Since returning to Dallas in 1999 for the birth of my daughter, I've been sparring with the Bush Kool-Aid drinking flora and fauna here in the reddest of the red states. Family values, the economy, homeland security -- you name it, my wingnut family and neighbors self-righteously declare "mission accomplished" on each and every political front.
My father, who runs a title search company, would talk about how the economy was picking up steam, even as title company's demands for his services were falling off. My stepdad would rave about Bush's job creation rate, then talk about needing pick-up work to make ends meet.
Imagine, then, my shock at front-page coverage today in the fairly right-leaning Dallas Morning News, documenting a shocking number of property foreclosures here in beautiful DFW. More below:
According to the
News, foreclosures here in the Dallas areas have reached levels not seen since
the 1980s.
That's right. The 1980s. Drink that in. How bad is it, you ask?
Nearly 4,000 homes in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties have been posted for possible sale in November, up 49 percent from the same period a year ago.
"It's high, much higher than normal," said George Roddy, president of Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service, which compiled the data.
Back to my family and friends. In the wake of the economic downturn of late 1991, my irritation with them over things political has morphed into maddened disbelief. People I know who've had their paychecks negatively affected by the stricter overtime regulations talk glowingly of economic recovery. Family members sit at the dinner table bemoaning their inability to afford prescription drugs or insurance premiums, then talk in the same breath about how Bush has turned this country around.
My 66-year-old Republican father's response to my precis of the News' article this morning via cell phone? "Liberal media. This economy is booming. They just can't say anything nice about Bush." This, as he's barreling down the road to a courthouse 90 miles away from his home office because he can't afford to turn down a single title search.
Me: "Dad, why are you out so darn early?" Dad: "Well, I got a call last night for a search in Palo Pinto county, and that's a $75 search for us, It's been so slow lately that I took it. I decided I'd get up there early so I could beat the traffic and get back home quick."
Me: "Why the rush?" Dad: "Bonnie (his second wife) is sick." (Brief history: uninsured Bonnie has diabetes and requires about $550 in prescription drugs per month).
Me: "What's wrong?" Dad: "She's throwing up again (read: diabetes-related gastroparesis). Has been for four days. I really don't like leaving her alone." Me: "Is that new prescription helping?" Dad: "She hasn't started it yet. It costs $387/month so we decided to keep using what she's been on until it runs out."
Hmmmmmmm.
Back to the News -- and what might be behind all these foreclosures:
Fueling the foreclosures are interest rate hikes, rising living expenses and consumer debt, and aggressive lending practices.
Sound familiar? Well, apparently not to my wingnut mother. She, too, is up early this morning, and knows that I'm always up and writing before my daughter goes to school. She called, asking about my kiddo's plans for the afternoon.
"What's Sadie doing this afternoon?" Me: "Piano lessons. Why?" Mom: "Well, your stepfather is working again out at the State Fair and I don't have anything to do so I thought I'd grab Sadie." Me: "Why is he working so many hours? He's been gone day and night since the fair began." Mom: "Well, we can really use the money, and when we totaled up all his hours, it's really not bad money."
How many hours? North of 180 in less than 3 weeks. BTW, my stepfather is 68. How much is his employer paying him? A purported $10/hour. My stepdad has been tracking his hours since late September, counting the times that his boss asked him to pick him up or take him to the airport, run an errand and/or pick up supplies. Turns out, his boss -- say it in unison -- wasn't counting that time.
Me: "Mom, did you see that Morning News story about home foreclosures here in Dallas? Record levels." Mom: "Well, people are crazy. They buy million-dollar homes they konw they can't afford and then they look for the banks or the government to bail them out."
Hmmmmmmm. Just how many foreclosures in Dallas, you ask?
Home foreclosure postings reached about 35,300 so far this year, increasing 20 percent over the same period a year ago. That figure has already surpassed the total for 2005, which was about 32,500.
And is Mom right? Is this wave of DFW foreclosures solely attributable to spendthrift, deadbeat "crazy" people? Back to the News:
Foreclosures typically have their roots in a family calamity, such as divorce, death or job loss. Making things worse this year, said Mr. Roddy, were high energy prices and ballooning credit card debt. Meanwhile, real wages have stagnated.
"If you look at gasoline charges up until a month ago, they were up to the moon," he said. "And obviously, there's the cost of electricity and the high credit card balances people are holding."
Another likely culprit: aggressive lending, in which mortgage companies sell homeowners products that might not be suitable in the long term.
None of my other family members will be up with the chickens like me and my parents, so I can't report, yet, on their delusional thinking regarding record foreclosure rates.
I can tell you that my sister -- yes, a Republican -- built her dream house five years ago and is in the process of selling it because it's more home than they want to afford. The handful of diehard wingnut regulars at my local coffee shop are a more motley group: one recent job loss (boss unhappy about workman's comp claim), one senior on a pension whose insurance bennies were just cut by his lifetime employer, and one guy whose job was outsourced in 2002 and now stays home while his wife works.
Yesterday, as I stood at the counter ordering my coffee, I recounted the diary I read here yesterday about military families seeking donated food. One wingnut bubba called the families "pussies." One told me to peddle my "liberal horseshit" somewhere else. A third told me to go fornicate myself because "liberals like you don't give a shit about the military and our economy anyway."
I can only imagine their response to this Page 1 story when I bump into them this morning. Because, whatever they say, it always pretty much seems to me like it's the political equivalent of "Thank you, sir! May I have another."
Then, again, I've never been a cockeyed optimist. Which, apparently, you need to be to jive and thrive here in the Dallas area. I close with Exhibit A, who closes out the News story:
Still, there are also positive signs, said Craig Jarrell, president for the Dallas region at Pulaski Mortgage Co.
"Maybe it's the spike before things start getting better," he said of the foreclosure postings. "Gasoline prices are down, interest rates have stabilized, the economy's doing all right, the stock market is getting better.
"I think real estate is going to keep on trucking in the Dallas area."
Thank yew, sur! May ah have another?