There could not be a less partisan issue than the foreclosure crisis that is
devastating the nation in cities like Detroit, Miami and Oakland, California and states like Nevada and Ohio. And yet our nation’s leaders have done very little to actually help American families.
In 2007, the number of foreclosures went up by 79 percent from the previous year.
Experts predict, somewhat conservatively, that as many as 3.5 million mortgage loans will fail. And Blacks and Latinos – losing $213 billion and up to $98 billion, respectively – will be hit hardest.
All this has been reported in the news.
But many still say there is little we can do. The Federal Reserve has cut the interest rate twice this year, most recently yesterday, hoping to stimulate the economy. Congress passed a stimulus package in February, widely considered to be incomplete.
Legislators, financial experts and the Bush Administration argue about what to do to stave off a recession. And while they fuss and fight, the situation gets worse and worse for American families - many of whom entered into these subprime mortgage loans in good faith.
There has been lots of talk about what to do in Washington, but most of it is focused on Wall Street. Very little of it has anything to do with actually helping Americans keep their homes. And in the interim, whole industries have sprung up to handle the foreclosure fallout.
Surely there is more we can do.
One bill in Congress from Rep. John Conyers, D. Mich., and Rep. Steve Chabot, R. Ohio, would extend the same bankruptcy protections that the lending industry enjoys to homeowners. Sounds modest right?
Opponents of these bills claim that "bailing out" homeowners who were "irresponsible" is wrong and that interest rates would go up for all homeowners, thus punishing those who "played by the rules." Apparently, "playing by the rules" doesn't apply to the lending industry as the Bush administration just "bailed out" Bear Stearns – and defended it.
There is ample evidence that most homeowners entered into these loans in good faith and that some were even unfairly targeted for some of the riskiest loans without being adequately educated about how the loans work. Yet our nation's leaders are wasting precious time pointing fingers and worrying more about wealthy investors and lenders instead of American families.
So the debate rages on. And until the nation does something, the foreclosure crisis will get worse as millions of homeowners lose their homes and the "spillover" continues to affect other homeowners and wreck havoc on American families. And the economy.