Comments on: An Open Letter to President Elect Barack Obama on the Fiscal Stimulus Package

By: Jia

Jia — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:20:30 +0000

We learned from Home Depot and Lowes, never mind the credit crisis that homeowners are the best place to start because homes are the biggest investment most Americans make. My brothers an electrician and he doesn’t own a home but he works on them. My neighbor across the street doesn’t own a home but installs windows and the guys on both sides of me are contractors. My older brothers in real estate, the list goes on…You can at the same time protect the creditors/taxpayers by tying federally funded loans through local govt in the way that California recently approved. The solar system/wind turbine is tied into the home’s property taxes which stay with the home on to the next owner. So if a buyer gets a foreclosed home with a solar system attached, he continues to pay on any outstanding balance from the previous homeowner who defaulted on the alternative energy loan. Also these homeowners that are ready for a new car can look at a hybrid/plug-in which would be completely emissions and gas free for people living within a reasonable distance of the workplace. The price will come down to a more affordable level within 5 years and that pumps money into states like Michigan and that money trickles down to the dealership, financing market, local salespeople, etc.

By: George

George — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:13:43 +0000

The stimulus for new buyers is the bargain basement pricing for homes,Kristen. The new liquidity in the market provided by the bail-out coupled with lower home prices should be pretty good reason to buy within the coming few years. The big picture is investing in innovative clean technologies to drive the economy and our ability to compete with rest of the globe forward.

By: Darius Drake

Darius Drake — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:22:49 +0000

Nice work – I agree with pretty much everything here, though I also agree that much of the new “housing” out there is pretty low-grade and is so badly built, inefficient, and dependent on the automobile that bulldozing it might actually be the best path.
Kristen – you’re not thinking very hard, but I do agree that we need to add to this idea some incentive for new homeowners too – especially toward actual neighborhoods that encourage walking and non-car dependent transport.

By: Boastero Gritto

Boastero Gritto — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:16:05 +0000

A lot of this property, especially the shlock in California’s central valley and around Las Vegas needs to be bulldozed, not bailed out. Write it off and move on.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:01:48 +0000

So, your suggestion is that all fiscal stimulus be directed towards people who already own property (even if they’re in the process of losing it), and not be directed towards any of the possible buyers who will halt the crashing home prices by buying homes they can afford?
FAIL. Try again.

By: Dor Carter

Dor Carter — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:50:37 +0000

I trust you’re being metaphorical about “Main Street: the main artery through our American towns” right?
One of the major reasons we have these foreclosures is that “main street” has been replaced by “strip mall highway”, a replacement that is generally the antithesis of sustainable.
Can we please stop talking about “Main Street” as if it exists? Let’s start talking about bringing it back!