A Better Stimulus Plan

Feed

Image 1 of 4

Author: Joeprah

Started: February 4, 2009, 10:53:42 am

Target: US Stimulus Package

Category: Government & Politics

Supporters:

Goal:

100,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Active

Building a Better Stimulus Plan

By now, many of you have heard about the Stimulus Plan that is being passed around the US House and Senate. The bill was supposed to be something that was going to kick start the economy and bring help to those that need it most. I think that for this bill to be a success it really needs to address this in a realistic fashion. I believe a great fix to our economy would be to help out home owners across the country who are struggling. You here about the dropping interest rate constantly, but you know that in order to get your mortgage into that lower rate you would need to refinance. Refinancing, as many of us are finding out, is almost impossible. There are many reasons for this: the housing market has collapsed across the country and our homes wouldn’t appraise close to the amount that we are currently borrowing, lenders are not lending money as readily as they were this time last year, and the closing costs are something that your family couldn’t afford right now to begin with and lumping that outrageous fee into the cost of the loan would put you past the breaking point of what you could possibly borrow.

The Solution: Give All US Home Owners the Current Low Mortgage Rate

The idea is that lending institutions, as a way for them to repair what they have broken, should be made to give all US home owners the current low mortgage rate. The term in the home owner’s mortgage should not change (If they have 17 years left, it remains at 17 years) and the interest rate should be fixed.

If this was part of the stimulus plan this would pump so much money into the economy it is hard to dismiss it as a viable option. If you think each home owner could save an average of $200/month it is easy to see that this is like giving the US economy not only a boast but rather steroids. Did you know that mortgage companies can roll back your mortgage rate without refinancing if you are can prove you are having a difficult time paying each month? Why not make the US government work for the people for a change and force these lending institutions to help home owners? The predatory lending practices and inflated appraisal values are a large part of why our economy is faltering so it makes sense that those institutions should be penalized for this behavior. Their penalty would be earning less money from home owners. They may even find that less Americans would have to foreclose and the housing market could begin to recover.
As a nation we should be incensed at the treatment Wall Street got with the bailout bill and how the stimulus plan is being written in a way that will most likely only exacerbate our current state of affairs rather than give US citizens and sort of lasting relief. If you are want a real solution to the economic crisis sign this online petition and make your voice heard.