WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan package of tax breaks and other steps designed to help businesses and homeowners weather the housing crisis.You know.. I'm really liberal.. at least on social issues, I'm as liberal as they come. I'm still pretty liberal on financial issues as well.. I like Social Security.. and Medi-Care, etc.. but I just can't fathom where people think that this legislation is even remotely fair.
The measure passed by an impressive 84-12 vote, but even its supporters acknowledge it's tilted too much in favor of businesses such as home builders and does little to help borrowers at risk of losing their homes.
The plan combines large tax breaks for homebuilders and a $7,000 tax credit for people who buy foreclosed properties, as well as $4 billion in grants for communities to buy and fix up abandoned homes.
The measure, titled the Foreclosure Prevention Act, will be significantly redrawn by House critics who say it favors businesses such as home builders instead of borrowers.
"Quite candidly, what we've done does not quite live up to the title," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and the measure's top sponsor. "We have more work to do. We do not do enough in preventing more foreclosures in the country."
Big tax breaks for home builders? If your business struggles, the government is supposed to help you out? Liberals whine about the oil industry getting tax breaks, and now they want to give them to homebuilders too? Wuhhh?
A $7000 tax credit for buying a foreclosed home? Say what? Is that irrespective of the value of the house? We might have to start buying up a bunch of property.
4 billion dollars to "fix up abandoned homes"? Uh.. what? Those homes are not sitting there without an owner. The banks own them.. and the banks PAY to have a property preservation service maintain the home and get it in market condition so they can sell it.
Business tip.. property preservation company.. you'll make a lot of money. Step #1, learn Spanish. Step #2, buy a big truck and lawn care equipment. Step #3, learn locksmithing. Step #4, get yourself a crew of Mexicans, and some fat contracts with the city governments. Step #5, get a good accountant. Step #6, easy street.
This is all absolute insanity. Here.. I'll tell you exactly how to fix the problem.
Do absolutely nothing. Home builders face the exact same risks as other businesses, and they don't deserve a nickle when times get tough. If you don't want to subsidize big oil, why the hell subsidize home builders?
Home buyers don't deserve a tax break for buying a foreclosed home. The house I bought 4 years ago was a foreclosure property. I didn't get a tax break. Nobody else gets a tax break when they buy something. Fuck them.
Home owners don't deserve to keep their houses when they don't make the mortgage payments. They signed a legally binding contract. It's not "their" home. It belongs to the bank until you pay them back the money you borrowed. If the bank is not getting their payments, according to the contract, they kick the borrower out of the house and try and recoup the money they lent out. It takes about 6 months to foreclose on a house. A person should be able to find work enough to keep afloat until they get back on their feet before the foreclosure actually happens. This is a capitalist - free market - and you have to pay for what you want.
You should not do a DAMN thing about "preventing foreclosures" other than what should be done about the economy in general. If people have good paying jobs, they can pay their mortgage. If the economic policy is sound, then there is no problem with people making their payments on time.
Ultimately, if it weren't for "conservative" economic policy, and George Fucking Bush.. then the so-called "predatory" lending practices would not have been allowed. If not for this conservative fixation on "money, power, and influence" (as Doug worships it), people would not have been buying homes way out of their financial league. Many of these foreclosures are hitting people who bit off more than they could chew, and now the government is supposed to bail that out? You don't bail out stupid.
Is the government going to "bail out" bad "jumbo loans" (those over $500,000)?? Are they going to bail out speculators? How can you tell who deserves bailing out and who doesn't deserve it because they were speculating?
This is all common sense, and the politicians from both parties are merely pandering.. and giving out freebies... to people who don't deserve it. We're not talking about feeding the hungry, or providing medical care. Owning a home is not a fucking RIGHT, any more than owning a car is a right. Do we need a government bail out of car repos?
And the point that everyone is missing.. I lived in an apartment before I bought my house. There's nothing wrong with renting a place to live until you are in a solid position to get a mortgage.. and if the shit hits the fan.. you know what? You can go back to renting.
In a related matter - John was in California this week.. wooing new prospective clients for his real-estate business. He sells foreclosed properties for banks. Needless to say, business is good. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. His last 2 week paycheck was nearly what I make in a year. I've never seen anything like it. He works like a dog.. (which is a stupid expression since dogs are the laziest creatures on the planet).. but still.. oh.. my.. fucking god..
I grew up solidly middle class. There were always cool things that my parents couldn't afford (6 kids you know), and my working life left me unable to afford lots and lots of cool things. I never lacked for necessities, and I never lacked neat things here and there. I never got the coolest shit, and was never the envy of the other kids and such.. but I did get just the right cool shit to keep me happy, and my imagination working.. but now, being able to walk into a place and not give a shit what the price tag of something is, is bizarre. Even more bizarre is that knowing that's possible, our buying habits haven't really changed much at all since John went from making a lot of money to making sick money.
The moral of that story is.. when you suddenly find you're able to buy all the shit you thought you were missing out on before, you learn that what you have is probably all you need. You still feel a sense of guilt when you buy something expensive, just because you can. I think that's the difference between old money and new money. What you get is peace of mind that you're not going to be fucked if you lose your job. That's a big deal.
For me.. all I really need is a screaming fast computer.. some cool games.. some tasty beverages.. quality snacks.. and a comfortable place to spend a ridiculous amount of time interacting with said items. That doesn't mean that having a house that actually has a name (i.e. South Fork) and car that will do 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, with a top speed of 200 miles an hour, is not appealing for enjoying those fleeting moments when not glued to the aforementioned computer. It's just that, you know.. when Doug says "The American pursuit of happiness, then, naturally includes the pursuit of wealth", that's not really true. Happiness has zero to do with wealth. If you have a place to live, get enough to eat, some good people in your life, and fun hobbies, that's all you really need... oh and sex.. that's pretty necessary (see "good people"). The wealth can enhance some sensations of well being, and reduce stress, but I think for most normal people, it shouldn't be worth fixating on.
And I know this is going to sound gay, but I don't care.. all-day spa treatments are nice.
That has nothing to do with ego or bragging.. and I know that it's considered bad form to talk about money.. but it's just that sometimes it's hard to comprehend how things work. A few weeks back, John got irritated with me when I mentioned to one of his assistants how insane his commission on 1 single house that he sold was going to be. I guess she has a hard time with math and can't figure out what 3% of 1.45 million dollars is on her own... for 1 single house.. and John sold over 60 houses last year. Granted, not many were million dollar + houses, but still.. and this year will be even more.
ya.. that's pretty damn cool.
I'm subtly working on John to get him to buy the "big house". You can't just say, "buy this bitch". You have to ease him into it.. and yes I know that writing that on this blog essentially ruins the ploy.. He was an emotional mess when he bought his last house.. Buying one with servants quarters will turn him to a quivering pile of goo.
I want to name the house.. I'm thinking "Beavis House".. or maybe.. "Necromonger".. oh that's cool.. dark and scary.. John will want to call it "Stevie".
/update
NEW YORK - Republican Sen. John McCain called for federal aid for well-meaning homeowners who can't pay their mortgages, an attempt to fend off criticism that he has been indifferent to the housing crisis and the market upheaval it has spawned.For.. fucks.. sake..
The likely GOP presidential nominee sketched out a plan Thursday to help 200,000 to 400,000 homeowners trade burdensome mortgages for manageable loans in a speech in Brooklyn, N.Y. Aides said the plan could cost from $3 billion to $10 billion.
Still missing were details on exactly who would be eligible for help; McCain said he wants to aid those who borrowed sensibly but now can't handle their mortgages.
How the fuck does McCain know who are the "well-meaning" borrowers, and who are the nefarious plotting borrowers?
What the fuck defines "borrowing sensibly"?
What the fuck is this shit?
I'm hoping, and it may very well be true, that all this talk is merely pandering, and because they are not generally stupid people, they know that these plans are patently unfair to those of us that do things the right way. I'm thinking that all of this will go away after the election, and nothing will result from it.
I have never seen the government "bail out" people who are buying things they don't really need, and then can't afford.
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