Tent Cities in the US?

I was walking with my neighbor this morning down our little country lane with our dogs. Past my house there is only one other house that is occupied.

One house is in foreclosure and the two duplexes that are always rented are empty. Nobody has been to visit two of the three vacation homes. And I am about to kick out my tenant in the attached apartment to my house because she is two months behind on the rent.

So where are all the people that used to occupy these homes? My neighbor said that tent cities were springing up in all the warmer locations in our country. I was shocked. Surely tent cities are something that happen in third world countries or when there is a natural disaster like Katrina or migrant workers. But a quick Google on the subject after the walk assured me I was wrong and my neighbor right. Richmond, Virgina; San Francisco and Los Angeles and San Diego, California among a few. Even in Ohio people are setting up tents on any available spot of land. It is cold in Ohio.

This all raises the question as to whether Obama's housing bill goes far enough. In addition to preventing people being thrown from their homes we obviously need some rent support. After two bad tenants in a row in the last six months I am reluctant to rent again to anyone. It is one thing to not have the income and another to have it cost me money. The current delinquent tenant owes $586.00 on electricity.

And that bill is for two months. I frankly was shocked at my own electricity bill and I have never heated my house up beyond 62 F unless I was burning wood in my wood stove. Tomorrow I am going the the utility company and see if we can work out a payment schedule. Per kilowatt electricity went up again this year. So in addition to rent support maybe the President needs to have a long, hard talk with the utility companies.

I do have two acres of land so maybe instead of renting out the apartment I should rent tent space once the snow melts. It would seem rather funny with nine empty homes for rent that people would be in tents in my backyard. But it is not just that individuals cannot come with with deposits and first and last months rent but that they cannot pay the utilities once they move in.

This does sound like the great depression or the dust bowl days?

Most of the People only Some of the Time

My father was fond of saying that you can please a few people all the time, and some people some of the time and none of the people all of the time. This week has certainly brought home that to President Obama and the American People.

I have been following as best I can the criticisms of the Economic Stimulus package as it makes its way through the shark infested pools that are the United States Senate. Clearly everyone has a different idea as to what stimulus is and how to create it.

An economist friend of mine once said you could put three economists in a room and come up with no fewer than five opinions on anyone economic issue. I really see that now.

I am not an economist by any means but I am a broke American trying to hold on in stormy seas and the best solution I heard to this whole mess was to not put it all in one package but divide it into three or four parts. Still I can see that with the direness of the consequences in the world economy that the desire to do it all at once seemed imperative.

With the Senate moving toward a workable compromise our new President may get what he has asked for. He seems more than willing to work with everyone but I was pleased when he told the Republicans, "you caused this mess why can't you help fix it" or words to that effect. I doubt we will know really what works and what does not for a decade. We have not been here before. When the Great Depression happened the world was more separate; not so globally linked. I am sure that historians and economists will be debating this for the better part of the century. Let's hope that we at least learn something this time.

I've learned we should not have let GW Bush have his TARP funds. They have been misspent with no limitations and in some cases drastic over-payment resulting in no stimulus to the economy. I am sure we will be debating that for several decades too. GW was obviously trying to please just a few people all the time - like already rich CEO's and business owners.

I have my fingers crossed that this will work. That pleasing most of the people some of the time is all we need to do to get the ball rolling again. I do know it is democracy as it is suppose to work. GW, I think history will find, ran a dictatorship.