Rants 'n Raves

As of today, more than five million more families (another 5% of all U.S. households) are now behind on their mortgages. And like the ones before them, risk foreclosure. This year and going forward, economists are predicting many more.

The government’s "Mortgage Modification Plan" from last year (a $75 billion taxpayer-financed effort) has been another Obama failure.

For the Obama administration, there is also the concern that millions of more foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s supposed "tentative recovery" - the last thing it wants in an election year. Obama's had enough bad publicity already from all his other blunders.

Obama's latest "new-and-improved" program will allow owners to sell their homes for less than they owe, and will give them a little pocket change to help speed things up. ($1,500 for a "relocation allowance".)

This will be brokered with the banks, but the banks don't like this. Maybe they'd rather evict the families and allow the property to go into disrepair (further eroding the housing market) and collect the full amount through the government's guaranteed FHA insurance...funded by taxpayers just like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and TARP.

Taxpayer money will now be used to help soften the blow of people facing eviction from their homes by the banks. I would guess that many of these mortgages are A.R.M. loans, the kind that the banks have resisted renegotiating into regular 30-year conventional loans (and at a fair interest rate that the family could have better been able to afford.)

Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers (who have not been rescued by Obama's failed "loan modification program") to give up their homes through a process known as a "short sale".

(Contact the White House for details...)

See my post > Will we see homeless shantytowns in 2010?

http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/08/the-great-depression-then-and-now-is-the

The Jobless and Suicides in 2010

http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/07/out-of-work-buy-a-shotgun

Will we see homeless shantytowns in 2010?

...and if so, why does Obama insist on giving us "healthcare reform" instead of jobs?

The widespread prosperity of the "Roaring Twenties" ended abruptly with the stock market crash in October of 1929 and the Great Depression followed. At one point in the depth of the depression, 25% of the American workforce was out of work. For many Americans, these were very hard times.

"Hooverville" became a common term for shacktowns and homeless encampments during the Great Depression. There were hundreds of Hoovervilles throughout the country, each testifying to the housing crisis that accompanied the employment crisis of the early 1930s.

"Hooverville" was a deliberately politicized label, coined and used to emphasize that President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Party were held to be responsible for the economic crisis and its miseries. (No, they didn't inherit it from Bush.)

Homeless man sitting in a "Hooverville" shantytown in Seattle, Washington 1931

Homelessness followed quickly from joblessness once the economy began to crumble during the early 1930s. Homeowners lost their property when they could not pay mortgages or pay taxes. Renters fell behind and were evicted. By 1932 millions of Americans were living outside the normal rent-paying housing market.

Many squeezed in with relatives. Unit densities soared in the early 1930s. Some squatted, either defying eviction and staying where they were, or finding shelter in one of the increasing number of vacant buildings.

And hundreds of thousands took to the streets, finding what shelter they could, under bridges, in culverts, or on vacant public land where they built crude shacks..."Hovervilles". Some cities allowed squatter encampments for a time, others did not.

Some of the men who were forced to live in these conditions possessed construction skills and were able to build their houses out of stone. Most people, however, resorted to building their residences out of wood from crates, cardboard, scraps of metal, or whatever materials were available to them.

Homeless shantytown known as a "Hooverville" in California - 1933

The economic troubles of the 1930s were worldwide in scope and effect. Economic instability led to political instability in many parts of the world. Political chaos, in turn, gave rise to dictatorial regimes such as Adolf Hitler's in Germany and the military's in Japan.

At the end of 1931, infrequent rallies, and even riots, began to occur throughout the nation. Frustration and fear permeated the country.

In John Steinbeck's famous novel "The Grapes of Wrath", the Joad family settles into a Hooverville in California. (See my post about the Dust Bowl)

Bonus Expeditionary Force

In May of 1932, 300 World War I Veterans set out from Oregon to Washington DC to lobby for a bill for their wartime bonus pay. Many more joined them as they traveled. They called themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force.

When they reached Washington DC, they were organized into tent-camps. Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur was concerned that the group was a communist attempt to undermine the government, but they were merely hungry veterans, many of them accompanied by their families.

In 1932 the bill was defeated in the Senate, but the Veterans did not riot; they simply sang "America the Beautiful" on the Capitol steps and returned to their encampments.

Herbert Hoover was uncomfortable with the attention the World War I heros were drawing to his administration, and city officials worried about riots. Thus, the President ordered General Douglas MacArthur to clear the area, immediately.

MacArthur gathered cavalry, infantry, a machine gun squadron, and tanks and proceeded up Pennsylvania Avenue. MacArthur was joined by Maj. Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton Jr. The cavalry advanced with swords drawn. The militia destroyed the make shift homes of the veterans, often with fire. The veterans were driven across the bridge to the opposite side of the Anacostia River, where another encampment was destroyed by fire. No one was certain how that fire started.

The veteran's bill was finally passed in 1936, but the bill required an override of a Presidential veto. This time the President was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Progressive Democrat who had been elected and in office since 1932.

After 12 Years of Misery

In 1941 World War II finally kick started the economy again. Millions of men and women joined the armed forces, and an even larger number went back to work in well-paying defense jobs.

And onced again, America prospered...until now, 80 years later, in 2010.

Hundreds of "Hoovervilles" sprang up all across America during the 1930's - A sign of things to come in 2010 and beyond?

...and if so, why does Obama insist on giving us "healthcare reform" instead of jobs?

Watch the documentary, "The Money Masters - How International Bankers Gained Control of America"

(It explains in great detail the current and past Great Depression. About 3 hours long.)
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=8702

Related posts on the current unemployment situation:

The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face

The Jobless and Suicides in 2010
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/07/out-of-work-buy-a-shotgun

Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive

Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece

Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting

Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job

More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010

Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release

FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be

Extended Unemployment Benefits in 2010 - Fully Explained
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010

Above the Law?

Corruption in government isn't new...it's been going on for years. Only these days, it's so in-your-face blatant!

Supposedly, our elected officials (both locally and in Washington) were to be held to a higher standard when it came to abiding by the law...because, after all, it is they who impose these laws on the common people who elected them to office.

Just like that young and impressionable rookie cop, fresh out of the police academy, full of enthusiasm to join the force so he/she can fight evil and corruption - but only to be corrupted by the institution itself.

My guess is that some went to Washington with that same ambition as well, but only ended up being a part of the corrupted machine. And just like that rookie cop, the authority and power also went to their head. There is a human temptation that, for most it seems, can't be resisted.

It once was an honor to represent the people, but now, working for government has only become a vehicle that enables them to rape the country and to enrich themselves.

Many in Congress aren't honorable people, but leeches and scavengers...dining on the dead carcass of what was once a proud and great country, the leader of the free world.

I would like to see ALL new blood in Washington after having them sign an oath first...to immediately resign if they ever violated that oath...but not an oath to God (because they don't respect that oath), but a legally binding oath in which no government provision (or the likes of Nancy Pelosi) could save their @ss. It would have worked well with the likes of Charlie Rangel.

But if it takes an Act of Congress to get rid of all the rift raft in government, then we're seriously screwed!

In one post I wrote, "Charlie Rangel - From Slavery to the Present" it becomes pretty clear that good ole Charlie, as "Harlem's Godfather" (and many other members of Congress), are only in it for the money...and has not been truly representing their district's needs.

Rangel should have stepped down and been prosecuted over a year ago...then served some jail time, just like anyone else would have. He puts his pants on just like you and me. The only difference being, he's a crook.

If Federal employees are guilty of tax evasion, they should lose all their benefits too, including their massive taxpayer-paid pensions.

When was the last time you remember paying someone to steal from you?

I'm sick and tired of corruption in government. Every damn day we're seeing this. Democrats and Republicans alike. From the lowest to the highest levels of position. It's like a cancer that has seeped in and ate away at the fabric of decency, honesty and the moral character of this once great country.

Now we just have contemptible and greedy and egotistical pompous @sses governing us.

And it won't change until the people demand more. If they steal a pencil, it leads to billions of dollars. Corruption starts out small and keeps growing. If they cheat on their spouse, you can bet that they will cheat on you too.

The definition of what "is" is, is whether they get caught or not.

My dad once explained a particular philosophy that thieves lived by, and that stealing wasn't wrong, but getting caught was.

These are the people that rule (not govern) the people in America today.

'Draining the swamp' should be the mantra of any newly elected member of Congress, and not just a cheap Nancy Pelosi sound-bite.

"Guilty as hell. Free as a bird. America is a great country," Bill Ayers declared when interviewed by David Horowitz.

I'm sure Charlie Rangel agrees with Bill Ayers.

Did I tell you about the time when Charlie Rangel, Bill Ayers, and Barack Obama were all on the upper westside of Manhatten at the same time in the early 80's?

Think of "A Christmas Carol", the novella by English author Charles Dickens which was first released in 1843.

Now Imagine Barack Obama as the sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge, and his ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visitations of Jacob Marley and the "Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come".

What if Obama had a similar dream, where he transforms himself from a Progressive left-wing radical into a conservative iconic hero like Ronald Reagan.

Obama wakes up one morning, without any consultations with his staff (not even a private mention to his own wife) and calls an emergency White House press conference with all the major networks, including Fox News.

He somberly approaches the presidential podium and begins to speak (without a tele-prompter).

"Ladies and gentleman, members of the press, my wife, and my fellow Americans. I've called this press conference to inform you that I have had a drastic change of heart concerning my administrative policies. But first, I want to apologize for my first 14 months in office - it's been a miserable failure. But starting this moment, there really is going to be 'change you can believe in'."

"First and foremost, I'd like to announce that by the end of today, I will expect the resignations of my Chief-of-staff and most of my top aides, whose names I will give to you at the end of my pronouncement."

"Ahhh...that would be a 'YES' Helen."

"Also, effectively immediately, I am totally withdrawing all my ambitions with regards to the present healthcare bill, the cap-and trade bill, and all my other proposed reforms - and to start over again - from scratch - with the Republican's support."

"But jobs and the economy will be the first thing on my agenda from this point forward. If the Democrats try to bypass me, I will use my veto powers."

"Let me also say, that starting today, I renounce all my past Progressive convictions, and I will move solidly to the middle as a genuine bi-partisan President."

"And no more Andy Stern or SEIU! No more Bill Ayers or SDS! No more back-room deals and Socialist programs! No more child indoctrination! No more insane government spending, waste, fraud, and abuse! And most of all, NO MORE LIES!"

(Applause...)

"And in closing, let me address my detractors at Fox News. Mister Glenn Beck...Mister Sean Hannity...I've finally seen the light. We've already wasted a lot of time guys, so now let's come together and get to work."

And then, remembering his own grave in his dream from the night before...

"...because I've changed my ways in hopes of changing these shadows of what might have been."

Obama went on to win a second election, then retired to pursue his true passion...writing. He wrote his memoirs, then proceeded to write 7 bestselling novels. The last one was titled "Proud to be an American".

Shorty before he died at the age of 89, the mega-super carrier, the U.S.S. Obama, was christened.

Barack Obama really did make for a glorious history.

25 years later President Barack Obama was recognized as one of the most aspiring Presidents in U.S. history, and he eventually replaced Reagon (which was previously Grant) on the $50 dollar bill.

And then I woke up, and I realized that in my dream, Obama never had this dream. There never was any "change", and Obama was still the same.

And America was still in a slide towards obsoletion.

Every day, more bad news for the unemployed...

The recession has given way to a weak and uncertain expansion, one that is unlikely to provide the robust growth in hiring needed to cut significantly into the teeming ranks of the jobless.

Labor specialists assume the economy needs to generate more than 100,000 jobs a month simply to keep pace with new entrants to the work force... joblessness and economic anxiety are likely to remain a stubborn affliction for years to come.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/business/economy/06jobs.html

The jobs market had shown signs of weakening in recent weeks, with claims reaching unexpectedly high levels...some saw it as evidence that the labor market was deteriorating in the face of a feeble recovery.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/business/economy/05econ.html

A recent batch of subpar data on housing and consumer confidence has stirred speculation of a double-dip recession...some analysts say they believe the market has lost touch with economic reality and is due for another decline.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/business/06markets.html

A lot of worry about the economy remains, and some economists are forecasting a double-dip recession, as occurred in the early 1980s, or a very slow recovery, as happened after the 1990-91 and 2001 recessions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/business/economy/06charts.html

Meanwhile, the big banks continue to prosper...but what about Citigroup, that still owes TARP funds?

The chief executive of Citigroup told a government panel on yesterday that no financial institution should be "too big to fail" and that he was aggressively moving to break up the bank and rein in excessive risk-taking.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/business/05tarp.html