posted on November 3, 2009 08:16:17 PM new
Sounds a lot like George, protecting his banking buddies (again) and ignoring the depression signs until we were smack in the center of it. Why do the republicans keep getting us in such messes that the democrats have to clean up? God bless FDR, he got us out of the turmoil 3 consecutive republican presidents got us into. Did anyone watch the TV program this week of the Civilian Conservatory Corps he created? Brilliant! (Sorry, squirrel, it wasn't on Myth Busters aka Squirrel's Scientific American, so you probably didn't catch it).
posted on November 3, 2009 09:02:36 PM new
This mess "Bush got us into" began with Jimmy Carter and dramatically expanded by Barney Frank, Obama, Dodd, and a few odd Republicans.
You know, the old "houses for people who can't afford them" because it's their right.
2 Attempts where made to prevent the coming collapse:
Bush lobbied for a bill and later McCain sponsored one. Both were killed in committee (Barney took time out from humping pages to rally the troops to defeat both).
You might also look back a couple of years ago where I predicted all of this. I'm not clairvoyant, it's all predictable. You might also check a year or 2 ago where I said to start buying gold. Again not clairvoyant.
And I would put the ixsnay on the "George Bush's mess" schtick. It kinda makes you sound like a simpleton given the historic facts and your crew here is mad at me for saying some are a little challenged.
posted on November 4, 2009 01:03:54 AM new
Huh? What TV show is THIS coming from?
"The goal is, everybody who wants to own a home has got a shot at doing so. The problem is we have what we call a homeownership gap in America. Three-quarters of Anglos own their homes, and yet less than 50 percent of African Americans and Hispanics own homes. That ownership gap signals that something might be wrong in the land of plenty. And we need to do something about it.
We are here in Washington, D.C. to address problems. So I've set this goal for the country. We want 5.5 million more homeowners by 2010 -- million more minority homeowners by 2010. (Applause.) Five-and-a-half million families by 2010 will own a home. That is our goal. It is a realistic goal. But it's going to mean we're going to have to work hard to achieve the goal, all of us. And by all of us, I mean not only the federal government, but the private sector, as well.
And so I want to, one, encourage you to do everything you can to work in a realistic, smart way to get this done. I repeat, we're here for a reason. And part of the reason is to make this dream extend everywhere.
I'm going to do my part by setting the goal, by reminding people of the goal, by heralding the goal, and by calling people into action, both the federal level, state level, local level, and in the private sector. (Applause.)
And so what are the barriers that we can deal with here in Washington? Well, probably the single barrier to first-time homeownership is high down payments. People take a look at the down payment, they say that's too high, I'm not buying. They may have the desire to buy, but they don't have the wherewithal to handle the down payment. We can deal with that. And so I've asked Congress to fully fund an American Dream down payment fund which will help a low-income family to qualify to buy, to buy. (Applause.)
We believe when this fund is fully funded and properly administered, which it will be under the Bush administration, that over 40,000 families a year -- 40,000 families a year -- will be able to realize the dream we want them to be able to realize, and that's owning their own home. (Applause.)
The second barrier to ownership is the lack of affordable housing. There are neighborhoods in America where you just can't find a house that's affordable to purchase, and we need to deal with that problem. The best way to do so, I think, is to set up a single family affordable housing tax credit to the tune of $2.4 billion over the next five years to encourage affordable single family housing in inner-city America. (Applause.)
The third problem is the fact that the rules are too complex. People get discouraged by the fine print on the contracts. They take a look and say, well, I'm not so sure I want to sign this. There's too many words. (Laughter.) There's too many pitfalls. So one of the things that the Secretary is going to do is he's going to simplify the closing documents and all the documents that have to deal with homeownership.
It is essential that we make it easier for people to buy a home, not harder. And in order to do so, we've got to educate folks. Some of us take homeownership for granted, but there are people -- obviously, the home purchase is a significant, significant decision by our fellow Americans. We've got people who have newly arrived to our country, don't know the customs. We've got people in certain neighborhoods that just aren't really sure what it means to buy a home. And it seems like to us that it makes sense to have a outreach program, an education program that explains the whys and wherefores of buying a house, to make it easier for people to not only understand the legal implications and ramifications, but to make it easier to understand how to get a good loan.
There's some people out there that can fall prey to unscrupulous lenders, and we have an obligation to educate and to use our resource base to help people understand how to purchase a home and what -- where the good opportunities might exist for home purchasing.
Finally, we want to make sure the Section 8 homeownership program is fully implemented. This is a program that provides vouchers for first-time home buyers which they can use for down payments and/or mortgage payments. (Applause.)
So this is an ambitious start here at the federal level. And, again, I repeat, you all need to help us every way you can. But the private sector needs to help, too. They need to help, too. Of course, it's in their interest. If you're a realtor, it's in your interest that somebody be interested in buying a home. If you're a homebuilder, it's in your interest that somebody be interested in buying a home.
And so, therefore, I've called -- yesterday, I called upon the private sector to help us and help the home buyers. We need more capital in the private markets for first-time, low-income buyers. And I'm proud to report that Fannie Mae has heard the call and, as I understand, it's about $440 billion over a period of time. They've used their influence to create that much capital available for the type of home buyer we're talking about here. It's in their charter; it now needs to be implemented. Freddie Mac is interested in helping. I appreciate both of those agencies providing the underpinnings of good capital." George Bush 2002 - NOT Jimmy C, NOT Obama
[ edited by pixiamom on Nov 4, 2009 01:12 AM ]
posted on November 6, 2009 06:44:46 PM new
I bought a house outside Houston 7 years ago.
My neighbors are Hispanic,Asian,African America,Middle Eastern , Anglo American and Africans from Africa.
First year,my Nigerian neighbor was transferred back to his own country and he tried to lease the house.
It sat empty for months and finally some African American family moved in with their large dog.The dog will dig under the fence and enter my backyard.
It is a mean son of a #*!@ and will throw himself against the fence whenever he heard I was in the backyard.My neighbor called him a friendly dog which just wanted to come over and sat for awhile in my backyard??
There is not much I can do,take them to court for ruining my fence?So,they dont have the money,what good does it do??
The family was finally evicted for not paying their rent and my Nigerian neighbor who is now in Nigeria defaulted on his mortgage,Fannie Mae took over the house.
After Katrina,we saw a series of Katrina victims coming and going,they all said they lost their house in New Orleans when it turns out they never own a house!
My neighbor to the left is Nigerian and he started renting rooms out ,every night there is at least 4 cars parked in his driveway and there are always different cars from the night before.
I called the association and complained he is running a motel 6,but the folks said not much they can do if they all claim to be related,but we assure them we will testify in court and take pictures of the license plates.
Then he went away for weeks and his front lawn went dead so he has to pony up $$ to replace the grass,he learned a lesson and from then on he will water his lawn diligently.
He started a family so no more motel 6.
In 3 months my Vietnamese neighbor put his house up for sale and left,then in another 6 months my Mexican neighbor left.
Then rumors started to spread there is Guatamalan madame across the street with 4 girls from Honduras,and there is so much traffic ,all young men coming and going.
One day I drove by and saw the 4 girls huddled in front of the house and smiled at me! May be they are thinking of jumping ship!
An Anglo family took 10 months to sell their house to an African american young couple who never bother to pull weeds and now it is like a garden of weeds,you name the weed ,they have them all!
The nice Arab family used to take good care of their lawn now their lawn is dead and I saw a strange Hispanic couple walking into the house,wonder if they have just bought it and what happens to the Arab family?? and how do they plan to revive the lawn?
This is not a bad neighorhood,Kroger,Walgreen and AUtozone all think enough of this area to open stores !
BUt if you just walk down the street and look at the front lawn,you can tell the owners are not your garden variety Anglo homeowners who are raised by their parents who are homeowners and set an example of maintaing their front lawn(never mind the backyard,some never sod their back yard,they just wait for their neighbor grass to creep over).
Home ownership is more than just paying the mortgage,there is assoc fee,property tax ,insurance and such trivial things like pesticide,fertiliser,lawn mowing and a host of gadgets you have to buy like sprinkler,garden hose,ladder,hammer,screw driver,not to mention you have a higher electric and heating bills and unlike apt living,water is extra.
May be Pelosi can write a book on Home ownership 101 for the democrats !
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on November 6, 2009 07:18:11 PM new
Hwa Hwa, why bother with associating ethnic backgrounds with your neighbors? Do you want to associate ethnic background with home ownership behavior?
posted on November 7, 2009 05:56:03 AM new
everything tells a story!
your behavior,my behavior all have roots somewhere.
What I am trying to point out is -apt dwellers and renters do not do a good job maintaining their homes,either they do not know how,they are not interested,they do not care,they are used to having someone else do it for them or they are so stretched financially they dont have the money to do so or they spend so much time away from home they dont have the time to do it.
When it costs nothing to commit to buying a house,no down payment,no credit check and the govt gives them up to 15k to buy a house which is less than 2 years old,everyone wants to have a house and all that talk about selling at a profit a few years down the road is just all too tempting to resist.
is it ethnic related?
Yes,some foreigners rent for life as there is no such thing as 20% down or Fannie and Freddie,you either pay with cash or you just dont own a home.
Some have maids to do all the menial work,I have seen Brazilians who dont have a dishwasher in their kitchen as maids do all the cooking back home and now they are in this counrty,they just eat out daily.
In some countries,it is okay to have wild plants growing front and back,thats mother nature work,what is wrong with that?
Americans are the ones who sink a lot of money into their home,someone once point out,it is a form of savings,while in many countries,since houses do not appreciate much and consumer credit is tight,they tend to hoard more cash in the banks or in their mattress.
Well,there is something to learn from these foreigners,with house price declining and the greenback sinking,it is time to hoard gold and silver and platinum or even cooking oil and can goods instead of beautifying your home !
BTW,I just remember what my Nigerian classmate told me -It is a Nigerian custom if one member of the family or clan do well,everyone else drop what they are doing and move close to him,expecting to be taken care of,unless he is doing better,then of course he will have everyone living close to him being taken care of for life!
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
[ edited by hwahwa on Nov 7, 2009 06:07 AM ]
