January 2009

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” – Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United States of America

The most remarkable characteristic of Lincoln’s optimistic quote is not his faith in Country, God or even in the Office of The President to calm the storm of national crises. It is the people themselves that Lincoln has unquestioning faith in.

Whether America is now suffering from a great economic crisis is beyond question.

We should not look to government, to our leaders or even to our sitting President, then, in an effort to alleviate the current economic crisis. In following the spirit of Lincoln’s deep seated convictions, we should look to each other to repair our dire circumstances.

Millions of jobs have been lost since the beginning of 2008. For over a year credit has been scarce for the average American to acquire, even if it would save them from utter economic collapse. Perhaps trillions of dollars in toxic mortgages have flooded the international markets. Subsequently, home values across the nation have dropped precipitously.

A great majority of recent homebuyers are straddled with mortgage debts that exceed the values of their homes. These problems are made worse by the fact that over the last decade, exotic home loans like interest only, short term adjustable mortgages and negative amortization loans have been made to a vast number of American Consumers.

The resulting problem is so immense economists and legislators can barely conceptualize how to manage it.