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End Homelessness
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End Homelessness
Our country is in the midst of an economic downturn that is rooted in a housing crisis. The first stimulus package addressed the economic downturn. Now, we ask you to take action to meet the urgent housing needs of millions of Americans. We urge you to include housing assistance for people who have gone through foreclosure and protections for renters faced with eviction due to foreclosure. Place a moratorium on foreclosures until a comprehensive plan for renegotiating bad loans is created. We also ask you to provide emergency funds for our nation's safety net - homeless services - so that these organizations can meet the basic needs of our nation's growing homeless population.
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So I have to ask since this is your PROFESSION in regards to the homelessness problem based on the foreclosure crisis what % of people are homeless just from "loosing jobs" vs "people who got house happy and purchased more than they could afford?"
Travise
www.LeaveTheJonesesAlone.com
Laid off Ethical Loan officer because I tried to do loans the right way based on what people could afford not what my commission would be or what the borrower WANTED.
Posted by Travise Smith on 11/06/2008 @ 04:19PM PST
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Also include amendment to increase personal exemption amount on 2008 income tax form by $1000 more, giving back more of the amount withheld. Include removing income tax from unemployment benefits in time for the tax season that begins Jan 1, 2009 for the 2008 tax year. Unemployed people who have to file taxes could use the refund and would receive it as early as January.
Posted by Barbara Bartlett on 11/07/2008 @ 07:41PM PST
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Housing is not the only reason for the credit crunch or the 'bad-paper' and i must ask,
"How many of you have more than one credit card, pay only the minimum on one card with the other then spend again?"
The same foreign investors are buying your credit debt as they are buying the homeowners unpaid mortgage.
Posted by toni tyler on 11/09/2008 @ 08:14AM PST
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Housing is not the only reason for the credit crunch or the 'bad-paper' and i must ask,
"How many of you have more than one credit card, pay only the minimum on one card with the other then spend again?"
The same foreign investors are buying your credit debt as they are buying the homeowners unpaid mortgage.
Posted by toni tyler on 11/09/2008 @ 08:14AM PST
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This is a poor idea. What is the first bailout doing? Nothing!!!
Read what I have to say please and get all your friends to vote for my idea. It is the real deal...
Posted by GREGORY WRIGHT on 11/12/2008 @ 11:12AM PST
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The current economic crisis is not a result of one problem (subprime) or even a set of problems, it is the end result of almost a century of backwards economic policy. As long as we maintain a fiat based currency (money not backed by a commodity) we are doomed to spiral deeper and deeper into economic oblivion.
The last thing this country needs is another bloated, unneeded "rescue" package. We need to seriously cut back on spending, end the wars abroad, close down our military bases around the world and restore value to the dollar. Only then will the economy truly start recovering.
Posted by Derek Hurst on 11/12/2008 @ 06:36PM PST
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When it comes to homeless shelters we have ones for woman and children and shelters for men. What about single fathers that have to live on the street with their young ones. I have yet to find a shelter nearby that will take a father and child together. Something needs to be done.
Posted by Amanda Knapp on 11/14/2008 @ 08:52AM PST
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This idea is ludicrus. I am sorry. The first one was bad and a second one will be worse.
Posted by GREGORY WRIGHT on 11/20/2008 @ 10:09AM PST
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an economic stimulus isn't such a bad thing. as long as it's only for a short term solution. and if it's a loan that would help as well. essentially we need to think of the U.S. as a bank and a lending institution as that is essentially what it is in times of crisis
Posted by Steven Maloney on 11/24/2008 @ 06:17PM PST
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the first round of spending was done in order to ensure that the worlds' financial institutions did not collapse. it was a stopgap measure and thankfully it worked. we aren't living through 1933 over again are we? banks are still open. people and businesses can deposit and withdraw their money safely.
the next round of spending has another purpose entirely. this time we need to spend money to grease the wheels a bit and encourage the institutions we just propped up to start lending money again. once we move back towards full employment with an economic stimulus plan targeted toward building infrastructure and creating 2.5M jobs AND we put some cold hard cash in the hands of taxpayers the economy as a whole should start to move again.
hopefully.
if it doesnt then we still have the roads, bridges, dams, broadband lines, and electrical infrastructure for a 21st century America. that and millions of families will have food on the table.
Posted by Ryan Kauffman on 11/24/2008 @ 09:35PM PST
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Depending on the area, 20-40% of foreclosures have been on rental propoerties. This means that there are many people who have been paying their rent on time, and because their landlord is being foreclosed upon, they must scrape together a deposit and first month's rent on a new apartment, often with 30 days or less notice. It is not only direct victims of predatory subprime lending that are facing homelessness. See the National Coalition for the Homeless' recommendations to help those facing homelessness due to foreclosure at http://www.nationalhomeless.org/housing/foreclosure_report.pdf.
Posted by National Coalition for the Homeless on 11/25/2008 @ 10:03AM PST
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I agree with Gregory. If you understand our clout of debt, then you would not agree with this idea. We are currently almost 11 trillion dollars in debt. Do you really think creating more debt will fix the problem?
Imagine this on a smaller scale. You have a credit card with 15% interest. You only pay the minimum amount each month. What happens over a period of time? You can't even afford the interest. The same thing is happening in this country. Our economy is based on every person living in perpetual debt. But instead of calling it debt, they call it expansion of credit. Sounds a bit nicer I suppose. This can't keep happening. The bottom will fall out. The only real way to fix this problem is to end the Federal Reserve. Our government needs sound interest free curre ncy. And a private bank with a corporate agenda will NEVER be able to provide that for us.
Posted by Lisa Sak on 12/04/2008 @ 01:14PM PST
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This is a band-aid on a gapping wound that will not do anything in the long run. Who do you think pays for this - it is more taxes next year. Not only will it not do anything to help the homeless, it will make more people homeless later.
I advocate and presented "The Foster Village" idea as this goes to the heart of the issue and solves the homeless problem.
Posted by James & Suzanne McConnell on 12/10/2008 @ 08:06AM PST
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There is a reasonably easy way to fix at least part of the homeless problem, while addressing home foreclosures. . . although it does require a number of "Politically Incorrect" steps.
1. Not only do away with incentives for businesses to hire illegals, but actually create disincentives. I think a fine of up to $10,000 per illegal hired and confiscationf of the business under Asset Forfeiture as it was used in commision of a crime. . . sell it at auction.
2. Add disincentives to renting housing to illegals. Again, a fine of up to $10,000 and forfeiture of the house/apartment involves is reasonable.
3. Do away with the Minimum Wage; allow workers and business to work out their own pay scale - if you don't pay enough, you get no workers.
4. Limit the compensation of corporate upper management to a certain multiple of the average wage of the average worker, say 50X (I hear, in Europe, the majority run somewhere around 45x, while in the States the number ismore like 450x). If the higher-ups want a raise, they have to raise the average wage of the company. . . now the workers (the people who make the business possible) have more money to spend in the overall economy and everybody wins.
So, as there are fewer illegals working, businesses will have to pay a real wage to attract workers. . . as there are fewer illegals renting housing, there are more available, the supply goes up, the prices come down, and perhaps someday soon the guy who works full-time and lives in a tent will be able to afford to rent.
Oh, yeah, and end Corporate Personhood.
Posted by J Shaffer on 12/12/2008 @ 09:23PM PST
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What about the people that work their ass of to make their payments? IT IS NOT OK to foreclose and file bankruptcy, but that plan favors it. I'm sorry, I don't to pay more taxes to bail out stupid people.
Posted by ashley pinion on 12/16/2008 @ 08:15PM PST
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I am a disabled Mom. Definitely not disabled by choice! I was one work quarter short from qualifying for disability, meaning I get SSI, basically, a little over six hundred dollars per month to support myself and my children. I don't qualify for Medicare, because I'm on SSI, rather than SSD (go figure, it's the government). It also meant that I, one of the poorest in the nation, and not due to my own laziness, but rather than the fact that I had a failed back surgery, did not qualify for a stimulus check. Any ideas for that???
Posted by Alicia Chandler on 12/20/2008 @ 09:20PM PST
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A Guaranteed Livable Income (aka Basic Income Guarantee), as recommended by Dr. Martin Luther King would be the best grassroots stimulus package. The political decision-makers and think-tank participants already have theirs! It could be considered a monthly dividend on each citizen share in America, and administered through the IRS. People would still be taxed on total income, including the GLI, at the end of the year. But a guaranteed income would help to safeguard against unexpected financial emergencies that tend to snowball. Money in the hands of low-income families tends to circulate within local communities seven times over. A GLI would also decrease petty crime, as fewer desperate people would resort to theft, drug-dealing or prostitution just to make ends meet. This would free up resources for police, courts, social workers, etc., to deal with more urgent matters than just keeping the lid on the social unrest resulting from widespread poverty. Better-fed people would also be healthier, placing less strain on the health-care system, and children would learn better in school. People who need to care for a dependent family member at home would be free to make that choice, instead of placing their loved one in a care facility and entering the job market. In the final analysis, a GLI might well pay for itself.People who do not want the GLI could be allowed to opt out by checking off a box on their tax form. But I doubt that many would choose to do so. How many people, even affluent people, turn down their Social Security checks?
Posted by Geneva Haggen on 01/05/2009 @ 04:23PM PST
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