Today's Nuze: January 20, 2004

TUESDAY, January 20, 2004

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

As soon as today's show is over Belinda and I, along with our intrepid engineer Charles Youngs, will head for The Beltway. We'll be in the House Gallery tonight to watch President Bush deliver his 4th State of the Union Speech. Tomorrow we'll be broadcasting from the White House with what promises to be an impressive lineup of guests. Remember also, next week we're broadcasting from Manchester, New Hampshire on Monday and Tuesday!

We need a big Prevo tour bus.

BUSH'S GRAND NO MONEY DOWN IDEA

Last week we heard that George Bush was going to propose some new tax-free savings account and Super-IRA plans this evening. Later we learn that he will bring the issue of Social Security Reform up yet again. Now this morning we are hearing that he is going to propose eliminating the down payment requirement for FHA home loans.

Let me put on my old real estate lawyer's hat and tell you where this is going to go.

First of all, private home ownership is at a high in this country. More than 68% of Americans own their own home. The people who don't own their homes are those who have irresponsibly screwed up their own credit ratings, and those who just flat don't want the problems associated with home ownership.

In my legal career I closed somewhere in the neighborhood of 6000 real estate loans. Generally speaking, the less money a person puts into their home, the more likely they are to get into trouble later. Once the FHA starts making no-money-down loans tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people are going to move into home ownership with absolutely no personal investment in their new home. Why do lenders like down payments? Because that personal investment, that 10% of the purchase price the borrower has paid, means that the borrower will work especially hard to make those payments and keep that home maintained. A person who has paid a large amount of cash to move into a home has much more to lose in the event of a loan default than does the no-money-down buyer.

So .. here's a look into the future if the Bush plan goes through. Thousands of people with no savings and marginal credit will rush to get the new no-money-down loans. Along with the no-down-payment bonus, credit requirements will be relaxed. Many of the people who buy these homes will continue doing just what they have been doing over the past years to screw up their credit. At the beginning many of these people will develop a chronic lateness problem in paying their mortgages. They will not understand that accrued interest is deducted from every payment before any principal is applied to their loan. After a year of so of chronic late payments they'll start missing a few. Then come the letters from the lender. The letter will cause a few payments to be made on time, then back to the old pattern of late payments and missed payments. The old habits of financial irresponsibility die hard.

In the meantime, the homes are going to fall into disrepair. When you have a large hunk of your own cash in a home you have some motivation to keep that home in good repair. You fix broken toilets. You change filters on air conditioners. You keep the yard looking nice, you repair leaking roofs and broken gutters. After all, your home is an investment. Investments need care and attention. No down payment = no investment. No investment = no real concern over the condition of your home.

Eventually the home is in such a state of disrepair that the no-money-down homeowner sees no real benefit in continuing to make those payments ... even late. Finally the lender has no option but to foreclose. The "homeowner" vacates the home leaving it in horrible condition .. the foreclosure takes place .. and the government is stuck with a trashed house that, at best, it is going to sell at a loss; and at worst is going to have to tear down. And who gets stuck with the tab? You guessed it! You! The great American taxpayer. The 50% of American income earners who actually pay income taxes.

In the meantime the bad-credit, no-money crowd, which strangely mirrors the 50% of income earners who don't pay income taxes, continues to line up for their no-money-down home loans Same old story. The people who have introduced a modicum of financial responsibility into their lives get the shaft, the careless and irresponsible get the government goodies.

Bad idea.

IOWA EARTHQUAKE: KERRY FINISHES FIRST, DEAN MELTDOWN

As suicide hotlines all over the country were flooded with distraught Deanie babies, John Kerry finished first in Iowa, followed by multi-millionaire trial lawyer John Edwards. Bringing up third place is the ever-angry Howard Dean. Richard Gephardt finished fourth and is, therefore, finished. The top three finishers now head to New Hampshire, where Weasley Clark and Joe Leiberman are waiting for next Tuesday's primary.

This is going to get very interesting, because of the relatively tight timetable. After New Hampshire, there's John Edwards' birth state of South Carolina and a handful of others, then Super Tuesday on March 2nd. The Democrats want to chose their candidate as soon as they possibly can so they can get on with the campaign against Bush.

We're going to find out how strong the former general ... you know, the one who was fired because of integrity and character issues ... is in New Hampshire. The better Clark looks the more Bill and Hillary will start to sweat. At what point will they pull the plug on their stalking horse? That leaves Senators Kerry, Edwards and Lieberman as the only alternatives. One is a Massachusetts liberal, the other a former ambulance-chasing trial lawyer and one was the Democratic loser just 4 years ago. On top of that, they're all very boring.

Will Kerry end up being the candidate? I particularly like that story about how John Kerry threw his Bronze Star over the fence into the White House grounds during a Vietnam War protest. Later we find out that Kerry lied. He didn't really throw his medal .. he tossed something else instead. Ahhh ... another honest Democrat.

No ... I'm not feeling particularly cocky here. My absolute, number-one issue in this campaign is our security. We are in the middle of World War IV, the war against Islamic terrorism. Domestic issues remain important, but all fall behind the war on terrorism. It is insanity to entrust our national security to a Democrat, but there are many people in this nation who put their own access to taxpayer funds and government programs far above any concerns they have about terrorism. These people can be counted on to vote only for the candidate who promises the freest access to the national treasury. On the other side we have conservative and libertarian voters who are so disgusted with Bush's orgy of domestic spending that they just don't have the heart to go to the polls.

When November comes, just ask yourself: WWOVF? Who would Osama Vote For? It's a question worth asking.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF HOWARD DEAN

Howard Dean Alarm System
You heard it first on the Neal Boortz Show, the Howard Dean Alarm System! Listen again, share with friends!

Boy, what a rough day for Governor Dean. Despite endorsements from former Vice President Al Gore, former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and a little love from Jimmy Carter, third place was the best he could do yesterday. Dean complains that he suffered as the front-runner because he was a "pin cushion" for attacks from the other campaigns. Poor baby.

Appearing before supporters in a Des Moines ballroom following his caucus defeat, Dean threw a complete temper tantrum. He went into a screaming rant and became red-faced and started shouting out the names of states where he would continue his battle to defeat George Bush. We have the sound bite ... listen today. It's much fun. Bitter and angry, he stormed off to New Hampshire on a midnight flight. How bizarre is that? What a sore loser.

The day actually started badly for Howard Dean. After inviting himself to a Martin Luther King celebration in Iowa, he was overcome by hordes of media (his campaign itinerary had promoted it) and left in embarrassment after 5 minutes. Upon getting on his bus, he yelled out to the press: "You know why I wasn't able to attend this event, because you guys are behaving so badly you've got to get a new life." Organizers of the event were not pleased. Then there's the sorry spectacle of Dean inviting himself to Jimmy Carter's Maranantha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.

Pundits trace the beginning of Dean's slide to the capture of Saddam Hussein. That's when Dean said that Americans are no safer because of the capture. Dean went on to say that Americans were no safer now than they were before 9/11. Even Democratic voters recognize completely absurd statements when they hear one. And here are a few more Deanisms that captured the imagination of the American people ... and not in a positive way:

The theory that George Bush knew in advance of the attacks of 9/11 is "interesting."

He would be all too happy to fight to protect Americans and American interests abroad, but only if the United Nations gave him "permission" to do so.

Careful, though. It's not over. Do you know who else finished third in Iowa? George Bush, that's who. There have been candidates nominated from both parties who finished worse than second in Iowa. Next week in New Hampshire ought to be fun.

SPEND, SPEND, SPEND: BUSH TO HAND OUT MORE STATE OF THE UNION GOODIES

Continuing the trend of his entire administration, reports say President Bush will propose in his State of the Union address increasing Medicare payments 10.6%, which is 5 times the annual increase of recent years. Add on top of that the new prescription drug benefit, increased NASA spending, a 9% domestic security increase, and $2.5 billion for something called the Millennium Challenge Account, which is some sort of aid to third world countries. In addition to all of that, President Bush has not vetoed a single spending bill during his 3 years in office.

But don't fall victim to this deficit nonsense, either. You'll hear a lot of the Democratic candidates this year rail against the deficit, as if somehow this extra government spending needs to be "paid for" with more of your tax dollars. Wrong...what we need is for the politicians to stop spending so much in the first place. It really is that simple. Of course, it will never happen, because people are ignorant and politicians will continue to buy their votes with government programs.

Remind me what the difference is between Republicans and Democrats? Oh ..tax cuts and the war on terrorism. That's right.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Wall Street Journal editorial: The Republicans are spending like drunken sailors.

According to Republican pollster Frank Luntz, Howard Dean is crazy and has already lost the Democratic nomination.

What's this? Airlines have an incentive not to improve security?

Joe Lieberman says President Bush told the Australian Prime Minister that he is the only candidate Bush fears. Apparently then, George Bush has nothing to fear.

Here's some good news. Membership in college conservative groups is growing dramatically. When can we expect professors to stage a mass suicide?

Turns out celebrity endorsements didn't make much difference in the Iowa caucuses. Good. Now maybe they'll all finally stick to acting and stay out of politics.

Rich Lowery writes about Ted Kennedy's Iraq lunacy.

According to the National Taxpayer's Union, every Democrat's platform would raise deficits, not lower them.

A University of Massachusetts political science professor predicts George Bush will be re-elected in a landslide this November.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is leaving America to raise her child in England because she says "I worry about bringing up a child in America. At the moment there's a weird over-patriotic atmosphere over there, like, We're #1 and the rest of the world doesn't matter." That's right sweetheart, we are #1. And don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Software giant Microsoft is taking on Mike Rowe, for registering the domain MikeRoweSoft.com.

Click here. Just do it. You won't regret it. You need to remember ... you need to be reminded. You must never forget.

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