I keep hearing all these negative things about Obama did this, and the Democrats did that, little about the Republicans or past presidents. Experiencing “the down turn of the economy” has been, and still is, scary and very depressing, especially if you are on the other side of an eviction notice, or pink slip, or in what economists call an “upside down mortgage”. I wonder why no one mentions Ronald Regan’s trickle down theory. I don’t think anything trickled down.

Further, the proposed Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 did away with restrictions on the integration of banking, insurance and stock trading imposed by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, one of the central pillars of Roosevelt’s New Deal. As I see it, this was the beginning of what we have been going through. The “fabulous” Modernization Act let both sides put their hands in the pot, and led the way to taking small bites out of a system that kept the country strong until they broke it.

The changes became even more abusive as the years rolled on with 125% financing, no doc loans, no money down, balloon mortgages, and negative rate mortgages. A great many borrowers did not grasp the ramifications of these new inventive financing arrangements. The negative rate mortgage being one of the worst because at the 10 or 15-year mark you owed more than you borrowed, and possibly more than the house is worth. Even worse, when two people borrow to the max of their income and just one of them looses his/her job, the inevitable happens. To expect real estate values to continue to go up endlessly thereby fueling the 125% financing and the 80/20 loans (which in essence was 100% of the house value) is unrealistic. What successful businessperson would give a 100% loan on a product or person who doesn’t prove income, or who shows an income that would just squeak through? No successful business would, yet the banks were allowed to.

All of these inventions that were created were reckless formulas for catastrophe. We are living through that now. The real estate market was doomed to crash, which puts construction workers out of work, not able to buying cars, clothes, food, etc. THIS IS THE TRICKLE DOWN. The toxic loans (loans made by unscrupulous loan officers that assisted buyers to lie about income) brought down other corporations that also had subsequent devastating impacts on our economy and lives.

People are now blaming Wall Street. Well, I think they are wrong. Wall Street’s job is to make a profit. That is their primary goal. Career politicians in Washington and Trenton are to blame. Shame on those politicians who are fighting and name calling and not doing what they were hired to do. This behavior will not correct the problems and will not help our country or our state.

This is why I will put my vote with the Democratic 24th team. Selby, Huhn and Nye are not career politicians. They are experiencing what we are experiencing. They have a grip on reality and will vote on our behalf- not in favor of the lobbyists. We need people in Trenton who have our interests at heart.

Diane Wexler

Vernon Resident