If you missed your chance to reap the benefits of the first-time homebuyer tax credit this past year, you will get one more shot.  The Senate passed a bill on Thursday 98 to 0 that will extend the original first time homebuyer tax credit for another seven months and expand the bill to benefit some current homeowners looking to buy a new home. The bill should reach the House floor by next Thursday and then require the signature of the President.

So what does this new bill consist of? Well, for starters, contrary to many of the proposed bills, this bill does not increase the amount of tax credit. It remains $8000 for first time homebuyers. However this time around, if you are currently a homeowner that has owned your home for at least five consecutive years, you are eligible to receive a $6500 tax credit if you buy a new primary home. In other words, if you are buying a 2^nd home you will not get a tax credit, but if you looking to move and buy a new primary residence, you might be eligible.

Who is eligible? Obviously first time homebuyers, and as previously mentioned, folks that have owned a home for at least five consecutive years. But the bill limits the purchase price of the home to $800,000 and there are income caps, which disqualify any individual who makes more that $125,000 annually and couples who make more than $225,000. In addition, this tax credit offer won’t last as long the second time around. One must sign a contract by April 30 2010, and close on the home by June 30^th to qualify. And if you think they will probably end up extending the offer even further, think again.

According to Dina ElBoghdady of the Washington Post reported that Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), “a longtime advocate of the tax credit, praised passage of the bill in his chamber but said the extension would be the last one. “Tax credits like this only work by creating the sense of urgency to take advantage of them”.  So if you are considering buying a home and are eligible for the tax credit, you better get a move on.

But will this extension of the tax credit really stimulate more home sales? Stephen Ohlemacher of the Associated Press reported that there are those like Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) who question its effectiveness. “For the vast majority of cases, the homebuyer tax credit amounted to a free gift since it did not affect their decision to purchase a home,” Bond said. “And for the small minority of buyers whose decision was directly caused by the credit, this raises the question of whether we are subsidizing buyers who may not have been able to afford buying a home in the first place”.  Though there may be plenty of truth to that statement, it seems that at this point there is nothing else that can be done to at least try and stimulate home buying. And the 98-0 vote in favor of the bill confirms that our Senators don’t think there is anything else that can be done either.

As you all may know, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that authorizes qualified first-time home buyers a tax credit of up to $8,000 provided they purchase their residence between January 1, 2009 and November 30, 2009.

This was a move that was welcomed by would-be homeowners as well as members of the housing industry. Would-be homeowners are now more inclined to purchase their homes because they know that they’ll be getting a savings of $8,000 in the short term. And what’s great about this tax credit is that, unlike the 2008 tax credit, this doesn’t need to be repaid. So, it’s really like getting $8,000 in windfall money. You also have plenty of choices as to which type of home you would like to purchase – whether you want a bungalow, a condominium, a mobile home or even a houseboat. All of these are eligible for purchase.

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When the President came to California yesterday and announced that the state will receive $145 million to help communities hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis, I thought to myself, “$145 million? That’s pocket change.” I realized then, that with all the stimulus packages, and budgets plans, and financial talk that have been spattered about the news like a massive Pollock painting in the last few months, my perception of the actual worth of $145 million dollars had been greatly skewed. $145 million can go a long way, can’t it?

The funds, as the President said on Thursday, “will be used to purchase and rehabilitate vacant, foreclosed homes and resell them with affordable mortgages.” He goes on to add that the funds “will also provide mortgage assistance and rehabilitation loans for low-income and middle income families.” The program that generated these funds, “was created as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which permits state and local governments to purchase foreclosed homes at a discount and rehabilitate or redevelop them”, reports the Associated Press. “Additionally, funds will come from the massive stimulus package.” Who knows how much additional funding from the stimulus package will actually go towards California’s foreclosure problem, and who knows how far this money can go to do all the things that the program is intended to do.

After-all, according to the RealtyTrac research firm, there were filings for 80,775 foreclosures on California properties in February. Oooooowweeeee, that’s a fair bit of foreclosures. How much money are we getting again? Of course, that number is slightly skewed due to the foreclosure moratorium that took place starting at the end of November and ended towards the end of January. For those unaware, the moratorium basically just halted the foreclosure process for that time period in an effort to keep people in their homes during the holiday season. So during that time, the amount of foreclosure filings piled up. But now that it’s over, we’ve got a lot to deal with. It would be interesting to get a number on the average dollar amount that will be spent per foreclosure with this money and see how big of dent the $145 million can actually make.

But I don’t mean to sound like Debbie Downer. $145 million is a fair bit of money. And hopefully a nice chunk of the money that California gets from the stimulus package will help as well. And moreover, this money will certainly help rejuvenate some neighborhoods in the state, and any bit of progress that can be made to lessen the enormity of this foreclosure crisis is a damn good thing.

By Andrew Brentan

No one really knows what’s going to happen. Well, maybe there are, and hopefully those that know are the ones that helped put together the Financial Stability Plan (FSB) that was released Tuesday morning by Treasury Secretary Geithner. But it is kind of scary to think that the morning a plan to help stabilize our free-falling economy was released, the stock market shed 300 points. Economists are saying that the plan lacked too many specific details and that is why it sparked a drop in confidence in the markets. And confidence, it seems, is not in the vocabulary of anyone in the financial world these days. Paranoia might be a better term.

But in such times of financial paranoia, there can be a tendency to become paralyzed by indecision, unsure of what to do or how to approach the situation. This is exactly the time when our leaders need to take charge to make things happen, and I was impressed by President Obama’s speech on Monday to address the need to pass the FSP immediately. “The plan is not perfect. No plan is. I can’t tell you for sure that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans,”. We have never experienced a situation like this in the history of our country and as unemployment continues to rise, there is not enough time for a plan of this importance to get hung up on Capital Hill in a partisan battle of wills. Just look at the State of California to see what happens when two political parties can’t agree on anything. And despite the lack of confidence that Wall Street showed initially in response to the FSP, there were those who felt that despite the lack of details currently in the plan, it might just be exactly what we are all praying it will be. In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal the following economists commented on the plan:

The “comprehensive” financial rescue plan – Financial Stability Plan – released by Treasury Secretary Geithner this morning is still missing significant detail, including an implementation date. There are far too many missing details to make this a satisfying announcement. Nonetheless – at first blush and without the benefit of key detail – the plan does appear to address the key problems of the financial markets at this point in time. -Ward McCarthy, Stone & McCarthy

It’s really not clear what the plan means; there’s an interpretation that makes it not too bad, but it’s not clear if that’s the right interpretation. The plan deserves praise for what isn’t in it, at least as far as I can tell. There doesn’t seem to be provision for mass purchases of toxic waste at premium prices; there also doesn’t seem to be a massive “ring-fencing” guarantee against private losses on bad assets. In that sense the plan is better than what the last few weeks of leaks led us to expect… So what is the plan? I really don’t know, at least based on what we’ve seen today. But maybe, maybe, it’s a Trojan horse that smuggles the right policy into place. -Paul Krugman, Princeton University

The size and breadth of the package show that the government recognizes the scale of the problem and suggests that it will be prepared to do more if necessary. And the terms of the new cash injections appear to have a greater chance of boosting lending than those seen in other economies. Overall, while the FSP may not be perfect, it is likely to have a beneficial impact on the financial system and increase the chances that the US economy sees a decent economic recovery in 2010. -Paul Dales, Capital Economics

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: I’m no expert. So if these people are telling me that this plan, though lacking some specifics, looks like it will address the problems that need addressing, then I’m 100% for it. In the mean time, someone please tell Wall Street to RELAX. The FSP is designed to help, so please refrain from causing the further diminishment of our retirement accounts simply because it lacks a few details. Thanks.

By Andrew Brentan

It’s happening. The State of California is broke, they can’t balance the damn budget, $4 billion of scheduled state payments are being delayed, people’s lives are being severely affected as a result, and it makes me want to shake somebody! I wish that all the law makers in Sacramento, including the Governator, would form a single file line outside my office door, and one by one I would invite them in so that I could SHAKE THEM. How much more helpless can we feel as citizens? Listen, I think it’s all good and fine that Democratic lawmakers want moderate spending cuts and tax increases, and it’s all good and fine that Republican lawmakers want no new taxes and deep spending cuts, but for the love of all that is good with the state of California, can you not come to a compromise already?!

The well publicized $42 billion budget deficit California is projected to reach by mid-2010 is resulting in spending cuts that are turning heads and causing uproars. Just last Thursday Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette ruled that Governor Schwarzenegger does indeed have the authority to force tens of thousands of state workers to  take days off without pay. According to the Associated Press, “The two-day-a-month furloughs are scheduled to start Feb. 6 and would apply to all 238,000 state workers”. This move will result in the budget being cut down by a whopping $1.4 billion. But cuts like this seem like somewhat reasonable solutions given the emergency circumstances the state is facing. However, it is the stalemate in Sacramento that is now resulting in further hardships for people that depend on the state for a number of financial needs.

Nearly $4 billion of scheduled state payments are being delayed in an effort to prevent the state from running out of cash. Bobby White and Stu Wood of the Wall Street Journal interviewed the Controller John Chiang last week about this delay, which is expected to last 30 days. “I am very concerned about the potentially devastating impact to individuals, to families, to businesses,” he said. But “my principal responsibility at this time is to make sure that California does not go into default.” What a mess. So while the state lawmakers are “trying to hammer out a solution”, there are a lot of people undeservingly getting screwed. Income tax refunds are an expected and depended on stimulus for citizens, and local retailers and businesses. College students won’t be paid their educational grants, and welfare checks will be put on hold. Entire counties and cities, many of whom don’t have much money themselves, will be required to cover the costs of social service programs normally included among the state payments. When it rains it pours and this is a serious storm.

I do not know what goes in to balancing a state budget. If I did, I might be able to provide some concrete examples of how lawmakers might get over this hurdle. Or maybe, if I knew about balancing a state budget I’d understand more fully just how difficult it is to make it work. But we, the citizens of California (more specifically, those of us on the lower end of the tax bracket), are truly paying a hefty price for this budget stalemate. I learned the value of compromise a kid, why are extremely intelligent adults having such a difficult time giving up a little in order to reach a common goal? On family road trips, my brother and I would get into shouting matches over where we should stop for lunch. I wanted McDonald’s because I loved their chicken nuggets and he always wanted Burger King because he liked their burgers better. And boy oh boy, were we stubborn about it. But there were two ways that we handled such situations (or more matter-of-factly, how my parents handled such situations): 1.We would agree that we would stop at McDonald’s on the way there and Burger King on the way back, or 2.We’d go to Wendy’s. And there you have it ladies and gentlemen: A compromise! Chicken nuggets and tax increases, Whoppers, and huge spending cuts, it’s all the same in this, my fast-food metaphor for how to come to a compromise. If only it were that simple right? But, lawmakers of California, does this really need to be as difficult as you are making it? I can’t for the life of me believe that it is.

By Andrew Brentan

Did anyone hear the State of the State address that Governor Schwarzenegger gave on Thursday morning? I’m willing to bet that not too many people were in a position to turn on the radio or TV to hear what he had to say. Well, if you weren’t able to listen in, I can assure you, you didn’t miss a thing. In fact, it seemed like the speech was purposely held at a time when few people could listen. Why? Because he spoke for ten minutes and simply reiterated the need for the legislators and he to work out the state budget as soon as possible.

I’m starting to feel a little sorry for Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had come to office as the governor of California with a great vision for this state. His dedication to education, healthcare, prison-reform, and the environment was lauded by citizens and governments across the country. And now, as the delay of passing a state budget continues, he is being forced to make decisions that go against his original vision in order to put money back in the state’s pocket.

Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times discussed how this budget deficit has forced Arnold to reevaluate his visions of grandeur for the state of California. “At the same time he is pushing a $14-billion expansion of healthcare to nearly all Californians, his budget calls for a rollback of existing medical programs for the needy. His hope for improving schools may be dashed by what he says is a need, for the first time in years, to cut by hundreds of dollars the amount spent on each student. And an expansion of the prison system he hoped to reform is now eclipsed by his proposal to release tens of thousands of inmates and lay off prison guards. Schwarzenegger’s budget recommendations put into stark contrast the disparity between his vision of what the state can accomplish and what it can afford in the current economy—especially, say state finance experts, if he sticks to his promise not to raise taxes”. I don’t want to pay more taxes than I need to, but I will happily give more in taxes if it will help get our state’s economy back above water. The Governor continues to preach the need for everyone to make sacrifices in order to get our state’s economy back on track. But in my opinion, the billions of dollars he has proposed cutting from education and health services is a far more detrimental sacrifice than taxing citizens a little extra for the next few years.

Determined not to raise taxes, Arnie’s proposed a few “fees” to be tacked on to certain things, but if you ask me, a fees damn near the same thing as a tax, isn’t it? The proposal is for a surcharge averaging $10 a year property-insurance policies of millions of Californians in order to pay for fire protection. Also, his proposed $11 increase in vehicle registration fees to fund the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol. Can’t you hear the Gov’s Austrian accent saying, “Dees are naught taxes, dey are fees”? It’s all semantics I tell you. I’m not saying that a tax increase will solve the deficit problems, but I’m quite certain the tax-increase issue remains one of the main reasons for the budget stalemate.

And remember when times were good, and Arnold made us all proud by passing a landmark bill to reduce emissions? That was the environmentally friendly, humanitarian Arnold we came to know and love. That was his vision as Governor at work, doing what was best for us. But now? Poor Arnold is considering licensing more offshore oil drilling in order to collect fees for revenue. He is also proposing to close 48 state parks, beaches, reserves and recreation areas, which will knock off a measly $14.3 million of the deficit. Our state’s budget may be in turmoil, but don’t take away the places we go to recreate and enjoy ourselves!

I’ll be the first to tell you that I don’t know a thing or two about a thing or two about the fiscal responsibilities of our state. But when The Governor spoke this morning, I did not hear the same governor who once demanded bipartisanship and better education. I did not hear the man who, just two years ago was showing the country that California was the state leading the charge on sustainable energy and the fight against global warming. Instead, I heard a man who was frustrated to the point of exhaustion. I heard a man who was placing blame on partisanship, and a man who spoke unconvincingly of a need to make sacrifices. You said it yourself Arnold: in order to accomplish the things you want to accomplish as Governor, we need to first alleviate the enormous weight of the state’s deficit. But try not to lose site of what is truly important to you and the people of California in order to make the numbers work. As we head into Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, I’ll leave you with a quote from the Doc himself, “If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.” Easier said than done when your 42 billion in the hole, but the Doc had it right nonetheless.

By Andrew Brentan

You know those commercials where the Governator and celebrities are living it up in California urging you to come and visit? I like those ads. They make me feel proud that the state I’m living in is a place people want to visit. Unfortunately, California is not as flawless and inviting as those commercials make it seem. Look no further than the IOU that may be coming to me in my mail this year instead of a tax refund. That’s right, you heard correctly. Michael Marois of Bloomberg.com reports, “California is forecasting that it will collect about $42 billion less than it will need to pay its bills over the next 18 months because of the yearlong national recession”. It seems that Arnold is a little too interested in upholding his status as a Republican’s Republican. As a result, he has failed to find common grounds with the Democrats whose $18 billion package of tax increases and spending cuts was vetoed by the Governor…again. According to Marois, California “may run out of money as soon as February, forcing the state to issue IOUs instead of cash to judges, lawmakers and those set to receive tax refunds”

It’s like a really bad joke. “Hey honey, our tax refund is here!” Open it up and find a hand written note on a torn off piece of lined paper that reads “Dear Larry, this IOU is good for the $1232.76 that we, the State of California, owe you and your family. We’ll try to have it to you as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience, Arnold.” But in all seriousness, this budget stalemate is costing more than it’s worth to uphold Arnold’s “tough stance on raising taxes”. Construction on schools, roads and other public works, are not able to be approved and will potentially cost tens of thousands of people their jobs. It’s causing serious educational setbacks as well. The termination of teachers, holding up school funding, and Arnie even proposed cutting the school years for each district by 5 days. Let’s get it together California politicians. Have any other states ever had this much trouble coming up with a budget? What a bureaucratic embarrassment for the state of California. There’s no doubt that California is a spectacular state. And you should want to visit. But if I see another one of those “come to California, we’re the best” ads on TV, I’m turning the channel.

Written by Team Aguilar member, Andrew Brentan

Ahhh, the first full week of the New Year, 2009! Maybe you’ve thought it to yourself, or perhaps someone suggested it to you: This is your year! For many that means starting a new workout regimen or a resolution to save money, or simply cut down on expenses. These are all great resolutions and I hope that whatever your goals are, you can achieve them. But how bout another one? How bout adding a new year’s resolution which should be easier to achieve than anything else you’re setting out to do this year? Here it is…Do your due diligence! I’m not saying that condescendingly, and I’m certain that most of you do that already, but it has become evident towards the end of 2008, that we as citizens have been relying too much on people and organizations who supposedly “know best” without looking into matters for ourselves.

Emmet Pierce, a Union Tribune staff writer reminded us in today’s paper, that the real estate bubble that was created wasn’t just a result of sleazy mortgage brokers. After the dot-com bubble and the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, U.S. policy makers made healing the economy a number one priority. “Home ownership became a key driver of the economy. Federal regulators did not intervene when lenders began using sub prime, adjustable-rate mortgages to temporarily reduce mortgage payments, allowing more people to qualify for loans. Thousands of borrowers became homeowners without regard to their creditworthiness or their ability to cope when adjustable mortgages reset at higher rates. Because such loans carry higher fees, lenders made more money.” And despite the risks involved with such lending practices, our government didn’t want to be the ones to put a stop to what appeared to be a winning situation for everyone.

Pierce goes on, “Attempts to pass federal legislation against predatory lending to protect borrowers from being placed in unnecessarily costly loans were opposed by the Bush administration and members of Congress. They feared that restrictions on lending would slow the rise of home ownership.” The greed that permeated this rise in home ownership was condoned by our government who should have been the one voice that knew better and put a stop to this. Instead, they pushed it to the limits and in “…mid 2002, President Bush urged lenders to add 5.5 million minority homeowners by the end of the decade.” Sure that sounds like a great pledge! But how many of them could actually afford to buy a home?!

So picture a man: A hard working carpenter who’d always wanted to buy a home where his children could grow up. His credit wasn’t good, he didn’t have any assets, and he made just enough money to make ends meet. He knew that buying a home was a tall task, and that it was probably a risky move. But his all-knowing government was assuring him that buying a home was the best investment he could ever make. Why else would they allow such loans that would enable even him to buy a home, if it wasn’t a good idea? It has to be a good decision, doesn’t it? Well I got $50 says that our fictitious carpenter got fictitiously foreclosed upon in this past year because he listened to everyone around him telling him it was a good idea to do something when he knew in his gut it probably wasn’t. So as baffling as it may seem, it is confirmed: The government does not always act in our best interest, even when it thinks it is. Not all things we can control, but when it comes to what we do with our own money, don’t take anyone’s word. Do your due diligence and know your options. If you think you can’t afford a home, you probably can’t. Don’t let someone else convince you that you can! Not even the President.

And what about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission? On their website they state their mission as follows: to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.” Well certainly, since they are in charge of protecting investors, your money will be safe (Cue the spotlight on Bernie Madoff dressed in a tuxedo and top hat, tap dancing out from stage right to stage center). The $50 billion scheme that Bernie pulled off has proven once again that the people “in charge” don’t have it all as figured out as much as we’d like to believe.

The House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing today to hear from securities law experts, the SEC’s inspector general, and one of Madoff’s alleged victims. According to Pennsylvania Democratic representative, Paul Kanjorski, the hearing will help guide Congressional leaders as they weigh a “substantial rewrite of the laws governing the U.S. financial markets.” So we’re not just talking about a loophole in the system that Madoff exploited, but a need to “substantially rewrite” the entire rule book! We’ll know more in coming weeks just how much the SEC can be blamed for letting Madoff’s scheme last as long as it did. But it seemed clear that the returns Madoff was producing for his clients were too good to be true. Were Madoff’s clients simply blinded by the wealth they were accumulating? Didn’t they feel that something wasn’t quite right? Could it be that they too were putting too much trust in a so-called “expert”?

We can’t control everything obviously. We can’t control the current economy, the falling home prices, the wars over seas, or tomorrow’s weather. But we can control the decisions we make for ourselves. Sometimes we may not know much about certain subjects, whether it be money, or buying a home. And sometimes the best thing to do is consult someone who does know more than you about that subject. But that doesn’t mean that whatever that person suggests you do is the right decision. No one knows what’s best for you except you. So I hope you adhere to your resolutions this year. Get to the gym! Save some money! And if 2009 is really your year, you’ll perform your own due diligence in all matters before letting someone else do it for you.

Written by Team Aguilar member Andrew Brentan

George Francis, the nation’s oldest man died yesterday. He was 112. Gertrude Baines of Los Angeles remains the nation’s oldest living person at 114 years old. Reading about a person who has been alive since before 1900, made me reconsider how I felt about our current economy. Their long lives that stretched over two world wars, witnessed the rise of the US as the world’s greatest power, the race to space, the advent of flying as a common means of travel, the rise and fall of nations, of dictators, and tyrants. They’ve seen it all. And when I turn on the radio and hear about how bad things are and how bad they’re continuing to get, it’s nice to think about Gertrude and George and know that it will all be over at some point.

Highs and lows. That’s the way of the world. It’s the way things work in our everyday lives, and why should the world as a whole be any different?  I mean, was there anyone with half a brain that really truly thought home prices in California would continue to rise exponentially every year forever until a 1500 square foot run down piece of crap 8 blocks from the beach was worth $20 million? Of course it wasn’t going to last. So when I read “U.S. Home Prices Drop 18% in October” on every newspaper front page today, I thought: “Well of course they dropped because they’d been increasingly over-valued for 8 years!!” I remember real estate agents back in 2003, intelligent people, trying to convince others (and perhaps themselves) that there was no real estate bubble. And why did so many people believe them? Money, of course. And I’m not trying to babble on about something we all know already and I’m not trying to make light of our economic situation. This is without question, an awful time where jobs and homes and retirement savings are all being lost, leaving people with little to nothing across the country. But I am trying to remind everyone to breathe. Breathe deeply. This isn’t the end of prosperity. This isn’t the end of the United States, and it’s not the end of the world. Times are tough now, but George and Gertrude would be the first to tell you that just like the years of our flourishing economy, our struggling economy won’t last forever either.

As you might be able to discern, I can be optimistic to an annoying degree at times. It can drive those that know me crazy. But I’m a Chicago Cubs fan. Talk about living with highs and lows. Optimism is in my blood, and I can’t help but retaliate in some way for all the negative vibes that are funneling into my head every day from the media. And so I hope this brief rant strikes a chord with those who might be in need of a reminder, that it’s not all gloom and doom for you or our country. Perhaps one day you’ll look back at this time in your life and think: that wasn’t such a bad time as it seemed then. After all, the Chargers ended up winning the Super Bowl that year and the Cubs won the World Series. It couldn’t have been as bad as I remember.

Written and posted by Andrew Brentan

First things first: My thoughts go out to the families of those whose lives were taken in University City by the crashed F-18. My thoughts are also with the young pilot who surely did not mean for this to happen and made all efforts to steer the plane clear of civilians before he had to eject.

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I find it slightly amusing that Ford announced Monday evening that it would not seek short-term financial aid claiming that they were not in the dire circumstances that GM and Chrysler were in. And yet, just one week ago, they were proposing that they wanted $9 billion dollars just in case they needed it. $9 billion! That, after all the PR nonsense with the CEO driving a hybrid to the hearings and publicly stating that if Ford ever had to tap into the money they were asking for, he’d reduce his salary from $21 million a year, to $1 per year. Was the potential for tapping into that requested $9 billion too tempting? Was the thought of really only making $1 a year too much for the man?

So now we wait as the bill to loan $15 billion to GM and Chrysler gets ironed out. And from that bill, a new power will emerge: The Dictator of Detroit?  The Monarch of Motown? No! It’s THE CAR CZAR! According to the draft bill, the Car Czar “would be required to develop benchmarks for assessing the automakers’ progress in carrying out the restructuring plans. The car czar would also have the power to convene meetings of an array of interested parties in the auto companies, including unions, creditors, suppliers, auto dealers and shareholders.” (Does the Bill actually use the term “Car Czar? I sure hope not. I much prefer Financial Viability Advisor, a title the White House had earlier proposed).Basically, said czar would be in charge of making sure the car companies use the money they’re going to be given to get their asses in gear, to start making themselves viable, and not to divvy up huge bonuses to executives and go flying around the world on private jets. In fact the bill specifically states that the “loan recipients” will not be able to own or lease private aircraft.

So it sounds like our elected and appointed officials are taking this issue as serious as we all can hope. Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky commented on some of his (and other’s concerns) with the bill, “As we consider new legislation this week, we must first ensure that we do no harm to taxpayers later in our efforts to help any one particular industry now. Troubled automakers cannot expect taxpayer help without a serious commitment to change their ways – permanently.” And now, like everything that is happening in our economy, all most of us can do is just wait and see what happens next.

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Speaking of waiting, San Diego and Tijuana commuters will continue to wait for hours in their cars to cross the border, for at least 5 more years until the recently announced construction of a new international border crossing at Otay Mesa is complete. According to the Governator, delays at the two border crossings have resulted in millions of dollars lost and thousands of jobs. “Everybody benefits,” he said. “This is a huge victory economically and for the environment.” The environment Arnie? Really snuck that one in there, huh? They’re claiming the air quality in region will improve, which makes sense, but I don’t know if I’d go as far to say it’s a huge victory for the environment.

Caltrans will be building the 2.1 mile toll road for $800 million and most, if not all of the money will be raised through toll fees. Now, I don’t know about you all, but I can definitely wait 5 years in hopes that the Tijuana drug cartel-related murdering, rape, and robberies simmer down before I need to get over the border quickly. But the governor’s got me wondering now if the environment can wait that long?

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Amidst a downtown riddled with vacant residences, a city facing record amounts of foreclosures and short sales, a country whose citizens are losing their jobs and minding every penny they have, the Hilton Hotels Corporation opened the Hilton San Diego Bayfront on Monday. I don’t know much about the hotel business, and I’m certain that plans for this were well underway long before anyone made a guess that our economy could reach its current state, but we can at least briefly bask in the irony of having to open up a lavish 30-story 1190-room 13-acre hotel in this god-awful economy, can’t we? 

And I quote Jeff Diskin, senior vice president of Hilton Brand Management, “The Hilton Bayfront combines a dynamic waterfront location with San Diego’s coastal lifestyle to create”….this is my favorite…. “…a casually sophisticated vibe that will have wide appeal to both guests and locals.” Well it is appealing. Especially the fact that this hotel is home to San Diego’s first saltwater hotel swimming pool (is that really that appealing?), but being able to partake in such a casually sophisticated vibe as Mr. Diskin describes can’t be inexpensive.  I have nothing against the Hilton Hotels. In fact I would very much like to stay at this Hilton, to use their 7300 square foot health club and spa, to dine at their signature restaurants, and gaze at the $2 million art collection throughout the halls and lobbies. But unless my company’s springing for the bill, I’ll just go for a dip in the ocean and grab a casually sophisticated burrito at Robertos.

Another update coming soon from Andrew Brentan!