November 12

 Good morning, all. We have sun and chilly, not cold, temps. A lot of the snow that fell has melted and should be mostly gone by the weekend. I don't know if I will make it, but I want to stay awake to see if the aurora will be visible here. We are in the zone which should give us a good show. A friend in Iowa, located just north of I-80, had some spectacular pictures. I put some of the hexagons into the shawl I am constructing. It is looking good so far. I just put in my grocery order through Instacart also and had a lot on the list because I let a lot of items go down. But I have decided that I am going to build my pantry up again. I expect that the political and economic disruptions will continue and I want a cushion against whatever might happen.

Well, the House is back in session and getting ready to swear in the Arizona representative Johnson has refused over the last two months. And they are considering the Senate CR to re-open the government. Before we celebrate we need to remember that it lasts only til the end of January. The end of the ACA subsidies take effect on January 1 and I think the Senators will vote on a bill to continue them was entirely empty. By the time the CR expires the full effect of the insurance increases will have hit.

I guess the housing sector of the economy is really hurting because the FHFA director Pulte took a suggestion to the White House for a "50 year mortgage." I have been laughing ever since. We already have 30 year mortgages available but a lot of people can't qualify. A mortgage going over 50 years would provide lower monthly payments but, as most people should know, you won't make a dent in the principal until late in the term of the loan. We also have adjustable rate mortgages which have screwed a lot of would-be homeowners because the low payment at the start can, and often do, increase drastically at any time. I said "would-be" because until the mortgage is paid off you don't really own the property. Given the economy  not many people stay in a house long enough to pay off the 30 year mortgage. Right now the average age of first time home owners is 40 and I wonder how many would want to still have a mortgage at age 90. I hope others in Trump's orbit laughed him out of the room. Yves Smith at NAKED CAPITALISM goes into the murky depths of the consequences of a 50 year mortgage covering points I made, in greater detail, and points some drawbacks I didn't think of.