"YER OUT, NO YER SAFE."

"YER OUT, NO YER SAFE." (Frazer Chronicle)

In baseball, when an umpire calls you out.....you remain out, flip off your batting helmet and walk towards the dug-out, sit and glower, or collect your ball glove and take your defensive position. It happens millions of times all over America during the summer months. From softball to baseball, from little league to the majors, batters hit the ball and run like hell towards 1st. base. Baseball is a simple game as Hector Dias told me one time, "you hit the ball and run like hell," you know, Hector was right.

Watching the just completed World Series between Texas and the St. Louis team, an Innocent listener would wonder at Hector's statement. Listening to Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, John Smoltz and Ron Darling. and how they talked about the "stress level" of each pitch, whether a particular decision by managers was a good one or not, how the tension of hitters, pitchers and fielders was almost unbearable. "Give me a break."

Both Texas and St. Louis had grown men, playing a child's game, running around on a grass and dirt playing surface in pajamas. One guy hit the ball thrown by a pitcher, and everybody with a fielder's glove on chased the little white ball and tried to make the runner out. The team with more runs and more outs won the game and the World SERIOUS was over.

We now come to a much more serious game that is playing out thousands of miles away, played on sand and rocks, in an inhospitable land, "at least to my way of thinking." The game has lasted for more then 9 years, "are we going into extra innings," and it was a game that the United States could never win. The rules of the game were not dictated by the U.S. rather a bunch of camel jockeys who have made war off and on for the past thousand years or so.

The game, "war" was always fought on foreign soil, the U.S. didn't have any home games scheduled, had no home ball park, and had precious little time to practice. The rules were screwed up, "winning the hearts and minds" rebuild, fix infrastructure, fix water, roads and utilities, pay, pay, pay, offer security, health care and train the people to protect themselves.

The United States were not occupiers, whether.....liberators, U.S. officials threw out that bull crap to anyone who was listening, and the most important people simply weren't listening, Iraqi citizens. Almost from the beginning, many Iraqi's thought that the Americans wanted the countries oil reserves and as the conflict continued, the number swelled to include 75-80% of Iraqi's.

We now are coming to the end, mandated by the Bush administration, the withdrawal date is December 31, it's the date that all troops are to be out of Iraq. Everybody knew that some advisory staff would remain, that the American conciliate in Baghdad would be staffed with several thousand, but that was okay, we'd be out of a war zone that (we) had actually created.

Now are friendly neighborhood Department of War, the Pentagon is planning a Gulf buildup after the Iraq exit. Well dip me in "well water" does that really surprise you? With an "eye" on the threat of belligerent Iran, the Obama administration is seeking to expand military ties with the six nations in the "Gulf Cooperation Council," Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Where do these jokes come up with these names, I mean, "Gulf Cooperation Council," get real and get with the times. A better name, "Attack of the Tanks against the Camels," or "Uncivil War," or "We'll Kick Your Ass council."

We are again looking to occupy a country, "Iran" where we can't win, no way, no how. We need to keep our elongated nose "out of the Middle East, the Middle East is where the predicted "final battles" will take place. I know what I'm talking about, it's written in the Bible, and I saw a television show about the last world battles on N.P.R. "so it has to be true."

To continue in the Middle East with a military force would be a huge mistake, let's get our "boots, buns and guns" out of the Middle East. These people will be just fine, they've been lobbing rocks, sticks, bottles and bombs at one another for years, I for one wish they'd "get a better aim."

 

A GOOD DAY TO MAKE A RIOT!

A GOOD DAY FOR A RIOT! (Frazer Chronicle)

As my Dad used to say, "stick your beak out the door to check the weather," the occupy Wall Street has done the same thing. Checking the weather, the climate, the lay of the land, attitudes and atmosphere, these are all important issues when contemplating a gathering for a protest that, if left unchecked, can turn into what most participants do not want, a riot.

America finds itself in the midst of a protest/riot that seems to be escalating into a full blown riot because of some very basic issues. The reasons for the protests aren't  confusing or difficult to understand, they are basic to our system of government. Protesters are exercising their rights to free and equal rights for every person, to participate in a system of government, practiced by electing representatives of the people by the  majority of the people.

The facts of this protest are easy to understand as well as the wants and desires, the protest is way past a "voice in the wilderness." However with protest comes some unwanted repercussions that distract from the original goals of the movement, unless you figure that the core of the movement wanted to stand in the streets of America staring down the gun barrel of law enforcement.

Protests have happened in the past in America and around the world as well, usually for a just cause, usually supported by a majority of the people and in most instances, have met with failure.  Protests are lead by dreamers, by "do gooders," by visionaries and by those that fight for equality, usually to life people out of poverty, or an unequal voice in government.

In every election cycle for president in the United States, there are protests, although not supported by a majority, these protests usually turn into a riotous confrontation with local, state and even federal law enforcement. In every instance, "gathering permits" were applied for and denied, causing frustration and a predictable reaction.

The 1968 Democratic convention is a perfect example of how things can escalate into a bloody confrontation. In the aftermath of the riot in Chicago, police reported 589 arrests, 119 police and 100 protesters injured. A government funded study to determine the cause of the violence placed most of the blame on the law enforcement officials of Chicago. The Mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley disagreed with the report, issuing the police of Chicago a pay raise.

A protest/riot in April of 1968, caused by the assassination of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. had a very different result then the August riots. Of course the overwhelming majority of the protesters were black, so the response was predictable, 39 people were shot to death, 34 of those were black. In Chicago alone, there were 11 deaths, 48 were wounded, 90 policemen were injured and a whooping 2,150 people were arrested.

This brings us to present day protesting and New York city, Cincinnati, Ohio, Detroit, Green Bay, Wisconsin and Oakland, California. Although people are being arrested, tear gas, rubber bullets and Flash-bang grenades are being used, and although thousands have been detained or arrested, nobody has died.

We now have a war vet being hit in the head with a tear gas canister and there is a brew ha-ha over exactly what the protesters are protesting about. Inequality.....inequality.....inequality, that's it, pure and simple. Taxation, Wall Street "tom-foolery" and greed, "sorry Paul Ryan," but class warfare. I support these protesters, "from afar," and would donate money.

There is however one thing I would hope these protesters do.....do not get to many blacks involved, because some of those big bellied cops just love to take "pot shots" at the brothers.

SHUT UP!

SHUT UP! (Mother Jones-Frazer Chronicle)

I am so sick of these people, they don't have the common sense that God gave a gnat, it's kind of like there talking and thinking out of their ass. Democrats, Republicans and the total differences between the two is unbelievable. The United States has been in an alleged war for longer then at any other time in the country's  history, (10) years, it's time to simply go home, anyone that can't see that fact is well.....an idiot, any parent that wouldn't protest "mightily" to keep their son or daughter out of "today's" military is frankly, a lousy parent.

The war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, or the dozen other undeclared military activity that is being carried on by the United States today, is, number one, dangerous, whenever people shoot at one another, a percentage of the time, somebody gets hurt, or dead. Staying out of these "zones," at least to me, would seem to be a smart thing to do. And don't give me this crap about "when your time is up," "that's bull," you can get killed by walking across the street, smartest thing to do, "only cross the street at the cross walk."

The United States has lost thousands of men and women directly to war wounds, and countless others to war related injuries, sickness and accidents that are not counted as war related deaths. There are thousands of soldiers that suffer "post traumatic stress" which only now is becoming fully understood by the medical profession.

There are thousands of "damaged" veterans, now living without the possibility of ever walking again, ever seeing again, ever hearing, ever being able to take care of themselves. Many will need constant care for the rest of their lives, and sadly there are some veterans that will never even know where they are, their life basically over through their war wound carnage, how will this get funded?

We have done war in Afghanistan to kill the Taliban, and to relieve Osama bin Laden of his life and we've done both, why are we still there? I understand the political "fall-out" that will occur when we leave this miserably configureated hump of sand, gravel and un-inhabitable land. I personally can't understand what in the world the attraction is, to say the least, Afghanistan has few holiday vacation spots.

Afghanistan has never been a "winnable" war for the United States, the Bush administration went into the country with duel goals, obliterate the Taliban and to kill bin Laden, both objectives have been accomplished, so......why are we still there in such force, to say nothing of the billions that are being spent, spent when people in the United States are under insured, or don't have any insurance at all?

And Iraq, "gee, don't get me going," well, okay, maybe just a little." Iraq is by far the biggest military bungle in the history of  most any century in the history of, well, maybe the world. A pip squeak country, with a punk for a leader, wound up hiding in a hole and finally hung by his own people. In the natural progression of things, we could have stayed out of Iraq and Saddam would have still been hung by his country-men.

Now finally President Obama "says" that "we are pulling out of Iraq," and some people rag about the decision, give me a break. Are these people crazy or simply a product of inbreading, I don't get the logic. Of course it's the usual suspects, Michele Bachmann and Willard "Mit" Romney leading the charge, padding their political portfolio's, or so they think.

For Obama to get the United States out of Iraq and hopefully Afghanistan is not only the right thing to do, it's the prudent thing to do. The United States is a great nation to live and work in, to try and get a piece of the American dream, albeit a "small" piece, but non-the-less, a piece. Very few countries offer that.

So you people clamoring for the country to continue making war, for whatever reason, "SHUT UP" and go away, "we don't care, cause you don't matter.

OK LET'S ALL BE PATRIOTIC.

OK LET'S ALL BE PATRIOTIC. (Frazer Chronicle)

Take up the flag, carry it with pride, stand tall and love the country, it all seemed so easy. I remember as a child how I felt about the country that I was born in, and the differences between "us" and "them." I grew up hating and held a genuine fear of Japanese, Germans and Italians peoples, after all I was born in 1943, and I think my father was a conscientious objector to the war(s), which sent mixed messages, but I overcame.

In the true sense of the phrase, dad never stated to me that he was "against" any part of the second world war, he just used a medical condition to stay at home. His objection to the war wasn't based on his right to object to preform military service on the grounds of "freedom of thought, conscience, or religion." My dad simply wanted to stay alive and whole, he was afraid, not a coward, and couldn't see the "big picture."

I can remember a really old guy when I was a kid, Walter Scheldrophf, who served in the first world war as just a plain soldier, and was ordered by a Captain to charge up a hill to help his fellow buddies. His retort, "why don't you go, I don't want to get my head blown off."


Was my father unpatriotic, was Walter Scheldrophf unpatriotic, down at the end of the line, when both men answered to a higher authority, I don't think so. Both men wanted to live and both men drew a line in the sand and refused to cross that line. Both men were good husbands, both worked their entire lives, and both raised families, paid taxes and never broke the law. Maybe that makes them "silent" patriots," the vast majority of men who supported their country, but refused  blind obedience to their country.

The word, "patriotism" comes from the Latin Patria or fatherland, suggests the loyalty that all citizen owe to their country or nation. With varying degrees of intensity, nearly all Americans claim to be patriotic citizens of the republic. But the term also has a narrower, more specific history, with sharper political implications. During the more then two hundred years of the country's history, patriotism has tended to shift from a left to a right-wing cause.

I'm not here to give "free" history lessons, and I'm not here to "bend" your thinking to my point of view. I love my country, am proud to be counted as one of the country's citizens and do believe in the basic American core of values, freedom, the right to seek worthwhile employment, be able to chose my religion and to live and let live.

Those folks that have chosen to volunteer for military service, are to be commended, and given the materials to do the work of soldiering, to be paid a competitive wage, and afforded all the medical treatment necessary as well as whatever follow-up care that might be needed, including up to and including life long care.

The wars that the United States are in at the present time, I do not agree with, have never agreed with from day one and of course will never agree with. Our governmental leaders have simply made war way to easy to wage. As a country, we are "detached" from the carnage that is war, from the dastardly deeds that help to make war unpalatable for the vast majority of patriots in the country.

Many of the practices that our country employees during these war years is disgusting and are unconscionable. The American military now, is simply making war to make war, political figures and leaders are now financing war to line the pockets of those in the "industrial military complex" who profit from war.

"America will always fight for liberty," and "to have and to hold, buy war bonds" are just two of the hundreds of phrases that drove Americans to fight during the second world war. They are outdated in today's world, why, because the military is not fighting for our liberty, and we have absolutely no right to hold  any foreign country, or it's assets.

Our country is no more blessed then the least of the countries that we now occupy, and I hold absolutely no responsibility for what is happening. I am calling a spade a spade, the United States is acting like a "bully boy," completely out of control. Sadly our "come-uppons" is just around the corner. Like all tyrants throughout the history of the world, we are pursuing our own interests, and implementing rules to keep governments and people in alignment with our agenda.

I am still proud to be an American, and am happy in the knowledge that I can write my opinions without fear of retribution.  America is a great country, and just as soon as we face our shortcomings, and move to right them, we will always be on the brink of a third world country. America, love it.....and change it.












SMILE AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH!

SMILE AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH! (Frazer Chronicle)

That's right, keep smiling and keep your teeth as white as possible, "at all times," in fact you should always wear your best suit of cloths or dress. "Why" you ask.....the answer is relatively easy to answer, you are being shot on camera more and more in today's increasingly complicated world. If you use the growing number of miles in America's toll roads, every time you drive through a toll booth, your picture is being taken. Now the possibility of a small camera being installed in your car, where the camera can be pointed either out, or inward is a distinct possibility.

Think about a governmental camera in your car for a minute, possibly located in the windshield mounted E.Z. pass transponder that makes it so much easier to navigate toll road travel. If you don't know about toll road driving, and the pre-paid system, let me fill you in. It's really quite simple, you mount an almost cigarette sized device on the inside of your windshield and when you go through a tool plaza, a signal is sent from the booth to your car which registers that your car drove through the plaza and your account is billed whatever the toll charge is.

Your toll account, either a minimum amount in your bank, or directly to your credit card pays the toll. Neat, efficient, no muss and no fuss, just the way we Americans like to transact our business. Of course there can be problems with over billing, minimum balances, administration charges, or getting a human on the phone to discuss whatever problem you might have.

I can remember my Mother telling me one time to "always wear clean underwear, because you never know when you might get into an accident, and there always might be the chance that medical assistance might have to remove your trousers." Sound advice that I followed until I decided to discontinue wearing underwear. I am proud to report that my Mother's advice eventually drove me to quite wearing, or buying underwear, "thanks Mom."

Of course whether I do or don't wear underpants is not the reason for this blog, there's a much more sinister reason, and it could effect millions of Americans. The "meat" of today's blog is surveillance, surveillance by local or federal authorities, "big brother," the "eye in the sky," or the "George Orwellian" thinking agencies within the government.

Now I realize that some of this thinking, or statements issued, or enacted restraints on travel, identity tracking, or safety searches are necessary for our own safety, but "come on" camera's in my car, pointed at me, my dog, my wife and whoever is riding with me, no way, no how, that's going to dam far, I pick my nose.....doesn't everybody?

I bring the possibility of "dash cams" because an Austrian company, Kapsch TrafficCom AG applied for a filed a patent on technology to add multi-function mini-cameras to their toll transponder gadgets. There are more then 20 million transponders in United States vehicles today, with more just around the corner.

Cameras are in use today, throughout major cities to keep track of all sorts of civilian activity, from street corner crime, to law enforcement of HOV and HOT lanes, "high occupancy lanes or toll lanes." This all seems either like a good law enforcement move, or a tool that could be used to raise the legal amount of toll income.

However it doesn't take a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon to figure out that local, state and federal agencies could easily use these devices to keep tabs on us all. I wonder at what point we citizens will begin to question exactly how far we will allow are privacy rights to be taken away. At the present time, we can be tracked by our cell phones, even if there turned off.

Why does this bother me, well a statement I heard the other day on Law and Order SUV can some up my fear, "the cops work for the D.A's office," and we all know how screwed up those two departments can be.

But just in case, I'm going to keep my teeth brushed, wear better cloths and I won't touch certain areas of my body, or for that matter, my wife's, "have a nice day."

JOBS AND COMPETITIVENESS?

JOBS AND COMPETITIVENESS? (Frazer Chronicle)

As America's job market continues to swirl in the sewer system of the country, President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness seems to be the stick that stirs the concoction. The vast majority of the appointed membership has not a clue of how to create jobs, and even less of an idea of exactly what is going on with the economy.

Many of the members have been millionaires for years, multi millionaires, which does not make for understanding when some poor out of work laborer that used to make $18 an hour is now flipping burgers and making $7.25. The guy still has the same dreams, still has the same kids, only now they are entering teen-hood, which is a battle in and of itself, probably has more bills and is facing foreclosure on almost "everything."

How in hell can a high powered executive understand the poor S.O.B's problems, when there is a  possibility that one of the presidents council members might have inadvertently eliminated the guy's job? The short answer.....he can't, the long answer, dido.

When in hell are our elected officials going to stumble upon the truth, big business industry does not make jobs, they eliminate them through cost cutting, and re-create them in cheaper job markets, usually in evolving countries. Do you know how much a petroleum company can make a day if they raise gasoline by a single cent, millions.

Do you know how much an American business can make if he can lower it's wages to say, "oh I don't know," from $18 to $2 an hour..... quick, do the math, that's right, $16 per employee. Divide that times several thousand, "you get where I'm going," in a year, "ca zillions" can be saved. Why in hell would anybody not want to get into the "ca zillion" zone of making money, "while your thinking," I can answer that question, "they wouldn't."

Some of the people on the presidents "jobs council" have been eliminating jobs on the one hand, and not  creating them on the other. Some of the members, officials of the council, are also high ranking officials of companies like American Express, Comcast, Intel, Xerox, Boeing and Eastman Kodak, "to name just a few" have cut back employees by more then ten thousand jobs in the past several years, again, that's 10,000 jobs.

To top it all off, some economists are now saying that corporate America "might not be creating jobs," brilliant....."DO YA THINK SO." I wonder if these jokers are on the government "dole?"  This country needs a quick fix, and right now, or the next generation won't have the preceding generations bills to pay, there won't be a country and an organization to pay.

As long as Democrats and Republicans continue to fuss and fight over everything, we the people will suffer. TAX the rich, create jobs, government jobs, private sector jobs, does it really matter where they come from. Short term, long term, screw which problems we have as a nation, we need jobs right now.....let's get started! 

DIM MEMORIES, BENEFITS CUT, FOODS-TAMPS LIMITED!

DIM MEMORIES, BENEFITS CUT, FOOD-STAMPS LIMITED, (Frazer Chronicle)

The United States has a sick economy, is experiencing a slow jobs recovery and there is generally little job security in the business world today. Some of the worlds biggest banks talk about the "toughest times in global banking history since at least the early 1930's.

I do know this, it's tough to buy a car "on the cuff," and you can forget buying a house.....the "big ticket" items, those purchases $15,000 to $150,000 dollars.Small business can't get a loan, and even big established business is lead by the nose through hoops to get a loan, bail-outs be dammed.

Corporate American is shipping low paying jobs over-seas by the cart load and the general public blames them for wanting to make an additional buck. Shipping American manufacturing jobs out of the United States, to my way of thinking is wrong, but I fully understand the reasoning behind the move, "a bottom line mentality, money".

Every day, "well.....almost every day," I read about some environmental regulation that is being de-regulated so that business can create new business and jobs.This has always been the way of it, a sacrifice of green lands, or wet-lands so that corporate America can forge ahead with concrete, steel and emissions not only into local water tables, but surface water-ways and the sky above.

Let's get one thing straight right here and now, I don't know how to make this any clearer, no branch of government and no elected official can create a job, no pressure can be brought to bare by the government to make the private sector  create jobs. The president and all of his authority cannot force business to create jobs, it's completely up to the private sector.

Of course there are certain pressure releasing factors that the fed can do to "help push" industry towards the creation of jobs, but in the final analysis, the private sector makes or breaks job activity in the United States.

Some people in the country have "dim memories" of jobs that they once held, it's because some millions of people have been out of work for more then a year. A great portion of these people are older workers who were strategically terminated before their pension matured, or a particular number of years of service were attained and it was going to cost the company bu co bucks.

These kinds of unemployed, "in their fifties" have looked for jobs in their pay grade and have found little or no success. They have lowered their sights, yet have had little luck, and now have figured that they are un-employable, and basically have given up. Even if they find a job it will be so much lower in pay that they won't be able to maintain their lifestyle.

When people are out of work for a year and more, their skills often decline, their professional links shrink and companies hesitate to hire them, and the problem of chronic unemployment feeds on itself. Long term unemployment sets this recession and weak recovery apart from any other period since the Great Depression. Though the economy has survived job recoveries before, no previous recovery has such a high proportion of the unemployed been out of work this long.

Long term idleness lowers job skill levels, makes it harder to match unemployed with available work. Once job hires pick up, employers complain that they can't find people with the new skills that they need. Companies already are having trouble filling advanced manufacturing jobs.

Other problems with the chronic unemployed should be obvious, drawing unemployment compensation can create an attitude of entitlement, food stamp use topped more then 45 million earlier this year, a record. Older workers, unable to find jobs often draw early Social Security benefits, many also have health problems and end up on government disability programs.

The safety nets offered by states are shrinking, welfare, food subsidies, state health programs and state and or government housing assistance is simply drying up. With the winter months in the Mid-West just around the corner, living in a car, under a bridge, in a cardboard box, or on different park benches every night is out of the question. Utility help has been cut more then half, "piling on the unemployed," in a difficult upcoming season.

All of those people that are out of work for extended periods have been hit hard, but the most effected are clearly the elderly and the kids. Fixed incomes can be a death knell for some with the health issues that they have. Kids need so much, it becomes almost impossible to successfully care for children, a stable living atmosphere, three square meals a day, safe, warm and dry housing and a little space of their own often is unavailable.

What started our current circumstance, why does it continue and when will it end, these are questions that economist pose, the elected officials try and explain and that everybody points fingers at as reasons. You know what, the vast majority of the chronically unemployed, those folks that have been on the skids for more then a year, could care less about those questions, or their answers, they just want their jobs and their lives back.

Nine in ten of these unemployed people have worked dam hard to achieve the American dream, their own house, a car and a half, two point five kids, a boat, a dog, and a little savings in the bank for retirement. Really the only thing "extra" these people asked from their companies was to make good sound business decisions, and to keep their work areas clean and safe. In their wildest dreams, these workers never figured that the company would ship their jobs over-seas. Now many of these people sit and wait for their jobs to return.....good luck on that one.

THE MOST STUPID STATEMENTS!

THE MOST STUPID STATEMENTS! (Frazer Chronicle)

Got an email the other day about "fixing stupid" and it reminded me  once again about a troubling question that I have asked in the past, and can't seem to get an answer, neither it seems, can anyone else. People on the left, the centrists, conservatives and even the Tea Baggers have no answers. "Where does all this information come from?" People on the left grumble, people in the middle mumble, conservatives mill around, wringing their collective hands and the Tea Baggers talk about taking the country back to the "good old days."

"The most stupid statement ever made," by a President is unbelievable, according to the sender of the email that I received. The message couldn't be believed, it was so outlandish and unconnected to what America is all about. The protector of the down-trodden, the embattled, the depressed and those folks who simply need a change from their government.

The president, Barack Obama and the issue, whether American soldiers should pay for their own health insurance. According to the email, Obama said the following, "look, it's (military) an all volunteer force, nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and excepted the risk. Now they whine about bearing the cost of their choice, it doesn't compute. I thought that these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country. I wasn't asking for blood, just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I'd have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try  to help to reduce the nations deficit."

The story outraged some, befuddled others and gave "fodder" to those folks that have been angered that a black man could be elected to the white house back in 2008. I voted for Obama as did my lovely wife and we both would not vote for him again. He has failed as a leader, he has failed in his foreign policy making, he has failed in domestic policy and he has failed to quite the wars. In my opinion, he is a failed president.

However before people start sending emails, they should check their authenticity as with the above quoted Obama email about war injuries and who should be paying for them. In this case, John Semmens, a conservative humorist produced and posted the original on March 21, 2009. Go ahead, look it up, "Semi-News--A Satirical Look At Recent News" at the online publication, The Arizona Conservative.

I am so sorry to all of you conservatives that count on stuff like Semmens's to formulate your opinions on, guess you'll actually have to look elsewhere for your news.....like Fox, or MSNBC. I get my news from as many as 32 sources a day, 6 aren't even written here in the United States, like the old man once said, "click or clack, you don't have a tally whack without the real news."

EXCUSE ME DOC. IS THERE A PILL FOR FORECLOSURE?

EXCUSE ME DOC. IS THERE A PILL FOR FORECLOSURE? (Frazer Chronicle)

 

"Ia there a doctor in the house," I need a fix, a medical treatment, some release from the pressure, some drugs I can't take it "no more." Foreclosure is not just a metaphorical epidemic, but a bona  fide public health issue. When a person's house is foreclosed on by a lending institution, all sorts of health issues can overtake a person, some visible, while others aren't as easy to see, but non the less effect the health.

Probably 90% of home owners want to meet the obligated home payments which include not only the note on their property, but property taxes, insurance and upkeep. There is still a stigma in the United States with regards to losing your house, the sense of not being able to keep your word, of not paying your way, and not providing for your loved ones.

I refuse to talk about the federal government as a "third party," an independent entente that distributes money to it's "subjects" from some fund that's like a bottomless pit. The government is us, it has been established to work for the people that put government officials in power. Whenever relief money might be paid out for relief of a group of people, an industry, road work, or a bailout for bankers, it's tax money which is.....our money.

Health problems aside, a generation of basically homeless people would do nothing to strengthen the United States. Millions of under productive people would be created, millions of hopeless, and helpless people would live in their cars, under bridges in cardboard boxes, or in vacant houses. It would be a period of darkness, hopeless poverty, a period of increased health problems and crime.

Look, lending institutions operate on a bottom line mentality, to recover interest and the principle on money lent. I have absolutely no problem with that. If property tax isn't paid, services and administration that the money pays for, road work, security, fire, people programs and maintenance won't be paid for and in fact,  will cease.

How about this to solve a really galling problem right now, in October 2011 that involves millions of people, it's the smart thing to do, and it's the right thing to do. Stop all foreclosure actions, no matter the reason, reconstruct payment plans that are affordable, amounts that people can pay, based on an individual basis. No two people and their problems are the same, it would take time, and money, but in  the long run, it would be the best move for the country.

At least the banks would get some money, municipalities would collect some tax payments, and the houses would be lived in and taken care of. The streets would be a better place to live and the general health of millions would be greatly enhanced.

The pill for foreclosure is simple, let people live, hold their heads high and give them a way to pay their bills. Times are tough, we can, however get through these times, collectively  with long range thinking, giving American citizens a "hand up," "not a hand out."