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Despite Tough Days States Continue to Spend to Provide Protection to Farms

Monday, January 10

Despite tough financial times the states are continuing to spend to provide protection to farms. Millions are being spent by some of the states to preserve farmlands of America and contain the swallowing it up by development and suburban spread.

Legal personnel say that the preservation is essential to see that locally food supply is there if ever the national disruption takes place. They also contend that it helps to maintain the life culture familiar to a good number of Americans.

Twenty states initiated programmes for preservation of farmlands and about half the states are in the north east where the population is dense; there has been fast pace of growth in building houses and shopping malls. 21% of the farmland has been lost during the last twenty years in Connecticut making it one of the lead states in farm preservation.

Jodi Rell, former governor said she had given priority to the programme despite the foreboding budget gaps and pressures to make cuts in spending. She said on 5th January immediately prior to her departures, “It’s difficult sometimes when there are so many pressing needs. It’s our culture, our way of life, our farms”.

Each year nearly 8,000 acres of farmland in Connecticut has vanished and made into use for residential and or commercial purposes as per the findings of Connecticut Farmland Trust. The latter is a private entity that is working for the preservation of agricultural land. Sans intervention the farms that are remaining will be not there within two generations. To plug the damage Connecticut State has given a fillip to spending on preservation of farmland with $9 million in 2010. In the preceding years it had spent $5 million or $6 million.

Nationally the picture is not much better. From 1982 to 2007 each of 48 adjoining states lost their farmland to serve development as per National Resources Inventory (U.S. Department of Agriculture and Iowa State University). Cropland measuring more than 11 acres, pasture measuring more than 7 million acres of pasture and range land measuring 5 million was lost to urban sprawl during the 25 years that was surveyed. New Jersey spends the most per resident of the state for protection of agricultural land - $24 per resident as compared to $4.57 per resident in Connecticut at the beginning of 2010.

The Yardstick For Good Government Is Not Its Size

Monday, January 10

Unless something dramatic takes place, 2011 will be smothered with debates over the government’s size. Republicans will enlarge on the harm of big government – their ultimate purpose being trimming spending. The Democrats will be eloquent in defense of federal plans. This debate will be acrimonious and lead to nowhere.

The destiny of a nation does not depend on the percentage of federal spending of the GDP. The fate of the nation is crafted by the character and the activities of its people. The pivotal point is not about the 19% or the 23% of the national income that the federal government consumes but the influence of the government and the life and living of the people.

There have been many instances when big government has led to positive behaviour as during the World War II and also other instances when big government has led to self-indulgence and irresponsible behaviour as we see today in Greece. On the other hand there have been instances when small governments have been attended by enterprising development and also cases where small governments have led to corruption, lawlessness and mistrust.

Thus the size of the government is not of much relevance. It will not indicate the moral and social fibre of the government. What are of paramount importance are the values inculcated into the policies and not the budget-makers and the technicians.

How can the government be measured? It cannot be gauged by its size but by what it achieves. Do the policies of the government energize the people, nourish skills, spur on social mobility and assist the people to better their lives? In the past the governments of America has passed this litmus test. The examples of Homestead Act and G.I. Bill can be cited. Sometimes the government started policies that did not meet with success. In the 60’s the government’s welfare policies provided the people with money without getting work from them. These policies had to be changed. In the 90s the government policies were intrusive but successful keeping in line with the values cherished by America; effort came to be linked with reward.

But during the past decade what mattered most to the administrators was whether money was going into the federal coffers. The issue narrowed down to “cutting government” or “raising revenue”. But during this period of distraction the entire country suffered a grave loss in values. Both the business sector and the government gave priority to consumption and short-term benefits neglecting long-term investment for lasting growth.

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The victory of failed ideas

Wednesday, December 22

History will be puzzled looking back at the years from 2008 to 2010 at the peculiar victory of ideas that had failed. Fundamentalists advocating free-market have been in the wrong about nearly everything but strangely they are now dominating the political scene more strongly than before.

Despite the crisis of banks bringing the economy down to its knees there is a cry of dispensing with regulators. These were the words of Ron Paul who is about to occupy an important position in the House panel monitoring the Federal Reserve. The experiences of Clinton (raised taxes presiding over a stunning growth) and Bush (cut taxes presiding over pale growth prior to the crisis) all seem to be forgotten otherwise how could a bipartisan nod be given to additional tax cuts.

The right answer is that the failures of the Obama government on the economic field are proof that big-government failed. But what about the policies of the big government?

The Obama stimulus that itself accounted for 40% cuts in taxes was too hesitant and weak to turn around the economy. Many of the economists warned from the very start that the plan was insufficient. It was a programme that actually led to a fall in government employment and spending by the government on services and goods. It grew more gradually than during the era of Bush.

Perhaps the Obama team could not do more because of Congressional restraints. This goes to prove the hold failed doctrine has over politics.

Why did Obama-economics fail? The predictions of the right were wrong. For two years the warning was that borrowing by the government would push up interest rates to touch the sky. The fact is that the rates have swung causing opinions about recovery to jump from hope to despair. But the rates have remained low – an all time record.

Then there was warning about inflation – perhaps hyper-inflation. In reality there was dis-inflation with core-inflation excluding food and fuel; it is the lowest in 50 years.

The trouble is that those who have tried to end the dominance of failed ideas have ultimately come to compromise with it; this can be said of President Obama. Obama has tried to reach out covering up the myths of rightist thinking. He took on the GOP tone of talking saying that the government has to opt for austerity even with the threat of another recession and symbolically froze spending and wages of the feds.

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Fort Worth Foreclosures for Sale

Tuesday, December 21

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The number of foreclosures in the Fort Worth area has hit record levels according to the Foreclosure Listings Service Inc. (FSL) who have been tracking this data nationwide since 1963. Although many commentators are underlining the fact that the increase for the first quarter of 2009 is only a 3 percent rise on the same period last year; the numbers are still climbing despite federal government financial initiatives to assist homeowners and city authorities.

More than 13,000 foreclosure homes have been listed in the area's courthouses for auction in this first three month period. The first quarter does not usually end until 31 March but foreclosures have to filed a month before they hit the auctions, hence the three month period being mentioned in February.

This 3 percent rise is seen by some as a triumph of sorts, as the increase in Collin County is up by a staggering 9 percent.

Many people are seeing a increase in the number of associated problems with the foreclosure crisis. The foreclosure of a property affects many more people than just the homeowner who used to live there. In Fort Worth the general value of neighbouring properties has come down as they are next door to a boarded up house. The foreclosure process can take months and so properties are not maintained. Legally, the lender/bank becomes responsible for the upkeep of the property once it is repossessed; clearly the banks are not cutting lawns in these neighbourhoods.

It is not uncommon to find well to do homes with a usual price tag of $400,000 or more being occupied by folk that don't quite seem as though they should be there. There is a huge foreclosure scam shooting across the State in the form of squatters living these foreclosed homes.

The scam works like this: once a foreclosure process is started, an appeal is filed which delays the process by 30 to 60 days, the locks are changed and people are found by the scammers to move in. Rent is collected until the ruse is discovered, it really is quite ingenious. An in-depth knowledge of the foreclosure process is required to pull it off but it is becoming more common in every neighbourhood.

Often foreclosures are associated with borrowers on low incomes that were subject to sub-prime loan sharks, but there are more middle class people coming under the scrutiny of the lenders – middle income families are also becoming victims and losing their homes. It seems that in these times of economic uncertainty, nobody is truly safe.

Newark Bank Foreclosures

Tuesday, December 14

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9BR / 3BTH Foreclosure home in Newark City currently available for $109,900

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Atlanta bank foreclosures

Monday, December 13

A Atlanta bank foreclosure is the best way to find a great deal on Atlanta real estate, as it can be purchased for well below its real value when bought at auction. Since a mortgage lender is selling them and they only need to satisfy the remaining loan debt on a homeowner?s defaulted mortgage, they are often undersold.