Party Like It's 1992

Now I've pointed out some truly dismal numbers when discussing the crushing policies of the Obama regime with regard to the economy but this is by far the the worst:

The Great Recession wiped out nearly two decades of Americans’ wealth, according to government data released Monday, with middle-class families bearing the brunt of the decline. 

The Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in 1992.

Note that the large portion of the misery is currently being suffered through by the middle class who watched their true nest egg--the equity in their house--tumble. Thanks to your favorite Democrat and his or her (or in Barney Franks' case both) unwavering support of the social engineering experiment that is Fannie Mae.

Think about this, in 1992:

-George H.W. Bush yakked all over the Japanese premiere;
-The IRA were still bombing Britain;
-The LA riots destroyed a bunch of Korean and Black businesses;
-The Ruby Ridge fiasco stoked the ire of many antigovernment types;
-Hurricane Andrew whacked Florida;
-Some chick named shine head Sinead O'Connor ripped up a picture of the Pope on SNL;
-Nirvana's Nevermind was #1;
-Slick Willy was elected to the highest office in the land, which he promptly disgraced; and
-US forces landed in Somalia to assist in feeding the starving people of that African nation, who quickly repaid that favor by attacking us in the first bin-Laden attack against the US that left Delta and Ranger forces dead.

That's where we find ourselves now, living to a standard I enjoyed when I was 24 and a third class boatswains mate in the good old US Navy.

If I were Romney, I'd hit Obama over the head with this repeatedly and daily.

Market Rockets on Toxic Debt Plan, Housing News

I've always said I wouldn't become like a liberal and cheer every time something bad happens to the president I disagree with and come up with some lame excuse every time something good does. If we pull out of this, I'll be the first to credit Obama.

One day (or week) doesn't mean anything of consequence but it sure beats the alternative:

March 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rallied, capping the market’s steepest two-week gain since 1938, as investors speculated the Obama administration’s plan to rid banks of toxic assets will spur growth and investor Mark Mobius said a new bull market has begun. Treasuries and the dollar fell.

Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. both soared at least 19 percent as the U.S. Treasury said it will finance as much as $1 trillion in purchases of distressed assets. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. jumped more than 6.7 percent after oil rose to an almost four-month high. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended its rebound from a 12-year closing low on March 9 to 22 percent as all 10 of its main industry groups advanced.

Here's the housing data:

US existing home sales saw a surprise rebound in February, rising 5.1 percent to a stronger-than-expected annual pace of 4.72 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

The rise marked a hopeful sign for a sector hurting for more than two years, but the industry group cautioned that sales remain weak and prices continued to fall.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was 165,400 dollars in February, down 15.5 percent from a year ago.

The level of home sales was well above expectations of an annual pace of 4.45 million but it remained down 4.6 percent from a year ago.

Good news considering we're at about the lowest point we can be at and (hopefully) the only way to go is up. But, until the average American feels confident and job markets start showing some life, I'm not exactly tossing confetti and planning any major improvements on my house.

All in all a good day. Let's hope it continues into tomorrow and next week.

Update: Er, well, I was feeling good but now, not so much.

Is the Mortgage Business Bailout a Stimulus Package?

Perhaps.

All indicators are that we are in a serious economic slowdown and in some quarters the word recession is being whispered. I would tend to agree that we are definitely on the verge if not in a full recession but I further think it will be mild.

That said, is the Bush plan to bailout the mortgage industry a plan to get the housing market back on track? Housing got us through the recession that Bush inherited and is one of the bulwarks of a continued strong economy. Plus, injecting money into the mortgage business may lead to a boost for the building trades who are suffering bad right about now.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of the government bailing out any private business or industry but Bush has to calm the markets and reassure a wary public and he probably sees this as his last, best hope for doing so. By bolstering a failing industry, he may stave off foreclosures in a couple of million homes and thus save local towns from implosion from falling property tax receipts. Add to that the Democrats not making the Bush tax cuts permanent thus raising taxes on millions and we have the makings of catastrophe.

I've not seen a drastic increase in foreclosures or for sale signs in my town but I'm sure that should the economy continue to shrink, we'll see more and more towns not meeting budget expectations and that's where the real problems will become manifest.

Link via Instapundit.

Bush Takes Hard Line on Mortgage Crisis

As he should. Let the sub-prime companies tank as they did shady business anyway while screwing over legitimate business people. I feel for those whose mortgage rates shot through the ionosphere, but they really shouldn't have been given mortgages in the first place. Here's the meat of it:

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is hardening its opposition to the chorus of Democrats, bankers, economists and consumer advocates calling for a big-money government rescue program for struggling homeowners.

In an interview yesterday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson branded many of the aid proposals circulating in Washington as "bailouts" for reckless lenders, investors and speculators, rather than measures that would provide meaningful relief to deserving, but cash-strapped, mortgage borrowers.

Mr. Paulson's comments came amid signs that the nation's housing market is getting worse, not better.

The housing market, like the temperature of the planet and the stock market is cyclical. Those who keep a cool head during the down times and don't panic will be ahead of the game when things improve. You have people who lose their cool like Al Gore and people who have experience and remain calm like Paulson. Three years from now, it will be a sellers market once again and houses will be worth 30% more than today and five years later they'll drop a few percentage points, that's how a free market works. The last boom was an anomaly driven by easy loan access, housing shot up to numbers that were unnaturally inflated.

Congress should have been clamping down on the sub-prime lenders prior to the meltdown instead of reactively going after them once the house of cards they created toppled. Instead, they took the industries donations and said nothing.

The proposed solution is not a solution at all but a hand out to those who should not have been approved for a loan in the first place. Just like the illegal alien amnesty issue, you don't award people for bad behavior and congressional Democrats, smelling votes, are trying to do just that.