Truckers Are Going to Washington and I'm Worried (Read their Press Release Here)

Truck drivers are a different breed, and I can say that because my dad used to drive a truck, long ago.  So when I heard about all these truckers deciding they were going to have their own march on the nation's capital - just like the motorcycle folk did a while ago - I thought, well that's exciting.

I pictured all these 18-wheelers rumbling from all parts of the country, gathering together somewhere near Virginia or something and then parading into Washington, D.C., with horns blaring.  (Who hasn't driven up to a trucker and asked him to toot that loud horn?  I remember doing that in high school, driving along while my friend Cindy signaled from the passenger side window, her long blonde hair blowing in the wind.)

Truckers know their own mind and they're an independent bunch.  When I heard that someone was saying that they were going to "arrest" some of the politicians, I thought it was the trucker version of spin, just getting things all fired up.  (This was confirmed by the Washington Post.)

Then Twitter cancelled their account, I can't get into their website, and there's all this jabber online about how these folk are troublemakers coming to town without a welcome mat.

Read their press release here.  Their new Facebook page is still going strong, last I heard. (Their first Facebook page was deleted by Facebook.)

I'm all for people standing up for what they believe in, and the Constitution does start out with those three little words, "We the People."  So if a big bunch of truck drivers want to go to the nation's capitol to have their say on things, that's fine with me.

Here's the thing.

Things appear to be very, very tense with all sorts of law enforcement agencies right now.  There was the shooting of the single mom who was driving around near the Capitol with her baby and no gun in a very risky way last week.  There was the story today about the seniors who were kept under armed guard at the Old Faithful Inn at Yosemite National Park -- the tourists from Japan thought they had been arrested.   You get the idea.

It's tough to be a cop, and I respect what they have to do.  During my years representing kids in Child Protective Services cases, I came to see things that made me respect law enforcement all the more.

It's tough being a truck driver, too.  Long hours on the road, pressure to meet deadlines, the new HOS rules and all those new regulations -- no one got rich being a trucker, and it's a dangerous job in its own right.

So I'm praying that these truckers and these police officers don't clash physically and that no one gets hurt when all those big rigs start rumbling down the Beltway. Because they ARE coming.  

Seriously, I'm praying for the safety of everyone there because I'm worried it is going to be somewhat of a powder keg.  And if you want to pray too, I think that would be great.

May God bless America - the land of the free, and the home of the brave.  Now more than ever.



I

Sister Wives and the American Foreclosure Fraud Housing Crisis: It's Not Over.

Sister Wives.  Have you heard about this reality TV series on TLC, following a man named Kody Brown (that's not a misspelling) and his four wives and their gazillion kids through their daily lives as a polygamist family in Las Vegas, Nevada?  I bet you have.

It's polygamy brought into the American home, every week, by the same cable network that brings you shows about hoarding, gypsy weddings, and the lady from Long Island who talks to the dead. 

The Learning Channel.  That's right: you know it. 

Well, fine.  Here's my story.

I'm paranoid about getting zapped with another virus or trojan or some sort of evil malware these days after being hit twice (hard) in the past six weeks, so I'm stopping to do lots of full system scans on Malbytes and Norton.  Which is what I was doing earlier this week after a big research project, and since this kept me from doing more work on the keyboard I decided to take care of some chores.

Yes, of course, I'm building up to why I was watching Sister Wives.  Humor me.

Skip to a fresh load of laundry, a big glass of sweet tea, and a chicken roasting in the oven.  Bad hair, no make-up, stained sweats.  And a remote. 

I'm folding laundry having surfed through the TimeWarner "Entertainment on Demand" selection and coming across Sister Wives' latest two episodes (from the last week of May 2012).  I watch them.

Now, we're here: finally.  The point to my story. 

Seems the Sister Wives and Hubby Kody want to move from four separate rental homes (very nice, new ones by the way) into a cul-de-sac of homes in a neighborhood just being built.  Four houses, side by side, and if I understood this right, a shared backyard.  The husband would move between the homes and each wife (and her kids) gets their own place.

I'm intrigued. 

I wonder about the amount of money that reality TV generates for these people.  Less than the Kardashians, more than the medium? 

They don't seem to have jobs.  (I discover later that the husband has some sort of marketing sales gig and one of the wives is putting together a business plan for a Curves-type franchise work-out place.)

Anyway, I'm folding duds and watching as these five meet with a lender who has found them financing.   Seems there has been a big concern on their ability to get a home loan. 

This seems to ring true: who isn't having trouble getting a home loan in America today given the Foreclosure Fraud fiasco?  Another thing to ponder:  I cannot for the life of me figure out how any of these people are making money other than being on the reality television show.  Especially the kind of money to buy four nice two-story stucco homes with all that goes with that purchase, as well as the kids, the cars, the taxes, heck: the food. 

Let's hope that they've been chatting with Kate Gosselin, if this is the case.  That train doesn't run on those tracks forever.

Setting around the loan officer's conference table, the Sister Wives and Hubby Kody are told that they can get mortgages on four homes for the ... wait for it ... down payment of a mere 40% and this will be an interest only loan.  Balloon payment coming. 

The loan officer suggests that they get themselves into "traditional financing" as soon as possible.

This is my point.  Here. Right here.

The American housing crisis and banking crisis and overall economic crisis isn't going to end with this stuff happening.  

Here is a prime example of why the talking heads are talking about the Housing Bubble.  Because families get talked into loans like this and then they cannot pay them and they default.  

You know this.  I know this. 

I'm curious about who this lender is, where the 40% down payments were supposed to go, and if the loan was going to be sold (which is what happened so often -- risky loans were made and then sold in bulk to other lenders and the original lender skipped away, money in hand, long before any default issues reared their ugly heads).

Back to Sister Wives.  Did they take the deal?  Nope.  But it wasn't because this was a dodgy deal. 

They walked from the cul-de-sac because one of the houses sold and their plan of the shared back yard wouldn't work. 

You can watch the episodes for yourself online here.

My point:  there needs to be legislation to stop this stuff.  People, nice people, get pulled into these deals and lenders and builders and developers let them take these deals.  Could there be lawsuits now, before laws are passed?  I like the idea of a tort action.  Confidential relationship?  Fiduciary duty? 

Rusty wheels in my brain start to turn as I consider what I saw at that conference table and I'm thinking these are arguably confidential relationships, i.e., relationships of unequal bargaining power where the law places an additional duty of good faith upon the more powerful party.  Nice thing if this dog will hunt:  punitive damages.

Imagine that for a moment.  Sweet.  

I don't know if this works, though, under Texas tort law or that of any other state.  I don't know the fix.  Fixes. 

I do know that the crisis isn't over if this was lending offer shown on a national reality television show.  Yikes. 

Documentary to Watch -Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

This documentary is around 45 minutes long, and it's unsettling. However, I think it's worth your time to watch.

Full Text of Balanced Budget Amendment Bill - S.J.Res. 10 With Latest Updates: House Votes Next Week

Below is the full text of the bill proposing that the federal government have a balanced budget.  Maybe you, like me, think it's a good idea to read this thing. 

What is a balanced budget amendment? 

Balanced budget amendments are not new, a federal version has been debated for years -- and all but three of the states have their own version of a balanced budget requirement, imposed either by constitution or by statute (the three that do not are Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska according to the Austin American Statesman). 

In sum, these balanced budget laws (or amendments) state that the government cannot spend more than it takes in; in this proposal, each year the President would have to provide a proposed budget to Congress (who has the purse-strings) that demonstrated no plan for the feds to spend more than the federal income. 

The 2011 Balanced Budget Amendment - Details


For more information on the current proposed bill for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, read through the links provided here by Thomas.gov. 

Note that this proposal not only seeks a Balanced Budget but it also establishes caps on spending at 18% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and it fights against an increase in federal taxes by requiring an overwhelming Congressional vote approving any tax hike.

Shown below is the version of the bill that was accurate as of the date of this post (you can download a pdf from the Government Printing Office here). 

The House of Representatives will vote on this bill during the week of July 18, 2011.  If the House approves this bill, then the next step will be to send the proposed amendment to the 50 states for their ratification: 


 _____________________________________________  112th CONGRESS 1st Session S. J. RES. 10
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to balancing the budget.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 31, 2011

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. LEE, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. KYL, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. TOOMEY, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. RISCH, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. PAUL, Mr. VITTER, Mr. ENZI, Mr. KIRK, Mr. THUNE, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. BURR, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. COBURN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. LUGAR, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts, Mr.