Hang In There wrote on Oct 3, 2008 10:14 PM:I'm so sorry to hear of this family's plight. These people seem to be hardworking caring loving individuals and they are now struggling to make ends meet. Times are so tough and this family is feeling the pain.

Please stay strong and know that one day soon things will turn around. Stay safe and I hope that your situation turns around quickly.

Not Brain Surgery wrote on Oct 3, 2008 10:41 PM:What a joke.... credit didn't shrivel. the market turned down. No one needs credit right now, no one wants to buy anything..... Geeze did anyone think of that?

Old Timer wrote on Oct 3, 2008 11:34 PM:Trickle down economics with no trickle. America taday is for all those that have the wealth, as shown by our recent Wall Street bailout, not necessarily earned honestly. There are many a good Christian, hard working family that has got caught up in this "American greed" environment and lost all. They played by the rules and now have nothing. It is not that they are dumb or even uneducated, they just got took by the takers. It is so sad to see so few have so much and so many have so little. Well, the poverty is beginning to spread so guess it is time for all America to get us to being poor again - even the most greedy amongst us.

rsxguy wrote on Oct 4, 2008 4:41 AM:nice fluff piece..my family went to interfaith once...they gave us 5 diapers to last the month, multiple cans of food all had expired 3 had signs of botulism(they had swollen to an impressive size, the pork and beans were about the size of a football), a bag of noodles that were partially open with mold growing and a sample spray of ax body spray...and as we were leaving a hispanic man walked out with 6 bags of food in a wagon but no kids or anyone at all with him, nor were any in his 60,000 doller raised pickup with the dealer plates and registration still on it...needless to say we didnt even bother to bring the issue up as they make you sign a disclaimer saying you wont sue them if anything they give you is rotten or toxic because you have looked through it and its all good, course you sign all this BEFORE you see anything...

Good luck wrote on Oct 4, 2008 7:49 AM:My recommendation to this nice family is to leave California and find a state that is not $7billion in debt because of too many pensions and govt handouts. Find a publicly funded job building roads or bridges so you can get health insurance and security. You will not find in here in So Cal.
Good luck.

CA1962 wrote on Oct 4, 2008 8:17 AM:Good Luck - You have to have money to move in, around , or out of CA . So while your suggestion is a good one, it's not a option at this moment for this family nor is it for most of us displaced individuals. The next time anyone of you out there see a homeless family , try to remember that these situations are most likely where we come from. Yeah , I am trying to move.

web blogger wrote on Oct 4, 2008 8:51 AM:I've notice the day labor have less work too.but I dont see new day labor in the line waiting ,meaning those that loss work they went to EDD instead of looking for day labor.

Al wrote on Oct 4, 2008 8:58 AM:May I suggest the wife and kid stay with mom while he heads down to the New Orleans or Houston area. I hear there is lot's of reconstruction going on there following the hurricanes. He can rent a cheap room for a few months. Just about any place is cheaper to live than So Cal! Mayve they relocate ther too. In dire times you have to make tough decisons. Been there myself.

Think the truth wrote on Oct 4, 2008 9:04 AM:Eight years is not too long a time to forget. Can you forget the 'trickle down' economics? Can you forget the Weapons of Mass Destruction? Can you forget the outing of an America CIA agent? The list goes on for 8 years. Think! It can not be that hard to remember eight years ago. I will take the prosperity, peace, and yes, I will even take the sex scandal over the lies, deceipt and poverty brought on by Bush and Cheney. At least Clinton's lies did not kill my sons and daughters as the WMD lies of Bush. Think... Eight years ago was not that long ago.

Ron wrote on Oct 4, 2008 9:22 AM:Ya just gotta love these ...
"Old Timer"'s @11:34 PM.

Complaining about "Trickle down economics with no trickle."

Hey.. ah.. genius...

Now, I don't know where these guys went to economics class, but..
As an "old timer" you'd think by now he'd have a slight grasp at how our economy works. But, alas.. it is left to me to explain, again!

The implosion on Wall Street is the result of, yes greed, but also Affirmative Action Lending.
It began long ago in the Carter Administration under the Community Reinvestment Act. Where it was thought then, that they could defy the laws of economics. Where through political spin, you'd blame mortgage lenders of a crime they had not commited, racial lending practises. When what was happening was pragmatic, and practical lending decisions based on credit history.
Well, the Liberal Democrats just could not let it stand, that some were being left out of the American Dream of Homeownership. So they pushed a scheme to legally prosecute any lender they believed had practised "Red-Lining."
And in time, they gave mortgage lenders an out, through Fannie Mae to buy up these risky loans through securitization as practised by Franklin Delano Raines at Lazard, before being appointed to Fannie Mae. So Raines brings his expertise over to Fannie, buys these fraud loans, securitizes them, which offshores them to Europe, and everybody's happy? Right?
That is until the lendee's quit paying their mortgages, then the paper ain't worth spit. These bonds start losing their value, people ain't happy.

My point being this is bubble up in action, caused by an affirmative action lending program pushed by non-economically minded socialists. The worthlessness of these loans bubbled back up to the top, leaving these guy's holding the bag.
But, that's what people do who are more concerned about political advantage do, than they will ever be concerned about doing the right thing, in the first place.
Bottom line, white, black, brown, green... you DON'T lend money to people who can not pay it back.
But Liberal Democrats believe you should.

To Thinkin wrote on Oct 4, 2008 9:29 AM:Doesn't this show that trickle down works? If the corporations don't have their credit lines (that's where the credit crunch is really killing things), then they are stuck not being able to function, so nothing is trickling down! It's worse than new taxes; they've just been cut off.

An analogy would be like paying for everything on your credit card each month and responsibly paying it off at the end each month, and then one day the credit card just doesn't work. All of a sudden there isn't any cash to flow.

And what caused all this? "Encouraging" banks to loan money to folks that couldn't afford to pay it back, which as I recall, is part of the liberal agenda, not the conservative one.

That fact is, the government (both parties are to blame here) isn't fiscally responsible, runs deficits, but can print money to make up for it. And when they "encouraged" banks to act like them i.e. act like people are "entitled" to something they haven't earned (like that big new house), then the result was the same. Unfortunately, the banks CAN'T print more money, so they start going broke.

And then we're back to the no-trickle trickle down. Bottom line: a lot of people are fiscally irresponsible, so it's no surprise our elected officials are fiscally irresponsible. Borrow, borrow, borrow and expect it to all work out later. It eventually does...in bankrupty court...after the foreclosure.

And I agree with those saying find fresher pastures elsewhere. California is in trouble.

Thanks wrote on Oct 4, 2008 9:51 AM:Ron and ToThinkin for putting it in a nutshell. Take that $700 billion and divide it between all Americans 18 and over and let WE THE PEOPLE fend for ourselves. Vote out ANYONE who voted for this bail out bill and that WOULD include NO voting for either Barry or JohnBoy. Make your vote count in Nov!!!!

Orion wrote on Oct 4, 2008 10:02 AM:Ron's "explanation" ignores a fundamental point; most of the defaults (I"ve read) were white folks who "bought" too much house for what they could afford. And many "minorities" do make lots more--and save a lot more--than your average white American. At a trade show a few years ago a banker with a table there told me I, who was earning an unstable 30K a year at the time, could get a 300K house with no money down. I'm no math whiz, but I knew I couldn't afford it. Too bad all those who did not know better--no matter what race--were too stupid and gluttonous to see what was coming.

jvc wrote on Oct 4, 2008 1:05 PM:To better serve the needy and have better oversight of donations, we must offer the poor food vouchers to local markets rather than canned goods!

jvc wrote on Oct 4, 2008 1:27 PM:Where is the bailout for our poor?

jvc wrote on Oct 4, 2008 1:40 PM:I hope we can offer a job to John and
Sarah in the financial markets!

Goatskull wrote on Oct 4, 2008 1:41 PM:Why do people even bother to have kids these days. I don't understand that.

The only wrote on Oct 4, 2008 1:44 PM:people that this will not suffer are the illegals and their babies. $491 a month for each baby until that child reaches l8, wic, food stamps, housing and on and on. What a great life. It makes me sick. Not one word mentioned about this freebe by our governor. Let's face it people Mexico is in control.

Worker wrote on Oct 4, 2008 1:52 PM:It is a sad story. Maybe he would have more luck finding non union work? There is more of that since many people don't want to over pay for work that can be done for less.

jvc wrote on Oct 4, 2008 2:18 PM:Yes, Mexico is the cause of all of our problems!

OCEANSIDIAN wrote on Oct 4, 2008 2:51 PM:Lots of racist baloney posted here today. "Ron's" diatribe is one such, and his little economics lesson is totally wrong and silly. There's plenty of blame to go around but it's a a little late for even accurate post mortems. We all know that liar loans and the structuring of commissions for loan brokers were a primary cause, together with a total lack of regulation or oversight. Incompetent bank management, including boards of directors are hugely to blame. I hope that somebody reading this offers John Coole employment. If you haven't already John, check out all of the job openings offered by the Federal or local governments. Good luck to the Cooles and others similiarly situated.

TryPraying wrote on Oct 4, 2008 3:07 PM:I thought when things get tough religious people pray for help etc.? So much for that strategy.

JOHN SARAH wrote on Oct 4, 2008 3:35 PM:Our food was all good. We were very thankful! My husband has been trying very hard to find something. We still have great health care in effect through John's work. We incurred some nice hefty medical bills even with this. We continue to go to church and pray that we make it through this together. I'm trying to find at home work, for some extra cash and we are struggling like many other honest families. OUR MAIN GOAL is to stay together because FAMILY is more important than money. And yes unfortunately it's sad but life revolves around money, that is another subject for another time. :) Thank you for your comments, some of you made nice points. Those of you having tough times yourselves keep your heads high. If you get the chance to help someone when you can do it, it can make a huge difference.

sdraoul wrote on Oct 4, 2008 3:54 PM:Alf is right. There is much work in Louisiana and Texas for construction people. But, a man must be willing to make his way there to find the work.

Mexicans manage to make their way to those places but this guy can't. As to the critic who blames this all on Mexicans and states that they get money for kids, food stamps, etc. baloney.

Any child who is a United States citizen or is a Permanent Resident qualifies for aid. Illegals, however, do not qualify for food stamps and many other “entitlements” this family is entitled to despite his lack of taxes-paid-in (at least in any meaningful amoumt).

Seems that the sob stories are about non-Hispanic whites that can't make their way as union members. We see that with steel and car union members, don't we?

Ron wrote on Oct 4, 2008 5:47 PM:Toward the end of this fiasco...
"Orion" @10:02 AM, I believe that you are right. But, with all things, you must go to the source of the infection to remedy it.
The Grassfire, if you will, began under the mistaken cncept that all Americans should own homes as a part of the American Dream. The foundation for this belief, goes as far back as FDR in his "second bill of rights."
For liberals this has been a long hard slog, this attempt to get people into homes, no matter what their personal economics. So, what they did was manipulate the system to lower the economic standard that have long served us well, in order to meet a political goal to flaunt for their own self-aggrandizement.

Having been a multiple home owner, and a wife that works inside this industry, I know the standards to "qualify" were lowered. The question for me, it seems, is why would you lower the lending standards to the point where you know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the person your lending to has no ability to be successful in the mortgage?

My opinion of this is, as this thing began to roll out, and loans were securitized, people inside the industry soon began to believe they were immune of the laws of economics. They weren't, the government was simply subsidizing these fraud loans through Fannie & Freddie, by buying them up from private firms, securitizing them, and then selling them off. Which is why we have problem in Europe, and elsewhere. Cause they bought the fiction too.
But, knowing that between Fannie & Freddie holding nearly 70% of all home mortgages, and also knowing the accounting fraud takng place in plain sight, and abetted by politicians who were the recipients of huge campaign contributions, prevented needed oversight, and reform.

You could very well be right, that most
defaults maybe folks who "bought" too much house. Some thought they could make a quick buck by "flipping" houses.
I don't know why you need to go down the path of separating racial groups, but.. whatever makes it seem right to you? I guess.
I thought I had covered this in my statement: "Bottom line, white, black, brown, green... you DON'T lend money to people who can not pay it back."

But, obviously, progressives view the United States as this great "collective" where I should subsidize a house for my neighbor, even if he can't fully pay for it. That I should make up the difference. I fundamentally disagree with that.

And finally, if some guy at a trade show told you, that you could get a 300K house with no money down, on a $30K unstable income.
Your right, your no math whiz, but you
knew by common sense, you couldn't afford it.
That's all were asking people. Even if the Government itself comes knocking on your door, and says: Have I got the perfect house for you.
Better think twice, and count three times.
The government sells snakeoil too.

tom wrote on Oct 4, 2008 7:14 PM:ron...you could not written a more true and accurate letter...

Louise wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:27 PM:John and Sara, thank you so much for posting with an update. I'm glad you had a good experience with Interfaith, and I wish you and your family the best. Sorry others did not have such a good experience, but my knowledge of them is that they do good work that is very much needed in the community. Our family will continue our support of this worthwhile organization.

genek1953 wrote on Oct 7, 2008 5:07 PM:"Having been a multiple home owner, and a wife that works inside this industry, I know the standards to "qualify" were lowered. The question for me, it seems, is why would you lower the lending standards to the point where you know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the person your lending to has no ability to be successful in the mortgage?"

I think in a lot of cases the quick answer is that commissions were based on the size and numbers of mortgages written and not on the ability of the borrowers to pay the money back.

The longer answer is that politicans thinking of reelection just two, three or four years in the future concentrated on presenting the appearance of "growth" and "job creation." Lowered borrower approval qualifications notwithstanding, with the fed rate at 4%-6% prior to 2001, there was no such thing as a "teaser rate loan," and even a sub-prime borrower had to be income-qualified for a mortgage at 5%-7%. But with the fed rate lowered to 1% and nobody looking over the shoulders of those who approved the loans, the result was inevitable.