Vibrant Nation

Wow, I was writing about My Opinion of the Economy.  You do not have to agree but you certainly do not have to make it a personal attack.  Lets make no mistake here - I am a working gal and I pay my taxes and I take nothing that I do not earn.  I lost my home  because of greed (not because I could not afford it - it was a scam that hundreds of thousands of people in 2001 got caught in.  Our judicial system let the predatory lender  off the hook with a slap on the hand and a class action that gave people $3,000 for their troubles).  The millions they paid went to the lawyers.  Before you slam me again by saying that I must have bought a home I could not afford I will save you the embarrasment by letting you know that  I owned my home for 23 years in a middle class neighborhood.  I did not go crying for a bailout either. I picked myself and my family up and did what any person who was brought up with a hard work ethic and morals and moved on.  Has not been easy but I did it.  I have paid my way thru the court system fighting this injustice. So I am not defending Bush and certainly not in love with Obama either. I just do not believe that taxing the middle class anymore with the entitlements the government continues to throw at us will eventually wipe us out into two class system - very wealthy and the poor.  Do not believe that only the wealthy will be taxed-for us it will come in tax revenue; property tax, gasoline tax, food tax, etc.  We would be foolish to think we would escape any increases.  I have family members that own their own business - you see cal mimi I come from a family of hard workers who make a middle class living - use to be modest living but slowly going to lower class living.  I do go to work everyday but wonder why?  If I chose to live the life the government wants me to I too could stay home - I can have food stamps, housing allowance, heating allowance, and health insurance.  Soon, I can go back to college for nothing.  So, sorry I hit such a raw button with you but maybe I should do like you wait for Obamas plan. 

What I said was not directed at you but then it was. Let me explain, you said what you said and I replied and used too many you, your, you're when I should have used they, them and their's.  Not pointing fingers at any one person...just getting the hang here so I am sorry that YOU feel attacked.  Didn't do too well in putting my feelings into words.

The "Obama plan" as you call it, is to stop the tax incentives to the very rich, part of it anyway.  The incentives the republicans gave during the bush administration and that end soon or just ended.  They didn't pay what you and I pay in the middle class, they pay less.  I can see you are a hard working person and I don't think too many understand what is really happening.  Under republicans, they want to extend the incentives to the rich and let the states take the burden from there.  As far as you loosing your home, I feel very sorry for you and NO I don't believe you wanted that to happen nor do I believe you or any one else went into these loans with the intention of loosing their homes.  Especially someone like you who just re-fi'd to get a "better" loan.  MILLIONS of people got duped by the banks but without the bush administration that would never have happened.  To you or any one else.  The republicans, led by bush DE-REGULATED lending criteria.  They made it ok for banks to author these loan securities and didn't require them to get them approved first by the fed's.  That's when the really bad loans showed up.  They were authored to build the income/wealth of the bank and flatten the economy.  Oh...they won't admit to the flattening of the economy but any person who got ALL the information on the securities would be able to see where it was going...down the drain.  YES, THE REPUBLICANS, the de-regulation that went on continued to go down from there to where NO QUALIFYING perimeters were in place to protect investments and that is why they went to wall street to sell them.  To the public.  In un-insured securities that failed with the likes of Bernie and buddies.

Yes, Obama agreed to CONTINUE with the rescue attempts for the banks with the stimulas package for them but to do otherwise would have flattened America...bankrupt our country.  BEGINNING WITH BUSH.

I too could have all the above.  This is not new with Obama, it's been in line for decades but it is now more in the light because of the economic situation caused by the de-regulation of the banks.  We have tent cities in AMERICA.  People just like you and I, people that never for the life of them thought it would happen to them.  They too had jobs, not any longer and even some in the tent cities have their jobs just not their homes because of the loans that pushed them into the street...again...we can point right back to the republicans and bush.

Is it adult for an entire political party to refuse to vote concious but rather party?  That's what's happening in the government today.  Is it adult for an entire political party to say "we will vote no on anything democrat"?  That's what they said on the floor Sunday before the vote.  Is that adult to deny insurance, housing, jobs...unemployment...ANYTHING to any body just because a democrat thought up the idea. 

This is what destroys me.  This is what keeps me awake at night.  What people don't really understand is that the majority of the "bad" loans were made in 07 and 08, just before the downfall.  100% loans on homes valued already 20% or more that their true value.  They have not begun to start the foreclosure procedure because they have not been given their 1st note payment change yet.  They (unless they have lost their jobs) can still afford their payments until this year.  2010 is the first year of adjustments for many and then that will continue for another 3 years on that round of lending, some will go out as far as 5 more years.  If employment gets back in line and we get back to work some of them will save their homes.  If not, we will see the biggest numbers of foreclosure to hit the market yet.  It truly is "we've only just begun", to coin a phase from the carpenters (aging me I know), and beyond sad for all who were cheated.  The paperwork was at best deceitful, unless you had an inside look (which I did) these loans were sold as the new savior in lending when in actual fact the authors of these loans knew they had a shelf life of less than 3 years, that person...the head of Countrywide, the author of these loans and some even worse; took off in 06 with over $300million in bonus and more than $400 million in stock he took in lieu of income from the company and sold it in a period of less than 6 months...yes...hundreds of millions, I made no mistake in typing...which in turn bankrupt the company and began the first wave of foreclosure ....look up Mario from countrywide...you'll enjoy reading about his greed and his ties to the republicans...even giving them "good ole' boys loans".  Loans made just for them, no one else...needed a seat in government to qualify...nothing else...just a political seat.  By the way, when Mario took his bonus of hundreds of millions of dollars...the loans had already begun to turn sour...that's why he left so to use another phase I can not take credit for..... he left while the leaving was good.

I'm not waiting on anyone's plan.  I take care of myself also.  I do want affordable insurance and I am happy some control will begin.  Letting any industry loose without regard to others and let them continue to earn record earnings on the tragidy of others is just not ok with me.  We NEED health care, should someone be able to rob us just because it is a necessity?  If Obama's plan keeps insurance in check then you bet I'm for it.  I don't believe in the open door policy of greed the republicans do...and you didn't hit a RAW nerve...you hit my CARING nerve that cares about people other than myself.  Sorry I hit your raw nerve, not my intention...

Working Gal - I have to agree with both of you, and disagree with both. Did we lose 10 years of growth in the past year? On paper, yes. That's when we saw most of it in our mortgage problems and retirement and savings accounts. But it was the end result of years of greed, war and irresponsible tax cuts. Will the middle class see their expenses rise? I believe we all will be paying more, directly in taxes, and indirectly in social and financial services. Is this health care bill the culprit? I don't believe so. At some point, we all have to chip in for the trillion dollar war.

Last year was the only year in the past 7 that we did not hit the magic 250K mark (due to the economy). This year, we are on track to get there again, (largely due to the stimulus package, where we are just starting to see the money coming to my husband's clients - schools, hospitals, retailers, etc). I can hardly call myself rich. But, as a progressive, am willing to pay a bigger share of taxes. And we certainly have done that in the past. The "rich" don't have the tax credits and deductions that the middle class and working poor have. There was no education credit or low-cost government grant or loan for my daughter's college education and our deductions are reduced - the more you make, the less you take. Convert my IRA to a Roth to save on taxes later, or take the $800 stimulous credit? Nope, we make too much money. But even with all that, we net enough to live comfortably.

From what you stated, I'm assuming your housing problems came about due to a refinance. I understand how the lenders manipulated homeowners, having refinanced in '07. I experienced the predatory lending tactics first hand. But while I know it did occur, I never saw the ones I dealt with misrepresent what was written in the loan agreements. There were many, many people who did take on more than they could afford, based on the belief that their home prices would continue to rise, and/or ignoring the fact that their interest payments would rise at some point in the future. In those cases, greed prevailed over common sense.

I don't know where you get the idea that the government wants you to be taking advantage of food stamps, etc. It's in government's best interest to not shell out those dollars. Living in poverty is a very difficult life. And it's harder to get out of the longer you are there. To not be there is why my husband and I work.

I do not believe cal mimi was personally attacking you. Just vehemently disagreeing with your statements. She is right. It IS hard to make a post not sound personal. If you do believe she crossed the line, hit the report button, and let VN decide.

I have no idea how you reach your conclusions. ;-)