Michael Braun's Blog

“This whole notion that everybody’s entitled to own a house — that’s a bunch of crap,” says Michael Bednark, who lives in Tigard, Ore., and works in sales of heavy truck equipment. He says he’s upset about efforts to cut more deals for people who can’t pay their loans, especially where taxpayer money is involved.

“People who bought more home than they are entitled to own are getting bailed out on my back,” Bednark says. “It’s insane, what they were doing. So where is the personal responsibility?”

This insightful commentary was part of a story on NPR’s Morning Edition this morning. Oh, Mr. Bednark, if only I too could share your simplistic worldview and shallow understanding of economics! Kind sir, let me explain to you why you cannot afford to let these mortgages default.

1. Personal responsibility extends far beyond those home buyers who bought more house than they can now afford.
Here’s a simplistic explanation of the history so that most anyone can understand. First, we’ve got a tech boom, which leads to a lot of money. That means a lot of people have cash to burn. What safer place to put it than in home construction? This means a lot of homes need to get sold. Builders put out a lot of incentives to BUY, BUY, BUY! Deregulation leads to lending companies with the ability to lend money to ANYONE on ridiculous terms. Because they aren’t responsible for the payback of the loan and are making beaucoup bucks lending money to anyone, they keep doing it and get a little dishonest in the process. Furthermore, home buyers see housing prices rising, meaning they can buy a home now and refinance to pay their mortgage when prices rise. Increasing housing prices means increasing rent, making buying an even more attractive option. When the bottom falls out, these people are stuck with a home worth much less than they paid for it, skyrocketing mortgage payments, and no help in sight. They got duped. A lot of folks should have had some personal responsibility, but it didn’t exactly work out that way, and it doesn’t start and end with homebuyers.

2. Where are the good rental properties in your area?
If I want to rent a house in the city of Madison, I will be shelling out a whole lot of money. Housing prices are high here and haven’t fallen much since the mortgage crisis. But if you are a family of 5, where do you go to find a place to live? This isn’t a big city, with lots and lots of apartment options. Nor do we have good public transport, such that you could live far outside the city and take the train in. Buying a house, if you can get a mortgage, feels like the logical choice for many, many families. And when your payments start out where you can afford them, what is the incentive to rent a poor quality, bad location, too small apartment?

3. Do you ever plan to sell your house?
Let’s face it, the largest part of most American’s assets is their home. Especially in the last 50 years, homeownership has become a way to grow wealthy over time. When you sell your house, you reap the money, time, and sweat you’ve invested over the period of ownership. But, if we see a lot of foreclosures or defaults, home prices will keep dropping. Maybe they’ve already fallen in your area, Mr. Bednark. What will happen if your home price drops so far that you can’t sell it for a reasonable price? What if you need to move to a different city or into a different house? Good luck to you!

4. There are solutions to the problem that you can agree to.
There are a lot of homeowners who are stuck in a mortgage with ridiculous terms. A moratorium on foreclosures for a period of months while the banks sort out what kinds of loans they can give will help everyone. For those homeowners unable to refinance because they really don’t make enough, they will be able to search for another place to live. Perhaps they could be allowed to stay in their home, paying what they can, until the house can be sold (if we do this, we now have a lot of good quality rental properties). No one has proposed that the government pay off people’s mortgages or give people money to stipend their increasing payments. This wouldn’t make sense for the financial industry or for America. After all, most of the governmental help has gone to banks who bet everything on rising home prices and ridiculous derivatives. If professionals in the financial services industry couldn’t make good choices, how do we expect prospective home buyers to navigate through this minefield?

In the end, you must remember, Mr. Bednark – the government has the stability of the US economy as their primary goal. Even if you blame mortgage holders, a stable, growing economy will help you too. Are you willing to foreclose on your neighbors just so you feel righteous about your own choices?

I think I know how McCain could have won the presidency (the only way he could have won, if it was at all possible).

1. Declare that he will only serve one term.
This allows him to say that he won’t make decisions based on what is popular for his party, but rather based on what is required to get the nation back on track. It means he won’t be politicking while in office and shows that he understands that he is very old. And there would be no penalty for him running again, should he be very popular.

2. Pick an experienced running mate, even if they are boring.
Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge may not be the most exciting of candidates, and they sure can’t stir up the “base” with their pro-women’s rights positions. But they would have helped McCain make the claim that he was going with experience. They also would not have drawn attention away from the campaign and to clothes, stupid statements, and baby-making daughters.

3. Experience, experience, experience.
McCain should have never left the message that he was the experienced candidate. “My friends, Barack Obama is a good man, a great politician, and someone who has a bright future. I look forward to working with him in whatever capacity I can. But this election is about putting our country back on track. In 4 or 8 years, Barack Obama will be an experienced candidate, and I would encourage him to run again, if he doesn’t win in this election. Right now, however, this country needs experience. I will come into the job, ready on day one, with my only mission to get this great nation back on the rails. I will get it into good shape, and then be more than happy to hand the reins to someone else. But in order to do that, I need you to vote for me, the candidate with experience to lead.”

All of a sudden, if you liked John McCain in the past, he now seems to be doing something both “maverick-y” and realistic. He forgoes politics to serve his nation – who could reject that argument? I think Obama would have had plenty of counter-arguments. “If John McCain has the solutions now, where has he been for the past 8 years? George Bush, a man he voted with 90% of the time, was in office. Why couldn’t John McCain have told the secrets to him, so we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place? It’s no argument to say you’re the only one who can fix the mess when he and Bush are the one’s who made it in the first place!” And I also doubt McCain’s ability to stay on message, so the whole thing might not have worked. But I think a strategy like that would have been McCain’s only chance to win.

Although, consider this anecdote. While visiting family on Sunday, I got into a discussion about politics with my uncle, a self-identified conservative Republican who works in the financial services industry. He asked me who I thought he voted for. I didn’t wager a guess, as he had previously said good things about McCain. Turns out he voted for Barack Obama, because of the prayer that Obama put in the Wailing Wall. If McCain can’t even get my uncle’s vote because Obama was such an inspiring candidate, then maybe there really was no hope for McCain. Thank goodness.

Take a look at these two pictures. Who looks like they have more power?

One way that an individual can show authority is by one-sided touching. The individual who can touch is the individual with the power. Think about trying to do the LBJ handshake with your friends (right hand shakes, left hand holds upper arm) – hilarious! Now imagine doing that at a job interview – awkward!

It’s like Michelle and Barack saying, “hey, it’s okay you destroyed this country. At least you kept the White House in good shape for us.”

Usually on Mondays, I head down to campus with Lauren. But today, due to a paper I have to finish for tomorrow and a take-home stats exam due Thursday, I decided to skip the bus and relax at home. Aside from the construction vehicles building on Mineral Point and Yellowstone, it’s been decidedly quiet and pleasant.

Right now, a cup of tea steams to my right and Penelope is curled up in a sunbeam on my left. I’ve got books and notebooks spread out before me, as well as a calculator. Statistics, with no time pressure, can be downright fun. Writing a paper could be too, but I’m at the editing phase and will re-read just a few more times before handing it in.

I registered for classes this morning. My schedule looks better in some ways, worse in others.

Better:
1. No 4-Section days. My Wednesday this semester is 4 sections in a row, then a 2 hour seminar-style class. Not exactly easy. Next semester, I have a 3 section day and a 2 section day. It’s a much better balance.
2. No class until 9:55. This means I can take a later bus! I don’t mind taking the 8:15 or 7:45, but it severely limits what I can do in the morning. If I don’t have to take the bus until 8:45, I could conceivably go to the gym at 6:30 and still catch the bus.
3. New, exciting classes! I’ll have second semester stats, “Mass Media and Youth,” and Lyn’s grad. level persuasion seminar. I’m definitely excited.

Worse:
1. No more 4 day weekends. Sure, I still go down to campus Monday and Friday, but next semester I won’t have the option to sit at home on a Monday afternoon.
2. No sparsely populated sections. I really like my 8:50 AM Wed. section because there are only about 12 students in it. It can be a lot of fun. Next semester, things should be better distributed, somewhat limiting my creativity.

Anyway, back to statistics! Hope you readers are having relaxing Mondays as well.

I’ve enjoyed looking at CNN.com once again, finally able to read their news without fear of seeing some article that will make me think that Obama was not going to win the presidency. Now that our next four years are secure, I can read their trash news again. One exciting thing about reading political news is speculation over who will be appointed into Obama’s cabinet. A lot of speculation centers around current US Senators. While I do not doubt that some senators are on Obama’s shortlist, I’m skeptical that he will award a majority of his cabinet positions to current US politicians.

I went and took at look at Bush’s first cabinet. Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation, was a US Congressperson. Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, was a US Senator. All other members of his first cabinet never served in Congress. One could say that this was a mistake, but I think Obama, like Bush, will fill many of the positions from individuals outside the current Congress.

Some of my picks:

Secretary of Defense
Keep in Robert Gates. He’s been a straight-shooter and this will beef up Obama’s position on Iraq. If Gates can oversee a withdrawal, it will lead to less criticism from Republicans for “surrendering.” Plus, Gates has been a uniting figure, willing to speak truth to Congress, unlike Rumsfeld.

Secretary of State
Bill Richardson. Okay, maybe I’m biased towards my initial pick for the Democratic nomination, but I think Richardson truly has the good sense and discipline to be Secretary of State. If not Richardson than I think Chuck Hagel, current Republican Senator from Nebraska would be a great choice. Again, putting a Republican in this high slot lends credence to Obama as a uniter, someone willing to transcend politics. I’ve heard that Massachusetts Democratic Senator John Kerry is angling for the spot. That would be a stupid choice, President Obama, so please don’t pick him!!

Secretary of the Treasury
Paul Volcker!! Volcker is old (81) but he’s also well-respected and super-smart. He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 until 1987 and would be a stabilizing figure to put in place. Though he shouldn’t be expected to serve for more than a year or so, he would be perfect to guide our country onto the path of economic recovery. He’s also someone both parties respect.

Chief Technology Officer
Vint Cerf!! Goofy name, super smart guy. He’s currently over at Google, and has helped to make that company a success. He’s smart, creative, and sure to help our country achieve technology growth. Obama will be responsible for guiding another tech boom through carefully spent government funds, as well as creating policy on important issues like net neutrality and P2P networks. Cerf would be an excellent person to advise him.

Who do you want to see make it into Obama’s cabinet? What position are you yourself holding out for? Is Obama the most kick-ass president ever, or what?

I had decided to cook a simple stir-fry last night, but decided to pep it up a little bit. Nothing against plain sautéed vegetables and rice, but a bit more flavor can often be nice. So in addition to my carrots, potatoes, onion, red pepper, and peas, I fired up a burner on the stove to see if I could make a sweet and sour sauce.

I’d looked at some recipes earlier in the day trying to find an easy sauce. All were too complicated! Plus, I had limited options for my base. One recipe that looked good called for pineapple juice. That would have been delicious, no doubt, but all I had was some low-sodium chicken broth. So that’s what I used!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar
2 T Lime Juice
Sugar
Salt
Ground Ginger

1. Boil Chicken Broth, adding Rice Vinegar and Lime Juice.
2. As mixture continues to boil (I kept around medium high heat), add two spoonful sugar.
3. Add teaspoon Ginger and sprinkle of salt (I used two small twists on my grinder).
4. As mixture continues to reduce, taste and add additional sugar to taste (I ended up using 4-5 spoonfuls).
5. Take off heat once reduced sufficiently. I left it pretty runny, as I poured the sauce over the vegetables and rice once plated.

It’s tangy and delicious! If you give it a try, let me know what you think!

Yet again, proponents of fair and equal partnership rights were defeated. California was the most stunning of the 3 states seeking to amend their constitutions to explicitly ban marriage between 2 unrelated individuals of the same sex. Proposition 8 passed in California, effectively overturning a ruling from their Supreme Court earlier this year that allowed same-sex couples to marry. While litigation is pending to rule the amendment itself unconstitutional, it seems likely that California will join the other states who have banned same-sex unions.

When listening to those who supported Prop. 8, I heard very little bigotry towards homosexuals. While I honestly think that those who voted for the proposition are homophobic bigots, they present themselves as protectors of “traditional marriage.” This marriage definition comes from one place – the bible. For better or worse, those supporting the ban are overwhelmingly Christian.

With one side of the debate making so much progress, and those of us who support liberty and equality falling behind, something needs to change. Either we can wait 20 years until our generation is in control of politics and able to dictate the agenda (and repeal those amendments) or we can do something completely different. I want action now, which is why I call today for us to eliminate the word “marriage” from our legal jargon. We must replace it with the notion of “civil union” – a legal contract designed to grant family rights to two unrelated, consenting adults.

If the issue truly is that we must protect “marriage,” then let’s toss it back to the churches. Let them deal with marriage rights. The rest of us will get hitched by signing a Civil Union Contract or License. We will grant equal rights under the law (as there is now no law governing marriage) and protect the “sanctity” of their marriages at the same time.

I have no doubt that this plan will be met with much flack, from all sides of the debate. But the moment that those who supported Prop. 8 and similar amendments from states around the country come out against my plan, what argument will they use? They will be forced to oppose my plan because they are homophobic bigots.

It may take some getting used to; after all, we’ve had marriage as the ultimate consummation of a relationship for quite a while. But while marriage rights seem rooted in romance (these days, anyway), a Civil Union can be both a romantic and legal commitment. If individuals understood completely what they were getting into, maybe we’d see fewer shotgun marriages and fewer divorces. Getting married in a church will be well and good, but it will be signing those legal documents that make the partnership complete in the eyes of the law.

If protecting marriage is really the issue, then I’ll vote to get rid of it altogether. Life is too short to worry about what some made-up god thinks about the validity of human relationships.

Had John McCain somehow won last night, we wouldn’t have this question to ask with such wonder. Bush would be known as a bad president, to be sure, but depending on the course that John McCain set, history might have had a fonder memory of our 43rd president. Alas for Mr. Bush, John McCain didn’t win. Even worse, he lost soundly. Barack Obama carried a huge number of states that Bush won in 2004. McCain, arguably a moderate with much different views than Bush, was another victim of Bush’s unpopularity (his recent approval ratings are as low as 20%, the worst ever recorded).

With what legacy is George Bush left? No major domestic or international success and lots of domestic and international disaster. He squandered any goodwill for the United States after 9/11. He supported deregulation to the point of financial collapse. He put millions into poverty. He failed to provide health insurance for children. He was a failed leader.

But it’s worse than that. Bush single-handedly destroyed the Republican party. First, he pandered to the party’s “base,” winning elections by the slimmest of margins (he couldn’t even win the popular vote in 2000) because of a few hardcore Evangelical Christians. This pushed other, more moderate voters out of the party and into Democratic arms. Second, he caused serious policy disasters. Bush lead us to illegal wars, deregulated with vigor causing collapse in industries as wide ranging as banks and energy companies, and failed to be the compassionate conservative he promised in 2000. Third, he failed to anticipate that Americans might like progress. He stood content to keep us in the dark ages, discouraging advances in science and technology. He refused to invest in America’s future.

I don’t know how much Bush is sitting back and thinking about the disaster he caused. But the historical significance had got to weigh on him. In 1994, Republicans gained control of the Senate and the House. It was a significant victory. It only took 12 years, and one awful president, for the Republicans to lose those majorities, and lose them seriously. They sit 16+ seats behind in the Senate and 80+ seats behind in the House. And it was Bush that lead McCain to lose.

In 2004, Bush was driven to win because he didn’t want to go out after just one term and be like his father. He met that goal, but then left us wishing he was more like his dad. Bush will not go down in history as an ineffective president (as his father did). He will go down as the worst president ever. The election of Barack Obama proved it – Americans went hard for change. The worst part for Bush is that it’s a sea change: nothing will be the same after George Bush, and he shouldn’t be proud of that legacy.

Barack Obama is the next president of the United States of America.

The election in Wisconsin’s 86th Assembly District is too close to call. Your vote could be the deciding factor.

If you are concerned about what the Wisconsin Assembly has done under continued Republican control, vote Nate Myszka. If you are tired of non-issues filling up the Assembly’s docket, vote Nate Myszka. If you want a new face for Central Wisconsin, vote Nate Myszka. If you want someone who will fight for YOU, vote Nate Myszka.

This election is too important to leave up to other people. If you live in Wisconsin’s 86th Assembly District, VOTE NATE MYSZKA TODAY.

Hey – you! Did you vote yet? Why not? When are you going to vote? Are you going to vote at all? You need to vote, for serious. Get off your lazy ass and go to the polls. If you are in Wisconsin you can register right there with a piece of mail or someone to vouch for you. YOU. HAVE. NO. EXCUSES. ANYMORE.

I went an voted at 6:45 this morning. Already there was a line out the door, some 70 people ahead of me. Lauren and I stood and waited until 7, when the line started moving quickly. Before you knew it, we were thru, our ballots cast for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. We stood and chatted with Lyn (my advisor) for a while; she shares our same polling place. We got back home by 7:30. And I felt proud to have cast my vote in such a historic race.

But what about you? I guarantee that this election will affect your life, so don’t pretend otherwise. And I guarantee you are smart enough to vote. You can and should vote. TODAY. THIS IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO VOTE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2008.

Early this afternoon, I started my own little Get Out The Vote (GOTV, to those of us in the know) campaign. I called everyone (nearly) in my phone book. I urge you to do the same. Call everyone. Get out the vote! VOTE OBAMA!!

I couldn’t sleep last night because of all the thoughts running through my head. In less than 18 hours, we should know who will be the next president of the United States. And if that man is John McCain, it will be the biggest upset in US Presidential history. I don’t think he can do it.

So that means that Barack Obama will become our president. He’s a man who has truly lived the American dream. From lower middle class, with a single mother, he worked his way up to graduate top of his class from Harvard Law and then return back to Chicago to work. He was a professor at the University of Chicago before entering politics. And he has made his way right up to the top.

In 2004, when Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention, he said that there are no red states or blue states. Little did we know, 4 years later, he would prove this correct by putting every state in the nation into play. McCain has had to spend lots of time campaigning in traditionally Republican states because Obama truly does unite the country. He brings people together. He makes us want to work to make this country great again.

I couldn’t sleep last night because of an election that I was excited about. Is that crazy, or what?

Tomorrow, we Americans will be tasked with the weighty responsibility of voting for our next leader. The choices could not be more distinct. We have two very different alternatives. Look at the differences between the two major party candidates.

Young vs. Old: If we elect John McCain we will be electing the oldest person to ever serve as president. Not even Ronald Reagan was as old as McCain when he was first elected.

Healthy vs. Sick: If we elect John McCain, we elect a man who has repeatedly refused to release his medical records. He had a deadly bought with skin cancer that he barely lived thru. This cancer could reoccur at any moment and spreads rapidly. If we elect John McCain we will be electing a man in poor health.

Experienced VP vs. Idiot VP: If we elect John McCain and he passes away while in office, Sarah Palin will become president. This woman has no intelligence, lacks the experience and ability to be president, and is likely to condemn America to reckless policies driven by her ignorant views of the world. She honestly believes that the earth was created 6,000 years ago. If that’s the case, then where the fuck did all the oil come from that she wants to rape the earth to get at? And after we rape the earth for oil, will she charge it for its own rape kit?

New Path vs. Old Path: If we elect John McCain, we say that the last 8 years meant nothing. Think back to 2000, when Clinton left office; in your wildest imagination could you envision the country being in as bad of shape as it is right now? Bush is like the plague. Even worse, he’s like a rat, with plague-infested fleas, determined to expose himself to as many children as possible, all so he can kill. We’re about to get ride of one mad man; do we really want to elect another?

Hope vs. Fear: If we elect John McCain, we confirm that dirty, negative campaigning works. We say we approve of Karl Rove. We say that we prefer lies to truth, tricks to logic, and hate to respect. Is that the legacy you want for our political system?

This election is not about “them” or “that one” or “real America” or “Red and Blue states.” It’s about us together as a nation. We will elect either John McCain or Barack Obama, even if you vote the other way. If you don’t want John McCain in office, then you MUST vote for Obama. If you want change, a new direction, then you must vote for Obama. The time is now. Change is in the air.

Vote OBAMA on NOVEMBER 4 if you want this country to be great again.

What in the world am I going to write about once the election is over? I mean seriously, I can’t credit any spurt of inspiration or genius for my increased blogging. It’s been the election straight-up. It inspired me to write more. Something so important, I can’t possibly ignore it. But what happens after Nov. 4? Not that there won’t be politics to write about, but for heaven’s sake, the worst president of all time has been in office since I started blogging, and I didn’t write something about politics everyday. Once Obama is in office (which can happen ONLY IF all you young people get in gear and VOTE!!!), I doubt I will have a lot of political issues to comment on.

This summer, I had a lot of fun writing about whether my former employer was a cult or not. The topic stretched out into a several part series. As I start working on my own research ideas in grad. school, I think that format may offer some real potential for future writing. Perhaps not as hard-hitting as my political commentary (c’mon, NY Times – offer me a job!), but it’s at least something else I’m interested in.

Other than that, I’ve got no good ideas. Maybe I should start watching a lot of sports so I can write about that. Or I could get into underground Hip-Hop and make that a central focus. Or, if you go back into my archives, you can see that my previous college blogging was a lot of talk about what I was doing on a daily basis. Fun to look back and read, though I’m not sure how entertaining it was. Nor do I suspect that it drew a lot of outside readers to my blog (unlike my political writing, which has done reasonable “business” from search engines).

The weather is beautiful outside (though it’s getting a little cloudy). I’ve got papers to grade and reading to do. Tonight, I’ll be studying for my stats exam on Thursday. I’m excited to vote on Tuesday to get this election finished!! Even though my blogging my grow slow and dull, it will be fun to see something else in the news for once.

Build Up: Obama’s strategy for campaigning and his view on what will help America.

Tear Down: McCain’s totally opposite plans for America.

How can two campaigns be so diametrically different? Obama offers real solutions to real problems. He shows that he understands the middle class and that his plans offer direct help. He steers us away from Bush policy that has caused us so much grief over the past 8 years. It’s a lot of work for one man to take on; after all, it’s a lot easier to destroy a country than it is to make it great again. But he is up for the task. He offers a true different course for our country, to get us back on the right track.

McCain has spent these last few weeks of the campaign doing nothing but tearing down Obama. How can that possibly help the country? I understand that McCain thinks he would be a better president than Obama, but tell us HOW and WHY; don’t just attack your opponent! The way McCain practices his reactive politics, I expect him to support Osama Bin Ladin because Obama is against him. McCain has repeatedly failed to state how he is any different from Bush and picked a running mate specifically because he felt she would appeal to the same base that put Bush over the top.

McCain lacks the judgment to lead this nation. While he might be good in the Senate, working with legislation and forming coalitions, he has proven that he lacks the temperament or the vision to lead this country. McCain has set himself up as the tear-down candidate. Any good idea that sits outside the Bush-Brain Box, McCain rejects it out-of-hand. We can’t afford another 4 years of that.