"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
(I'm back early for Thanksgiving holiday with my family here, so I'll occasionally be writing about my thoughts on goings-on in Orange County and greater California. This is cross-posted at Nevada Progressive, and you're more than welcome to check in over there often for my ruminating on everything Silver State.) :-)
Nevada had 13,842 foreclosure filings, which was a 26 percent decline from September. Filings fell 4.4 percent from October 2008.
The firm reported one filing for every 80 households in October. Nationwide, foreclosure filings fell 3 percent from September, but were up 19 percent compared with October 2008.
In Nevada, notices of default on home payments dropped 10 percent from October 2008 and scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 6 percent. Bank repossession, however, rose 8 percent in October.
RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Bloomquist said a new state mediation program implemented July 1 may have caused the declines in Nevada because it slowed the flow into the foreclosure pipeline. Under the program, homeowners have the option of going through mediation with lenders.
Wait, so what's RealtyTrac talking about? They're talking about AB 149, the new law passed by the Nevada Legislature earlier this year that actually requires the banks to go into court-sponsored mediation to work out a home loan modification. And if this mediation doesn't work out due to the bank's refusal to agree in good faith, the distressed homeowner can persue a remedy in Nevada state court.
Yikes, we Californians are feeling pessimistic these days! But are we also starting to think "penny wise and pound foolish"? PPIC has a new poll out today focusing on education, and the results look bleak. Whether it's just a recurrence of the usual "I want something for nothing!" attitude we see in The Golden State all the time or a real lack of understanding of how little we actually fund our schools, we progressives have our work cut out in cutting through Arnold's BS and actually getting the state to rethink its budget priorities, especially when it comes to education.
And Arnold himself? Well, he's faring no better as he falls back to his 2005 record low 32% approval rating. However the Legislature's approval has actually risen from a catastrophically low 18% to a just dismally low 23%, so perhaps Karen Bass and Darrell Steinberg have been doing something right lately.
So what does this all mean? Again, we have our work cut out for us. As voters seem likely to judge next month's Special Election Initiatives as faulty and unnecessary, I think we progressives have a challenge to explain to them WHY they are faulty and unnecessary. Even if John & Ken may temporarily be "on the same page" with us on the May Props, they're nonetheless wrong opposing 1A-1F with the mantra of "NO TAXES".
What we need to explain is that the problem isn't "high taxes" but rather the unfairness of the tax system.
Should a middle class couple in Irvine pay fifteen times as much in property taxes for every dollar of property as a billionaire like Donald Bren?
Before Bush and Arnold, California had an estate tax that was fully deductible against federal estate taxes. If we had that revenue back, we would have an extra 1.2 billion a year, enough to save the jobs of 20,000 California teachers.
So if you want the full PPIC release, follow me after the flip. Otherwise, consider this a warning that Californians haven't yet fully realized what our education problems really are.
(ed. note: Michael Fox is the creator and writer of the Moving Target blog.)
The Obama campaign should serve as a master class in winning elections for Democrats.
Unfortunately, not enough California Democrats are playing attention to the Obama campaign's most important lessons.
As the effects of the state's budget crisis and the nation's economic meltdown hit more and more California voters, the Democratic Party has a once in a generation opportunity to convince voters that it that will protect and defend their interests far better than the Republicans, as well as make fundamental and progressive changes in the way that California is governed.
But to do so will require that Democrats embrace and implement the lessons of the Obama campaign.
These lessons are:
1. Blame Republicans and Present a Democratic Solution
2. Use the Internet
3. Expand the Electorate
4. Champion the Middle Class
