What Did Cheech and Chong Teach Us About the Current Housing Market?

What Did Cheech and Chong Teach Us About the Current Housing Market?

Those of us old enough to remember the comedy duo of the 1970's, Cheech and Chong will no doubt remember the bit they did about dog droppings. As I ponder the routine, I can still here it in the echoes and deep recesses of my mind.

The act started with one character of authority asking the other what something is on the ground; to which the other grunted and responded that it looks like dog sh*t. The leader then instructed the subordinate to touch, smell and ultimately taste the substance, to which the conclusion was always that it's nothing more than dog sh*t. OK, Maybe it was a bit sick, looking back - you had to be there - and yes it was rolling on the floor funny!

As funny as the routine was, what really made it hilarious was the punch line, when the authority figure declares, "It's a good thing we didn't step in it!"

Well, who ever thought that Cheech and Chong could have had more sense than has been displayed by the economic powers that have us in the mess we are in now?

How many years ago was the writing on the wall that is only now being read. Wasn't good enough, was it?

How many banks had to collapse before we realized we had a problem?

How many homeowners had to have their credit and lives ruined by losing their homes before it affected someone we knew and it became a personal problem?

It's unfortunate that there really isn't too much that be doe at this point - no matter what course of action is taken the next few years promise to be ugly. I imagine we are going to see a society even more divided between the ‘Haves' and ‘Have Not's'

The bailout plans are just going too fast for my blood - heck we are talking about hundreds of trillions of dollars and decisions being made in a week or two that will have a major impact on this nation for at least a generation. We took more time to go to war. Heck we take more time trying to figure out the realignment of a stupid road than we are the financial future of what was once the world's most powerful economy. Boy, did we screw that up, or what?

I think a big problem is that most of us can't get our heads around a number like a TRILLION, let alone HUNDREDS of TRILLIONS. Several months ago when I changed companies to a firm that claims to have sold over One Billion Dollars in REO Sales I posted a blog article about what a BILLION is. Some of the highlights say that

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.

Now realize that a TRILLION is a THOUSAND BILLIONS and a BILLION is THOUSAND MILLIONS. Most of us can imagine a MILLION which is a THOUSAND THOUSANDS.

Call me a simpleton if you must, but I can't imagine what a TRILLION of anything would look like.

Unlike our heroes fro Cheech and Chong, I guess we really stepped in it this time, didn't we?