Why Extremists in Goverment Don't Work

Look no further than the Tea Party. The New York Times said two years ago that if Tea Party candidates were elected there would be gridlock in government like we have never seen. Well we have seen it and basically we have an engine that is firing on one cylinder. The other cylinder doesn't fire at all and worse it seizes up and freezes all motion. Zealots want only one thing and one thing only: their way. That is fine for television and cable news but it does not work in a Democracy.

Uneducated people want simple solutions. To them the world is either black or white. The shades of gray do not exist and now we see those shades of gray have vanished entirely in the US House of Representatives. Forget that we now have a renegade band of right wing Tea Party conservatives who have decided they know best for the country and that if we just take our medicine all will be right with the world, the real problem is that these people have taken control and are extorting the American people to get their agenda implemented.

Remember the debt ceiling crisis where the President had to give in? Remember how they crowed that they were doing the peoples business. My question is, who died and left these guys boss? They have appointed themselves as keepers of the castle and the Executive branch has become subservient to a nameless group of Representatives who dig in and do not do the peoples business, they do Grover Norquists business and the shadowy right wing groups behind them.

So how do you get rid of these people? You vote them out. But until then there are renegades inside the United States Government who mean to do us harm and I mean the middle class. These people are not populists, they are zealots who like the mean old schoolmaster believe if you spare the rod you spoil the child. It's time for the child to bite down...hard.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com/

The President Has One Shot Left to Jump start Housing

The American Jobs Bill is taking water fast since the Speaker and the boys have already said they won't increase taxes for nuthin. Uh Uh. Not going to do it. The fourteen month countdown is here and like the wrestler ahead by two points all they have to do is hang on and let the economy tank and it's game over for Obama and crew. But the President does have one bullet left and it will be his last shot. It could save the economy and his Presidency.

Here it is. Forget about the Jobs Bill. It is too scatter shot anyway. What he should do and really has to do is give the American people back their homes. He can do this and he won't need congress. He can order Fannie and Freddie to immediately change their guidelines and refinance anyone with good credit regardless of the the value of their homes. Anyone. Millions would move to lower rates and get two months off in the process and get their escrow money back. Massive cash infusion for the middle class.

Secondly. Give a ten thousand dollar incentive for anyone buying a new home. It worked before and it will work again. Get people buying homes again. Third. Order all the banks who hold second mortgages to subordinate to the first lien position. The second loans are strangling homeowners by not allowing them to refinance. Third. Give the market back it's equity. Make it illegal to count foreclosures and short sales in comps for appraisals. These should not be counted. They are aberrational and taking away the value for homeowners who have been paying their mortgages on time.

Why do this? Because the crash started with housing and it will end with housing. This was not a normal boom and bust cycle. The crash occurred because lending was broken when the derivative market blew. The middle class backs their hand with their homes. Everything they do comes from this asset. Give the housing market back it's value and middle class people will start to buy again. Hiring will follow. But here is the real reason: The effect would be immediate.

Forget about tax cuts for businesses. Nothing will trickle down. It has to go up. This is what the economists don't get. This is what mortgage brokers and real estate agents know. The President could save his Presidency by doing this. But he has to do it now. He has to focus. Because this is his last shot.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com/

Rocket Man...sometimes a house is not a home