Can America Afford the Economic Stimulus Plan

 

Obama is working hard to get both parties to agree to an economic stimulus/recovery plan. 

The following are possible provisions/amendments that may go into the bill:

 

US senate

1. A low 4% interest rate subsidized by the government. As interest rates increase this will cost the tax payers more and more.

Jen says:
Interest rates are already incredibly low. Remember the 1980s when people paid 18% for a home loan? So we are going to subsidize loans that we will need to repay in higher taxes? Those who don’t purchase a house will be subsidizing home loans for those who do purchase. How does this help our economy in the long run?

 

2. Give individuals making less than $75K a $7500-$15,000 house purchasing credit that doesn’t need to be repaid (currently it does) as long as the homeowner waits at least three years to sell.

Jen says:
This $7500 credit is currently an interest free loan from the government for first-time homeowners. The amendment would give the money away to any one purchasing a home.This is taking money from the left pocket and putting it into the right pocket. The only redeeming aspect of this amendment is that it encourages people to stay in their homes longer. 

 

3. Hold off on foreclosures for 90 days to provide time for homeowners to renegotiate their loans.

 

Jen says: 
This could be helpful IF the homeowner is already working with the lender to negotiate better terms and if number 4 (see below) is enacted. This could be another 90 days of free rent at the expense of lenders and tax payers. Lenders currently are notoriously slow at selling homes in foreclosure. This is an issue where the government  needs to step in and force lenders to sell foreclosed homes more quickly.

 

4. Force lenders to reduce house payments of delinquent borrowers to 31% of their gross monthly income by increasing pay back periods to 40 years, decreasing interest rates (subsidized by the government).

 

Jen says:
Reducing payments is a great idea if it doesn’t cost the government additional money. Reducing payments by locking homeowners into lower interest rates (not subsidized by the government) is a great idea. In fact, increasing payment years to 40 and refinancing at the current low interest rates is a “no-brainer”. Perhaps the $7500 credit should go toward helping people refinance. 

Full Story by Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer

 

Additional Resources:

Economic Package Stimulates Quests For Change
“The goal is to shape a package that is more targeted, that would be smaller in size and that would be truly focused on saving or creating jobs and turning the economy around,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. She said ideas like $870 million to combat bird flu should be dumped.

Avoiding Japan’s Stimulus Miscues
Here’s the critique in a nutshell: Japan in the early 1990s, like the U.S. today, saw a real-estate bubble burst, spawning a banking and credit crisis that drove the whole economy down, hard. The Japanese then tried stimulating the economy with giant doses of government spending, which didn’t pep things up — but did bring on deficits that required tax increases later, dragging out Japan’s problems for years. Read more.

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Contact your elected representatives!

Staircase Demolition

Oak stairs and a bad band half way up the wall

 
 

Bad band removed, railing being removed

 

Jen, after a day of sanding the walls, wishes there were stairs

Toot-tone

In a follow-up to The Magical Fruit…

Thanks for sending this Heidi!

Polling Booth Volunteer

She called last night, 12 hours before the elections, to ask me for a favor.

Anytime someone asks me to do them a favor, my selfish self always wants to say no right away, even before I hear what the favor is.

What is it with the word “favor” that makes me cringe? A favor is “an act of kindness beyond what is due or usual.” That means I probably don’t want to it and neither do you.

Asking for a favor is like asking someone to share your misery. Buttering me up by telling me I’m really great at something and asking for my help is another story all together. 

My friend begins to explain that she had agreed to be a polling volunteer. 

My chest tightens. Geez, I voted by mail to avoid the voting booths. She’s going to ask me to take her place and I don’t want to do it. Even though I didn’t have a problem saying no to all those volunteer for Obama calls, I now begin wavering. This was a friend asking and it was in support of a very important process. Ugh. 

She sets me up with stories that her boss said it wasn’t a good time to be away from the office, they need an Independent or Republican at the polls (apparently the Democrats are pretty volunteer happy this year… I’m an Independent), and her husband cannot get off work to pick up their son from daycare. 

My mind is racing back and forth. Should I do it and overcome my selfishness? I’ve got a very cocky selfish self who likes to dominate my life.

She goes on to explain that polling volunteers must come in at 5:30 am, cannot leave for lunch, cannot bring in any electronic devices, and must stay until the end, which could be midnight. 

What?!

My selfish self snaps back. I keep listening but know that there is no way in hell I’m going to say yes to this favor. No way. No. 

At the end of her story she says it again, “So, I’m wondering if you can do me a favor?”

I am prepared to say no. This will be easy. A simple, easy no.

“I’m sorry to call and ask you this.”

Save the sorry, I’m not going to do it.

“Would you be able to pick Spencer up from daycare tomorrow?”

What?!

“Sure, I would be happy to do that!” I tell her. I feel honored that she would ask. “Unfortunately, I have a class in Boulder tomorrow night.” My altruistic self crawls out from under the bed and stands next to my selfish self, who feels unduly victorious.

The Magical Fruit

Looking through my assorted cans of $4 organic soups (when did a can of soup get so expensive?), I pick out a “Spicy Chicken Fajita” for lunch today. Dumping it into a big pyrex bowl for placement in the microwave, I discover it is chock full of a particularly unsavory hidden ingredient. What the heck, I eat it anyway.

By 4 pm I’m making fragrant music. By 4:45 I’ve almost completed an opera. At 4:46 I engage in a little debate with myself about what excuse I’ll give when canceling my ski conditioning meet-the-instructor-session, for the second time today.

One option is the truth. This British guy, that I’ve never met, will either think I’m funny or disgusting. Then every time in class something is stinky, he’ll automatically think it is me. I need anonymity.

The second option is to say as little as possible and just cancel, crossing my fingers that he won’t ask why. If he starts asking questions my tendency would be to revert to option one out of nervousness.

The third option is to stretch the truth and say my stomach doesn’t feel well when the whole truth is that all this magical music makes my stomach feel great, it’s my nose that is killing me.

In the spirit of the undecided voter, I give him a call and hope that something brilliant comes over me. Luckily, his voicemail picks up and I simply cancel and ask to reschedule for Wednesday. 

5:03 the phone rings. I silence it, not confident at all that I’ll say something brilliant if I answer. 

Maybe next time someone cancels on me I’ll be thankful, just in case.

The secret to a flat stomach!

On my way to the checkout line a book catches my eye. Sure, I’ll bite. What do I need to eat to get a flat stomach? With too many health books on my shelf I flip through the pages to get the gist.

This positive new spin of eating to create a flat stomach is great! I always thought it was about what I should stop eating. 

I search out two of the items on the stomach flattening list and toss them in my cart.

Every day I work diligently on flatting my stomach. I am especially motivated to do the work when I am hungry or feeling bloated, which seems frequent. Strangely, the results are not yet visible.

Perhaps this new method just takes time, a committed effort. I usually give up on my health plans too quickly. This one deserves my discipline and I will force myself to continue until I see results.

 

 

 

 

Dark chocolate Bija Truffles from Canada! Another reason to love Canada!

 

 

Santa Barbara green olives in brine.

Skylight Drama

The basic situation went like this:

Day one the Skylight Magic team of Sol and Phil make two holes in our ceiling and roof, then frame them for drywall.

Day two the two holes are reframed because the need to be more open, then drywalled and four additional holes are made and framed

That night Josh looks at them and really wants the holes in the ceiling bigger. I’m 4′10″ so I can see out of the skylights just fine while walking down the 2nd floor hall but apparently Josh was eye level with drywall.

Day three Phil shows up and I talk him into making the holes in the ceiling larger, which means more cutting and reframing. Meanwhile, Josh has talked to Sol and Sol convinced him to leave them as is. I talk to Josh and then tell Phil to just leave them as is. Then I talk to Josh again and after I tell him that Phil would want them more open if it were his house, Josh calls Sol to see about making the holes larger. Josh tells me that I should tell Phil to call Sol. Phil needs a cigarette and I need to find a new career.

By half hour past noon on day four everything is finished up and we love, love, love our new skylights. It exactly what we wanted! Josh and I dust off a couple of chairs and enjoy lunch under the new light. Ah, sometimes the drama is worth it!

Living Room Before

 

Living Room Before Wall Knock Down

 

Terry knocks first hole into future family room

 

Wall is down, unfinished room exposed

 

 

Before skylights

 

 

Before skylight drama

 

After skylight drama... more open!

 

 

 

After skylight drama

 

 

Fabulous skylights

 

 

Yes, we are leaving the trusses exposed! Love it!

 

 

Now we need drywall guys to come in!

 

 

Two skylights in the family room also!

House of Reps

The Bailout plan passed in the Senate and is now up for a vote in House of Representatives.

This morning I read on the BBC news that the president of France denies that there will be a similar European rescue plan saying ”I deny both the amount and the principle [of such a plan].” 

Click here to read the full article.

If the EU wouldn’t do it on principle for their banks and the only way to entice “Main Street” is by adding provisions that will actually help “Main Street” why would we agree to a Bailout? 

Click here to find your Rep and give her/him a call this morning. Use the pull down list of states.

I called and spoke with a very nice woman who took my name and address and passed on my message to Congress Woman Diana DeGette. Easy and painless!

We elect people to represent us so we’ve got to let them know what we are thinking.

The bailout passed. Was my call to Denver congress woman, Diana DeGette, made in vain?

Recently, I’ve learned more about the bailout plan. Why is there more info about the plan after the fact than before it was passed? Oh, wait. Stupid question.

The nano width of a silver lining is that some language got slipped into the bill that allows for a “Stock Injection” plan to be implemented instead of the Paulson plan.  Stockholders versus the tax payer. What do you think the chances that Stock Injection will be implemented?

Double Scary!

There in the corner, sandwiched between the wall and the box containing the piece of junk clothes drying rack that I’ve been meaning to return, a sizable spider had taken up residence. Geez, how long have I put off returning those things? 

Too dark to see detail from the distance I allow myself, I dig through the junk drawer and test out several flashlights. 

Luckily she is still there sitting in her web and didn’t crawl into my nearby shoe or worse… just disapear. She remains motionless as I shine the light on her and get a good look. Creepy!

I take my chances and leave once more to look up spiders on the internet. A Hobo spider? Poisonous! 

Phew, she’s still there when I return. I use the flashlight and look again. Yep! It’s a Hobo. Hobos don’t have sticky webs so they use their web to trick and trap prey whom they then attack. Great. Do they jump? It didn’t say. Do they climb? Luckily, not well. Now what do I do?!

Smile. Ok, smiling is not necessary Miss Spider, just don’t move. The flash of my camera doesn’t bode well with her, however. She moves off her web and towards me. Aaaack! Now what?! I use my toe to jiggle the rug and she crawls back in her web. What to do, what to do? Do I leave her, trap her, kill her? When is Josh getting home?!!!

Hmmmm. With a glass in hand I talk to the spider, “Hey, I don’t want to do this but you’re kind of creepy.” I hoover. I hesitate. Geez, when is Josh getting home?! I go back to the internet, in hopes that she won’t leave her little web nest, and look up how to trap a Hobo spider. Ok, buying a pheromone trap is not an option at this moment so I go back and hold the glass over the spider, about 3 feet up. After much deliberating I bite the bullet. 

She is trapped. Easy! I move the glass along the floor and she swiftly runs with it. 

I take a closer look at her, now that she is safely under glass. Shoot! One of her legs is caught under the glass. I release it and she stays put. I move the glass again but she doesn’t run along—I guess she was running along to keep up with her trapped leg–so part of her gets squished by the edge of the glass. Dang it. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I was hoping Josh would kill her swiftly when he got home.

Raising the glass I quickly reach in with a tissue and put her out of her misery. Sorry spider.

I rub my hands through my hair. Wait! What did I just do? Aaaack! What if I have spider pheromones on me and tonight other Hobo spiders come find me in my sleep. Spider killer karma. A shower is now on the schedule before I go to bed. 

I look at the pictures I had taken of her. AAAAACK!

Even more frightening than the Hobo is that in the pictures I see all the dirt in that corner of the house. Yikes! View the pictures at your own risk. Sorry friends.