Business Practices

My daughter is getting married.  I recently lost my job due to budget cuts.  That means wedding budgets are tight.  Recently she interviewed photography studios, including asking about costs.  At one studio, http://iwantfx.com/, when she asked about pricing, she was told, "Perhaps we aren't the right studio for you."  Guess what?  They were right.

Who can afford to run a business this way?  The wealthy.  It may be a status symbol to those in the community, but I promise you, they will never see one dollar from this family.

I have a hard time believing I live in the same state, or the same WORLD for that matter, as the Governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback.  This man is bound and damn determined to ignore the reality of growing poverty across the state.  He has cut budgets and revised requirements for food stamps, is trying to pass legislation to govern medicare in the state instead of allowing federal oversight so that he can use that money to fund the state general budget, and is threatening to do away with early childhood program funding that is legislated to be used for specific purposes in the state.

Governor, don't you think you should perhaps find out who your constituents are or don't you give a damn?  Perhaps you're one of those people who believe that poor people should just go somewhere else?

For God's sake, educate yourself man!  Go to inner city Kansas City or Topeka and see what it's like!  Go to Southeast Kansas and visit the children who survive because their parents receive foodstamps!

Oh, and by the way, 90% of those families who receive foodstamps HAVE AT LEAST ONE PARENT WHO WORKS OUTSIDE THE HOME!  Yes, Governor, they are not all "sit on their ass and do nothing losers."  That's what happens when your solution to eradicating poverty is bringing in jobs that don't pay a wage that allows a family to live above the federal poverty level.

What are you afraid of?  That you might grow a heart?

The Turning Point

I woke up with Whitney Houston in my head singing, "The Greatest Love of All."(http://youtu.be/IYzlVDlE72w)  Not surprising given her untimely death and the fact that today is Valentine's Day. I've never really liked this holiday for what it stands for. There's always so much pressure to find the right gift, wonder if he'll remember, and if he remembers, will he do anything for you...Blah, Blah, Blah...

Here's what I've learned over the years that helps me get through "V" day:

1. He will wait until February 14th to buy me a card.
2. He will probably get me a box of chocolates that will blow my diet and be made by a company that uses child labor.
3. It won't matter, because he already has given me so much.

Yes, boys and girls, for me V day is not about flowers, candy or heart shaped balloons.  For me, V day is about GIVING love.  I treasure sitting side by side watching, "The Big Bang Theory," and listening to him laugh, much more than dozens of roses.

Despite the hardships of the last six months, today I am counting myself lucky.  I am legally bound to the man I love.  And THAT makes me very happy.

As for the rest?  I've long felt Valentine's Day was a turning point.  New life fast approaches from this moment forward; it's the doorway to Spring.  If I get one wish this V-Day, I wish that my luck would begin to change, starting now, with this first honest smile in months.

Thank you, Lord, for hanging in there with me.

XOXOXOX TO YOU IF YOU'RE READING THIS, YOU'RE LOVED! XOXOXOXOXOX

Mortgage Settlements: If Only...

As I sat in my doctor's waiting room this afternoon and watched President Obama announce a settlement with mortgage companies to reduce mortgages, interest rates, and provide $2000 to those families who were unlawfully forced out of their homes, I was thinking of how helpful this might have been, once upon a time.

Some things in life are, "just the way things are." One of these is that poor people become the prey of those unscrupulous enough to see the potential for a profit in the hungry eyes of those trying to escape poverty. Before your brain becomes defensive, dear reader, this is not a rant against Republicans, or even against banks. This is a simple story, a true story, with a very sad ending. And I hope, a story that will further understanding for the necessity to have regulation of the banking industry.

My momma had very humble beginnings. Born into at least a third generation of poverty, she struggled to raise her six children, supporting them with the hourly wage of a practical nurse. Eventually the children became self sufficient and she was able to take advantage of a "rent to own" sale of a house. She was a proud homeowner.

In due time, she paid off the 30-some-thousand-dollar price tag, living with the mold caused by a basement that flooded annually, leaving her washer and dryer and anything else stored there floating in at least 4 feet of water. The reason for the unconventional sale of the house was apparent. The flooding was caused by an inadequate city storm drain that funneled water straight under her house. Of course the city refused to fix the problem. After all, where would an old woman get the money to sue them?

And so, like all houses do, her house aged along with her. Eventually she needed a new roof and new windows. There was no money for these expenses, the cost of living had risen at a much greater rate than her salary, and she felt fortunate that her children were now raised. Besides, her "disabled" husband took up much of her paycheck with his greens fees and his golf cart expenses.

But the roof wouldn't wait. A solution presented itself right in Mom's mailbox! She could take out an equity loan on the house, at a slightly higher interest rate, and fix the roof and the windows. How else would she ever afford the repairs? And so, she did.

But the payments proved to be a strain on an already tight budget. Add a credit card maxed to the limit from buying groceries at Aldi, with the interest rate at 32% from late payments, and she couldn't quite keep up.

Her husband, who didn't like his tee times reduced, came up with the solution; they would borrow against the house again, taking out a second mortgage. Seeing no other solution, and having no experience with such things, she went along with the plan, taking all the equity in the house, plus some, in cash, and agreeing to a payment equal to someone who financed a $100,000 house. After all, the bank wouldn't loan her the money if she couldn't afford the loan, right?

Not more than five years went by when the payments got to be too much. Bankruptcy was filed. The golfer sold her car and bought an old van for her to drive that was painted in, of all things, camouflage. And then, the bank started proceedings to foreclose on her home. The one that had once been bought and paid for.

About the same time, through a death in the family, she inherited a house in a neighboring city the total of which was valued at about $5000. This house was small. This house was falling in. This house had termites. This house needed new electrical wiring and had an old gas stove for a heater. There was no way her furniture and the things she'd carefully collected over the years could fit inside this house. And so she asked me, "If you were me, would you fight the bank, or would you move?" What would you say?

She was sick. So sick. And getting sicker. She was losing her job, her income, her health, and her home. And yes, I advised her to move. To get out from under the burden of that debt and move on. I wish I'd known then what I know now.

One day, she was so sick in the new house that she couldn't get out of bed. I met her in the emergency room and was there to hear the diagnosis: lung cancer. She died in that little shack, unable to go "home."

Did she make mistakes? Many. I fully admit there were many things that should've never happened and bad decisions. But I also understand that she became the prey of the greedy mortgage companies who profited from their investments that, while they were loaning her the money, bet that she wouldn't be able to repay it, lining their pockets, either way.

My sister now lives in the tiny shack, thankful that she had a place to go when she lost her own home to foreclosure.

Life is tough. No one ever promised we'd all get to live an easy life. You have to be tough, and wily, and have someone walking beside you to spot the snakes in the grass. Experience is a tough teacher. And that $2000 would do her no good now.

So why does the mortgage industry need regulation? What if this was your momma?

Mortgage Settlement Could Bring Billions in Relief