Both Sides of the Fence
A Tosa resident since 1991, Christine walks the dog, cooks but avoids housework, writes and reads, and enjoys the company of friends and strangers. Her job takes her around the state, learning about people's health. A Quaker (no, they don't wear blue hats or sell oatmeal or motor oil), she has been known to stand on both sides of the political and philosophic fence at the same time, which is very uncomfortable when you think about it. She writes about pretty much whatever stops in to visit her busy mind at the moment. One reader described her as "incredibly opinionated but not judgmental." That sounds like a good thing to strive for!
People first, then property
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Last night’s (October 7) presidential debate was a long and ho-hum affair, wasn't it? No one stumbled much, but no one soared.
I wonder if part of that wasn't the weird rule that audience members couldn't react or show signs of favor or disapproval. Imagine talking about important things with people who just stare at you, giving you no cues about how you are doing, about whether you have hit a tender spot or lost them.
Plenty talk on both sides about mortgages and bailing out -- McCain said "rescuing" -- the industry. Almost as an afterthought, the Republican mentioned a plan to rescue some of the folks being foreclosed. Let the government buy the bad loans and be your mortgage holder.
Sounds like a bad business on both ends of the deal.
Almost as briefly, my man Obama said you can't just save the mortgages, you have to create conditions under which people can pay them. And that would include having family supporting jobs.
Bingo. According to Barbara Erenreich:
In the last few years, America’s substitute for decent wages has been easy credit. Until about a year ago, we got almost daily messages, by telemarketer and by mail, urging us to consolidate our debts, refinance our homes, transfer our debts from credit card to another, and try tasty new mortgages that didn’t even require a down payment. All too often, we bit. It sounded so reasonable, for example, not to let our assets just “sit” in our houses but to start spending that money now.
So the crisis calls for bailing out people who face foreclosures, changing bankruptcy and usury laws, and paying a living wage to those workers who everyone says are the best and most productive in the world--us. Oh: and make sure we aren’t ruined by health care expenses if you want us to remain productive.
While Obama at least “got” that important point, both candidates danced around jobs creation. Oh, wait: green jobs. Jobs in the green. . . area. They did mention those in a vague kind of misty Brigadoonish way. It'll be just like the computer boom. . .
If I had on my heels and my wink all polished up, I'd say that back here in the Midwest, we call that a pig-in-a-poke. That's a con game where you have a cat in a bag and you tell the hungry customer it's a suckling pig. Show us what’s inside, gents.
The Republicans can't admit they've lost good jobs and don't want to invest in anything but the businesses that created the mess -- with our collusion. The Democrats are afraid to talk much about how to pay for necessary recovery programs. If anyone had the courage to be honest, the words "tax" and "increase" would show up right next to each other.
This is America, and people want a chance to make it work. Those of us down here on Main Street will do the job—if it’s there for us to do.
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