Foreclosures For 2009

The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that there we’ll be 2.4 million homes foreclosures in 2009. Does that number shock anyone? apparently it doesn’t seem to affect anyone in Washington. While our government makes health care a priority, Americans are losing their homes in record numbers. This is a byproduct of an unemployment rate in double digits. This is also a byproduct of irresponsible lending and irresponsible borrowing. I recently lost my own home to foreclosure. We had lived in the house for 19 years. I needed help with taxes. The value of the home was $350,000 2  years ago. The last month that we lived in it I tried to sell it for under $100,000 and had no takers. Banks are taking back homes and they are not reselling them. I have to ask why they are not, because there must be a motive for that. There is government foreclosure help available, but frankly it is not available to everyone. I would make a trade right now with anyone that wants to put health care on the back burner so that we can concentrate on jobs. That is not likely to happen as the administration thinks that healthcare reform will solve the woes of everything. Bankruptcy filings are up by similar numbers than those of foreclosures. what is happening is people purchased walking away from debt and responsibility in mass. What that tells me is how a recession is long from over. We may have a positive report here and there, but the fact of the matter is until people go back to work, and have the means to take care of their homes and their families, we have nothing.

China Criticizes US Policy

It would appear that the largest holder of United States debt in the world, China, isn’t too happy with the financial direction of the United States. How can they be? China issued sharp criticism of the US policy just hours before Pres. Barack Obama began his Asian tour.

“Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said that a weak U.S. dollar and low U.S. interest rates had led to “massive speculation” that was inflating asset bubbles around the world. It has created “unavoidable risks for the recovery of the global economy, especially emerging economies,” Liu said. “

The problem with the criticism is that it is accurate. The United States and the administration in general has has done little to show anyone in the world that they have a clue what to do with a failing economy. Throwing more money at the issue is not going to solve the problem. Stimulus number one already proved that. But, plans are on the table for yet another stimulus, to create more debt that we can sell to China and India.

I have a simple question. What happens when China and India decide they don’t want to buy our debt anymore? Those days can’t be far away. We can give lipservice to the economy getting better. The fact is it is not. We can throw more money at the situation, and that won’t help. It is said that there are some corporations in America that are too big to fail. I disagree with this philosophy. Is the United States to big to fail?