Unfortunately, with every good program, there are those out there that will try to find scams to enrich themselves at the cost of everyone else. This is true with this program as well and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) is examining questionable claims. Of course, this adds more expense to the program which is generally thought to cost approximately $1B per month.

Mixed Reviews – the Dow’s been toying with the 10K mark and we’ve seen some steps toward improvement in the real estate industry, yet, unemployment figures and foreclosures are putting a damper on any kind of thought of a quick recovery. We are experiencing the longest recession since the ‘30’s and the worst unemployment rate in 26 years.

Now it could be worse, but how do you tell that to your neighbor who’s out of work and in jeopardy of losing their home? I have a dear friend who’s been out of work for 6 months, but what makes this situation worse is that he has a roommate who is not only out of work but also dealing with chemotherapy. Now he’s in jeopardy of eventually losing his home and doesn’t know what he can do to help the roommate.

This is just one situation, yet there are many, many like this and these are our neighbors and friends.

OK, so now with all that doom & gloom said, the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) released a report last week in which more than 80% of economists surveyed believe that the recession is over & we are starting a period of expansion. Granted, the unemployment rate and federal deficit are expected to remain somewhat high through 2010.

Additionally, they expect overall housing prices to increase by 2% and that 2010 will be the first year since ’05 that the housing industry will contribute to the nation’s overall growth.

Many economists believe that we’ve exited the recession during the last quarter and that we are entering the recovery period. The situation that we currently find ourselves in did not occur overnight. It took years to create and will take more than just a few quarters of growth to repair it.

Till next time….Marc It Sold!

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This is just absolutely ridiculous! That we as a society have stooped to this level is abominable. Shame on us! If this is the only way for some to get their point across with misinformation and the selling of fear, then we should be ashamed. What happened to good old debates? Yes, even then each side would have their own slant, but not a total distortion of the facts.

If we took a poll today, I doubt if 50% of the people could accurately relate what ‘end of life counseling’ or ‘single-payer system’ means.

Before we even get into that, what’s being discussed as healthcare reform is in reality health insurance reform. The insurance companies have run amok. I have no problem with a corporation making a profit. That’s capitalism as it should be. But you want to talk about death squads, well they are the real culprits. Insurance companies make life and death decisions about what coverages they will allow us based on the cost-benefit, but not to the insured, to the corporation and of course their good old actuarial tables. Yet, they have deep pockets (profiting from us) and lobbyists so all we are hearing is the rhetoric that they are spewing, which carries very little truth.

Pres. Obama did not say that government would make decisions about who gets care. Actually, quite the opposite. He said, “I don’t want bureaucracies making those decisions.” He also said, “The point is we want to use science, we want doctors and medical experts to be making decisions that all too often right now are driven by skewed policies, by outdated means of reimbursement, or by insurance companies.”

I think it’s very important for seniors to have counseling in regard to options, especially when it comes to Hospice care. I used them when I knew it was time for my mother. They were there for pain management and their goal was to make her comfortable so she could pass, when the time came, in her own home, not in a hospital bed with strangers, tubes and machines.

Comparing a single-payer system to socialism is absurd. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other. A socialized health care system is one in which all health care facilities and personnel are owned and operated by the government. A single-payer system refers to the funding of health care, not the services rendered. An example of such in the U.S. is Medicare. It is a single-payer system, not socialized medicine.

The difference between our present single-payer system, Medicare, and that of other countries such as a Canada, is that ours is for seniors and the disabled whereas theirs is a universal health care. In simplistic terms, we are just talking about our system, but on a larger scale.

People! Take the initiative to research what is being discussed instead of listening to pundits. It doesn’t take long to Google any of these topics mentioned here. The news is now big entertainment. With the proliferation of all the channels on the television, all these so-called pundits need to attract viewers. The majority can’t do that by just giving us the facts & letting us come to our own conclusions. It’s about sensationalism, whether it be from the right, left or middle.

While researching this post, I came across a very informative site www.FactCheck.org. It is produced by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Want to learn more about Health Care and debunk some of the myths, check it out.

Till next time….Marc It Sold!

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…or is it just time to get rid of the Legislature?

In this day and age with lightening speed modern technology, why are we not the one’s making the decision on our future?

We put people in office to represent us, but is this really the case? Do they actually represent us or that of their own personal agenda & their corporate campaign contributors?

Yes, if we are not happy with our congressperson, we can vote them out of office.  But, that may be too late.  The damage could already be done.  The missed opportunity may be gone.

Is what we are seeing a true democracy? I’m surely not promoting autocracy or oligarchy.  But don’t we need changes in our present system to really and ultimately represent that of the people?

Presently our system is that of a representative democracy, but don’t you think we should possibly consider a more direct form of government with limited representation.  Just take a look at Vermont where they have yearly town meeting to decide local issues.  On a larger scale, we have Switzerland where they vote on national referendums two to four times a year.  Granted, we have not seen direct democracy utilized on any large scale such as that of the United States.

With all the information at our fingertips, why not change, besides the fact that many of our representatives would then be out of a job?  Think of the monies that we could save and be put to better use.  Wouldn’t you like more of a say in our government and how it works? Wouldn’t you be more involved if you were given the chance to say yea or nay to an issue?

Of course, then this begs further on other issues such as campaign reform; lobbyists; and, of course, the dreaded electoral college.

President Theodore Roosevelt, in his “Charter of Democracy” speech stated “I believe in the Initiative and Referendum, which should be used not to destroy representative government, but to correct it whenever it becomes misrepresentative.”

We hear a lot of talk from all levels of government, but isn’t this just rhetoric? Is what you are hearing generally representative of your point of view?

Till next time….Marc It Sold!

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One of the main issues that we, The Florida Association of Realtors® and the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association, are following & supporting is SunRail, the proposed 61 mile commuter rail stretching from Deland to Poinciana formerly known as the Central Florida Commuter Rail. Before we go into the he said/she said and some of the motivation behind some of these half-truths, etc. about SunRail, let’s look into the economic impact of such.

The Florida DOT hired an outside company to perform an economic impact analysis of the proposed SunRail. What their findings showed was that it would almost immediately create 13,000 more construction and operations jobs with an impact of more than $350M in household income.

Additionally, it was noted that within a one-half mile radius of the station stops it would further create an additional 113,000 construction jobs; $4.6B in construction dollar earnings over the next 20 years; an increase of almost 9 times the value of property; and a further economic impact of $2.5B from workers living and spending in that area.

This is a phenomenal impact in this day age and does not even take into consideration the benefits that this will allow others a reasonable form of transportation. And let’s not forget the health benefits. Without SunRail and additional two more lanes would have to be added to I-4. Instead, we should be seeing a reduction in this traffic and its associated pollution.

OK, so let’s now look at another aspect of why SunRail is needed and why it has to be now! Several years ago, the Federal Government earmarked monies to Florida for a similar purpose. Unfortunately, we could not get the measure passed and the monies went to Charlotte, NC, which is running what I understand to be a profitable system. If Florida does not pass this legislation, I do not see the Federal Government ever offering us these funds again for commuter rail. Why should they? This isn’t baseball where you get three strikes!

One of the main opponents to SunRail is Sen. Paula Dockery. She states her main concern is because the freight trains will divide the downtown of Lakeland & she’s been also been touting the liability issues. We’ll discuss those in a moment, but it must be understood that she also has a personal background and I think this goes much deeper. You have to understand that her husband lost millions upon millions of dollars when the high-speed rail amendment did not pass several years ago. Think she has a bad taste in her mouth and might just be a tad retaliatory? I do, but then again that’s just my opinion.

Firstly, the State of Florida is buying CSX’s tracks and this figure is not overstated and in fact falls between two independent appraisals of such. Secondly, she states that the no-fault liability unfairly benefits CSX. The liability provisions are basically the same as those of South Florida’s Tri-Rail system. What’s even funnier is that Sen. Dockery voted in favor of that back then.  Hmm…do we see a contradiction here?

The are other arguments on both sides that are unfounded and the fact is that the citizens of the State of Florida will not be on the lam to pay for SunRail if the federal funds are not received.

Sen. Gary Siplin, another opponent who is not fully cognizant of the whole situation, was under the impression that the monies should be used elsewhere, such as for education. That’s all well and good, but there is a problem in that the funds we are talking about here can only be used for transportation projects. When this was explained to Sen. Siplin, it appeared that a light bulb went off in his head.

The benefits of SunRail to Central Florida are great. But if we do not go ahead with this project, we will not see any more federal dollars coming through for other rail projects in Florida and that will be a tragedy of greater proportions.

Call your Legislator today! The State of Florida Needs SunRail and so do you!

Till next time…Marc It Sold!

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Next week, I’m heading to Tallahassee with the Orlando Regional Realtor Association for the Great American Realtor Days with the Florida Association of Realtors.  It should be interesting.  Last year there was a legislator that was so rude to us that I was ready to walk out of their office, but didn’t out of respect for the other Realtors with me.  This person was more interested in opening their mail than talking to us, yet they wanted out support – go figure!!

Anyway, look forward to new posts coming soon!

Til then…Marc It Sold!

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…or at least that’s what he’d like people to think. Guess that’s why he’s named himself that on his website. But Florida Governor Charlie Crist is anything but. He is just a political animal looking for his next appointment. He can’t even get through one term in office and he’s already been vying for one job and is now looking forward towards another possibility.

My reason for writing this post came about after a Government Affairs Committee meeting for the Orlando Regional Realtors Association last week while talking with a couple of colleagues. We were discussing the upcoming Legislative Days in Tallahassee and I made a disparaging remark about our Governor. One of the woman asked me why and my response was that Charlie Crist surely can’t like his job as Governor of this state. Additionally, there is a great editorial by Mike Thomas in yesterday’s Orlando Sentinel, As rendezvous with harsh realty nears, Crist may consider Senate bid.

Since he’s been in office he’s been trying to get other positions. He couldn’t have been further up Senator John McCain’s derriere following him around the country seeking to be his running mate for the Vice Presidential nomination. Now, that is gone he wants to run for the U. S. Senate. Sorry, but maybe you should take some time and take care of things at home before moving on.

You never know what will come from Charlie Crist. He hasn’t accomplished one of his campaign’s goals and on top of that has reversed his stance several times. To make himself more appealing to the McCain ticket he thought it would be good to change his opinion on Offshore Drilling. The heck with the environment and the people of Florida.

I can understand wanting to get ahead and being politically motivated, but….doesn’t there have to be a limit? It’s understood that Charlie is looking towards the White House and the thought of that really scares me. He can’t take care of his present position, how the heck can he take care of this nation.

Crist is very charismatic and we’ve all got sucked into his speeches, but when you look at them, they’re all rhetoric. He speaks about being bipartisan and reaching across the aisle, but he is only interested in one goal….and that is promoting Charlie Crist at whoevers expense that may be. His approval rating is unfathomable for such a poor Governor.

None of his Real Estate initiatives, whether it be taxes, insurance or promoting increased sales and production has had any success, whatsoever.  In fact, they’ve all been abominable including his much touted Amendment 1.

Seriously, why do you think Charlie got married? Because it would help his political career. He needed it to supposedly dispel the rumors that he’s gay or bi or whatever the heck he is. Who cares, but again it’s just political motivation. It’s been shown that as Attorney General he knew of the Mark Foley scandal a long time before it became public, but just pushed it under the carpet.

I really don’t care what he is, but I do care that he’s possibly a hypocrite. There is no room for Charlie Crist in the State of Florida and surely he won’t be much help to the people in other offices as well.

Mike Thomas wrote, that “his poll numbers have an inverse relationship with reality. There is little more to be gained, and lots to be lost, by staying in Tallahassee.” Please move on Mr. Crist and preferably out of politics. Then you would be doing us a favor and we’ll call you a – Man of the People!

Till next time…Marc It Sold!

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To my readers,

I know it’s been quite a while since I wrote on this blog. It’s not for a lack of something for me to write about, that’s for sure. Part of my reason is because so much has been said about all these issues throughout the media and blogosphere. Also, I’ve been busy working on some projects and getting ready to take my Broker’s exam in a couple of weeks, hopefully.

The other reason is that I’m really waiting and looking forward to seeing what the new administration is going to put forward. Already, there are some things that I’m seeing that look very promising. I’ve enjoyed watching President-elect Obama putting together his cabinet & espousing some of his ideas, etc. At the same time, I know that Rome was not built in a day. There are just too many things that are presently wrong with our economy, etc.

I really do have faith in our new President. He is a very well-educated and dare I not say brilliant man. But then again we are dealing in politics & I just hope this administration does not pander to big business as we’ve been seeing for the past many years. Enough is enough!

With that said, I want to wish all my readers a very, very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year.

Best Regards,

Marc

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bailout

There’s more that needs to be addressed since writing the previous post, The Bailouts of 2008 – What’s the Cost? Take a few moments to read it if you haven’t. It will shed more light on to what you’re about to read here. OK, good, thanks for reading.

The long and short of it is that the $700B Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 needs to be stopped. It’s out of control already and is costing us, the people, more than any benefits that are being derived by us. Plain and simple that makes no business sense whatsoever.

One item that was mentioned in the previous post was in regard to “insurance companies are trying to get a piece of the pie by purchasing financial institutions (Insurers find path to bailout billions).” Even though there are many more articles to support this, there was another one in the Orlando Sentinel yesterday entitled, “Troubled Orlando-area bank is big prize for Hartford in bailout deal”

The Economic Bailout is a mess and there aren’t enough constraints in place. Look at TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). I wrote about this in the post, A Move Towards Socialism – Should the Government be Buying Stocks? Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and gang can’t even decide how the heck to work it. It was supposedly designed to buy risky mortgage-backed securities. Now they are changing the game plan and in turn are creating a worse situation.

It appears that the focus of TARP is not only being shifted into purchasing stocks in non-bank financial institutions, but also to include consumer debt securities. Both of these are bad ideas. It’s not that the government is extending their reach into more and more areas, but that they are putting us at more risk. Something that we, the people, should not be asked to shoulder, but most likely will.

Now to the Automobile Industry Bailout. A couple of comments I received on the last post and what we’ve heard bantered around in the news were in regard to the CEO’s of the Big Three and their corporate jets. What the heck is the big deal here? There really is no need for this discussion. They are asking for money. Fine, I think that it might be necessary as I previously explained, but at the same time the government should be demanding concessions. Didn’t they learn anything from the AIG fiasco? Seriously now, so is there really a need for discussion of their jets. No, it should just be demanded. Hey, you want some money, get rid of those jets, etc. End of story!

As was also mentioned in the previous post, the UAW needs get a grip on reality as well. They stated that they don’t feel concessions are necessary. I read recently that labor costs for the American made imported vehicles are approximately $41 compared to the Big Three which are at $71. Hmmm, does anyone see a possible problem with this equation?

As with any bailout, there needs to be concessions on all fronts for it to work. Everyone needs to have a stake in its being profitable again. Otherwise, it’s more like hooray for me and the heck with you. That attitude won’t work and surely does not belong in the equation.

And maybe not a bailout, but bankruptcy is the correct answer. This way there would be no need for asking for concessions. They would just be imposed by the judge overseeing the bankruptcy. Simple, done, wash our hands!

We know the bailout of Chrysler worked in 1979, but will it work this time? Will the Big Three change their ways? Will they have learned a lesson? Many more questions need to be asked of the CEO’s. There is an interesting article in regard to this matter written by Andrew M. Grossman (no relation, or at least I don’t know of one) for The Heritage Foundation, The Automaker Bailout: Questions Congress Must Ask the Automakers.

Let me know what YOU think. Another viewpoint is always appreciated and you might be seeing something that I’m currently not seeing. Thanks for reading.

Til next time Marc It Sold!

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capital building washington d c

In a previous post, The Bail-Out – Who’s Being Bailed Out & Who’s Bailing Out!?!, the $700B government bailout of financial institutions was discussed. Unfortunately as expected, this has proven to be a fiasco.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 was supposed to buy up distressed assets of financial institutions with the overall effect of banks having more liquidity to therefore originate mortgage loans.

There were also several other provisions of this bill which have failed miserably. Many financial institutions have been given money under The Bailout Plan, but instead of seeing this money enter the mortgage market, we’re seeing them purchasing other financial institutions. In the long-term what this is creating are mega financial institutions that we will have to bailout in the future, because if any of them failed it would be devastating to the economy. Even insurance companies are trying to get a piece of the pie by purchasing financial institutions (Insurers find path to bailout billions). This is not in the best interest of us – the people.

The Hope for Homeowners Program was supposed to assist at risk homeowners avoid default and therefore foreclosure. The program is voluntary to the lending institutions and has also proved to be a miserable failure.

One other aspect of the bill that needs to be discussed is the grant money being given to cities to purchase properties; fix them up and then resell them under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The City of Orlando is getting $6.7M and is planning on purchasing 20 homes to be resold and then be a landlord for another 11 homes. As nice as this appears, how much dent do you think this will put in a market where there are a total of 11,414 residential properties for sale with 4,557 in some stage of foreclosure?

bank and drive-thru

Again, all this money could have been better spent. Is it increasing Consumer Confidence? Most likely with very little if any effect. So is this $700B bailout assisting you and I – the taxpayers? Unfortunately, not!!

This brings me to the Automaker’s Bailout that is being bantered around Congress. You may at this point think that I am against a bailout of sorts for the auto industry. Don’t get me wrong, they dug their way into this mess, but the overall implications of failure for the American auto industry are quite far reaching.

The Unemployment Rate has been rising consistently and currently numbers over 10 million people out of work. A collapse of the auto industry will add several more million to those roles. Presently, we are fighting a recession. With a failure of the auto industry we would surely be pushing ourselves toward a longer induced depression. We simply can’t afford this. We’d only be cutting off our nose to spite our face.

Hopefully, our government is learning its lessons by the failure of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Unfortunately, I’m concerned that they won’t help the auto industry due to that fiasco that they created. If they would only learn that you just can’t throw money at a problem and expect it to resolve itself. There needs to be safeguards in place. There need to be concessions made by all parties. There needs to be simple common sense.

automobile dealership sales lot

I believe in labor unions as they took very good care of my family while growing up. But when the UAW (United Auto Workers) comes out and states that they oppose concessions, then I have a major issue with that. Let’s go back to the Chrysler rescue of 1979 – that worked!! The reason that worked is because there were concessions on all sides – labor, management and investors.

Again, I am not denying what the auto industry did, but so did the financial institutions as well. These fiascos didn’t just happen. They occurred because of greed and mismanagement.

We are dealing with a faltering economy that is teetering on the brink of disaster. We need level heads and sound judgment to bring us out of this miasma.

Till next time…Marc It Sold!

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Proud Flag of the United States of America

I’ve stayed away from the politics of this election, or at least I’ve done so in the public eye. Last evening I was planning on going to bed at my normal time. I figured that I read all about the election outcomes in the morning newspaper. That didn’t happen. I ended not going to bed until about 1am.

Yes, it was not only a historic election, but very exciting as well. It was historic on many levels because no matter who won, it would be a first for this nation. It was obviously a mandate by the electorate that ‘Change’ is needed and so sorely wanted. Change was the theme of the Obama campaign and was obviously adopted by the McCain camp as well.

Yes, America is finally moving forward. We’ve elected a man of color; we’ve elected an Afro-American to be our President and leader in the free world. We are finally transcending racism, at least on some level. The exit poll numbers still bother me in that only 43% of Caucasians voted for Obama. I doubt if the other 57% are all Republicans. This shows that we still have so very far to go.

There will always be racism and bigotry on some level, but we’ve finally given credence to a class of people that were unfortunately considered second-class citizens because of such.

What got me about last night, were the speeches of both candidates. John McCain showed himself to be a mensch in all respects of the word. I may not have liked his policies, but must admit that I gained a great deal of respect for this man. His speech was what this country needed. He urged us to work together.

hand shake

President-elect Barack Obama, not only being very intelligent, gave a wonderful and inspiring speech as well. But what struck me while listening to it, and I kept on thinking this in the back of my mind, was how much he sounded like John F. Kennedy. I guess that I wasn’t alone in that Tom Brokaw later mentioned this as well. This is a very unique man that we elected to the White House and I’m so very proud of this nation in which we live.

I think that we’ll see the level of Patriotism rise within our country and I look forward to that. We have a country ill at ease with a lame duck President sporting the lowest approval ratings in modern history. Yes, Change is needed and welcome.

But let’s not forget we have a long way to go. Change will not happen in a day, week, month or year. There is too much to do before we can even possibly see change, but I do believe that it will come. And it will come in a form that we can all feel comfortable with.

The celebrations that were being played out all over the country last evening were phenomenal. I can’t imagine what Washington, DC will look on January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama takes the oath of office for the Presidency of the United States. I’m fairly sure that we will see crowds like we’ve not seen before. Yes, this is an exciting time.

G-d Bless America!!

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