www.starpowerconference.com

I will be there and I hope you are too.

leslie edwards Star Power Star                                                                  RE/MAX Around Atlanta                                                                           Selling South Metro Atlanta                                                         770.460.9448                                                                    leslie@leslieedwards.com

If you have a referral to South Metro Atlanta, let me know and I will treat them as my highest priority.

                                                                                                                              leslie edwards

770.460.9448

CDPE Certified Distressed Property Expert

CRS   Certified Residential Specialist

Epro  Certified Internet Professional

ABR   Accredited Buyer Representative

Dave Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider

Selling South Metro Atlanta including:

Clayton, Fayette, Henry, Coweta, Merewether, South Fulton & Spalding Counties

All the towns and cities south of the Atlanta International Airport,

including:  Brooks, College Park, Fairburn, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, Locust Grove,

McDonough, Newnan, Sharpsburg, Stockbridge, Palmetto, Peachtree City, Tyrone and more

Moving Families Since 1978

Let My Experience Work For You

fax:  770.460.0739

www.SouthMetroAtlantaMLS.com

leslie@leslieedwards.com

RE/MAX Around Atlanta

While it is true that you cannot change the world one person at a time, if you help one person, you can change their world.

leslie edwards

environmentally aware, socially conscious, politically active

South Metro Atlanta real estate  770.460.9448 

In 1977 I got a real estate license on a lark.  Part time I closed a few transactions and soon, real estate was in my blood. I could actually help people get what they wanted and if they came back, it was a success, not a failure. At closing, everyone was happy. The buyers got a house, the seller got a check, agents, loan officers and attorneys all got paid a fair fee for their work. 

There is a "new normal" in real estate today and my job has changed so much that it now looks and feels more like my Therapist experience than my real estate experience of the first 30 years.

Today, buyers have to wait months to close a foreclosure or a short sale, both of which dominate the current real estate market.  Sellers who have to move, because of the foreclosures and short sales in their neighborhoods, are bringing money to closing or negotiating a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure with their mortgage companies, which has a huge negative effect on their credit ratings.  The fees for real estate agents, loan officers and attorneys have steadily decreased while expenses and the work involved have more than doubled.  So rarely at closings today, is everyone happy.  Often nobody is happy.   Listing appointments today consist of telling sellers their homes are not worth what they paid and finding out if they are behind on their mortgage payments and if so, how much.                                                                 It often feels like I am in my Psychologist mode rather than in my Sales Person mode.  A lot has changed in the past few years. So many sellers are experiencing hardships that make it impossible to make the payments and are at risk of losing their homes.  When I listen to some of them tell me their stories, I still want to cry and I still take their pain home with me                                                         

It does not look like things are going to improve any time soon.  The news reports claim people are once again spending money so the economy must be recovering.  I don't think so.                                                                  Often, right after people have an accident or serious illness, they will drive more cautiously, quit smoking, eat right and exercise.  Human nature is such that, over time, these same people will start falling back into their old habits. 

           My sense is that those spending money are just reverting to old spending habits that got them into trouble in the first place.

Foreclosures are moving steadily up in the higher price ranges.  There are also many interest only loans that cannot be refinanced because the appraisals willl not support the loan amount they approved when the interest only loan was made.  Because we have had historically low interest rates, those loans have remained manageable for many.  Once the interest rate starts moving up, and it will, those interest only loans will start to adjust to higher interset rates and monthly payments, causing a whole new stream of foreclosures and short sales.

The job has changed. Because I have 32 years of experience in the real estate trenches, I can help some people fix their problems and that is some consolation. Some people can't be helped.  Sometimes it is their own fault but most often something bad has happened to cause them to lose their home.

If you know someone who needs help, have them call me. I will do a free consultation to find out what we can do for them.

I am ready for the business to return to the time when we all got to be happy at closing, but until then, I am trying to help everyone I can.

You cannot change the world one at a time but if you help one person, you can change their world.

leslie edwards 770.460.9448                                                               selling real estate throughout South Metro Atlanta

environmentally aware, socially conscious, politically active

If you need help with your finances, call Dave.  If you need help with real estate, call me.

leslie edwards                                                                                                     770.460.9448 direct                                                                                            RE/MAX Around Atlanta                                                              leslie@leslieedwards.com                                           www.SouthMetroAtlantaMLS.com

Dave's Thoughts on the National Debt

The nation's debt now exceeds $13 trillion. Yes, $13 trillion. You know what you could do with just $1 trillion? You could pay the rent for every renter in the U.S. for three years or pay the monthly payments on all U.S. mortgages for 14 months. A $1 trillion stack of $1 bills would wrap around the equator 2.72 times!

And $1 trillion is just a fraction of the money the U.S. owes. Since Dave can't stand debt, including the national debt, he had some tough things to say as he discussed the issue recently on The Dave Ramsey Show. Listen to the clip here.

What Is National Debt?
The government uses debt to cover its expenses when it spends more than it makes from taxes or other revenue sources. There is no requirement that the country operate on a balanced budget, so, since the country was founded, the national debt has continued to grow.

In 2008, the national debt stood at $9 trillion—the total debt for the entire history of the U.S. In two years, we added $4 trillion to our debt, increasing it by almost 50%!

It is no different than one of us racking up credit card debt on groceries, then getting a car loan and a mortgage on top of that. All the money you make goes to keep up your payments. Not smart.

The Lines Are About To Cross
While $13 trillion of debt is overwhelming to think about, what's worse is the breakneck rate of spending. It only took six months to go from $12 trillion to $13 trillion!

Imagine the U.S. debt and revenue as two lines on a chart. The revenue line is pretty flat, if not declining, but the debt line is shooting straight up. The two lines are about to cross, and that means the country's debt will exceed its ability to pay the payments.

A Political Revolution
The majority of people in America want an environment that gives them a shot to make their own money, and they are not happy with the redistribution of wealth that is happening today. The ballooning debt is just one more reason for a political revolution—to fire the politicians who are doing the spending, regardless of their party.

That's why Dave doesn't buy in to the gloom and doom some political analysts believe. He talks with people all over the country who are angry about the direction the country is headed, and they are not willing to put up with it anymore.

Our debt problem has given our country the opportunity to come up with a solution. With such an impressive problem, the solution it inspires is bound to be great!

 Should you want to verify this, go to http://www.thomas.gov/, enter "HR 3590" 
in the search box and look for "CRS Summaries."  This is what you'll find. 
  
Title IX Revenue Provisions—Subtitle A:  Revenue Offset 
"(Sec. 9002) Requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee 
the aggregate cost of applicable employer-sponsored group health coverage 
that is excludable from the employee's gross income (excluding the value of 
contributions to flexible spending arrangements)." 

 Starting in 2011—next year—the W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be 
increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are provided.   
It doesn't matter if you're retired. Your gross income WILL go up by the amount 
of insurance your employer paid for. So you’ll be required to pay taxes on a larger 
sum of money that you actually received.

Take the tax form you just finished for 2009 and see what $15,000.00 or $20,000.00 additional gross income does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year. For many it puts you into a much higher bracket. This is how the government is going to buy insurance for fifteen (15) percent that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases, but it's not really a "tax increase" as such, it a redefinition of your taxable income. 
  
Also, go to Kiplinger's and read about the thirteen (13) tax changes for 2010 that 
could affect you. 
    
Additionally, the current 2.9% Medicare tax goes up to 3.8% and in addition to applying to payroll taxes, now also applies to interest, dividends, incentives, & all other income types.
Remember, the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of the year...that places everyone in a higher tax bracket.
_________________________________________________________________ 
Yet another very good reason to vote in the primary and the November elections.  Vote out the tax and spend politicians, whether they are Democrat or Rebublican.  The only change in the direction this country is taking will be the result of our votes.  See you at the polls. leslie edwards

homebuyer tax credits that would allow buyers to close by September

30th died in the Senate last night and the opportunity to extend the

credits past the current deadline of June 30th may have passed.

 The National Association of Realtors estimates some 75,000 first-time

and repeat buyers need the three month extension on closing in order

to qualify for the credits.  Short sales, which require the lender to

agree to take a loss on the seller’s mortgage, generally take much

longer to close than standard sales, and as many as 15 percent of

distressed property sales currently are short sales.

 New-home contracts rose 30 percent in March and 15 percent in April,

the biggest two-month gain in records dating to 1963, according to the

Commerce Department. About a third of the April signings were for

homes under construction, and a quarter were for those that weren’t

started.  Builders are working day and night to complete homes before

the deadline next Wednesday at midnight, but many won’t make it.

 Without the legislation to extend the closing deadline, buyers will

not be able to claim the credits even though they met the April 30th

deadline to have their offers accepted by sellers.  Credits are worth

up to $8000 to a first-time buyer and $6500 to a repeat buyer.  The

failure of the extension will leave thousands of buyers committed to

buy homes without the benefit of a credit.

The homebuyer credits were attached to a Democratic-backed jobs and

economic relief bill that collapsed in the Senate after failing for

the third time.  The defeat underscores the changed political climate

in Congress over spending and deficits.

 Despite major concessions, GOP moderates refused to cross the aisle to

help Reid and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)

get the 60 votes needed to cut off debate. In the course of these

talks, the size of the package was cut in half, and, to reduce the

impact on the deficit, Democrats even went so far as to pay for state

Medicaid assistance by cutting about $10 billion from future food-

stamp benefits.

Senior Democrats in the Senate told the Washington Post they will

probably try again to attract GOP support for the employment benefits

measure, which Obama has called critical to avoiding the layoffs of

hundreds of thousands of state workers and propping up the nation’s

still-fragile economic recovery. After four months of talks,

frustrated senior Democrats said they are likely to delay further

action until after the July 4 recess.

“People are in the mood of letting the dust settle before finding the

next step,” said Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (N.D.).

When Congress resumes July 12, the dust may be settled but thousands

of credit-driven home sales won’t be.

Does any woman really look good with artificially puffed up lips? 

HD TV might be too real. Do we really want to see the pores on the news person's face?

The DVR is a great invention that allows me to discover some great original programming on obscure channels.

If you DVR everything, it cuts the time spent watching by 1/3 when you forward past all the commercial breaks.

The only way I can watch American Idol or Dancing With the Stars is to record them so I can forward past all the crap between performances and the commercials.

Now that there are hundreds of cable channels, why do we still need for the government to subsidize PBS.  The shows are old and riddled with pleas for money.  I think they are still showing the paint classes by the white guy with the frizzy afro who I am sure has been dead for awhile.  I would rather pay a set cable fee than listen to people harass me for a donation so I can get a FREE tote.

Preston Smith out as judiciary chair, Seabaugh gives up Whip over hospital vote
12:01 pm April 12, 2010, by Ernie Suggs
When the Georgia Senate passed the so-called “sick tax” earlier this month who knew that the Republican Party would be left battered and bruised?
On Monday Sen. Preston Smith of Rome took the Senate well and confirmed what everyone else has been whispering for days – that he has been ousted from his powerful position as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Smith, the youngest member of the Senate, made no secret why he lost his position.
It was punishment, he said, for voting against the controversial HB 307, which would impose a hospital tax to help fill a $600 million gap in Medicaid funding.
Despite the fact the Republicans are spinning the bill as a tax cut, Smith said it is obviously a tax increase. He took the well to speak on another bill, but delivered a calm, yet blistering, attack on his party and its leaders.
“In retribution for my refusal to go along with the lieutenant governor and the rest of the Senate Republicans and vote for a tax increase, my role as chairman was stripped away from me by the lieutenant governor, majority leader, president pro tem and senate republican leadership,” Smith said to a hushed Senate. “I take the well today with a heavy heart – not because of a loss of any position –  but rather because of what is happening in state government and its larger implication for the legacy of our Republican party and the posterity of our state.”
The conservative Smith said he promised his constituents that he would never raise taxes.
“I wanted to be a different kind of senator – one who spoke his mind and meant what he said. I made that commitment. But the commitment was to my constituents, not to some outside group,” Smith said. “I gave my word – my bond – that I would not come down to Atlanta and raise taxes…perhaps you should take your chairmanship and give it to a puppet who will feel indebted to you and surrender his constituents’ voice. I don’t need your position to have respect. And I don’t need your title to have honor.”
Smith and two other Republicans, Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) and Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick), voted against the bill that could raise $170 million based on a 1.45 percent tax on patient revenue.
Two other Republicans, Jack Hill (R- Reidsville) and Judson Hill (R-Marietta) were excused from the vote. The bill passed 31-15, but on the day it passed Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle twice stopped proceedings to gather votes.
But Smith said it was more than that.
“He ordered the majority leader and president pro tem to go get the votes and to tell the members that their chairmanships were at stake,” Smith said. “[Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams] used to tell me that he would never ask me to vote against my conscience or my district. But at the meeting, Williams spontaneously called for a motion for a ‘caucus position’ on the bill.”
At that point, Cagle struck his gavel and ordered Smith to, “speak the truth.”
Smith went on to explain that if two-thirds of the caucus voted to support it, all the members of the caucus had to vote for it.
“There was no discussion. There was not opportunity for dissent. He did not even ask for the members who were voting no,” Smith said. “Like a scene from ‘Lord of the Flies,’ we marched back in to the Senate to follow the order.”
Although the Republicans carried the bill, the bloodshed over it was swift and brutal. Seabaugh resigned majority whip. Hill would not comment on whether he had been stripped of his chairmanship of the Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee.
So Smith was left to do most of the talking, and he attacked the leadership block of Cagle, Williams and Chip Rogers, whom he said “used to be a champion of taxpayers.”
“He used to brag that he had never voted for a tax increase. But you cannot claim to be a champion of taxpayers when you vote to raise taxes and then punish those in your caucus who are convicted not to raise taxes,” Smith said.” For the rest of his political career, the Majority Leader will have to face voters who know that he not only sold out to vote for a tax increase but he fired some of his most conservative members because they refused to go along with a tax increase.”
Rogers said he was stunned by Smith’s comments.
“I started my day as a friend of the Senator from the [52nd] and I hope to end the day as a friend of the Senator from the [52nd],” said Rogers, adding that he would not comment on committee assignments.
But Williams said the party needed 29 votes to pass the bill and Republicans who voted no jeopardized the GOP’s position and threatened the bill.
Passage of the bill was actually helped by three Democrats – Ed Harbison (D-Columbus), Ron Ramsey (D-Lithonia) and Freddie Sims (D-Dawson) – who switched over and supported it.
“Twenty-eight Republicans thought it was a tax cut, and at the end of the day, we thought we had most everybody on board. We assumed Sen. Smith was good with the bill,” Williams said. “If we are going to get the job done, we need a team. This is not a business for the weak at heart. There are tough decisions we are going to have to make if we are going to govern.”
Smith said that at 8 a.m. Monday, he was called into Cagle’s office for a meeting, before the GOP caucus meeting.
“He asked me to resign and issue a state of apology,” Smith said. “An apology for voting against a caucus position.”
Jaillene Hunter, a spokesperson for Cagle, said he would not comment on private meetings. She added that the committee on assignments met last week andvoted unanimously to “allow the vice chairman of judiciary [Seth Harp (R-Midland)] to serve as chairman.”
Smith is the youngest member of the Senate and is widely considered one of the more popular, visible and outspoken members of the GOP. A rising star.
After his speech on the Senate Floor, Smith walked back to his seat in the back of the Chamber in silence. No one clapped. Occasionally, a senator would come by and touch his shoulder. He then watched three senators, including Rogers, step up to the well to re-argue the merits of the bill. Not one of them commented on the validity of his claims.
The Democrats, were unusually silent on the most drama-filled day in the Senate thus far.
“There is an old African proverb: When Elephants fight, the ants run,” said Sen. Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon), noting the irony of the what the GOP mascot is. “But this is a tax increase, conceived and delivered by Republican leadership. Sen. Smith just confirmed that and we feel vindicated in our position.”
By 6:30 p.m. Monday night Smith had 39 fans on a hastily constructed “Draft Preston Smith for Lt. Gov” Facebook page.

These 10 suggestions can easily be incorporated into everyday living so start today to form new habits.  Children often emulate their parents so let them get involved too. 

leslie edwards CDPE,CRS,ABR,EPro,GRI                                            770.460.9448 where your calls are answered 24-7-365 by a live person moving families since 1978                                              leslie@leslieedwards.com                                          www.SouthMetroAtlantaMLS.com www.leslieedwards.com/blog

The message of the Tea Party Movement is simple:

Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility and Free Markets

These are ideas that resonate with most people in America. 

The Tea Party is not is a fringe group of radicals trying to bring down the government.  They do not condone any type of violence or personal attacks.  Attack the person's policies not the person.  They do not support either party.

The Tea Party members on average, are better educated and more successful. Most Tea Party Members have never been politically active.  When citizens understand what is going on with their government, they feel they have to stand up for the three main principles, less government, balanced budgets and capitalism.  The government should not be trying to control the private sector.  More government, less freedom.

Pay attention to what is really going on.  Instead of listening to sound bites, really listen and learn.  I guarantee that if you will listen to Glenn Beck on Fox, daily at 5pm (hurray for DVR) for a week, you will want to get involved too.

www.SouthAtlantaTeaParty.org

leslie edwards, real estate agent and political activist

770.460.9448

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1976909_1976908,00.html

See More

Moving Families Since 1978

Let My Experience Work For You

www.SouthMetroAtlantaMLS.com

leslie@leslieedwards.com

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20100330_projects.htm

If you are thinking of selling, call me now.  I have been moving families since 1978 and know how to sell homes in any market.  Let my experience work for you.

leslie edwards

770.460.9448

CDPE Certified Distressed Property Expert

CRS   Certified Residential Specialist

Epro  Certified Internet Professional

ABR   Accredited Buyer Representative

Fax  770.460.0739

Selling South Metro Atlanta including:

Clayton, Fayette, Henry, Coweta, Merewether, South Fulton & Spalding Counties

All the towns and cities south of the Atlanta International Airport,

including:  Brooks, College Park, Fairburn, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, McDonough,

Newnan, Sharpsburg, Stockbridge, Peachtree City and many more

Moving Families Since 1978

Let My Experience Work For You

www.SouthMetroAtlantaMLS.com

leslie@leslieedwards.com

 Businesses and residences should be required to post their addresses in clear view of the street. Searching for addresses while careening down busy streets is dangerous and all the slowing down to look irritates the drivers behind. Potential for road rage?  Perhaps.

I remember reading years ago that fire, police and rescue workers complained that in some multicultural areas there were no addresses and the business names were in foreign languages, which hindered their ability to get there quickly. Time can mean the difference between life and death.

In neighborhoods it is almost as bad.  It can be blocks before I see a posted address so I have to drive around until the numbering system makes sense to find the house I am looking for.

Besides being dangerous, it is a giant time waster.  When I list a property for sale, I make sure the address is easy to see. 

Please help me start a campaign for everyone to post their address.  Tell business and home owners and make sure your address is visable too.

I am working hard in this challenging market so call me if I can help you buy, sell, short sell or just to talk real estate.

leslie edwards

770.460.9448

CDPE Certified Distressed Property Expert

CRS   Certified Residential Specialist

Epro  Certified Internet Professional

ABR   Accredited Buyer Representative

Dave Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider

Selling South Metro Atlanta including:

Clayton, Fayette, Henry, Coweta, South Fulton & Spalding Counties

All the towns and cities south of the Atlanta International Airport,

including:  Brooks, Fairburn, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, McDonough,

Newnan, Sharpsburg, Stockbridge, Peachtree City and more

Moving Families Since 1978

Let My Experience Work For You

www.SouthMetroAtlantaMLS.com

My friend, Polly Camp, sent this to me today and while I do not know the actual source, I wish it had been me who wrote it. 

For a very long time I have been actively avoiding products made in China for a few different reasons.  One is that I believe they are trying to kill us with lead based paint, cheap plastic that leaches into our food and our skin, poison sheetrock and weird ingredients in dog food. 

The other big reason is that, like the writer below, I believe it is our obligation to support American businesses in order to save our economy.  Besides, they are less likely to poison us.

One Light Bulb at a Time!
 
A teacher in high school, once told the
students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following...obviously written by a good American...
 
(I think this lady's on the right track. Let's all get behind her!)
 
Good idea...One light bulb at a time...
 
Check this out. I was in Lowes the other day, and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments... They were all made in China.
 
The next day I was in Ace Hardware, and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA.. Got me thinking. Start looking.
 
In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy, or do, affects someone else - maybe even their job...
 
My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I just noticed that it is marked 'made in Mexico ' now. I choose not to buy it any more.
 
My favorite toothpaste, Colgate, is also 'made in Mexico ' now. I've switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.
 
This past weekend I was at Kroger. (Can be true for any store.) I needed 60W light bulbs, and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy, was an off brand
labeled, "Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same, except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand...but the thing that surprised me the most, was the fact that GE was 'made in MEXICO ' and the Everyday Value brand was 'made in (you got it) the USA ', in a company in Cleveland, Ohio.  So throw out the myth that you cannot find the products you use every day...made right here!!!!!!!
 
On I went to another aisle. Those Bounce Dryer Sheets I needed - yep, you guessed it! Bounce cost more money - and - it's made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money - and - 'MADE IN THE USA'! Bye-bye Bounce! I did laundry yesterday, and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I've been using for years...and at almost half the price!
 
My challenge to you is this. Start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things, and see what you can find that is made in the USA. The job you save may be your own, or your neighbors!
 
If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book, so we can all start buying American...one light bulb at a time!
 
Stop buying from overseas companies and other countries!
 
(We should have awakened a decade ago...)
 
Let's get with the program...and help our fellow Americans keep their jobs, and create even more jobs, right here in the USA.

Think about this the next time you are shopping.  One person cannot do it all, but a lot of people can make a difference.

leslie edwards

In 2008 $239,757,603 "surplus" was remitted to the office of the Treasury for the general fund.

Why are we laying off or furloughing teachers and discontinuing programs in schools if the lottery has a surplus? 

There  is something terribly wrong with the lottery system in Georgia.  When it was voted in, the promise was that all of the money would be used for education & lottery expenses.  We were assured that none would be put into the State's general fund.

In addition, the expenses of the lottery are HUGE.  Lottery officials continue to receive large cash bonuses every year and every year, the amounts are questioned.  Nothing changes.  Read the article and voice your opinion. 

Let's save teacher's jobs and programs that provide students with a broad range of experiences in school, like music and art.

http://chronicle.com/article/Bonuses-for-Georgia-Lotterys/40052/

If you know anyone who is behind on their mortage payments and are trying to avoid a foreclosure, call me.  As a Certified Distressed Property Expert, I have extensive training in short sales, which have less impact on credit than a foreclosure.  A short sale is when the mortgage company agrees to take less than the payoff when the home is sold.  Because homes have lost considerable value in the past two years, short sales are very common.  Managing a short sale requires special training that most agents do not have.  Be sure to hire an experienced CDPE if you need help negotiating a short sale.

 Call me. I am happy to provide a free consultation with no obligation, wither over the phone, be email or in person.

leslie edwards                                                                                      770.460.9448 where my phone is answered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and I am never hard to find                                                              RE/MAX Around Atlanta 

leslie@leslieedwards.com  www.SouthMetroAtlantaMLS.com

leslie edwards                                                                                            770.460.9448                                                                                       My phone is answered 24-7-365 by a live person and I am never hard to find RE/MAX Around Atlanta

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/more-than-5-million-homes-will-be-worth-less-than-75-of-their-m/19342799/ <http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/more-than-5-million-homes-will-be-worth-less-than-75-of-their-m/19342799/

leslie edwards                                                                                                  Politically Aware Real Estate Agent                                         leslie@leslieedwards.com  770.460.9448

Jim Webb's courage v. the "pragmatism" excuse for politicians  

By: Glenn Greenwald
March 28, 2009

There are few things rarer than a major politician doing something that is genuinely courageous and principled, but Jim Webb's impassioned commitment to fundamental prison reform is exactly that.  Webb's interest in the issue was prompted by his work as a journalist in 1984, when he wrote about an American citizen who was locked away in a Japanese prison for two years under extremely harsh conditions for nothing more than marijuana possession.  After decades of mindless "tough-on-crime" hysteria, an increasingly irrational "drug war," and a sprawling, privatized prison state as brutal as it is counter-productive, America has easily surpassed Japan -- and virtually every other country in the world -- to become what Brown University Professor Glenn Loury recently described as a "a nation of jailers" whose "prison system has grown into a leviathan unmatched in human history."

What's most notable about Webb's decision to champion this cause is how honest his advocacy is.  He isn't just attempting to chip away at the safe edges of America's oppressive prison state.  His critique of what we're doing is fundamental, not incremental.  And, most important of all, Webb is addressing head-on one of the principal causes of our insane imprisonment fixation:  our aberrational insistence on criminalizing and imprisoning non-violent drug offenders (when we're not doing worse to them).  That is an issue most politicians are petrified to get anywhere near, as evidenced just this week by Barack Obama's adolescent, condescending snickering when asked about marijuana legalization, in response to which Obama gave a dismissive answer that Andrew Sullivan accurately deemed "pathetic."  Here are just a few excerpts from Webb's Senate floor speech this week (.pdf) on his new bill to create a Commission to study all aspects of prison reform:

    Let's start with a premise that I don't think a lot of Americans are aware of. We have 5% of the world's population; we have 25% of the world's known prison population. We have an incarceration rate in the United States, the world's greatest democracy, that is five times as high as the average incarceration rate of the rest of the world. There are only two possibilities here: either we have the most evil people on earth living in the United States; or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice. . . .

    The elephant in the bedroom in many discussions on the criminal justice system is the sharp increase in drug incarceration over the past three decades. In 1980, we had 41,000 drug offenders in prison; today we have more than 500,000, an increase of 1,200%. The blue disks represent the numbers in 1980; the red disks represent the numbers in 2007 and a significant percentage of those incarcerated are for possession or nonviolent offenses stemming from drug addiction and those sorts of related behavioral issues. . . .

    In many cases these issues involve people’s ability to have proper counsel and other issues, but there are stunning statistics with respect to drugs that we all must come to terms with. African-Americans are about 12% of our population; contrary to a lot of thought and rhetoric, their drug use rate in terms of frequent drug use rate is about the same as all other elements of our society, about 14%. But they end up being 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted, and 74% of those sentenced to prison by the numbers that have been provided by us. . . .

    Another piece of this issue that I hope we will address with this National Criminal Justice Commission is what happens inside our prisons. . . . We also have a situation in this country with respect to prison violence and sexual victimization that is off the charts and we must get our arms around this problem. We also have many people in our prisons who are among what are called the criminally ill, many suffering from hepatitis and HIV who are not getting the sorts of treatment they deserve.

    Importantly, what are we going to do about drug policy - the whole area of drug policy in this country?

    And how does that affect sentencing procedures and other alternatives that we might look at?

Webb added that "America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace" and "we are locking up too many people who do not belong in jail."

It's hard to overstate how politically thankless, and risky, is Webb's pursuit of this issue -- both in general and particularly for Webb.  Though there has been some evolution of public opinion on some drug policy issues, there is virtually no meaningful organized constituency for prison reform.  To the contrary, leaving oneself vulnerable to accusations of being "soft on crime" has, for decades, been one of the most toxic vulnerabilities a politician can suffer (ask Michael Dukakis).  Moreover, the privatized Prison State is a booming and highly profitable industry, with an army of lobbyists, donations, and other well-funded weapons for targeting candidates who threaten its interests.

Most notably, Webb is in the Senate not as an invulnerable, multi-term political institution from a safely blue state (he's not Ted Kennedy), but is the opposite:  he's a first-term Senator from Virginia, one of the "toughest" "anti-crime" states in the country (it abolished parole in 1995 and is second only to Texas in the number of prisoners it executes), and Webb won election to the Senate by the narrowest of margins, thanks largely to George Allen's macaca-driven implosion.  As Ezra Klein wrote, with understatement:  "Lots of politicians make their name being anti-crime, which has come to mean pro-punishment. Few make their name being pro-prison reform."

For a Senator like Webb to spend his time trumpeting the evils of excessive prison rates, racial disparities in sentencing, the unjust effects of the Drug War, and disgustingly harsh conditions inside prisons is precisely the opposite of what every single political consultant would recommend that he do.  There's just no plausible explanation for Webb's actions other than the fact that he's engaged in the noblest and rarest of conduct:  advocating a position and pursuing an outcome because he actually believes in it and believes that, with reasoned argument, he can convince his fellow citizens to see the validity of his cause.  And he is doing this despite the fact that it potentially poses substantial risks to his political self-interest and offers almost no prospect for political reward.  Webb is far from perfect -- he's cast some truly bad votes since being elected -- but, in this instance, not only his conduct but also his motives are highly commendable.

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