Last week, members of the St. Paul, Mn. government met with interested folk to discuss the preparations for the 2008 Republican National Convention----specifically the need for providing the groundrules for picketing and public expression of opinion during the convention.
It only took a moment to remember wistfully back to the good old days of 1968 when the Democrats had met in Chicago and "Happy Hubert Humphrey" had been nominated for President mists the tear gas and rioting. Clearly much had been learned since then.
One of the strategies that seems to be used is to not talk about the issues that might be very divisive----and the subprime mortgage crisis in America seems to be one of the big ones to me.
Over the past decade, all across America, folks have been buying homes who were new arrivals to the country---a wide range of citizens that might not have qualified for homes under earlier loan ratio guidelines----and these families now had begun enjoying the good life----mothers as soccer moms etc, kids in the suburbs.
Many of these families now have been rudely awoken with the adjustment of their mortgages and have learned about their subprime mortgage. There are supposedly a million of such families that will face foreclosure.
The economic press has been saying that "We think this subprime crisis can be handled with minimul damage to the larger economy." Just to translate that for the regular folk----"We do not plan on talking about this problem."
In some parts of the country, this is really called the "predatory lending problem." It is an issue of economic justice. It is an emotional issue. It is a large problem that needs to be addressed. However---- There is nothing that politicians want less than an emotional group of citizens demonstrating about social justice right outside a convention.
Click on the post for an interesting article that looks at the subprime crisis and why it deserves front page coverage.
The lack of effective oversight of the banking community is pretty stunning. One wonders whether that lack of oversight extends to other areas.
So------it is going to be interesting trying to get the presidential candidates to say anything on this issue---it is a lot easier to hide behind a 30 second "I love Hillary video spot."
If there is an oil shock or upward adjustment of interest rates, one just wonders how many Americans will be facing loss of their homes and what the effects to families and communities will be.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
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Perhaps if the sub-prime story had long blonde hair and great big...um brown eyes, ahem... sorry. Then we'd hear about it.
ReplyDeleteIt's not enough of a big "crisis" story yet to get the press' attention, given increasingly scarce investigative reporting resources at many newspapers.
ReplyDeleteAnd unfortunately, while many politicians are playing their fundraising fiddles to get re-elected, many individuals and their communities are “burning” from the flames of foreclosures that are result of unethical or fraudulent sub-prime mortgages.
Truly, “The lack of effective oversight of the banking community is pretty stunning.”
It reminds me of another crisis when again the politicians who make the rules-of-the-game in Washington disregarded common sense and the public good.
That was the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s. At that time, more than 1,000 savings and loan institutions failed. And the crisis cost in the range of $150 billion.
Whatever the final cost of the current sub-prime mortgage "crisis", it could have been avoid if the fiddle plays were doing the public's business.
Stay tuned to the sub-prime mortgage saga.