We hear it every day on the news – how we have to help bail out homeowners. How the housing market is in a shambles. ACORN is moving people back into their foreclosed homes illegally even though they may be actually owned by another person and not the bank. Sub-prime loans and A.R.M. balloon loans are at the basis for the ‘crisis’… but is it REALLY a crisis?

Not according to the numbers reported by the non-partisan Consumer Right’s League:

Over 68% of households are homeowners—a record. 35% own their home outright—meaning no mortgage payments. Only 5% of homeowners are “sub-prime” borrowers.

Only 1.7% of all mortgages are at risk of foreclosure. (Based on historical percentages, half of all foreclosure proceedings end up keeping their home, so only 0.85% will lose their home—a personal tragedy but not necessarily a national crisis.)

Just for the heck of it I looked at my local Bank of America ‘bank owned’ homes for sale and I wasn’t surprised by what I found – homes in some of the worst areas in the state were the majority up for sale (hmmmm I wonder how much of this was the work of Bank of America giving sub-prime loans to anyone including illegal aliens – my guess would be all of these). Then there are several homes that are in the higher end areas of my state (these I am pondering were either yuppie house flippers or those Americans that tried living BEYOND their American Dream means). I’d probably put money that if you look in your state you may find the same results – especially with Bank of America considering their ‘mortgage lending’ practices.

Why is it that Obama is continuously using the words CRISIS to describe the mortgage foreclosure issue? Why is it the Obama insists that WE the taxpayers have to ‘bail out’ foreclosures on certain mortgage owners? I’d like to take a stab at this and say that it is his way to get more money into the hands of organizations like ACORN. He already has doubled the money in the urban development part of the 2010 budget by extending credit to homeowners and businesses in urban areas. This is the same type of lending that got us into trouble with the CRA (Community Reinvestment Act – first signed by Carter, then again by Clinton) which forced lenders to loosen their restrictions on just who could get a mortgage.

Did mortgage companies prey on people? I believe they did. Did the people have a choice whether or not to take a mortgage they simply HAD to know they couldn’t afford – YES they did. They were not victims. Not to mention Fannie and Freddie gladly offering to purchase all of these ‘bad’ mortgages. A housing bubble was created that eventually had to burst. Housing prices were artificially inflated because anyone and everyone was purchasing a home – whether they could afford it or not. Not just uncreditworthy people but people who CHOSE to live beyond their means and buy into a house that they simply would not truly be able to afford… especially with balloon type mortgages in which they pay only interest now then principal in a couple of years – HELLO did they not figure out what that payment would eventually be? Should these people be bailed out? Not in my opinion.

In reality, the number of foreclosures is MINUTE compared to the number of people paying their mortgages on time every month and for every month since they have owned their homes. Since when does this constitute a crisis? I could see if HALF of all homeowners were facing foreclosure but that is not the case. Obama has even more up his sleeve that he is letting on of course. This ‘crisis’ will allow him to create more and more spending ‘bills’ and programs to offer ‘help’ to people in specific communities, i.e., poor urban and rural communities.

There are already a couple of bills that have been created due to this: The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 and the federal Hope for Homeowners program. Both programs created by Congress – Hope for Homeowners has a specific program for homeowners with issues between October 2008 and September 2011 (H4H is not a new program.. just has new guidelines for helping with the ‘mortgage crisis’).

A few examples in Obama’s new budget:
..”The Budget restores funding for the Housing Trust Fund by requesting $1 billion to finance the development, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable housing for very low income residents.” Exactly what got Fannie & Freddie into trouble in the first place. And why is it that I have to fund low income residents to purchase homes when I myself do NOT own a home yet? Better yet.. why does anyone have to fund low income residents to purchase a home? It is a privilege, NOT a right.

“..Combats mortgage fraud and predatory loans. The Budget funds enhanced enforcement of fair housing, mortgage disclosure, and settlement requirements.” And who exactly is going to enforce this? It was groups like ACORN, funded through taxpayer dollars, that ENABLED these practices.

As Rahm Emmanuel is quoted as saying – “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Since everything seems to be a crisis nowadays with our new administration, it appears they will continue along that path and scare people into believing they need to spend even more taxpayer dollars on even more government programs. The housing crisis is simply NOT a crisis other than to the benefit of the administration. The sky is not falling but big spending is on the rise.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1880968,00.html
http://www.consumersrightsleague.org/Issues/Issue/?IssueID=1911
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1106/text
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page?

Well we just got the porkulous bill shoved down our throats without being able to thoroughly investigate (Congress didn’t even have the chance never mind the simple people like us who are PAYING for it). A week later we see the Porknibus Bill in the House – actually called the Omnibus bill - 410 billion MORE of our taxpayer dollars being spent. The bills are part of the 2009 appropriations bill that had not been made into law due to the disagreement between Congress and President Bush.

There is plenty of pork in the bill by both Democrats and Republicans – 40% Republican and 60% Democrat. There is an estimated $7.7 billion in pure PORK in the bill. That is 7,700,000,000 people… not million but billion! And WE get to pay for it all! What is amazing is that $7.7 billion doesn’t even seem like a lot with all the billions that Congress and Obama are throwing around lately. Since we do not have money to pay for ANYTHING extraordinary at the moment, how in the hell do they justify some of the outrageous spending in this bill?? They can’t and they won’t, just like they didn’t with the porkulous package.

I watched Obama’s speech on Tuesday and correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure I heard the words ‘FREE of earmarks’ come out of his mouth. The same words he uttered during the election. The same words he stated when talking up his non-stimulus package. Does he not see the pork or does he think that WE won’t see the pork.

Here are just a few examples of what we are going to be paying for with OUR hard-earned tax dollars this year:

$500,000 for a fruit fly rearing facility in HI
Seriously people – FRUIT FLY rearing??? We are paying for fruit flies to have sex?

$1,117,000 for grasshopper and Mormon cricket activities in the State of Utah
I didn’t know crickets had religion.

$472,000 for beaver management and control in the State of Mississippi
Angry Beavers?

$450,000 for incumbent worker training for United Auto Workers Region 9, Local 624 New York
With all the Union dues these guys pay, why can’t the UAW PAY for training??

$111,000 for the study of Armillaria Root Rot
Anyone??? Anyone??

$196,000 for the study of livestock waste
Now I know we are in deep sh*t!

$184,000 for Asparagus technology and production
Asparagus technology?? I didn’t know asparagus was high tech.

$165,000 Maple Research – VT
It tastes good and comes from trees – what is to study?

$750,000 Potato Research – several states
The potato has been around for a really long time – shouldn’t we know all about it already??

$4,841,000 Research for Wood Utilization – several states
Build with it, burn it - now give me my millions.

$118,000 Cranberry/Blueberry Research – MA
$184,000 Lowbush wild blueberry research – ME
$450,000 Cranberry/Blueberry disease & breeding – NJ
Is there a mad rush on cranberries and blueberries in the grocery stores?

$22,000,000 to add an addition to the JFK Presidential library and museum – MA
Gotta love this one – and in my home state no less. If you can’t get private donations, DON’T BUILD IT. Let the Kennedy family add the addition – they can name it after Mary Jo Kopechne.

These are just a few that I hand picked after looking at all of the earmarks and appropriations for hours. There ARE what I would consider honorable earmarks such as money for homeless shelters, domestic violence and education. The problem is that we cannot afford ANY earmarks. We don’t have any money!!!!!!! While I added a bit of humor, this isn’t funny. Congress has been pork laden for too many years. The taxpayers have been over burdened with pork fat for too many years. Obama promised CHANGE and he had the chance to follow through on that promise and didn't. He has the chance again with this bill. I wonder what the odds are that he will actually veto ANY of this pork.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-25-voa77.cfm
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/browse.html