Because of the economy, and many failed policy decisions by our politicians, not only big businesses like AIG and Bear Stearns are feeling the pinch.  The forgotten victims of the housing crisis are the many displaced families.

A recent news story at MSNBC highlights what is going on in Reno, Nevada.  After emergency winter shelters closed for the summer, a number of tents cropped up by the railroad.  Within a few weeks, over 150 people were living in what had become a “tent city.”

Many of the people living in these tents were at once hopeful of getting a casino job.  But interviews in the story indicate that casinos are actually starting to lay off employees. Read the rest of this entry »

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Today, MSNBC reports that housing prices and sales have continued their decline.

Sales of existing homes fell for the sixth straight month while median home prices declined by by nearly 5% from a year ago.  With the decline of the largest asset owned by working class Americans, what does this mean for our economy?

Cleveland Ohio, known as the home foreclosure epicenter of the United States, has taken legal action against twenty one banks.  A handful of local citizens are attempting to jump on the bandwagon too and seek financial restitution for the loss of their homes.  It’s good to see cities and previous homeowners demand answers and compensation for being duped.

The foreclosure flood that hit Cleveland has resulted in nearly 1,000 properties being sold for an average price of $2,321 (source).  Now if that does not drag down the value of surrounding houses and neighborhoods, I don’t know what will. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hat’s off to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and the other members of the board.  They successfully avoided the housing bubble bust that was inevitably going to happen in the last couple of weeks.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates 1.25% over the last couple of weeks.  This not only helped to preserve the large housing bubble, but it also led to the highest weekly stock gains in five years.  The S&P 500 was up 4.9%, the Dow was up 4.4%, and the NASDAQ was up 3.8% for the week.  That’s great news for the minority of Americans that have money to invest in any significant quantity of stocks.

The Fed has saved the day, and now some economists are predicting a recession may now be avoided.  That’s great news!  But don’t these economists get paid to wear rose colored glasses and pump a failed economy which ultimately gets dumped on hard working Americans backs?  You bet they do! Read the rest of this entry »

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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MSNBC, as usual, always has interesting stories on the sad state of housing.  Today was no different with their story titled “Will Housing Bust Trickle Down to Poor, Hungry?” It’s a good read for those keeping an eye of the effect of the housing problem.

This latest story from MSNBC describes how the housing and financial markets may influence donations to charities.  The story notes that Federal contributions to feed the hungry have actually been reduced by 50% since 2004.

There are a good number of people that cry socialism when they hear talk of a national health care system.  But you never hear people screaming about socialism when the government is responsible for feeding its citizens.

The problem in today’s society is that too many people believe government should do everything for them.  And I have sad news for these people…  The government can’t even do the basic jobs we elected them to do, so how can you expect them to do more?  Throwing tax dollars at such an inefficient government can do only one thing - waste more of our money. Read the rest of this entry »

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A lot of economists are concerned about the housing problem in the United States.  Some are saying this could lead to a recession, while a few say it could be a significant recession (depression).  One thing is for certain, this problem did not occur overnight, nor will it be solved overnight.

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf said Thursday that housing is in the worst shape since the depression of the 1930s.  It’s a rather interesting article, and you can read it here.  Mr. Stumpf does not think we are near the end of the housing troubles, nor do I.

As you may know, I live in Ohio.  Actually a suburb just west of Cleveland.  As I drive around, I see a lot of empty commercial buildings.  Whether it is office space or industrial buildings, the growing number of vacancies can not be ignored.

There is talk of a “regional” effort to deal with the economic problems in my area, but I feel this would just be the creation of another tax district.  You know, how can the region accomplish its goals without money?  Fooey on that! Read the rest of this entry »

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