Now that we are well in to the holiday season, many victims of the mortgage mess are waiting for Santa to leave them anything but homeless.

Today there was an interesting article on MSNBC titled “Mortgage Crisis Inflicts Collateral Damage.”  The news story describes how marriages, families, and local tax revenues are negatively affected by foreclosures.  Not that any reasonable person needs a news story to point this out, but the reality is financial ruin destroys lives.

The interesting part of this mortgage crisis is how many renters are losing their homes after the owner’s default on their mortgages.  In the story noted above, they describe how a 67 year old women was evicted even after paying her $900 monthly rent.  And this woman uses an oxygen tank to help her breathe.

Congress is now considering legislation that would prevent renters from being evicted, because of foreclosure, for 90 days.  Well, I’ve got some news for Congress…  You had better buy more band-aids because the housing and economic problems in this country are only going to get worse.

I can’t help but reference my home town, Cleveland Ohio.  We have one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the nation, but our elected leaders are deaf, blind, and plain incompetent.  Take Dennis Kucinich for example.  He’s running around the country in his bid to become President while citizens in his ward are scrambling to save their homes and stay warm this winter.  I have voted against Dennis Kucinich in the past and will continue to do so in the future.  Unfortunately, most people in Cleveland are oblivious to the fact Dennis Kucinich is negligent in his duties as an elected official.  Why my fellow neighbors vote for Kucinich is beyond comprehension.  Instead of running for President, maybe Dennis Kucinich should be holding town-hall meetings, start negotiating with local lenders, and doing something more then nothing for his constituents.

What Congress and the President do not realize is that we can apply band-aids to the housing problem, but the underlying problem is the lack of jobs for unskilled workers.  Democrats and Republicans both sold out America and American workers.  Even if mortgage rates are frozen for five years, the sixth year many people will still lose their homes because many of the high paying jobs for lower skilled workers have fled the United States.

Now that the money is drying up, the United States is facing a long period of economic hardship.  Besides housing, the Social Security mess, the Medicare Mess, and the health insurance crisis are destined to weigh heavily on our economy for many years to come.

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