@H2O MAN,
H2O MAN wrote:
I have not seen a single move by Obama or his administration that indicates either give
a flying fornication about stopping & reversing this countries downward economic spiral.
H2O man does have a way with words, doesn't he?
Good evening. I was reading today an article about the "American dream of owning a home." The author is Felix Salmon, a Brit, who long ago moved to the U.S.
We have talked about this before on this or some other thread. The notion of buying a home took off, I think, after WW2. No more renting from evil landlords. The tax code was adjusted to allow a deduction for mortgage interest and the suburbs sprawled.
President Bush, in 2002, spoke of home ownership as being the American dream for people wishing to control their own destiny. He was not the 1st nor last champion of this. And the governments under Dems and Repubs made it easier and easier to buy into that dream. Invest in buying a house. Get a good tax break. Cash out when you get old.
Obviously, the **** hit the fan a few years ago and many people (not, I would contend, just poor folks who never should have gotten loans) are underwater.
Felix Salmon argues that the notion of home ownership was oversold from the beginning. Yes, a homeowner escapes from the landlord but turns his fate over to Bank of America for 20 or 30 years. Is that better?
And he raises another point which goes something like this. Our economy in the U.S. shifts from region to region. Detroit to Silicon Valley to someplace else. Mobility is perhaps important. Home ownership can be an albatross, he says.
I am not saying I totally agree with Salmon. But I come close.
I hope yall have a fine rest of the weekend.
We can, if you wish, return to the normally scheduled drivel instead of my drivel.