Bail-outs Only for the Rich, (and Definitely not New Jersey)

It is a strange world indeed when the only people who get bailed out [by us] are the rich and powerful. I heard this morning on NPR the Senate was considering extending unemployment benefits by 13 weeks (something I would personally benefit from at this point), but Bush would veto such legislation. Incidentally, jobless claims are skyrocketing with no end in sight. Just this morning a report by the labor department indicated jobless claims are at a sixteen year high.

There is no real talk about what every day Americans are going through though. It is bail-out banks, bail-out the auto industry, next comes the air line industry. But, where does it end and when does the focus become people, not corporations. Is that not where this conversation should begin? How are people doing? Well, a new report on food and nutrition tells you: one-in-eight Americans who struggled to feed themselves adequately in 2007 even before the economic downturn. From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of those affected rose from 10.5% to 11.1%. That's 36.2 million people.

Other highlights: The families with the highest rates of food insecurity were headed by single mothers (30.2 percent), black households (22.2 percent), Hispanic households (20.1 percent), and households with incomes below the official poverty line (37.7 percent).

States with families reporting the highest prevalence of food insecurity during 2005-07 were Mississippi (17.4 percent), New Mexico (15 percent), Texas (14.8 percent) and Arkansas (14.4 percent).

The highest growth in food insecurity over the past nine years came in Alaska and Iowa, both of which saw a 3.7 percent increase in families who struggled to eat adequately or had substantial food disruptions.

"Nationwide, children suffering from a severe disruption in how much food was available to them rose 50 percent, from 430,000 in 2006 to 691,000 in 2007, the worst year since 1998. Not Congolese fleeing the chaos of civil war. Not Dickensian orphans. Americans in the 21st Century."

This begs the question, what the hell are we thinking? Do bail-outs really help Americans? Will this help us turn the corner or is an entirely new way of thinking needed?

Here in the state of New Jersey Legal Services for the poor's funding is down approximately 65%. Lay-offs indeed have already begun in south jersey and the mood at the organization is bleak. Governor Corzine promised an additional 9.5 million in funds to keep the organization afloat. Word, however is this funding is in doubt (maybe Corzine is too busy thinking of who he can bail-out at the Department of Treasury). What will happen to poor people in New Jersey if this organization is forced to gut itself and cut jobs in half, which some of the plans project? Now mind you Legal Services here is asking for 9 million. Compare that to 25 billion the auto industry is asking for? Do we not have our priorities straight? Might we do both? (Just to put these numbers in perspective. The difference between a million and a billion is very significant. It takes 11 days for 1 million seconds to tick. How about a billion? 30 + years!).

While the poor are forced into poverty and "it is a result of the times" Auto executives fly into Washington on private jets and ask for 25 billion. Banks are given 700 billion. What if we took just one of those billions and divied it up amongst the poor? Would that be such a bad idea?

Nation's Poor Hit by Housing Crunch

I have been meaning to post this for a while. So, it is a bit old, but (I think) very relevant.

There is a phenomenon taking place in urban and suburban communities, but according to the article has recently exploded in rural communities. A new report by HUD says the lack of affordable homes for poor families is the nation’s No. 1 housing problem and undermines the stability and security of families and communities nationwide. The report found that 6 million impoverished households used most of their monthly earnings for housing or lived in substandard conditions in 2005. That’s an increase of 16 percent, or 817,000 families, since 2003. Further, The number of rural families facing this dilemma grew by 51 percent to nearly 1 million households over the same two-year span. At the same time, these struggling households saw their average monthly incomes decline while their average rent payments increased. The level at which housing is affordable is 30% of your income, the standard set back in 1935.

The federal government is not helping. Only one in four eligible families are being helped. I can corroborate this qualitatively. Legal Services office are inundated with calls from needy clients who cannot pay their rent and there is just nowhere to send them. I serve clients in mostly family matters, but the issues often intersect and frustration is abound in the housing advocacy community because of a lack of resources for clients.

"There definitely has been a diminution of federal support for low-income housing in recent years," said Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. "Clearly, it says there are other priorities, and this is not on the short list."
The lack of assistance, soaring rents, slow wage growth and a shrinking inventory of affordable apartments have made it nearly impossible for millions of low-income renters to adequately house their families. One of the most startling problems is also that subsidized housing is being abandoned for condominiums.

For every new affordable housing unit constructed, two are demolished, abandoned or become condominiums or expensive rentals, according to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Nearly 375,000 U.S. apartments have been converted to condominiums since 2002, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York real estate consulting firm. For more on this situation here.

Another rising problem from the San Francisco Chronicle. Foreclosures continued to rise throughout the country, the state (California) and the Bay Area in June, according to a report to be released today. Nationally, 164,644 foreclosure notices were filed in June, up 87 percent from June of last year, said RealtyTrac.com, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties. In the Bay Area, the number of foreclosure notices was 5,018, almost triple the 1,780 in June 2006. Subprime loans are said to be the culprit, which are loans to people with tarnished credit, as well as loans for 100 percent financing.

Of course this problem hits those at the bottom rung the hardest. But, it is sure to travel up the ladder. Many believed a housing crash is imminent, though it seems it may not occur so quickly until the blood is finally drained from our economy. Tax breaks for the rich, endless war and no bid contracts for multinational corporations (on our dime) is not only contributing, but is directly responsible for the lack of resources states and locales can put toward housing for the needy.