We Will Miss You in the Morning Scott Jagow
This past Friday when I heard that Scott Jagow was not going to be hosting the morning report for Marketplace on NPR any longer, I think it was one of the most depressing things I had heard in a while. Now don't get me wrong, he will still be hosting the "After the Bell" show and leading Marketplace's blog efforts but he did make the financial crisis we are in now bearable. It is a radio show that people made sure to listen to, not just catch when they could. I had to be in my car by no later than 7:50 am in order to listen to this show each weekday because I new that I wanted to be up to speed on what was happening in the world of finance.
Not only did I listen to the show but many of my co-workers did as well. We would get to work and discuss what we had heard in the car that morning on the report and then try and figure out how our little credit union was going to survive another day in this crappy economic reality. Ultimately it was Scott that kept us somewhat hopeful that we were going to make it through this thing and come out the other end better off than when we went in. Between him and his regular commentators like Alan Sloan it kept us all sane in this insane world that we have been living in for years now.
We wish you the best of luck Scott and yes we will all be listening to your podcasts and reading the blogs.
Subprime Loans not the Lenders Fault
"I would like to encourage those who have a subprime loan and who may be facing foreclosure or risking other financial problems because of their mortgage to consult an attorney to inquire about a class action suit against the predatory, unscrupulous mortgage lenders who inflated the financial condition of a borrower, just to sell a mortgage. All the evidence you need is right in the news every day. These loans never should have been approved, and these lenders knew it up front. If you, the American citizen, were robbed at gunpoint or someone broke into your home, the thief would be held accountable, so the predatory lenders should be, too. They are stealing your emotional security as well as your financial security. I am not a person who has been duped by this scam. I am a concerned citizen who is saddened for those put in - so go for it." - Sharpsburg
Mail Call - The Herald-Mail Online - News for Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
I know this is going to sound insensitive, but quite honestly, a subprime loan is not the fault of the lender, no one forced a person to take it, they did so willingly. As a matter of fact, a bailout of people who went into these kind of loans actually hurts those of us that acted responsibly and did not jump at something we knew was too good to be true. If a 25 year old knows better than to go after an ARM because it is too risky then why should someone that has actually had a house before not understand this. Don't go and start lawsuits that take my tax dollars away because we have to fund regulation that provides some type of special assistance for reading contracts so people don't get confused when they try and buy a house. Personal responsibility is what should be emphasized here, do your research, read the fine print and if something is too good to be true then it probably is. I'm sorry if people not doing this has already taken its toll, but I don't think it is anyone's fault but their own. The best way to stop this type of lending is to vote with your dollars and not take out the loans, do this and lenders will stop offering them.
State of the Union: Same as Last Year + A Slowing Economy
Ok, so I know I will be ripped apart by the conservative readers out there for this but was there anything new in the State of the Union address this year? Here is my summarization of the address:
- Let's accomplish more in a bi-partisan atmosphere
- The economy is slowing
- The war in Iraq is and will be successful
- No Child Left Behind is successful
- Let's make my tax cuts permanent
- The housing market is still in trouble
- Stop putting ear-marks in spending bills
- We need to develop alternative energy sources and people tell me we have a thing called "Global Warming" going on
- By the way... If you attempt to send me anything that isn't exactly what I want, it will be vetoed. How's that for bi-partisan action!
So rather than saying what will be coming this year and all of the great things we are going to do, President Bush dwelled on the past and tried to convince us that he had done a good job in the past year. Shouldn't the achievements of the past year speak for themselves? Should we need this speech to try and convince us that everything finally went to plan? I would have liked to hear some plans for things that he hopes to accomplish that maybe are not what he would have attempted earlier in his presidency. Instead we got a regurgitation of what has already happened which is not what should be said in this type of forum.
I guess I am just a disappointed moderate that really has become completely disillusioned with the current administration. All I seem to ever hear are hollow promises and arguments that use half truths to try and convince me that things are not as bad as they sound. The only good thing to come of this presidency is that it has energized the population to finally take who they elect as president seriously again and get out there to make a choice. I just hope it is the right one.
