 | Volume CCXXXVIII, Number 202 April 11, 2008 |
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Foreclosure stories reach record highsLAS VEGAS, Nevada – Government statistics released today show that news stories about home foreclosures reached record highs in the first quarter of 2008.  The rising tide of mortgage foreclosure stories is driving Amber and her Las Vegas co-workers to drink The record rise was consistent across newspapers, TV stations and cable news bobbleheads. Especially hard-hit were second tier media markets like Las Vegas, Nevada and Stockton, California, where desperate assignment editors have pushed foreclosure stories to over 24,000 per month. Spy Living Editor Bella Whiner, reporting from Las Vegas, says that it is impossible to pick up the local newspapers or turn on Action News at 6 and 11 without being bombarded with a flurry of stories about overleveraged homeowners losing their homes to the idiot banks that underwrote the worthless mortgages in the first place. [Wasn't Nollie Tangere supposed to be sent to Vegas for that story? – Ed.][Maybe if she hadn't been flouncing around the firehouse with her boyfriend she might have picked up the travel voucher before I did – B.W.] Homeowners can't find any relief no matter which way they turn. "After a hard night at the, uh, club, the last thing I want to see on the early morning news is another working girl thrown out of her condo," said a local resident who gave her name only as "Amber." This just
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With the rise in foreclosures keeping the housing crisis in the public eye, Congressional leaders realize that some action is necessary to obtain favorable press coverage. So they've been busy crafting a supposed homeowners-relief package designed to gull a lazy, distracted public into believing that something will be done to assuage the agony of America's overleveraged homeowners. Not so long as 49 Senate Republicans intend to stand in the way of any effective legislation, which would write down underwater mortgages to current depressed market values. Alas this would require some Republican campaign contributors to recognize the losses incurred by their own stupidity. Instead, the Senate has proposed the Republicans' universal nostrum for all that ails America, from unaffordable health care to global warming. You guessed it: tax cuts for the rich. The major part of the current package includes a $7,000 tax credit (not deduction) for vultures who buy foreclosed properties once the poor former owners are chucked out in the street. How will this help prevent foreclosures? It won't – it will only make them more lucrative. On top of that giveaway, Senate Republicans also want to refund past taxes paid by homebuilders, presumably to encourage them to compound the current housing disaster by building more unsalable homes. Look for Senate Democrats to mount a token opposition and then cave, just like children's health care, Canadian drug importation, immunity for telecom lawbreakers, government- sponsored torture, anti-global warming initiatives, repeal of tax breaks for oil co– [We get the drift – Ed.] "I really miss the days when you could turn on the local news and get a good solid murder in North L.V. or a three-car fatal on I-15," she said. Media experts agree that the public is being inundated as never before by stories about families losing their homes to foreclosure. What's behind the sudden spike in foreclosure stories? "It's such an easy story to cover," said media consultant Rip N. Reed, Ailes Professor of Fair and Balanced Journalism at Regent University. "All you need to do is send some bimbo in a satellite truck to a house with a for-sale sign on it, and, bingo, you've got a live shot. Even a 22-year-old rookie reporter for the local cable news station couldn't f*** it up," Reed said. "And, with the cutbacks in newsrooms, you can send a freelance photographer out with a telephoto lens to take pictures of rows of condos with for-sale signs in front of them on Sunday and bingo, you've filled up Monday's A1." Reed echoes Amber's concerns about foreclosures "crowding out" other local news stories. "How many car wrecks and fires are going uncovered because reporters are standing in front of foreclosed houses?" he asked. One question that continues to bedevil news directors is whether the rising tide of foreclosure stories will affect consumer behavior. A survey of Las Vegas residents suggest that the endless coverage is taking it toll. At the city's exclusive El Cortez casino, a tubby tourist from Arkansas who gave his name only as "Mike" told the Spy that he's now playing blackjack to pay off the mortgages he had taken out on his double-wide "to upgrade my lifestyle." After splitting a pair of eights and doubling both hands, Mike watched the dealer bust and exclaimed "Thank you, Jesus!" Pressing a dollar chip into the hand of a Spy reporter, he said, "Stick around. After I suck down five or six more Jack-and-Cokes, you might get lucky, too!" [No thanks – B.W.]
Experts fear that the rise in mortgage foreclosure stories will spill over into stories about other consumer woes. Camera crews have already been seen clustering around Ikeas and Circuit Cities to obtain the wisdom of 19-year-old clerks on the effect of housing stories on consumer purchases of furniture and big-screen TV's. "Once we see those kinds of stories," Reed warned, "live shots from car dealers bemoaning a slowdown in sales can't be far behind." One bright spot, according to Reed: "At least the plethora of stories about mortgage foreclosures is helping take the public's mind off of the continuing pointless carnage in Iraq." |
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FUNNY, WE FEEL THE SAME WAY Tom Tancredo said Monday he will not seek re-election to his Colorado seat in the House in 2008. He will continue his long-shot bid for the White House. The five-term lawmaker said illegal immigration, his core issue, now has national prominence and he doesn't need to remain in Congress to promote it. "The issue now has a life of its own and it doesn't need one particular person to champion it," he said. "I
feel my job, my task, has been completed. And I am very much at
peace with the idea that if I'm not elected president then I won't be
running" for another term in Congress, he said. – The Associated Press via cbsnews.com, Oct. 29, 2007. |