The Influence of Foreclosures on the Election

[WhiskeyGirl]

The Influence of Foreclosures on the Election

By Mary Kane 11/5/08 9:36 AM

Did foreclosures play a direct role in the election results? At the Orange County Register, real-estate blogger Jon Lansner thinks so. He matched up states with high foreclosures to voting patterns, and came up with this:

States that President-elect Barack Obama won had housing markets in far worse shape than states won by his rival, Sen. John McCain. All told, states carried by Obama comprised 79 percent of all foreclosures - or about four times as many as states won by McCain. His states accounted for 18 percent of all foreclosures.

The average home sales price fell by 9.4 percent in Obama’s states, while they dropped just 1.6 percent in states McCain carried.

I guess that means the old saying that all politics is local has a new twist. These days, voting decisions seem tied directly to a homeowner’s doorstep.

http://washingtonindependent.com/17153/the-influence-of-foreclosures-on-the-election

[txlisa]

So it is the Republicans fault that people bought more homes than they could afford?   All the voters were looking for was a scapegoat.

Lisa

[WhiskeyGirl]

So it is the Republicans fault that people bought more homes than they could afford?   All the voters were looking for was a scapegoat.

Lisa

Alternatively, one might thing that voters were looking for additional controls/standards for home loans and buyer qualifications.

I think a lot of good people wanted to own a home, but bought more than they could afford.  I wonder if better home buyer counseling could have prevented the problem.

I don't know why Congress wasn't more involved when the foreclosure/bad loan rate started to skyrocket.  I hope there will be some good documentaries in the future.

I see the lender, buyer, promoters, marketers, all involved. 

[Ree]

So it is the Republicans fault that people bought more homes than they could afford?   All the voters were looking for was a scapegoat.

Lisa

Alternatively, one might thing that voters were looking for additional controls/standards for home loans and buyer qualifications.

I think a lot of good people wanted to own a home, but bought more than they could afford.  I wonder if better home buyer counseling could have prevented the problem.

I don't know why Congress wasn't more involved when the foreclosure/bad loan rate started to skyrocket.  I hope there will be some good documentaries in the future.

I see the lender, buyer, promoters, marketers, all involved. 

Let's add Congress to that list.  Not only did they not stop it soon enough, but they encouraged banks to make risky loans to people who couldn't qualify by the original criteria, because more minorities fell into that group.  Instead, they should have been teaching minorities how to establish and manage credit so they could qualify.

[crazybabyborg]

THANK YOU, Ree!

It's been posted before, but least we forget:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs