Slump in Plane Travels Grounds Wichita

The NY Times ^ | 041603 | Peter Kilborn

[Archangelsk]

Memo to the President and Rove:

This is your midwest base, neglect them at your own risk. I will trade Florida and the whole southern strategy for the solid 81 electoral votes that these hard-working folks represent. They may not be degreed and pedigreed, but they sure as hell will be able to tell if their tax dollars are headed to Iraq. Once again, do not neglect this base.

[annyokie]

Let's do the math: They made $100,000 a year and own a $114,000 home. How in the world can their mortgage be $1500 a month? Did they borrow at 16%? Something's wrong here.

[Archangelsk]

Perhaps they took out a 15 year mortgage. Smart if you can do it.

[cynicom]

When are these people going to learn, if they would work for $10,000 a year, they would be steadily employed. Thats capitalism, out source your work to China, show those greedy American workers.

[Archangelsk]

You forgot the sarcasm tag.

[annyokie]

Then they should refinance. How smart is it to be foreclosed on?

[Archangelsk]

Not if you don't have the capital to refinance. (Of course they could call DiTech and be screwed several different ways for the "no money down" refinance package).

[Poohbah]

What should Bush do?

Hand out checks?

Or try to lower taxes and stimulate the economy?

[cynicom]

American workers are slowly descending into third world status. No one seems to care until it is their job that goes overseas. I saw story week or so ago that hospitals in Boston were having their X-rays read by Indian radiologists. American capitalism.

[annyokie]

How can you have that kind of income, one child, a modest home and no capital? It sounds to me that they were living too large and got their *sses snapped like the auto workers in Detroit, or the farmers in Nebraska.

I never made that much money in my life and will never see bankruptcy or foreclosure. It's called financial planning and weather watching with the economic shifts of the past 20 years.

[RAT Patrol]

Not only that...If the Salters sell their home and get their $187,000 asking price, they would clear $40,000, something to help them into another home. If the bank forecloses, the Salters could get nothing.

If the house was $114,000 and now it is worth $187,000, why would they clear only $40,000? Sounds like someone went a little credit card crazy back when cash ($100,000 plus income) was plentiful. How is that my job to rectify?

[Poohbah]

But it's SO much easier to blame the foreign devils for your woes!

[annyokie]

I blame it on the Unions. We told my brother-in-law to outsource with his xray biz last month. It's a bitch being a small business owner today.

[Alberta's Child]

In the case of the Salter family, they had both spouses working jobs related to the airline industry. That's a big problem in a lot of smaller cities in the U.S. that are dominated by one industry.

[RAT Patrol]

AMEN to your post #10.

[Poohbah]

187,000 - 40,000 = 147,000.

How do you owe 147,000 when you bought the home for 114,000, with (I presume) some sort of down payment?

Sheesh.

When we bought our house and put down 50%, the realtor and the bank damn near fainted.

[Alberta's Child]

These folks would have plenty of work if they were in the business of making cruise missiles.

[annyokie]

Whine on/ "The Government should pay for my lack of planning and greedy shopping mall exploits!" /Whine off

[Archangelsk]

Or try to lower taxes and stimulate the economy?

Oh, fer cryin' out...

OK, I'll concede we need to lower taxes to stimulate/exercise the economy. (Of course, if you don't have a job it ain't going to matter much). Now to pay for this tax cut let's also cut some fat from the federal government. Hmmm, how about Homeland Security to start? No, OK, TSA? No, the military? No? Social Security, Medicare, Medicade and everything else? Yeah that's the ticket (to lose 2004 that is).

[Beck_isright]

""Why can't the president help people who are losing their houses and jobs?" Mrs. Salter asked. "He's going to send money over there to help build Iraq back up, and we lose everything we've ever worked for. It's not our fault that we lost our jobs, what the terrorists did. It's not. Our lives were going good. I don't understand."

It's not my fault that my 401k was reduced by 40% so I have to stay semi-retired and work for 5 more years at least. It's not my fault when hurricanes form. It's not my fault when France treats us like crap. It's not my fault when the IRS demands their annual pennance every April 15. It's not my fault when the Yankees lose. It's not my fault when the Bucs or Dolphins lose in overtime. It's not my fault that the moon rises in the east and sets in the west. When is W going to fix all of that too????

I think you get my point.