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COMMON SENSE SPOKEN FROM A GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE!

ELIZABETH WARREN, CHAIR OF THE CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT PANEL.

Professor Warren has been a voice of sanity among the purveyors of a preponderance of prepared, befuddled, concealing, deceiving, whitewashing and self serving statements from Congress and the Executive offices charged with representing the American home owners. Or, do they really represent us?

This morning I heard a statement from the mouth of a government spokesperson that resonated as so simple, so pithy, so true, it bears repeating.

"The American economy will not recover until the American home owners can recover."

IT WAS A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS!

Professor Warren clearly understands that the key to the recovery of the economy rests on the American consumer. No doubt she also understands that no economy can reach the productivity goals and expectations of the prognosticators when about 20% of the American consumer has been literally taken out of the economy in order to pay for a home that is draining the life blood from their budget, by loss of credit due to loss of home, loss of income due to loss of job and so much more injury to the American consumer.

Wall Streetis not the American economy.

The banks are not the American economy.

The consumer is the American economy.

"Honey, are we going to be able to recover from our financial mess?"

"Perhaps Dear, if the folks in charge ever begin to think about us."

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.

Posted by Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Maryland & Virginia on 07/10/2009 07:19 AM

Comments (32)

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Originally posted at: MD, VA Foreclosures, First Time Buyers Grants, CDA Loans MD, Rehab Loans MD & VA: COMMON SENSE SPOKEN FROM A GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE!

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32 Comments on COMMON SENSE SPOKEN FROM A GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE!

JUL

Lenn, I can't believe someone in DC actually gets it!!!

Now, if we can only avoid hyper inflation that may be coming too...

Hi Lenn it is simple and it is true. We should have gotten the tarp. Instead we got the tarp thrown over us . Maybe now folks will wake up. I do have great hoipe though . After all the new admin has been in charge for a little less than 6 months and are seeming to get it

She is the only one I have ever heard in Washington that has a clue. I posted this blog on her awhile back. It's part 2 of an interview on the Daily Show. I would encourage everyone to listen to both parts on the Daily Shows website.

Good stuff here is the link to my post on Elizabeth Warren. http://activerain.com/blogsview/1036583/elizabeth-warren-has-got-it-right-on-t-a-r-p-

Lenn thanks for bring it to my attention about Ms Warren, I will look for her wisdom, maybe a few more voices in the wilderness will prevail soon. The housing market has to recover before the economy turns aboutface. Many average home owners are either scared to death about losing value of their biggest investment/asset or worrying about how to make the next payments if they lose their job.

Nice post Lenn, and very true, surprised you did not have a question mark at the end of the headline...

Yep - now how do we get her heard by the others? Spoke with a lender yesterday who believes that we may see an extension on the tax credit and it may even be extended to cover everyone - do you think there's a prayer in that anywhere?

ToulaRosebrock,com

Hi Lenn:

I saw your post via Mark's re-blog...

I think Elizabeth Warren is awesome!

Thank for sharing that video. (I happen to like Jon Stewart too)...

Lenn - when I read the title I just knew it had to be some bit of satire, or, sarcasm. However, Ms. Warren has it right. But then, she isn't really a self serving member of congress or the administration.

Lenn,

This sums it up, "

Wall Street is not the American economy.

The banks are not the American economy.

The consumer is the American economy.

And yet despite this the banks continue to get bailed out, the PPIP is the latest example.

I've heard Elizabeth Warren speak and she is a refreshing voice, but unfortunately only one voice lost in a sea of political bickering and ignorance. I just read today that the government is allowing banks to buy the warrants they provided in exchange for TARP money--and they are buying them at 66% of face value. Just one more example of the politicians helping their banker friends.

Amen! Hopefully others will catch a little of Professor Warren's sanity.

Boy, the Congress took a full hour to discuss what Michael Jackson did for the country. When introducing a bill to honor Mr Jackson, the Representative started by saying we are all inonocent until proven guilty. Let's save the country first, then we can honor entertainers who have lived overseas for the past three years...

Lenn - Thanks for sharing this with all of us! Hopefully she will not be a voice in vain! Happy Friday!

Thanks for sharing Elizabeth Warren's words with us, Lenn. I like her point of view. Too bad we can't have a few hundred more like her in DC.

Wow a sensible thought from a government type - that is rare as hen's teeth ... and good to repeat. Gives me a glimmer of hope ;)

I haven't heard much about Elizabeth Warren but I can be sure I'll now eagerly watch this lady. She's a common sense type of person and cuts through the BS quickly it seems!

Kris. Watch for her. She is a bright light in a dark, dank dungeon known as Capitol Hill.

I love to watch C-SPAN when she's testifying. She also gives interviews on the cable news shows from time to time.

The lady understands the economy.

Steve. Watch for her. She always makes rare sense.

Maria. Agreed. She is indeed rare. When she is interviewed the candor is refreshing.

Paul. That body is so screwed up it's a wonder they even bother to show up the 3 days a week that they usually do.

Ann. She isn't interviewed often enough, but she testifies in Congress from time to time.

John. She is a refreshing and candid voice, isn't she?

Mark. Simple minded folks like us understand.

Mike. Right you are.

Toula. REblogged? Great.

Lee and Pamela. An extension will help some who want to buy. That's not going to help folks who can't sell.

Frank and Jodi. This was positive, just a statement.

Gail. Indeed. Home owners are trapped and they know it. In past times, if someone lost a job, they could always sell. Now many cannot.

Mark W. Thanks for pitching in. I always tune in when she's testifying or being interviewed. She's got the facts straight and doesn't mince words.

Charlie. Your optomism isn't contageous. I see things getting worse daily and much from the admin..

Bob. That is a real concern.

Glad to read this. But I do want to stick up for one of my senators, Johnny Isakson. He has said this since last November before the first "stimulus" passed. Of course the fact that he was a Broker who owned a real estate company prior to his service to the state of Georgia helps him understand. Just seems none of the other Senators want to listen to him.

Somehow we need to find the golden bullet that will ge the consumer back into the marketplace. It won't be done as long as the fat cat congressmen and women are not listening tho.

Tammy. I know who he is. He's often a voice of reason. I bet he cringes when he sees what has happened to the housing industry.

Don. That's what we need, but we won't get it from Congress.

Hey Lenn,

I just hope this person starts preaching it more often to others who can make it happen. Great work on keeping up, thanks Lenn! :)

-Lisa

Lisa. I try to stay on top of the folks on The Hill, but sometimes I can't stomach them. The pomposity we endure to watch their hearings is nauseating.

Lenn- I hope they will listen: Freddie Mac is starting to require promissory notes on first mortgages in hardship cases, Freddie Mac is super overloaded with their short sale requests and yet they decide to require more documentation from homeowners so that just adds on more time to get approvals which causes more time to get accetances and then more time for a buyer to get into a house.

Now let's compound the issue with the new regulations in mortgages, what is that called? HVAC? or whatever it is called- it is going to create more delays for buyers to get into properties, slowing down the home buying process and wait-

the greatest of all, the new oversight body that is going to oversee all of real estate! More delays. That is certainly not going to be jump starting the housing industry any time soon.

Hi Lenn, Is Katerina thinking of HVCC? . If so, NAR and NAMB have a bill they are helping to promote to set an 18 month moratorium on the new rules for appraisers and their new management companies. (When I think of the damage they have already done and what this administration and Congress has done, it boggels the mind.) Certainly we can only hope that the American voter learns the truth and acts ( votes) accordingly.

I hope Professor Warrens view and perspective resonates and many will understand and respond to her perspective. Otherwise we are in a for a very long brutal time ahead.

Lenn,

It's good to hear that someone over there gets it right, although it's just one voice. She needs to get more of the decision makers to believe that and stop playing bank-flavored politics.

JUL

Lenn,

"Common sense spoken by a government representative"? She definately sounds not cut cut from the same clothe as most politicians. There are exceptions.

Lynn, et al:

The quote from this insightful woman is wonderful. But like much in Washington, it is really just a sound bite. Sound bites rarely tell us much.

Yes, the US housing market led the world into this recession. Yes, a housing recovery is a necessary ingredient to an overall recovery.

But, in a larger sense, no housing policy change (or set of changes) is going to be enough to fix even our profession for the long term.

The oft-referred to "essentials of our economy" are not strong. Without a fix for those essentials, any housing fix will be at best illusory and temporary.

Those essentials include:

Too much government spending. Too much government borrowing. Too much sucking up capital that is needed for investment.

Too much consumer spending. Too much personal borrowing. Too much sucking up capital that is needed for real investment.

Too little personal saving. (Though, thankfully, in this recession it is improving.) Too little capital available for investment.

Too much focus on the short term: the next quarterly earning report, the next quarterly dividend check, and the next election.

Too much focus on teacher salaries and not enough on student attainment. Our school day is too short, our school week is too short, our school year is too short. We do not test enough. Students in other countries out-work, out-learn and out-perform our own. We don't just lose jobs to lower wages -- we lose them to harder-working and better educated workers.

We fight too much about our official language and resist immigration. We should better use our immigrant talents to compete in the world. We need to learn other languages in a big way. Every Japanese child learns English -- maybe not to be able to converse, but well enough to write a tech manual. There are more students of English in China than there are Americans -- of any color or complexion -- here.

And, beyond these, there is a lot of other work to do.

Hi Lenn -- So true and so forgotten and so sad. The little guy doesn't stand a chance when it comes to the distribution of large sums of $$.

Hi Lenn, Elizabeth Warren is definitely one of the few reasonable voices out there, but I have to agree with John Mulkey and Jim Hale as well. There is way so much more that needs to be done in order to get out of the mess we're in. The entire recession has somehow been blamed on the Real Estate Profession when in reality it was the fault of greedy lenders. The government who permitted their greed to continue and still does. Then there is of course the silly consumer's misinterpretation of the American dream. Yes, I agree it's a wonderful thing to own a home, but how much brain does it take to realize you can't own a $400,000.00 home when you barely pull in $85,000 a year and have 4 kids.

Your summation:

Wall Street is not the American economy.

The banks are not the American economy.

The consumer is the American economy.

basically says it all. The hard job that's ahead is to get the people in power to comprehend this. Thanks you for an other great and insightful post.

JUL

We definately have lots of "voices of reason" here; I love the input from thoughtful souls-keep it up.

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