President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday was
strong for consumers in many areas.
Obama's emphasis on immigration reform, family wage jobs, early
childhood education, a $9 minimum wage, tax code reform, voter rights, and
loophole reduction will help move America forward.
The actions he called for on gun violence, energy
independence, clean energy, climate change, infrastructure, higher education,
violence against women, equal pay for women, stronger families, poverty
eradication, and equal benefits for all are of tremendous importance.
However, Obama fell short in his address on benefits for
older Americans and housing.
Benefits for older Americans
He began his talk by saying, “It is our unfinished task to
make sure that this government works on behalf of the many, and not just the
few.”
Americans don’t expect Congress to agree on everything,
Obama said, adding “They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we
can.
On balancing the budget, he said:
The biggest driver of our long-term debt is the rising cost
of health care for an aging population. And those of us who care deeply about
programs like Medicare must embrace the need for modest reforms – otherwise,
our retirement programs will crowd out the investments we need for our
children, and jeopardize the promise of a secure retirement for future
generations…We’ll reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug
companies and ask more from the wealthiest seniors. We’ll bring down costs by
changing the way our government pays for Medicare, because our medical bills
shouldn’t be based on the number of tests ordered or days spent in the hospital
– they should be based on the quality of care that our seniors receive.And I am open to additional reforms from both parties, so
long as they don’t violate the guarantee of a secure retirement. Our government
shouldn’t make promises we cannot keep – but we must keep the promises we’ve
already made.
I’m concerned that Medicare is “on the table” and will be
cut in a compromise deal. Medicare and Social Security are minimal programs.
Even “modest reforms” will have disastrous effects on seniors.
For more than half of Social Security recipients aged 65 or
over, the program provides more than 50 percent of their family income and,
because of its lifetime income protection and survivors benefits, Social
Security is particularly important for elderly women.
Housing
On housing, Obama said the housing market is finally healing
from the collapse of 2007. But, even with mortgage rates near a 50-year low,
too many families with solid credit who want to buy a home are being rejected,
he said, adding:
Right now, there’s a bill in this Congress that would give
every responsible homeowner in America the chance to save $3,000 a year by
refinancing at today’s rates. Democrats and Republicans have supported it
before. What are we waiting for? Take a vote, and send me that bill.
And Obama said:
Right now, overlapping regulations keep responsible young
families from buying their first home. What’s holding us back? Let’s streamline
the process, and help our economy grow.
What’s needed that the president didn’t address is that
banks aren’t willing to refinance homes for consumers who are underwater. And,
mortgage reform is still needed and consumers who are in danger of foreclosure must receive help.
Banks continue to prefer to kick homeowners out of their
homes if they are behind on their payments. Federal programs that have been set
up are only helping a fraction of those who need assistance.
And the comment about overlapping regulations for first time
homeowners? It sounds like the president was throwing a bone to the housing and
real estate industries.
We just had a Great Recession based at least partially on
banks and other financial institutions selling mortgages to anyone, regardless
of their qualifications.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal
agencies have been working on rules to curb these mortgage abuses. Most of them
will go into effect early in 2014.
Certainly the president didn’t mean those rules are going to
be eliminated?
More help is needed for homeowners. This is part of the
assistance for Main Street that has never materialized after Wall Street
was bailed out.
In last year’s State of the Union address, Obama announced
the creation of a working group aimed at exposing and prosecuting financial
fraud behind the housing crisis.
While some action has been taken, the group needs to do more
to charge and convict those responsible for the housing crisis.
