too jaded to high prices. They think $250K for a modest ranch house is cheap. It's not. We need to forget California's whacky prices and look at what a house is really worth, and what people can really afford. A middle class family, which is what most Americans are, should not be buying a house that cost more than about $150K, and they should have 20% down, and their total mtg pmt should not be more than a quarter to a third of their income. When those figures are in line again we can call bottom. Until then, the industry can spin all it likes, but people are tapped out and some are out of work. They're not going to buy half million dollar McMansions now. The industry needs to get over it and either change the way they do things or find another line of work.

Responsible Regulation of the Housing Market?

As long as industry lobbyists outnumber concerned citizens, when it comes to communicating with politicians, we will not see meaningful regulation that holds wrong-doers accountable. Then you have the enormous amount of money these industries contribute to politicians, and it would take a LOT of citiznes speaking up and showing up, to counter that. The rules of how to guard the henhouse always seem to be written by the fox, because consumers/citizens are kept out, or just don't even try to take part. I believe lobbyists and politicians expect apathy from citizens, and usually aren't disappointed. True regulation of any industry would include mandatory prison time for those who break laws, and the threat of never being able to do business again if they repeatedly break rules that don't result in jail time but that do harm the economy and/or consumers. As for consumers' part, they need better education on finances, legal matters, etc, but ultimately the industry is party that's creating the schemes, pushing them, etc. The industry needs to be held accountable. That won't happen if the industry writes the rules and tracks enforcement.