Friday's Odds and Ends

So Santorum won three states this past week and now his campaign has new life. Does that mean that Mitt and Newt will stop throwing barbs at each other and throw some at Santorum? Oh, wait, they already did. Shortly after Santorum's three-state win, Mitt said "Republicans spent too much money, borrowed too much money, earmarked too much, and Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have to be held accountable."

 A $26 billion mortgage settlement agreement was announced on Thursday that would bring relief to millions of homeowners who are struggling to hang on to homes that have lost value. Homes that are no longer valued at the mortgage price are termed "underwater".  According to mortgage bankers there are an estimated 11 million underwater homeowners and nearly 3.5 million homeowners who are either 90 days or more late in making payments or are in foreclosure. As a result of the settlement, up to 1 million homeowners could see their principle reduced, while another 750,000 could refinance.

It's about time the focus of recovery was on the homeowners and not the financial institutions. What do you think? Was this a good move?

Taking a different approach, banks in  New York are paying some struggling homeowners as much as $35,000 to sell their homes before they end up in foreclosure. The deals are aimed at giving and incentive to homeowners who owe more on their home than it is worth and who are seriously delinquent on their payments to sell their homes in a short sale. Full story HERE 

I'm not sure I like this one, but maybe I would think differently if I was facing foreclosure. Opinions can change drastically when one is in the midst of financial difficulties.

Cars of the future are going to be considerably different. Several automakers are moving toward small, shared electric cars that will radically change the way people drive in big cities. Full story HERE

The idea of sharing a car with a neighbor has some appeal if one is in the city with the neighbor right next door. But out here in the country, we have to drive to our neighbor's house. That would seriously impact our ability to share a car, unless we all saddled up our horses.

For those who like short stories, my publisher is offering my collection,  The Wisdom of Ages,  for free today. It is only the e-book version that is free today, but it is also available in paper for those who prefer that.  http://tiny.cc/qmigv

What a Surprise

Actually, not such a surprise. Most of us already realize that common sense does not seem all that common in Washington.

That came to mind today when I read the following news item:

"Government watchdogs are telling a Senate panel that the Obama administration's multibillion effort to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure is not working and could put the economic recovery at risk. Special inspector general for the financial bailouts Neil Barofsky said Wednesday that the program has not "put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings," during a hearing on the $700 billion bank bailout before the Senate Finance Committee. He also said the Treasury Department has ignored earlier demands that it set clearer goals for the program."



I remember when this bank bailout first occurred, I  asked why the money had not been given directly to the homeowners who could then have paid their mortgages? To me it was a win-win situation. The banks would still have received  an influx of money to help their financial situations and homes could have been saved.

When I mentioned my idea to my husband, pointing out the simple logic, I also wondered why some one in government who was outlining the plans had not thought of it. My husband laughed and reminded me that most of the folks in Washington don't seem to operate on simple logic. 

What do you think? I my logic just too simple? After all, I am a writer, not an economist.