This cancer patient from Muncie, Ind., used to own one home -- today she doesn't own any. She's one of well over a million Americans punched in the gut by the mortgage foreclosure crisis:
MUNCIE -- Don't feel sorry for Carol Bouslog.
"I'm not a poster child," Bouslog said. "I'm very lucky."
At 65, Bouslog is losing her home to foreclosure. The foreclosure notice came the day before she lost her job doing medical transcriptions for a Georgia company and about the same time she was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
Despite a series of blows that, to most, would feel like knockout punches, Bouslog -- who is also caring for her terminally ill mother -- has a positive attitude.
"Two people in town, I shared what was going on with them and they offered a home where I could live for free until I get back on my feet," she said. "I feel like I'm so blessed."
What an amazing woman, to feel blessed after everything she's been through. You know who would be really blessed in this life? Someone who owns at least four homes, maybe seven, worth as much as $13 million, so many homes that you can't remember how many -- and also to be blessed with a staff to do all your hard work for you, like figuring out just how many homes you own.
Yes, John McCain, you really should count your own blessings.
But thanks to this screw-up, living in the home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January may not be one of them.
Obama pounces, for a change.
(Photo by Chris Bergin/Muncie Star-Press)
Hey, we all can't buy our homes from convicted felons in shady land deals. Before we get into home ownership, Obama may want to remember the glass house he lives in. Obama should have gotten the Chris Dodd Countrywide Deal. I wonder of McCain should count the tiger cage he spent eight years in as one of his homes?— Ramon- If you cant beat McCain on issues, fall back to class warfare.— Talking Point Slueth
- Just so I have this right: The same people who have whined endlessly for months that this campaign needs to be about issues and that any news on, say, Obama’s home (purchased with the help of a man who is now in prison), was little more than a “distraction” are now trumpeting this as the biggest story of the campaign thus far? Just so we are clear, McCain and Obama are both immensely wealthy people. Wealth is not the issue. Obama’s distaste for people who disagree with him is. Elitism is a state of mind and Obama appears to be trapped in it.— bon
- Give this a week, it will be a non-story. Just like the Obama remark about arugala prices at Whole Foods.— Ramon
This should tamper the zeal to paint Obama as an elitist, eh? If you can't recall how many homes you own, then you have no right complaining that the other fella is out of touch with ordinary Americans. To put it another way, people who live in "countless" glass houses shouldn't throw stones.- While it doesn't excuse any changes in attitudes towards personal attacks, what's happened is that the issues debate is pretty much over. Iraq has become a non-issue, drilling has become a non-issue, and we know where the candidates stand on most everything. Attacks and gaffes are all that's left. It's going to be like this until Election Day.— Politburo
Comment removed.- What the difference is, is that McCain is not trying to pass himself off as a po' boy who grew up in the woods and worked his way to the top. Obama would have you believe he a was share cropper pickin tomatoes to put himself through college. We all know the truth and that ain't it.— Nick4102
- Politburo, I don't really know where McCain stands on many issues. He has changed his stances so much that I can't keep track. I know what he says he is for now, but he was against many of those things in the recent past. Comprehensive immigration reform? Torture? Tax breaks for the very wealthy? Timetables in Iraq? I have no idea which side of these things McCain is going to support if he is elected. I'd like the media to notice that he has been all over the place on policy and try to nail him down on how he intends to govern.— phdave
- "It's going to be like this until Election Day.".....I hope you are correct on this because experience will trump platitudes in this case.— Talking Point Slueth
- You're right, that's not the truth.. because that's nowhere near what Obama's been saying.— Politburo
- Of course. It's the Republicans fault that people buy houses they can't afford. There's the liberal mantra right there.— doorspj24
- phdave: If you don't know, then you haven't been paying attention (and the same goes for anyone who'd make that claim about Obama). Both candidates have changed some of their positions, but have not changed their overall policy.— Politburo
- Nick4102...the only thing true about what you wrote is that Obama worked is way to the top. He never claimed any of that other stuff. McCain married his way into a political career (and a lot of houses). McCain is trying to pass himself off as someone who understands the economy when he has previously admitted that he does not. I can't really blame him for not understanding the economy. When you lead such a sheltered economic existence that you don't have an easy answer for how many houses you own, it is easy to lose interest in the economic troubles of the rest of the country.— phdave
- TPD, I couldn't agree more that both candidates are corporate tools. In fact, I'd say Carter is the closest we ever got to a true populist in my lifetime, and I'm not counting on ever seeing one unless we overhaul our electoral system entirely. However, there are stark differences that do matter to ordinary Americans. The future of the Supreme Court hangs in the balance, as well as the opportunity to reclaim our political leadership role in the free world. The last thing any American wants to see is our president upstaged by the dynamism of a Sarkozy or Merkel in the face of a hungry Russian bear awakening from its hibernation. There's also an economy which is teetering, and two distinct philosophies about government's role in saving it from itself.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
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