Newbie Homeowner… Not today buddy!

Not that the cost of gas will prevent you from ever owning a home if that is your hope and dream, stagnant wages will. While the cost of living is going through the roof along with CEO bonuses and mega billion profits per quarter at the oil companies the average Joe is supposed to say “Oh well?”.

Is it just me or does the main stream media not get it? Our jobs are going everywhere but here and everyone in the media is smiling as if there is nothing wrong. Good paying middle class jobs are flooding out of every state because it is cheaper to move the plants and machinery out of America and that is the bottom line that pays the CEO’s. Every single corporation in America is looking to go cheaper and that answer is offshore and out of America. Yes, it makes good business sense but if it is at the expense of all your neighbors is it the right thing to do? If you think like a CEO then it is always a good thing to do. Cheaper labor cost means a greater profit. End of discussion.

When our nations job providers do not offer wages to provide for home ownership then that is the end of the American economic engine. Kiss Home Depot, Lowes and any other home improvement stores goodbye! Then again that may be a good thing when they put more products not made in America on the shelves to sell. Over at MSN Money they have this interesting piece and I urge you to click on the post!!!

Average Joe still can't afford a home

By Bankrate.com

One of the worst things about today's real estate market is that there doesn't seem to be any silver lining in that big black cloud.

Normally, you'd think dramatically falling prices would make homeownership possible for more moderate-income families.

But even with homes more affordable, the median price in many markets is still out of reach for a median-income family, according to "Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America," a study by the Center for Housing Policy, or CHP, in Washington, D.C.

Comparing housing costs in 210 metropolitan areas with the wages earned by workers in 60 occupations, the study found that homeownership is often unaffordable for workers in each of the five-fastest growing occupations -- registered nurses, retail salespeople, customer-service representatives, food-preparation workers and office clerks. Registered nurses, who typically have high salaries, were unable to purchase a median-priced home in 108 of the markets. - MSN Money

I think I should be clear that I honestly believe the housing market is in a tumble it has not seen in decades or even half a century or more. One of the things I know about economics and how an economy works is that housing is the basis for all indicators.

When I owned my home, I put tons of money into that house. From new windows to the latest and greatest technology on heating the hot water. New doors went up on all of the bedrooms, new floors went down in the kitchen, the bathroom was overhauled with a water saving toilet, and the yard was rebuilt to allow a swing set for the kids to play on. Renters don’t do that and can not do that.

We lost our home when a child’s illness had us faced with ten months of hospital medical bills and I’m not sorry for it. My child is well now and that is all that is important to me. Our home was just a materialistic thing that we built around the family. All of the conveniences we added to our home was just that. Something that made our lives easier. We did what we had to do in order to survive and we lost just an address. My baby is still with us so I don’t look at it as a total loss. It was just a house but she is and will always be my baby girl. That is my personal perspective but this issues is bigger than that. The housing crisis is real and it is at our front door as a nation. Some folks call people like me an idiot for making stupid decisions financially but you would never want to be in my shoes when I made them. Hind sight is wonderful if you never lived the tale or circumstances.

It should bother you that our nation is moving in a direction that is lazy or easy. Where once we were a nation of innovators and experimenters on how to do things better we have been sold out by our corporate leaders for the almighty dollar. In some respects I can understand why one individual would condescend to the principal of making the most money for his family but at what cost does that sell out come to his neighbors? Lately it is pretty high.

When American business people realize that the dollar they get by selling out American jobs is hurting their nation then they just might have a clue. Till that time comes you can watch as all the manufacturing jobs go out of our nation and your job is no longer relevant. They call it outsourcing and good for the bottom line. I call it death to the American economy. Either way the bonuses go out to the top executives. Maybe your MIT engineering skills will come in handy to mow their lawn? Skim the pool or do day care for their kids while they go off shopping.

Buying a house on a salary or pay that requires you to ask if the customer wants fries with that is not how you pay for a home.

Not everyone in America will make anywhere near the big bucks of even the middle class but if the loss of hope of ever owning a home is gone then our nation is a failure. That then would be a tribute to the people that have sold all American’s out.

If this were a baseball game the owners would have sold all the players before the game was even over…

Papamoka

Cross posted MichaelLinnJones.com and to Bring It ON! and To the Center

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McCain, Not the Compassionate Conservative

Many Americans fell for the BS story that current President Bush spread around that he was a compassionate conservative politician and now we all know what one is not. As the unmitigated candidate from the Republican Party, Senator McCain is giving lip service to the little people we all call the middle and lower class. After repeated criticism for lack of any plan on the housing crisis and that he has a plan. Or is it just more lip service from a want to be Presidential candidate?

Conservative principals are less government intervention in individual rights and less government and taxes overall. Is the distinguished Senator from Arizona playing politics with his plan to help but not help homeowners facing the loss of their homes? Over at the Washington Post and On the Trail they have this to say on his latest speech…

McCain Refines Plan for Homeowners
By Dan Balz

BROOKLYN -- Two weeks after drawing criticism for saying he favored only a limited federal role to help deal with the home mortgage crisis, Republican presidential candidate John McCain sought to assure Americans he is prepared to use the government where necessary to help ease the impact of a declining economy on working families.

In a campaign appearance with small business owners in Brooklyn, McCain also addressed the spreading economic downturn with proposals to help families facing foreclosure restructure their mortgages and to give workers who have lost their jobs more flexibility and incentives to seek retraining and a speedier return to the workforce.

McCain plans a more comprehensive economic speech for next week, but came here today to blunt criticism from Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that he is insensitive to the plight of ordinary Americans.

"Let me make it clear that that in these challenging times, I am committed to using all the resources of this government and great nation to create opportunity and make sure that every deserving American has a good job and can achieve their American dream," he said.

~SNIP~

Instead, McCain proposed a federal program that would require individual homeowners to seek help from the federal government and, if they qualified for assistance, emerge with a restructured mortgage that would allow them to stay in their homes.

"There is nothing more important than keeping alive the American dream to own your home, and priority number one is to keep well meaning, deserving home owners who are facing foreclosure in their homes," he said. - Washington Post, The Trail

Senator McCain’s plan is more government? Is that even remotely Conservative or Republican? Then you have to love the part of “deserving homeowners”. What’s the classification or status as to what American deserves to keep their home Senator? Is there a nobody making under X amount of dollars gets a McCain thumbs down? Same article, same link…

There are some limitations. Those families who can afford the terms of their current, albeit higher, mortgage would not qualify. And the assistance would only cover primary residences and only go to families that can truly afford the new mortgage.

McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the housing assistance would reach an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 families, with an estimated cost of $3 billion to $10 billion. He said McCain's goal is to use federal money only for those families "who really need help." He also called McCain's approach superior to some Democratic measures because it places primary emphasis on the individuals in need, rather than the lenders.

Hello to the Senator! If they could afford the mortgage payments they were lassoed into they would not be in foreclosure? That is the first clue to the big picture that John McCain and his political staff have no clue as to what is really going on down in your neighborhood.

One of the only things in his speech that made sense was demanding a Justice Department investigation. Shouldn’t he be doing that from his Senate office where it would actually be a formal request? Something that someone that in our government that cares about all Americans should have done a year or more ago? Politics is a learning curve for the McCain camp and they are pretty much amateurs. He’s still on the same page as Bush.

You get what you pay for Mr. McCain. Or in the case of homeowners facing foreclosure you get screwed. Same thing, different geography.

Papamoka

Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com and To the Center

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McCain on the Economy

When it comes to the economy we can pretty much give Senator John McCain an F for Forgetaboutit! (New York City Accent)

McCain’s idea about dealing with the current troubles and economic collapse is to leave all options on the table? That’s a great sound bite but means absolutely nothing. It’s tantamount to telling a dead man in a car crash directions to the hospital.

Do I believe that John McCain is serious about rescuing our nation from the current economic downturn? No, I don’t! Apparently, his idea of fixing the housing crisis caused by “Irresponsible American’s” is to wait for the dust to settle. Umm, that pretty much means he is giving a green light to disreputable lending practices because people are stupid. Those people are American’s betrayed by our own banking industry. Over at the Washington Post they have this to say on his brilliant idea to fix the housing crisis…

McCain told reporters he would oppose any big government bailouts, saying they had not worked in the past and would not work in the future. But he expressed support for the Senate's economic stimulus package.

"We have got to restore confidence on the part of the American consumer to invest, to save, to do the things that make our economy run," the Arizona Republican said.

"We have got to find the floor on the cost of houses. When we find the floor, then there will be people who will come in and purchase some of these at bargain rates," he said.
A sharp downturn in the U.S. housing market has led to a full-blown credit crisis that has reverberated throughout the U.S. financial system.

Still, McCain said he was confident about America's economic future. "The fundamentals of our economy are strong," he insisted.

Some Democrats have criticized McCain for advocating a less interventionist approach to the housing and financial crises than either Clinton or Obama. McCain said in a speech on the economy last month it is "not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers." - Washington Post

When we find the floor? That is McCain’s answer to the housing crisis? When you are loosing your house you can’t take the floor with you. If you are a neighbor to a homeowner that lost their home in foreclosure it reflects on your own homes value. Vacant houses owned by banks waiting for a buyer that might pay for a bargain go empty for months and in some cases years when the evicted family takes the pipes and destroys the home rather than give the bank a move in condition home. Maybe McCain is right and you can wait for the floor? You’ll find the floor boards over at the surplus construction scrap outlet.

Is his plan to save the economy restoring the Hoovervilles of years gone by? Maybe his plan is to let the banks police themselves and fix the problems in their own back yard? Maybe his plan is to offer the banks mega tax cuts to repay all the favors he owes them? It’s not like he doesn’t know that end of the political spectrum given his Savings and Loan history.

McCain with every passing day in this election is coming off as a man that will wing it as President. Unfortunately, the Senator is gravely mistaken when it comes to the economy. It would help when he claims to have more economic background than Senator Clinton or Senator Obama if he actually had a workable plan to temporarily sure up the economy. Maybe his wing man has it?

McCain’s actions and thoughts on the economy are always limited to his own experience and with that thought in mind he sounds more and more like George W. Bush every single day.

No more W!

Papamoka

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