What Happens In Vegas..Is Home Foreclosures

Posted Aug 17, 2008 at 03:49pm

LAS VEGAS, NV-We rolled into Vegas on Thursday night. Of all the places we have gone, this is the one spot where a large painted bus rolling through town does not stick out all that much. In fact to have a bus that is not thematic and painted in Vegas is a little conspicuous.

The event on Friday was a few miles away from the strip so we were not taking people away from the standards attraction like the fountain at the Bellagio or David Blane’s magic show. I am sure this was a relief for Steve Wynn. He was very concerned that the Bush Legacy Tour would distract so many visitors away from the casinos that he would take a huge hit that day we came to town. We had a great crowd to see the bus at the SEIU but not too big as to effect Mr. Wynn’s bottom line. The SEIU put together a great event. The SEIU represents thousands of the service workers that work in the Las Vegas gaming industry.

With the Las Vegas economy growing at a rapid pace, this city is one of few that is not experiencing job loss over the last eight years. What they are experiencing is home foreclosures at an alarming rate. In fact Las Vegas is the home foreclosure capital of the country. Seven of the 100 worst home foreclosure zip codes in the country are in the Las Vegas area. Unlike cities like Cleveland or Detroit where job loss and the declining economy has a major hand in the foreclosure crisis, the Nevada foreclosure crisis is thought to be largely attributed to the lending practices of the mortgage companies. Over 700 people in Las Vegas lose their homes each month due to foreclosures.

Families who bought into the American dream in Las Vegas were often not informed about the treacherous nature of adjustable rate mortgages and many only took these risky mortgages because they had difficulty qualify for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. Many families planned to establish credit with an adjustable rate mortgage and then transfer to a more stable 30 year fixed mortgage. Ironically in Nevada, the state hardest hit by the housing crisis, Nevada Senator John Ensign has actively delayed relief for his constituents facing foreclosure. A couple months ago, Ensign alone, stalled and then voted against a housing package that would provide relief to the homeowners. The housing relief package had broad support by Republicans and Democrats alike, yet Ensign insisted on adding in $6 billion in tax breaks for the producers of renewable energy. Considering Ensign’s deplorable voting record on the environment (Ensign has a 26% rating on the environment according to LCV) it is difficult not to see this as a political move on the Senator’s part. Ensign was more concerned with playing politics so that he could say that his opponents in Congress voted against renewable energy, than with his own constituents losing their homes. In the meantime while Ensign stalled, 8500 Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure each day! One in 43 Nevadans face foreclosure. *

The housing crisis is by no means the only issue the Senator Ensign has sided with Wall Street over Main Street on. The Senator has voted with the President’s policies 94% of the time on everything from giving tax cuts to the rich making an average of $1.2 million per year to privatizing Social Security. The Nevadans I spoke with have had enough of the Bush Administration and the members of Congress like Ensign who support their failed policies. When asked how they will remember this administration we received some strong comments. Jack from Las Vegas said he will remember the administration as, “ the biggest domestic policy failure in my lifetime. This has been the most anti-worker administration since Reagan. “ On a lighter note, he added “It has provided some of the dumbest sound bites ever.”

Rebecca commented on what she will remember as the overall failures of the Bush administration, “I will remember the government reaching far beyond its constitutional rights, cheating the citizens, and the high cost of their failed decisions.”

That high cost has been felt strongly by Jeannie whose son was sent to Iraq. She has spent all of her time since he was sent there “doing whatever I can to make people realize the uselessness of this war.”