American Economy faces the Grim Repo

[LongTomH]

The latest article by James Ridgeway at The Guardian America website pulls no punches on describing the horrorshow that the American economy has become, and who's responsible:

A piffling tax rebate does not hide the shameful truth revealed by the 'credit crunch': both parties have shifted so far to the right they cannot even ensure the basic economic survival of the poor

While both parties' candidates for president argue about who's cornered the market on leadership and inspiration, the people of Stockton, California, could use a good dose of both. In the last year, this mid-sized city in northern California has been visited by the angel of economic death, with banks repossessing houses daily as residents default on their sub-prime mortgages. According to one estimate, Stockton has the highest rate of foreclosures in the nation - a rate that has increased eightfold over the last year.

Did I say 'horrorshow'? The ghouls are already out and feeding on the dead!

That's where the bottom feeders come in. In Stockton, a local real estate company is offering a Repo Home Tour, loading up buses with potential buyers and taking them around to repossessed houses, where the bargains are plentiful - even if everything else seems depressed. We took our cameras aboard for what Steve Chawkins, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times who follows the sub-prime mortgage crisis in California, has dubbed the "Magical Misery Tour".

<snip>

And what are the prospective leaders of the world's largest economy doing, as thousands of American families lose their homes, and millions of others risk their financial security? Taking a break to campaign for Super Tuesday, of course. Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid said yesterday that he is putting off a vote on the economic stimulus package because Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are tied up in their campaigning, as is John McCain. As a result, whatever Congress and George W Bush decide to do in the way of a piddling tax rebate won't reach people until mid-May - by which time the nation ought to be smack in the middle of an ever-deepening recession. Not that it's likely to make much difference, anyway.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/usa/2008/02/the_american_economy_faces_the.html