President Obama Represents Hope

While die-hard Republicans are dismayed at the election of a Democrat, I am obviously thrilled at our choice.

I think President Obama's two terms in office will be a bright spot in American history. Yes, two terms. He is going to pull the economy out of the toilet. He is going to get some resolution to our overseas issues, like Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan. He is going to be more flexible and is already perceived as a man to work with, not against, in international politics. And in politics, how you are perceived by others is half the battle.

Yes, the Repubs are having fits, but they have only their party to blame. Even my Dad, a die-hard Republican, told me that he has to hold his nose to vote for the lesser of two evils. That is a telling statement. "The lesser of two evils."

The Republican Party has lost touch with its own membership.

I truly believe that most people are moderates with a few wild swings one way or the other. The Party has catered a little too long to the right wing wack jobs that fill the airwaves with dramatic statements, misrepresentations, and flat out lies.

Yes, they have a right to their opinions, but while they've been shouting BS to the winds, the massive silent majority in America spoke with their votes.

President Obama represents hope.

Hope for enough of a change to make a difference.

Now, I'm not deluded enough to think people want big changes. No, no, they absolutely don't.

What people want is to live decent lives, have a good job, a roof over their heads, food to eat, a nice vehicle to drive, an education for their kids. Americans like their toys, yes, but mainly they want to be secure in their lives.

People want to go to work, come home, watch TV, maybe play a sport, enjoy their families. They want to be able to tailgate now and then at the stadium. They want to eat out now and then. They want to be able to go to the doctor when they're sick, so they get better.

They don't want to be sweating over the checkbook trying to figure out how to pay the increasing mortgage (because the broker lied to them about the advantages of that low-rate adjustable mortgage -- believe me, don't blame the victims of fraud!!).

People don't want massive changes in the American system. They just want to live their day-to-day lives and be able to retire someday.

The mortgage meltdown was only one more symptom of the failures of the American economic system. I'd take it back to the Enron debacle. That was the beginning of the meltdown. We just didn't know how big the lies were and how far entrenched into our economic system they'd become.

President Obama isn't going to be able to perform miracles. But he is going to take charge and start working on behalf of the PEOPLE of America. Unlike all too many politicians, he hasn't forgotten where he came from -- middle class working people.

President Obama represents new hope in America.

The Mortgage Meltdown

My neighbor lost his house.

I'm so sad for him.

In his case, he lost his job (oh, I know that one!) and got behind. With the market being the way it is, he couldn't refi and he couldn't get caught up. His ex is waiting, hoping that he can pick up the house later, once the foreclosure is finished and the bank puts the house on the market for a fraction of what my neighbor owed.

Yes, he's hoping to buy the house back. Those guys put so much work into their house, it's a darn shame this happened to them.

I know that I can't refi right now. I'm only about $20,000 upside down right now, so I'm stuck in my loan for a bit. In this market, at this time, it's not as bad as it sounds. Fortunately, I don't have to refi until 2010, so there's time for the market to swing up again.

I'm watching the mortgage meltdown with much cynicism.

You see, the mortgage companies are freaking greedy. They don't WANT to renegotiate loans. They don't WANT to give up a prepayment penalty so the customer can refinance into a better loan product. They don't WANT to work with the customer.

It's all backfired on them!

LOL, now they're paying the price for the misrepresentation of the loan products, of the under and over valuing of properties, for straight up fraud (like manufacturing the numbers without the customer even realizing what was done!).

Yes, sometimes they deliberately undervalued a property, forcing the homeowner into a less desirable but more profitable loan product, knowing that the homeowner had to refi NOW. Taking advantage of the situation doesn't make it right.

Even so, houses are starting to sell again. Prices have dropped enough that many people are starting to look toward buying that first home. Truly over valued house prices have dropped dramatically and people are looking to buy.

So the mortgage meltdown will eventually pass. Again.

Because this isn't the first time it's happened. Nor will it be the last.

The politicians and bankers and mortgage companies will all be on the bandwagon about what they did to help the consumer.

And we'll know they're all full of poop. Because nice guys like my neighbor don't live in this hood anymore.

The market will recover. So will he.

But the mortgage companies' lies, misrepresentation, and out and out fraud have been revealed.

Finally.

I'm looking for more banks and mortgage companies to go under before we completely recover from this mess. More fraud will be revealed. More lies and misrepresentations will appear to haunt these huge companies.

I don't know that I want the government to be all up in the mortgage business, but I do know that I want the rules and regulations, the laws that are already in place, to be enforced.

Make the greedy bastards pay.

And pay.

And pay.

Just like we, the consumers, usually have to pay.

It's nice to see it happen to the big guys for a change. Even though it messes with the economy for a while.

We little guys are used to it. We will survive the mortgage meltdown. It's just once more mess in our lives and we know how to hunker down and hang on.

That's the operative phrase in this mess, "Hang on!"

Hang on, change is coming!

Hang on!