08 ELECTION the News – “Climbing Down the Ladder?”

click here to go to “Climbing down the Ladder”

Bob Herbert is an editorial writer for the New York Times. Often times he writes about the hardships facing the average American. In this article “Climbing Down the Ladder” he relates how these hard financial times are socking average Americans right in the gut. And while this story is not about the Election per se, the Election is all about the Economy. So for up to ten points extra credit added onto your blog point totals – read this article and answer the following questions:

  1. Who specifically in this article is hurting? And why?
  2. Which presidential candidate do you think would better help these people to cope – Senator Obama or Senator McCain?
  3. Support your answer in number 2.

This is a ten point possible EXTRA CREDIT post available to all classes. Post your answer before 7:00 PM on Friday October 24.

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0 Responses to 08 ELECTION the News – “Climbing Down the Ladder?”

  1. ..charity..

    1. The people that are hurting the most have been in the age range 50 and up. This certain group of people are struggling due to their limit on income, and many are facing retirement which puts a huge strain on where they get their money. And even medical issues are a concern. Health issues make it hard for you to work, like in the case of Tova Navarra.

    2. I personally feel that there is no support to this issue. This isn’t addressed directly, so I find it hard to choose a candidate. Looking at their plans, I believe that Barack Obama could be, potentially, a big asset to senior citizens and to the retired.

    3. The only information that I could find that may impact situations like this was that Obama will cut income taxes for seniors who make less than $50,000 a year. I feel like this because these people will have more money to save and making it possible to make payments. John McCain doesn’t have anything specific on his website in the issues. I think this could help, but again, there isn’t a specific stand on this issue concerning people over the age of 50. The mortgage crisis has been a big deal in general, and all in all has been apart of the failing economy in the U.S. so I find that Obama’s plan for economy will better America. I want to see that banks get a hold of this mess and that they are starting to be held accountable.

    6 EXTRA CREDIT PTS – Charity you know more about the candidates than this.

  2. jeff H

    Extra Credit

    This article is about the older Americans that were given mortgages that most banks new that those people couldn’t pay off and some time s insured people that their rates would not go up but they did now these people don’t know if they will be able to pay these back and if they can’t pay them back they may have to live in retirement homes or something like that also in the article I read that some people even skipped doses of their medicine to even help pay of their loans.

    On this topic I do agree with Barrack Obama.I think Obama has a good plan for this and he thinks that they helped raise this country to the way it is now and I think that they should be supported and he will help with social security medicare and and huge health costs. I think that he will help in that area.

    3 PTS EXTRA CREDIT – Which candidate? Why?

  3. Peter N. 2nd

    Extra Credit

    The people who are hurting are the lower-middle class and the elderly (age 50 and over). They are hurting because they were tricked into these mortgages that they were told they could afford, but they really couldn’t, people such as Ms. Richardson. In the article, it says, “When Ms. Richardson bought her house in December 2005; she tried to make it clear that she could not afford monthly payments much higher than $500. Fine, she was told. She closed the deal with the understanding that she had a fixed-rate mortgage with monthly payments of $537. Prudent and skeptical, she tried to find out if there were any economic bombs hidden in the confusing mass of paperwork that she was confronted with”. Ms. Richardson mortgage steadily rose and eventually exceeded $800 a month. Clearly Ms. Richardson was tricked into her faulty mortgage and is now suffering the consequences.

    Even though I am a republican, I would have to say that I believe that Senator Obama would help these people cope better than Senator McCain. In Senator Obama’s economic plan, he plans on giving tax breaks not to the wealthy oil companies, but the middle-class. The middle-class is anyone who makes less than $250,000 annually. In the article, it tells the story of Ms. Navarra. She is unable to pay her mortgage and along with that she has medical bills piling up. This is another reason why I think that Senator Obama would do a better job.

    Let’s say that you make $30,000 a year and you have a $150,000 mortgage and are still paying off college. You are also single. Here are the tax cuts and other savings provided if Obama was elected. http://taxcut.barackobama.com/. All of those reasons are why I believe that Senator Barack Obama would help these people cope better than Senator John McCain.

    10 PTS EXTRA CREDIT – Very nicely done. Good overview of the problem and support of the candidate’s plan.

  4. Jenn Martz 5th Hour

    *Extra Credit*

    The article “Climbing down the Ladder” is hurting older Americans. Not only are they losing homes they are losing jobs and are not as employee able because of their age. They are specifically talking about is a 59 year old woman named Kim Richardson. She lives in the Rocky Mountains, North Carolina. When she purchased her home in December of 2005, she made it clear that she could not make payments any higher than $500 a month. Of course the mortgage broker didn’t care and just wanted her to buy her home. Her payments kept rising month after month and she was not able to pay anymore. She later found out that there was a balloon payment provision hidden in the documents, causing her payments to rise.

    I think that Senator Barrack Obama would be the best presidential Candidate to help these people out. Obama and Biden want to crack down on the brokers and lenders who are trying to rip people off. They also want to make sure that homebuyers are getting honest answers and are able to complete information on their mortgage options knowing there is honesty. Obama supports offering the home owner the original purchase value of the mortgage. McCain supports offering current market value and the home owner will still be financially strapped. The home owner would still have to make up the loss.

    6 PTS EXTRA – Nice job on the eval of the problem. I’d like to hear some specifics on Obama or McCain.

  5. Jenn Martz 5th Hour

    *Extra Credit*

    The article “Climbing down the Ladder” is hurting older Americans. Not only are they losing homes they are losing jobs and are not as employee able because of their age. They are specifically talking about is a 59 year old woman named Kim Richardson. She lives in the Rocky Mountains, North Carolina. When she purchased her home in December of 2005, she made it clear that she could not make payments any higher than $500 a month. Of course the mortgage broker didn’t care and just wanted her to buy her home. Her payments kept rising month after month and she was not able to pay anymore. She later found out that there was a balloon payment provision hidden in the documents, causing her payments to rise.

    I think that Senator Barrack Obama would be the best presidential Candidate to help these people out. Obama and Biden want to crack down on the brokers and lenders who are trying to rip people off. They also want to make sure that homebuyers are getting honest answers and are able to complete information on their mortgage options knowing there is honesty. Obama supports offering the home owner the original purchase value of the mortgage. McCain supports offering current market value and the home owner will still be financially strapped. The home owner would still have to make up the loss.

    6 PTS EXTRA – Nice job on the eval of the problem. I’d like to hear some specifics on Obama or McCain.

  6. ..charity..

    I forgot to put *extra credit at the top of my post so please accept it Mr. Wood! Thanks.

  7. Kate-Lynn

    “Extra Credit”

    1) The elderly 50 and older who represent 28% of foreclosures are hurting the most because once they are hit by this disaster; their losses are harder to recover because of their age and limited income.

    2) Even though I am an undecided not legal voter, I believe Obama has the better plan on this particular issue.

    3) The mortgage crisis has been hitting close to home for everyone. McCain’s plan in a nut shell is a family will get $5,000 to go try and find an insurance plan on their own. That is not going to but an elaborate plan that will work for a family of 8 like mine. Obama I believe on this issue had the better deal. He wants to lower drug cost which will help most of our elders who are getting ripped off and other the same insurance as our congress men and women.

    5 PTS EXTRA – This could use a little more info on both the mortgage problem and on Obama / McCain plan.

  8. Alisha Briggs 2nd hour EXTRA CREDIT

    1) Specifically, in this article the elderly people are hurting. When I say elderly people, I mean ages 50 and over. These people are hurting because they get a low income and they have to deal with the stress of retirement because they are unsure of where they are going to be getting their money. It is also harder for people in this age range to work due to their health. In the article, it talks about Ms. Navarra not being able to pay her mortgage but she also has medical bills accumulating.

    2) The presidential candidate that I think would better help these people to cope is Senator Obama.

    3) In Obama’s plan, he wants to make tax-cuts for the middle class. He also wants to take the troops out of Iraq which I think may indirectly help out the situation because that is an extra 10 billion dollars that we would have.

    7 PTS EXTRA – good overview on #1 / two good reasons for Obama.

  9. Autumn Storm 2

    *EXTRA CREDIT*

    1. The people that are hurting the most are lower-middle class people and retirees. These people are hurting the most because most of them aren’t making a lot of money, the older people probably have a fixed income, and they cannot afford to pay the mortgages that they were tricked into buying.

    2. I think Senator Obama would be able to help with the situation better than Senator McCain.

    3. I think Senator Obama can help more because of his tax break plan. He is going to give middle- lower class (people making under $200,000 annually) a tax break, rather than giving tax breaks to the extremely wealthy. By cutting the taxes for the middle-lower classes those people will have extra money to spend elsewhere, which could help them pay their mortgages.

    5 PTS EXTRA – More detail specifically on those who are struggling. And more detail on Senator Obama’s reasons why.

  10. Mauric McKinnies from 6th hour

    Extra Credit

    1. To me it seem that the seniors are getting hurt form ages to 50 to 60 it more hard for them because they got to the age of retirement and the money they get only cover certain things so it make it hard for them to keep their homes and all medical issues.

    2. I don’t think McCain is sticking to the problem and kind of beating around the bush because is not getting to the point. Obama on the other hand is ready to take on that issue because he know he must if want more vote on his side

    3. I think this will work perfect for Obama because one of his big issues already was to cut down taxes and that would helps a lot for the older age a lot and upcoming older people so it think Obama is thinking smart on this one.

    5 PTS EXTRA – Keep plugging – you are doing these – that’s good. You are spelling things correctly that is better. Now the answers need to start digging in a bit more

  11. Aly H. 3rd hr

    EXTRA CREDIT

    The people who are hurting the most are the people over 50. They are become unable to pay off their house payments because they are becoming sick and can’t work. This means they are unable to get an income. Also, the papers they signed for their house are all papers that they wouldn’t agree on. They are just not able to pay for their house and so they’re moving into senior retirement houses or into other people’s houses.

    The candidate I think would best help this problem is Obama. What Obama wants to do is spread the money from the rich to the poor. This, however, would take the incentive away for the rich to make more money because they don’t want to give all their hard-earned money to the poor who are unable to make it on their own. McCain would help this in the long run because he wants to increase tax breaks. This would help the businesses make new jobs for the poor. So, I guess I don’t really know for sure what candidate would be the best to help this problem. I do know for sure that Obama would help it in the near future, but McCain in the long run.

    8 PTS EXTRA CREDIT

  12. Jessica Wambaugh-5th hour

    *EXTRA CREDIT*

    1. The people who are hurting the most are mostly the elderly (50 and over). They are being hit so hard because they have a limited income. Some are only receiving 2 disability checks a month and that’s just not going to cut it on trying to pay the mortgage every month if they keep raising the prices. The elderly have to decide on whether they are going to pay for their medicine that they need or their mortgage? It becomes much harder to recover loses because of their age and limited income.

    2. I believe the Senator Obama would better help these people and tackle this issue much more then Senator McCain would.

    3. In Obama’s plan he plans on giving tax-cuts to the middle class people rather than the high class, he also plans on having the wealthy pay taxes they once did before President Bush had taken that off. He also wants to pull out of Iraq; we spend 10 billion dollars every month over there. For what? For nothing, that’s money we could use every month to help get our economy back up and get out of this mess.

    10 PTS EXTRA CREDIT

  13. Kelly L. 2nd hour

    EXTRA CREDIT

    1. In the article it is the lower to middle class citizens that cannot pay their mortgages that are hurting the most. These people have been tricked into buying houses they cannot afford, and are now losing everything in an effort to stay in them.

    2. I don’t think that either candidate will address the problem. They might try, but wont succeed in anything meaningful. The same amount of emphasis that is on small businesses and Wall Street gamblers is not there for mortgage trickery.

    3. Our future president has one thing on their mind, and that’s economic growth. Those that can’t keep up will be left behind, and the rest of us will get richer without them. Right now, they are more focused on getting those small business up and running, not keeping people from being tricked into mortgages they can‘t afford. Like the article said, “Joe the Plumber” situations are going to be the focus of the candidates. As long as Americans are oblivious to this important part of the crisis, the problem wont come up on the campaign trail, and then there will be no chance of it appearing in the White House. Unfortunately, most people will think that those fooled into adjustable rate mortgages were fools themselves, and it wont happen to the rest of us. Those people don’t realize just how easy it is to get people to sign papers, after all, when was the last time you read an entire user-agreement form before installing a program?

    I READ EVERY SINGLE USER-AGREEMENT FROM START TO END FIVE TIMES – 10 PTS EXTRA

  14. Mr Wood

    THIS POST IS CLOSED