A Week of Republican Hand Holding

The face on the tiki tissue box at left, sold in many stores, looks eerily familiar.

Can I get you a tissue? Would you like a shoulder to cry on? Yes, I know, I know. You really don’t like the Democrats. Sigh…

It was this week that I discovered what sore losers Republicans are after losing the “big race,” the Presidential election. Come on, guys, get a grip! Everything’s going to be great! Relax. Just wait and see!

My father was the first grumbler to contact me, by emailing me that McCain and Palin were “lucky” to not win the election since the economy is in such horrific shambles. Hmmm. Sour grapes?

My friend, Selma, who works for me in Seattle, told me she was wearing the American Flag pinned upside down on a red sweatshirt. “It’s a sign of distress,” she said, “Because that’s what we’re in, a time of distress.” Poor Selma, Bless her heart!

My Cousin, Carla, who lives in hurricane ravaged New Orleans, sent me an article from the ultra conservative, Carolina Journal online, dated Nov. 4, about how the Democrats want to “spread the wealth,” by seizing private 401Ks and IRAs and roll them into the social security program. Gullible, you say? Since when did Democrats become Socialists? I consoled Carla – there’s no way this will happen.

I reminded Carla that I had just lost a substantial bit of money when the Bush administration seized Washington Mutual Bank, dissolved the stocks *poof!* and turned over the assets to JP Morgan Chase. Talk about socialization! Talk about spreading the wealth! “This is real,” I reminded her, not just an opinion, such as the doom and gloom in the article you sent me. (See the Nov. 9 Seattle Times.)

Since before the election, hundreds of fear mongering emails have circulated claiming that if Obama is elected, his administration will come into your house, take away your guns, rip the babies from your teenage daughter’s wombs, suck dry your bank account, dissolve the military, and make Islam this country’s national religion. All I can ask, is please consider the news source. Is it the New York Times where you heard this? How about the Washington Post? USA Today? A major metropolitan newspaper? Was it even a real newspaper? Or was it a blog, such as this one? Or an email? Or, God forbid, FOX News?

A “legitimate” news source will be part of the “mainstream media,” (MSM) and most likely be a contributing member to a newswire service, such as the Associated Press, which requires their reporters to be, “dedicated to the same standards – fairness, balance, and accuracy.” Before the election season, the newspaper where my husband works issued this reminder: “News staffers are encouraged to be involved in their communities to the extent that such activities don't create real or apparent conflicts or interest. Involvement in politics, demonstrations, and social causes that would create conflicts of interest or the appearance of such conflicts should be avoided. News staffers should avoid any public political activity, including contributions. They should not run for office, sign political petitions or campaign for any candidate or political cause.” This doesn’t mean that newspapers don’t sometimes print one-sided pieces. However, the difference is that these will appear on the opinion, humor, and editorial pages, not in the news sections.

So, who really wants to slander Obama? Who wants to spread false rumors about him so that people lose their trust in him, thereby reducing his potential power to change the status quo?

The rich and powerful, of course. The owners of FOX News, for one, who will have to pay higher taxes, assuming the new administration will have its way. Greed of money is the strongest motivator for political manipulation. I ask these movers and shakers, do you really need that extra 4.6% in taxes that you will have to pay under Obama’s tax plan? How much money do you really need to live on? Isn’t fixing our troubled nation more important?

I did some research and learned that a person earning, say one million dollars a year, will pay 39.6% in Federal income tax instead of the old rate of 35%. (Social Security will only be taxed up to $106,800 in 2009 according to Wikipedia’s segment on income tax).

Here’s a comparison:

Tax on $1,000,000 for 2008:
Social Security: 6.2% x $106,800 = $8,170
Medicare: 1.45% x $1,000,000 = $14,500
Federal Income Tax: 35% x $1,000,000 = $350,000

Total tax: $372,670 (without deductions)
Take home: $627,330

Tax on $1,000,000 for 2009:
Social Security: 6.2% x $106,800 = $8,170 (same)
Medicare: 1.45% x $1,000,000 = $14,500 (same)
Federal Income Tax: 39.6% x $1,000,000 = $396,000

Total tax: $418,670 (without deductions)
Take home: $581,330 

That’s still a lot of jelly beans! You should be so lucky. Federal income tax of 39.6% is really not that high. According to Wikipedia, as recently as 1981, a person earning $1,000,000 would have paid 70% in Federal Income tax, or $700,000 per year without deductions. In 1954, they would have paid 91% or $910,000 per year, without deductions.

Other than high income earners, the only other individual I know personally who might have a legitimate worry is my dear friend, Mirabella, who is the ultimate capitalist. She runs a novelty item manufacturing company where most of her products are made overseas in China, currently her cheapest option.

Due to policy changes under the Obama administration, Mirabella will be motivated to move her outsourcing to factories located here in the United States, maybe even to here in Florida where WKMG Local 6 news reported that 8,000 job applicants showed up for a job fair in Orlando on Wednesday, Nov. 12 where only 2500 candidates were expected, so many that some were turned away. At the time, the Workforce Central Florida website listed only 946 open positions. Moving your manufacturing back to the United States could be a good thing – it’s hard to sell products to people with no jobs.

Today, the U. S. Department of Labor issued a report that 43 percent of the over 200,000 jobs lost in the past month nationwide were due to – you guessed it – a decrease in business demand, a.k.a. no customers.

I understand why the Republicans are afraid. I was once a Republican myself. Although I did not vote for Bill Clinton in the 1992 election, and did not even like Bill Clinton at the time, my life benefited exponentially over the course of President Clinton’s administration. A couple of years after Clinton took office, things began to look up for me personally.  Jobs suddenly seemed much more plentiful; prices of food and goods more affordable; I was finally able to qualify to buy a house; and I received good healthcare. I changed my political affiliation to Democrat in 1994. I was a true convert.

So, my message to my dear Republican friends: Just relax. Everything will be okay. Changes will come, but they will be for the better. I promise!

Maybe, even for you, Mirabella…

Obama is “Our” President

Several “unofficial” pack buttons for Obama. Many can be purchased online from democraticstuff.com and cafepress.com.

While working in the local Democratic party campaign office here in Florida, many of the volunteers I worked with came down with a bad case of “hurry up and wait.” It was mid afternoon on Tuesday on the East Coast. We all felt that we had done what we could – all that we had been asked to do – but we wanted to do even more.

Some of us spent the morning watching the polls, working as advocates for voters who had problems with their registrations. Some of us spent the day handing out Democratic literature, signs, and stickers to voters waiting in line. Others, such as myself, spent the day working out of the office, taking donations, helping voters find their poll locations, arranging rides, transporting absentee ballots, and calling registered Democrats who had not yet shown up to remind them to vote. Although many phone calls still needed to be made, we didn’t have enough phones to go around in the temporary office we had rented. Our volunteer telephone technician was been busy trying to find more open lines that didn’t sound like static or cut off in the middle of phone calls.

While couriering an absentee ballot to another office, I passed a lot of people waving McCain Palin signs but no one waving Obama Biden signs. I returned to find our office filled with eager volunteers with nothing to do.

“Who wants to wave signs?” I asked.

A large group of us carried signs of all shapes and sizes out to the major multi-lane intersection near our office. As we shook the signs and waved, we were very encouraged by the large number of people who honked their horns and waved back. “Look at all the people for Obama,” cried one woman in amazement.

The election had seemed rather personal to me so far. After losing the past two elections to Republican candidates, I felt like a woman against the world. Seeing all the happy Obama faces helped me put a new perspective on the magnitude of the masses of people who also felt the same way I did, that we needed a change, a new party in the White House, with a new agenda based on human rights, environmental preservation, and World peace.

“Latinos for Obama!” shouted a driver to us.

“Canadians for Obama!” shouted a couple on vacation in Florida who asked how to get a sign as a souvenir.

“Yes we can!” shouted a group of little girls sticking their heads out the window. It brought tears to our eyes.

Bus drivers waved as they passed, one policeman flipped on his siren, and an emergency vehicle flashed their lights – all are for Obama.

Students and young people of all colors and creeds hollered loudly, laid on their horns, played music, and cheered as they drove up and down the streets energizing the Obama sign wavers. It was one spectacular group party, and the election results had not even begun to come in, yet. Somehow, we all knew what was to come.

While most older white drivers either turned their heads away from us, some were very boisterous in their opposition to Barack Obama. I’ll never forget seeing a few cars with very well dressed older white ladies in the passenger seat, sticking out their tongues and jabbing their thumbs down at me as I held my sign high. I’d swear their husbands, who seemed to always be the ones driving, circled the block more than once.

Imagine my joy when I saw older white drivers wave and honk their horns – even truck drivers in construction vehicles and dump trucks sporting the names of the businesses where they worked, all waving and honking for Obama.

“Old white people for Obama!” I cheered.

A reserved black couple who were volunteering with me, were a bit taken aback by my statement. “Old white people?” asked Chip, “Well, I guess you can say that. We have signs for everything else, why not that?”

“Hippies for Obama!” shouted Austin at a man who waved at us.

“Cool white people for Obama,” I said to a truck hauling junk with three people jammed in the front seat who waved and honked loudly.

The passenger replied, “You say white people. But, why not purple people?” he asked as he pointed to the black woman waving the sign beside me dressed all in purple.

“Yes, she is purple. And I’m a blue person!” I laughed, pointing to my blue Obama shirt.

Obama really is “OUR” president. Over 64 million people voted for him. The Obama Biden team won by 7.6 million popular votes, 52% of the 120.6 million votes cast. This is more than I can say for George W. Bush who lost the popular vote to Al Gore, but won the electoral college in 2000, thereby securing the presidency.

My prediction of 369 electoral votes for Obama/Biden is very close to the actual 365 tally (after adding in North Carolina and one vote from split state, Nebraska). I was wrong about which states would vote for the Democratic ticket, but I’m right that we won by a landslide. Here in Florida, of all places, Obama won by 195,000 votes.

Just as I put up with Bush for eight years, these naysayers can put up with Obama for eight years. Give his administration a chance. You might like what you get! Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore said it the best on Larry King Live on CNN, November 5, “We're not going to have universal healthcare just for the blue states. We're going to have that for everyone -- all the Republicans included.” 

Of course, it will be a few very long weeks before President elect Obama and Vice President elect Biden can take office. In the meantime, I have taken my yard sign in, not because I’m worried about retaliation by white supremacists, but because anything Obama has become a very hot item!

Republicans the Party of the Wealthy

A week ago, I took my friends Alfred and Lorie out for lunch at William's Landing restaurant in Astor, Florida. Alfred and Lorie are moving to Pennsylvania and it was a sad farewell. Alfred has already voted by absentee balot, which he applied for long ago since he's frequently away from home on business. Lorie took advantage of "early voting" this past week in order to cast her vote before moving.

As the owner of his own small business, Alfred works his fingers to the bone, sacrificing personal wants and needs over paying the business's bills, and burning the midnight oil to get work done while he envies those who get to punch a time clock and put their work behind them as they go home to their families each night.

Both Lorie and Alfred are voting for Obama this election. Alfred is a registered Republican.

Alfred explained to me that he is no longer happy with his party. The very reasons why he became a Republican, the core principals of fiscal responsibility and small government, seem to have vanished. The Democrats have adopted many of his values embracing charter schools, healthcare and gun rights. The Republicans have lost their way and lost touch with the average American.

I understand what he is talking about. I too, was a Republican, having joined the party in 1978 after listening to a talk at my school by a North Carolina Democrat running for office about the virtues of government handouts for the poor and destitute. I'll never forget his closing question to the audience, "Do you think we should make sure everyone has a home, food on their table, and the comforts of life regardless of whether or not they have a job, or do you think they should have to work for it?" It seemed a simple question to me. Of course, they should have to work for it. I mean, I did. Why not make them work, too?

At that time, in 1978, the difference between the haves and the have nots was not nearly as disproportionate as what it has become today and the Federally mandated minimum wage paid a living wage. Driving through the "poor" neighborhoods in my hometown in North Carolina, you could not find the poetic ramshackle hovels from the Grapes of Wrath where the poor were living in filth and despair. No, this was tobacco and textile production country and "poor" meant that you drove a used Cadillac instead of a new one, or maybe just a good old rusty Ford truck handed down from your grandfather.

I was born into the middle class, but my parents felt that earning your own way builds character, so I had to make it on my own. My first job as a cashier, paying minimum wage of $3.35 per hour or $6,700 per year, barely paid my meager bills of rent, utilities, food and toiletries. At that time, about $6,000 per year marked the official poverty level. I could not afford a car and walked to work, a mile away. I also could not afford health insurance, even then, but did not care, since I was young and healthy. I hated paying taxes, especially since I personally knew people who sat at home watching TV all day and didn't work, but got welfare checks, food stamps, and free housing for doing absolutely nothing.

Despite my own meager existence, I had no problem proudly announcing to the world that I was a Republican. I campaigned for Jesse Helms for Senate and Beverly Lake for governor, and a few other candidates who I've forgotten since then. I campaigned for the working American. I wanted us to keep what we earned and for the government to tighten their belts and stop giving out free handouts. Instead, I wanted the Federal government to concentrate on the big jobs -- fixing highways, making and enforcing laws to protect us, and training the military to keep us safe. I wanted the local State government to build schools; maintain libraries, museums, and parks; police the streets; and keep my house from burning down.

Wow! Things have changed dramatically, haven't they? The government has fallen down on the job. Like a prima donna employee, our typical Republican governing official has let the primary task of serving the general public fall to the wayside, instead choosing to take care of personal wants and needs. Most Republican spending, whether it has been to fight a war in Iraq or build a "bridge to nowhere," has not served the general public. Instead, it has been directed at helping big corporations, such as oil companies, who have earned record profits due to wars in Middle Eastern oil producing countries, or Haliburton, who has been awarded no bid contracts for the military. Big insurance companies and big banks get bigger, all with the help of the government. Many Republicans, including our own President Bush and Vice President Cheney, have stock in these companies or receive pensions from previous high level positions, and have personally profited from the legislation.

Only two years ago, my husband and I considered ourselves to be fairly comfortable. After paying the mortgage, utilities, food, gas, healthcare, and paying off the credit card each month, we were still able to keep 25% of our pay for frivolous expenses, such as travel, eating out at restaurants, going to shows, buying electronic gizmos, giving spending money to our young relatives in college, and other splurges. Now, only one year later, we are lucky if we have anything left after paying our bills. For this reason, we have had to dip into savings intended for emergencies and retirement.

So, the farewell dinner we treated our friends to could not be at the pricey, but special, Blackwater Inn in Astor, FL. No, it had to be upstairs in the more affordable, William's Landing which serves some of the best fried fish sandwiches you'll find in central Florida.

My friend, Alfred says, "The Republicans have become split in two. On one side, they are the party of the haves. On the other, they are the party of the far Christian rights, the extreme social conservatives. I don't fit into either category."

Minorities or Flippers?

My husband and I got into a heated argument with my neighbor over politics outside a popular Central Florida movie theater Sunday afternoon. My neighbor, who had just rolled in on his Segeway with his young son to catch the dollar movie showing of “Get Smart,” noticed that I was wearing an Obama Biden t-shirt. The neighbor, still perched on his Segeway, rolled us into a corner and began to pick a verbal fight. He started off by theorizing that the election was fixed for Obama to win.

“Fixed?” we asked.

“Acorn. He’s got Acorn in his pocket. That’s what, 20% of the votes?” the neighbor said.

“Huh?” we wondered. The neighbor spoke with such conviction and belief, yet this was the first we’d heard of such a conspiracy theory.

“You’ve heard of Acorn?” he asked.

“Well yes,” we both agreed.

“I know it’s a non-profit,” said my husband, “but I don’t know what it is exactly.”

“I don’t know where you get your information, but I’ll look it up when I get home,” I promised, and began to leave. 

I found out later by researching on the internet that Acorn stands for “Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.” Their mission statement explains that they are the nation’s largest community organization of low and moderate income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. Acorn’s current campaigns include helping homeowners facing foreclosure; assisting with Gulf Coast recovery after hurricanes ravaged the area; immigration; advocating for workers to get a living wage and paid sick days; and increasing voter participation in elections.

The latest anti-Obama spin, which I was able to only find on Christian, conservative and “right-to-life” websites, claimed that Obama was single-handedly guilty of causing the mortgage meltdown because he had worked with Acorn. Acorn had advocated to help low income, moderate income, and minority families get loans when old standards disqualified them. The connection between Obama and the crisis on Wall street is a stretch, at best.

Acorn was not the only advocacy group to assist minorities in getting loans. A Massachusetts Community and Banking Council (MCBC) report from June 2004 studied the rate of home loan denials and found that as recently as 2002, blacks were denied loans about two-and-a-half times more frequently than whites. The 50 Banks participating in the MCBC agreed to take a “second look” at denials to ensure that fair lending procedures were followed. However, no special exceptions would be made in granting loans to applicants who do not qualify. Low credit scores continued to be the primary reason for denial.

But my neighbor wasn’t done, yet, and he asked me, “Tell me this. What did you think of the bailout?” 

“You mean the latest one?” I asked, “The $700 billion bailout?”

“Yes, the one this morning,” he said. 

“Well, I didn’t think they had a lot of choice, this late in the game,” I said, “They had to do something.”

“Well, I didn’t like it,” he said. “You know, I’ve been waiting for this. All those Fernie mac loans defaulting – “

“You mean Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?” I asked. 

My neighbor was confusing the $200 billion bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae on September 7, which Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson of the Bush administration did independently and without oversight, to the more recent $700 billion bipartisan bailout agreement of Wall Street on September 28, geared to save banks from collapse who have extended credit for everything from student loans to home loans to investment capitol needed to start a business.

“Yeah, just call ‘em Fernie Mac and you’ll know what I mean. Which are mostly to minorities –"

“No, there aren’t enough minorities in the entire country to encompass all of those loans,” I said, “Maybe there’s 10 % minorities in the overall population.”

My neighbor pondered this and agreed, “That’s true. Where I come from, you don’t see many.”

I checked the facts and the numbers are: 24% of the US population is comprised of minorities, according to the 2006 census. 

“And my loan is insured by a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac program,” I said, “In January, when I qualified for the loan, I didn’t have to pay a down payment. But by the time May rolled around when I actually found a house to buy and closed, not only did I have to put money down, the rates went up. Plus, I now have to pay PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), not because of anything I did, but because of what other people did,” I explained. My PMI payments add an extra $100 per month to my mortgage.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are government sponsored private businesses who underwrite mortgages written by the banks which grant the loans. You can actually buy stock in both companies and many stockholders are located overseas.

According to a July 11, 2008 New York Times article, $12 trillion has been loaned out as mortgages to borrowers in the United States. Freddie and Fannie currently "own" $5.2 trillion in loans, which is slightly less than half of the total $12 trillion total.

Of the $5.2 trillion, $3.5 trillion of that amount is in guaranteed mortgages. The other $1.7 is in unsecured debt, according to a Sept. 11 Bloomberg news article.

Only 1.15% of Fannie Mae loans have defaulted, according to a July 23 Bloomberg news article which paints a very descriptive picture of the eleventh hour before Fannie and Freddie theoretically crashed.

I was unable to find any statistics on the percentage of loans that were taken out by minorities, nor the percentage of their default rate compared to those of whites. However, I do know that after searching high and low for a house to buy in Florida, only one of the 72 foreclosed homes I looked at were owned by names which implied them to be of Hispanic or Asian descent. In fact, most of the homes on the foreclosure list in January were owned by “flippers,” individuals who mostly reside in other states, bought up several homes at once, usually by not paying a down payment, then attempted to resell the homes quickly at a higher price as the housing market increased at a record pace. When the price of the homes escalated to the point where an ordinary buyer could not afford them, that's when the flippers were left holding the keys. Consequently, the banks were left holding the loans with little to no hope of repayment. Banks tried to sell the homes, but discovered that the values they were basing the loans on were imaginary – falsely inflated by the excitement of speculative flippers.

My landlord, who lived in New York and had a name indicating Italian descent, was a perfect example. My property manager said that “he is in trouble” and “still owns over five houses he’s trying to sell in this county alone.” He bought the house I was renting on spec from a developer for $339K in late 2006. He sold it at a loss for $210K in 2008 after the developer lowered the prices on identical new homes – that’s when I had to move. 

I then bought a house listed as a short-sale, or “pre-foreclosure” sale. The man who owned it was also not a minority by any stretch of the imagination. He was a native Floridian, had been given the house by his parents and borrowed against it to fund a business enterprise which unfortunately failed, thereby requiring him to sell his assets. 

In fact, I only know one individual personally who has lost their home to foreclosure in the past three years. My friend Shelley is not a minority, unless you consider being a woman as being a minority. She lost her home after her mother, the primary breadwinner in her family, died unexpectedly due to a flesh-eating bacterial infection. 

The belief that only minorities are defaulting on their mortgages is just another symptom of our racist and prejudiced population. In fact, Florida law still prohibits Asian immigrants from buying homes in the state of Florida, per the Florida Alien Land Law of 1926. Voters will have an opportunity to repeal this law in the November election.

My neighbor continued with his argument.

“I’ve been watching the real estate market and waiting for the homes on the beach to come down to the right price so I can buy them up. I want them to come down to $50,000, but they’re not there, yet. This messes me up,” he said.

“Oh, you want to flip them?” asked my husband.

“Yeah, but they’re not low enough, yet,” he said, “And now they never will be ‘cause of the bailout.”

We argued extensively about other issues, everything from the details of the bailout to whether or not John McCain lied when he said he was not planning to attend the debate on Friday. In the end, the movie was starting and my neighbor wanted to go. We let him have the last word, but it made no sense.

You always know you’ve won an argument when your opponent resorts to shouting nonsensical blabber.