Now You're Working Every Day To Get That Mortgage Paid
When hundreds of billions were appropriated to preserve the wellbeing of the US' biggest banks last year, one criticism of the plan was that no comparable amount was set aside for the people whose lives those banks had trammeled.
Congress created something called the Making Home Affordable Plan, which was designed to supplement homeowner's mortgage payments if they were struggling. It wasn't much, but it was something.It is especially cynicism affirming to learn the program is a sham. ProPublica has the story:
The Detroit Free Press has it:
I can't think of any eloquent way to write about the heart break that must follow the realization that your loved one will have to stay in the morgue's freezer because you cannot come up with the money to cremate their remains.
Imaginable or not that has been the story for 67 families--so far. Here's just one example.
Up in our frigid northern territory a local homeless services bigwig toured one of the city's Hoovervilles.
It's interesting to note that for all their abusive talk about "welfare queens" and "the culture of poverty," Republicans have been responsible for the two most paradigm shifting welfare reform suggestions in the last 50 years.
Last month, after publicly scorning California's welfare program, CalWorks, for being too lenient and generous with stipends, Schwarzenegger cut the work requirement from the program. Now, more than 1/3 of all benefit recipients will be exempted from working or participating in re-training programs.
There could be no more humane change in the program. Imagine living at a subsistence level, straddled with a young child, trying to find work in a state where the unemployment rate is 12.1%, and knowing that there will be a financial penalty if you can't find any.................
Oh, I mentioned that two Republicans made paradigm shifting welfare proposals...
The other one was in office in the 1960s, and he suggested a national minimum income, by which he meant that everyone would receive a guaranteed wage determined by their family size (Socialism!). You would do nothing for this benefit, just be poor enough to need it.
Who was that man?
Richard Milhous Nixon, who favored the idea because he figured it would put every social worker in the country out of work. Unfortunately, his proposal never made it through Congress.
Qualified homeowners are being routinely denied loan modifications through the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable plan [1], but they have little recourse to correct the mistaken denials, housing advocates say. In the absence of an effective appeals process, some borrowers have improvised their own solutions: They turn to journalists or congressmen [2] – or take Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to court.The heart of the issue is contained in that last line there "servicers determine whether a borrower..." They let the foxes guard the hen house, who is surprised by the outcome?
According to the government’s latest public figures, less than 12 percent [3], or roughly 360,000, of the borrowers projected to pass the program’s initial eligibility test [4] had received loan modifications by the end of August, about five months in. The process of reviewing those borrowers for final qualification has been “pretty haphazard,” according to Geoff Walsh of the National Consumer Law Center.
“People are wrongly denied all the time. Every day,” said Irwin Trauss, supervising attorney at Philadelphia Legal Assistance. “The lenders are generally applying the criteria incorrectly.”
Under the program, the government pays mortgage servicers to reduce borrowers’ payments. The servicers have signed contracts agreeing to abide by the government’s eligibility parameters, but the servicers determine whether a borrower meets them.
Kind Of Like You Like Detroit, In The Daytime
In a estimable but vain attempt at easing the plight of those thousands of unemployed the city announced a new program, available to 5,000 people, that will pay overdue bills and assist the newly homeless find housing.
There has been no better illustration of how bad things are than the scene created by that announcement.The Detroit Free Press has it:
Thousands of people swarmed Cobo Hall in chaos this morning trying to get applications for housing and utility payment assistance from the city of Detroit.Detroit's plight has manifested itself in other, more macabre ways. It seems the city even lacks the funds to bury its dead, so do the families of many of the city's deceased.
People fainted, others fought as the Detroit Police Gang Unit tried to keep people in line --- some since last night --- and in check.
“It’s a disaster here,” former assistant Detroit Police chief and city council candidate Gary Brown said, handing out water. “This is dangerous. Very unorganized, very dangerous.”
The City of Detroit Planning & Development Department was to pass out 5,000 applications to those standing in line. But a line of people snaking back and forth inside Cobo, down Washington Boulevard and around the corner to the circular parking deck far outnumbered the applications available.
I can't think of any eloquent way to write about the heart break that must follow the realization that your loved one will have to stay in the morgue's freezer because you cannot come up with the money to cremate their remains.
Imaginable or not that has been the story for 67 families--so far. Here's just one example.
Lifelong Detroit residents Darrell and Cheryl Vickers understand this firsthand. On a chilly September morning they had to visit the freezer to identify the body of Darrell's aunt, Nancy Graham -- and say their goodbyes.
The couple, already financially strained, don't have the $695 needed to cremate her. Other family members, mostly in Florida, don't have the means to contribute, either. In fact, when Darrell's grandmother passed recently, his father paid for the cremation on a credit card -- at 21% interest.
So the Vickers had to leave their aunt behind. Body number 67.
Exploited And They Hung Us, I'd Like To Take A Moment To Say...
Up in our frigid northern territory a local homeless services bigwig toured one of the city's Hoovervilles.
At least 30 to 40 people are now living in the woods here. One group has generators, a TV, stereo, propane stove and couches. Away from the rest, a long-timer built a substantial, wooden structure. In the summer, the population jumps up; in the winter, maybe 10 or so will tough it out, said Sydney Blunt, one of the long-timers. Most people know him as Sinbad, he said.And California is finally making some (somewhat) sensible CJ choices. The state legislature just passed a bill that will grant more authority over paroled offenders to local authorities instead of the state.
Among other things, the legislation will shift more funding and responsibility for paroled offenders to counties from the state. That echoes a key move in the state's overhaul of juvenile detention -- placing more nonviolent inmates in county jails instead of state prisons and helping counties fund rehabilitation services.
Mama's Living On Welfare, She Aint Been Living Well, And That For Damn Sure Aint Fair
It's interesting to note that for all their abusive talk about "welfare queens" and "the culture of poverty," Republicans have been responsible for the two most paradigm shifting welfare reform suggestions in the last 50 years.
Last month, after publicly scorning California's welfare program, CalWorks, for being too lenient and generous with stipends, Schwarzenegger cut the work requirement from the program. Now, more than 1/3 of all benefit recipients will be exempted from working or participating in re-training programs.
There could be no more humane change in the program. Imagine living at a subsistence level, straddled with a young child, trying to find work in a state where the unemployment rate is 12.1%, and knowing that there will be a financial penalty if you can't find any.................
Oh, I mentioned that two Republicans made paradigm shifting welfare proposals...
The other one was in office in the 1960s, and he suggested a national minimum income, by which he meant that everyone would receive a guaranteed wage determined by their family size (Socialism!). You would do nothing for this benefit, just be poor enough to need it.
Who was that man?
Richard Milhous Nixon, who favored the idea because he figured it would put every social worker in the country out of work. Unfortunately, his proposal never made it through Congress.
Let Me State My Claim: I'm Homeless, Jobless, Times Is Hard, I'm 'Bout Hopeless
The distribution of the estimated 671,859 people experiencing homelessness in the United States is overwhelmingly urban in orientation.
Without Shelter Without Clothing, Real Poverty Is Mind Blowing
RealtyTrac reports:"...foreclosure filings...were reported on 937,840 properties in the third quarter, a 5 percent increase from the previous quarter and an increase of nearly 23 percent from Q3 2008. One in every 136 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter — the highest quarterly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in the first quarter of 2005.Seems like DC lacks the funds necessary to shelter the homeless through the winter:
"Foreclosure filings were reported on 343,638 properties in September, a 4 percent decrease from the previous month but a 29 percent increase from September 2008. Despite the monthly decrease, September’s total was still the third highest monthly total since the RealtyTrac report began in January 2005, behind only July and August of this year."
"A top D.C. official pledged again Wednesday to shelter all the city's homeless during the coldest winter months despite sharp budget cuts to providers who have expressed fears they will have to close some of their facilities.And Hillsborough County, Florida, was host to the latest victory for the "I don't care what Jesus said...I don't want the poor anywhere near me" demographic.
"Human Services Director Clarence H. Carter told a D.C. Council committee that "whatever the demand for emergency shelter is this coming winter, the District is committed and prepared to meet" it.
"A city law requires the District to shelter the homeless during the hypothermia season, from Nov. 1 to March 1, and Carter had previously promised the government would meet that obligation. His statement at the hearing on the city's plan for the winter seemed to reassure some providers who had feared the impact of the city's 30 percent reduction in their funding."
The local Catholic Charities floated the idea of a legal Tent City (ala Sacramento) awhile back. They made it past the land use hearing officer, bringing success within sight--backlash soon followed--then public execution.
And I wonder, as I have before, how bizarre it is that our sense of obligation to one another is so weak that allowing the homeless to pitch tents seems too generous.
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