For a while now I have been talking about my new book, It's The Housing Market, Stupid!that will be available by the middle of this month.

I have also been talking about my housing and economic stimulus plan that is revealed in the book.  The plan that doesn't involve a bailout.  The plan that could work incredibly well, and if it doesn't, won't cost the taxpayers any money.

Additionally, I have been talking about that despite November 4th being a historic day that I believe should make every American proud to be an American, I have been quick to remind myself and others that read my blog, that ultimately it is up to the American people to make the change that they want to see in their lives and in their country.

I believe that it is our leaders that are responsible for creating an economic environment that will allow businesses and Americans to succeed.  The American people are America's greatest resource, not the Treasury's printing press. 

So far, monetary policy is not allowing the American people to succeed so we need to look at fiscal policy.

It is not the responsibility of our leaders to bailout every company and homeowner that comes calling for billions of federal loans or a new home loan.  That is not what this country is about and that is not how we stimulate the economy.  We need to do more than just survive this economic crisis, we need to thrive. 

It's The Housing Market, Stupid! reveals a plan to create an economic environment that will allow the housing market to get traction and ultimately form a strong foundation that will allow us to rebuild our economy on.

One of the significant proposals that I detail is the use of a 50% bonus depreciation that was already passed into law as part of the Gulf Opportunity Zone act of 2005 for the regions that were affected by Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

This 50% bonus depreciation applies to both businesses that investment in equipment and those that elect to invest in real estate.

Specifically, the way it would work for real estate investments is that ordinarily you can depreciate the structure of a residential property over 27.5 years.  So if the structure is valued at $200,000, ordinarily the owner would depreciate $7,272 per year ($200,000/27.5) for 27.5 years.

Under the 50% bonus depreciation, the person that made the investment would receive 50% of the depreciation in the first year or $100,000 ($200,000 x 50%).  The balance of the depreciation, the other $100,000, would continue to be depreciated over the next 26.5 years or $3,773 per year.  

Under this plan, an American could invest in real estate and receive a $100,000 tax write off (not tax credit) as a result of their investment. 

The result of this proposal is that it would stimulate new demand for real estate that would help to absorb the excess supply of housing.  It is the excess supply of housing that is causing the downward pressure on home values that is contributing to foreclosures and ultimately billions of write-downs for Wall St..

In the It's The Housing Market, Stupid! I detail how this stimulus could result in 1 million additional homes being sold within one year and the cost would only be $23 billion in lost tax revenues.  A small cost considering the tab is nearly 1 trillion and counting for this crisis.

This is the type of economic environment that the government needs to create for Americans to invest in America.  The American people are this countries greatest resource, let's put that resource to work.