I’m trying really hard not to like President Obama so damn much. As a Republican, my views of government are dramatically different, but I’m still concerned about health care, the fact that Social Security is bankrupt, education, environmental issues, abortion (I’m against it) and the economy.
Lately, while reading about our President’s plans and listening to reporters talking about his first month in office, when I hear something I don’t like, I’ve been giving President Obama a pass. Because I like him. I may not agree with him, but I’m no Rush Limbaugh. I don’t want the President to fail.
His goal is to prevent millions of American families from losing their houses because they can’t make mortgage payments.
I confess. I reacted first. I was angry. If I don’t make my mortgage payment, does that mean I get a free pass? A free house? Wrong. If I don’t pay my mortgage, the bank will take my house. No one is going to step in and save my ass.
Then I read this:
“We must stem the spread of foreclosures and falling home values for all Americans, and do everything we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes,” Obama said Tuesday as he signed his tax cut and spending package into law.
Okay, that’s better. The President wants to help the responsible homeowners. Wait a second. How will the government determine who is responsible and who is simply looking for a free ride? The article says that it is unclear who will qualify for relief.
My only concern is the message this new plan is sending to American tax-payers. Why do some Americans feel entitled to owning things they can’t afford?
If you came to visit me, I’d show you the big and beautiful homes that are being built in a subdivision near my neighborhood. These homes are appraised in the $250,000 to $400,000 range. In flippin’ Wisconsin. Only doctors, lawyers, and bankers make enough money to afford those mortgages. I live in a small town of less than 30,000 people, most of which hold jobs in the school district or insurance industry. Not many can afford the houses they live in.
Stevens Point (and surrounding areas) used to be a thriving paper mill city, but with the economy in the tubes, mill workers are being laid off left and right. They have been for years.
Wisconsin Rapids, a city twenty-two miles away, was once a boom town, with people living high off the hog and building huge houses. In the last ten years, thousands of millwrights were given the boot and slowly the city has become a ghost town. Numerous business have closed their doors, hundreds of homes have gone into foreclosure and people have been forced to move to places where they take the first available job they can find, even if it’s minimum wage.
Working in a title company part-time, I cannot count how many foreclosures I’ve seen. The number one reason for these is medical bills. The second highest reason? People buying houses they knew they can’t afford. What were they thinking? Were they praying for a miracle or that they’d win the lottery? Or were they just waiting for a President who would promise to “help” them pay their mortgages?
I’m just….speechless…. And I’m thankful that everyone made it off the plane alive (according to the news, but this is not an official confirmation. I’m praying that everyone is alive and being well taken care of).
I keep thinking about the fact that I flew into and and out of La Guardia airport. I went on a Circle Line cruise. I can’t even fathom anything like this happening. To be on a plane one moment and then landing in freezing cold water the next! I can’t imagine being on a sightseeing tour and suddenly helping to rescue passengers from a plane crash!
It truly is a miracle. God works in ways we may never understand or comprehend.
Leave it to a day with my father to reignite my political fire. I don’t know why I put politics on the back burner for so long. Wait. I do remember why, and I’m not going there. Either way, I’m glad that I’ve returned to the world of politics and news, if only for my own amusement.
I read this article at CNN yesterday and I have to say Campbell Brown makes a good point. President-elect Obama, you are going to be asked difficult questions. Please don’t shrug them off or try to down-play any of the media queries. I’d like to know what changed your mind about Hillary Clinton. I watched as the two of you bashed each other, and honestly I found it rather sickening.
Then I watched the news and heard you praising Senator Clinton and I knew something was amiss. It’s like a big, fat hippo was standing in the middle of the room and no one was acknowledging it.
I don’t want to be too hard on you, Mr. Obama, but if you start dodging questions now, this is going to be one long and very annoying presidency.
My father told me about this video, and I watched it out of curiosity. I’m now more confused than ever. If this is true, that Obama can’t produce an original birth certificate, why isn’t the media all over this?
My father had some lengthy explanation that I just didn’t get, and therefore I can’t remember all that he said — however, he did say that Alan Keyes has filed a suit against Obama as well. (He also mentioned that Nancy Pelosi once questioned whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger could be President since he’s not a natural born citizen – and she supported changing the rule to 35-year US residency for naturalized citizens, and my father finds this strange, saying she may know that Obama is not a natural born citizen as well. That’s just too much conspiracy theory for me to digest in one day.)
Dana began her Mom career in 2004 with the birth of her first son, Dawson, aka The Doodlebug, and little brother, Owen, was born in 2009. She spends her days putting out fires, climbing mountains and chasing monsters. More About Dana.
Contact: thedanafilesblog [at] gmail [dot] com RSS Feed
