Fixing US.

[SoCalDem]

We are broken..

Most of us are debt-slaves
Most of us sleep too little
Most of us work too much
Most of us worry too much


Money is at the root of all these problems.
the ones who need it the most, have the least of it, and no matter how hard they try, they only go backward..

The Housing "meltdown"
The Credit "crunch"
The dot.com "bubble"
The banking "blip"..

The press makes it all so "cute", and the money-honeys& their macho-money sidekicks on any of the 112 "financial" channels smile & yuk it up as they gleefully announce $110 oil, triple time increase of wheat, soaring corn futures, etc.

Most people only see $6 boxes of cereal, $4 gas, $5 gallons of milk, and the possibility of being homeless,. when THEY see these numbers..

We are all just markers on a Global Monopoly game.. Which marker are you? The shoe? The dog? The hat?

We need a massive one-time "re-boot"..

Set a date ..say June, 1, 2008...for every person making less than $200K per year

Start the clock NOW.(so people do not deliberately run-up their purchases)

What happens on June1?

Whatever your house value is on June 1.. That's what your mortgage debt/loan is re-set at. (adjusted for what you have paid in, if you have been in your house for a long time, and are near paying it off)

Maximum mortgage rates should be set at , say no more than 8%, and no less than 5%...and should all be no less than 10 year ..and should ALL be fixed-rate. And they should be based on your real ability to re-pay..(there will still be some losers who "bought" houses they never could afford)

Make it illegal to do "cash-out" re-fis, and limit re-fis to only 1 every 10 years.

Your credit cards are CANCELLED...ALL of them.

So is your credit card debt!

Set minimum interest for bank savings accounts at 5%..

Outlaw equity loans for anyone who has not physically lived in and paid on their home less than 7 years...and set the maximum equity to be available for withdrawl, at no more than 5% of equity.

Income tax deduction for interest on primary residence ONLY..(specifically rental properties, run as businesses should be addressed separately)..

make gasoline expenses , & auto loan interest (cars under $30K) deductible for everyone..not just for long form filers.

Make all medical expenses (even co-pays) deductible for everyone

These deductions should come off your "tax owed"....not "figured away" in the calculations.

The banks/lending industry have shit in the pool for too many years, and it's time for them to bite the bullet and take their lumps..

Can you imagine how the economy would boom, if suddenly millions of people were free from crushing debt?..and could start spending real money..and start saving?

By dribbling out the bad news, we are only prolonging the misery. Everyone pretty much knows that our economy is based on magic & myth, so it's time to get real.. and take our medicine in a full-dose.

Will some "banks" fail?..probably..but they deserve to. If they are cheating and lying about their assets, we don't need or want them managing our economy.

[Horse with no Name]

1. It actually calls for 7-year amnesty in the Bible

however...the moneychangers would never spew that particular passage...they just count on "the faithful" letting others read the Bible to them instead of reading it themselves.
I do believe that if our tax money can go effortlessly to bail out companies, that we are owed...JUST ONCE...a complete amnesty.

[SoCalDem]

2. The Jubilee? (Isn't that what it's called?)

not a bible-reader here :)

[Horse with no Name]

3. That is different

Deuteronomy 15

1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.

[Trillo]

4. Oh my gosh.

I had to rec' this post.

[Trillo]

5. Perhaps other DUers are smarter than me.

"Whatever your house value is on June 1.. That's what your mortgage debt/loan is re-set at. (adjusted for what you have paid in, if you have been in your house for a long time, and are near paying it off)"

What if you bought on a low, and didn't take any second mortgages, or home improvement loans to turn it into a Gentrified mini-palace? As written your plan would raise some mortgages payments.

[SoCalDem]

6. No because your payments in, would be accounted for

Your payments would not be changed because you are not upside down..