The Wall Street Journal has published a map and chart by First American CoreLogic that looks at percentage of homeowners with negative equity, i.e., who owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth. "Nearly 10.7 million US households, or about 23% of homeowners with mortgages, had negative equity in the third quarter." Florida stands out with an astounding 44.7% of total mortgages in negative equity.
Making the rounds on the web is another interactive map showing the growth of monthly unemployment rates by county across the United States, from January 2007 to the present. Also, not to be missed.
Put these maps, side-by-side "15 signs of a moral pathology undermining not just banking but American democracy and capitalism", by Paul Farrell. The local news is filled with corruption scandals; from news that the SEC is investigating the budget of the City of Miami, to county commissioners and Ponzi schemes costing investors billions of dollars. But the truth is that the same set of principles that drove the biggest housing boom and bust since the Depression is still in place: "everyone is doing it."
It is literally impossible for the mainstream media to keep pace with the complex intertwining of foreclosures, bankruptcies, and the connections of power brokers now fallen on hard times to politicians who sold the state down the river in order to plow unneeded development into "cheap" agricultural and environmentally sensitive wetlands. In November 2010, voters will have a chance to vote, for the first time, on how growth has been mismanaged in Florida. If voters are smart, they will strip from municipal officials the blank check that the Growth Machine writes for incumbent local elected officials in exchange for favorable decisions on zoning changes that shape the future development of communities. No one has a right to destroy the economy the way the drunken fools did, with ours.
This Thanksgiving, thank the citizen activists who have given voters their first chance to vote on Florida's unsustainable patterns of growth: it is called Florida Hometown Democracy. The politicians who now wring their hands about corruption are scared to death of giving voters the one opportunity to deal corruption a stinging blow.
3 comments:
Amen
As it gets closer to the vote be prepared for a mountain of mis-information from chambers, developers, the Farm Bureau and local governments. They do not want to relinquish land-use control to the people who suffer the consequences of poor decisions - you, the voter. There will be a "swift-boating" of FHD, don't fall for it. Inform everyone you know in Florida that we are out of options and FHD is the only way to level the playing field.
Corruption rules! Amendment 4 (Florida Hometown Democracy) is the only way to get ourselves out of this devastation and corruption. Amendment 4 cuts the tie between our politicians and their campaign-contributor (and more!) developers. No more shoeboxes and shaving mugs, etc., full of cash. No more closed doors. Right out here in public, please, where we all get to have our say in what our communities will be like! Roll on, Amendment 4. For more information, visit www.FloridaHometownDemocracy.com. Do it for your own sake, for your children's sake!
Post a Comment