Whew

I told myself that I would not comment on this issue but it is all over the radio this morning and blasted all over the internet. I have viewed the Sean Delonas cartoon that was in the New York Post and I think it is in very bad taste. I have heard the explanation from the Editor in Chief that the cartoon was a direct reference to the news story about the chimpanzee that attacked a woman and was shot and killed by the police. I am not buying it. I am not going to spend time talking about the history of the New York Post, but I would suggest reading up on it. Even Public Enemy has a song about the New York Post that came out their Apocalypse album talking about the racial depictions of the paper. I think something needs to be done about it but I also think that some of the energy that is about to be spent on this needs to be concentrated in other areas. We deal with a lot of issues in our community that we see everyday but never make a deal about, but when something like this comes up we are out in droves. Am I the only one that sees a problem with that? I am not saying that we should not be up in arms about this issue, but I think we need to be up in arms about more things that directly affect us. I think its good that Al Sharpton is having a rally about this issue and that others are taking the time to discuss issues like this on the radio but let's be upset about everything going on in our community. Let's post links about the gang problems in our neighborhood, let's post links about the graduation rate, lets even post links about number of Adjustable Rate Mortgages going on....Let's be mad about that and rally about that. That has more of a direct affect on our community. Just my thoughts people.

Obama's housing plan that he proposed yesterday is fairly decent. I have heard some people come out and state that it is not doing enough for everyone, but I still think it is a good start. He is addressing one of the major issues in housing and that it the loss of value of homes. He is also addressing the issue of debt to income and as a banker I think that is very important. I have heard some come out and say that his plan rewards those who have deceived this system and I can't say that I totally agree with that. Yes, you have some that are going to slip through the system but I think for the most part that this plan is going to be helpful long term. Now, with that being said I do believe that it can be tweaked a little bit. More needs to be put on the table about what incentives banks are going to get to push them to do more lending. Banks have the money right now to lend, but they are paranoid about taking a loss on the back end. Something needs to be done to address that.

"A Nation of Cowards". That is what Eric Holder called the American people yesterday for failing to discuss race in an open and honest way. Bravo Eric. I think he is really going to hold a lot of people accountable for their policies and their views. I am really excited about him being Attorney General. I think this is only the start of him making some changes and having open dialog. Good stuff.