If you own a foreclosed home, you may not be able to vote for a new President
September 30, 2008
When I saw this video about foreclosed homes, I immediately thought how those who have lost a home because they couldn’t afford the meth lab decontamination costs.
Those who own a meth lab home that are struggling to pay to decontaminate it NEED to be able to vote for someone who is willing to help them, not punish them for not having the money they need to hold on to their home! The right to vote is the right of every American, rich or poor!
Comments
4 Responses to “If you own a foreclosed home, you may not be able to vote for a new President”
What do you think?
I fail to see how this video ties in to the meth lab homes. I do understand why the addresses need to be verified before allowing someone to vote. I have to verify that my present address is the same as the one on my voter reg card and everyone should expect to do the same.
In these times, when political parties have been known to register the names of now deceased persons as voters, verification is certainly in order.
This is a man trying to sell a book and a willing media outlet to help promote it!
Hi GT,
When a homeowner finds out that the home they have been living in has been contaminated by meth, they must seek shelter elsewhere. First of all, because it is unsafe to live in a home that’s been contaminated by the toxins that infiltrate every surface inside of the home. Secondly, they must leave the home until the home is decontaminated and it tests “clean” according to the cleanup standards in their particular state.
Thousands of innocent homeowners can’t afford what can be an enormous cost to decontaminate their home. Some homes cost as much as $100,000 to decontaminate. They can’t live in the home, yet they still responsible to pay the decontamination costs and they are still responsible to pay the mortage, taxes, and insurance. Since they can’t live in the home, they have to live somewhere else. Some may rent a home or an apartment, while others may live with friends or relatives. So, now they a mortgage for a home they don’t live in and also rent for a home that is safe to live in. If they are sent a letter to the address of the home they owned that got foreclosed on, they would have their right to vote removed? So, they can’t even vote for those who could help them? Why should they be penalized for being victims?
That is not what I meant.
I have great sympathy for those innocent victims and feel it is terribly unfair for them to have these unexpected costs heaped upon them. It is also just plain wrong for banks, law enforcement agencies, etc., to withold information regarding former meth labs to unsuspecting buyers or renters, for that matter.
Perhaps, instead of locking the drug dealers up in a comfy prison, they could be put to work cleaning up these messes they helped to create.
Aside from that, as I understand it, when you register to vote, you are to give your “current” address. That would then be the address where you are presently living, be it a rental house, a friend or relative or whatever. I fail to see how this prevents them from being able to vote. It seems also, that they could have their mail forwarded from their former address to the place they are temporarily living.
My own son just moved to a different state to accept a job and was told he can register to vote in that state within 25 days before the election. That seems to be fairly standard. He could also have voted in this state by using the “absentee voter” option. He is not a homeowner, but that has never been a requirement for voting privileges.
What is not appropriate is that certain groups are going to homeless shelters and loading up folks, registering them to vote and allowing them to vote that same day. That is a recipe for multiple votes by the same persons using different addresses. We do need to utilize all the safeguards we have in place.
You bring up some good points, GT. However, I do believe there are people who will “fall between the cracks” and may be denied the right to vote. I agree with you that better safeguards need to be put in place to insure that the votes received are on the “up and up”. I also believe that voters rights be safeguarded, as well.
I can also understand your line of thinking about asking the meth cooks to assist with cleaning up the mess they made, however that would never be allowed. Cleaning up a meth lab home requires training and specialized equipment including Hazmat suits, oxygen tanks, respirators, etc. What innocent property owners of meth labs homes really need is the money to pay for the cleanup. Judging by the amount of money seized from super meth lab operators, there is more than enough drug money to help victims get their homes decontaminated. However, that doesn’t happen either. Maybe it’s being used to bail out the banks, bail out the insurance industry, bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and keep Wall Street afloat. In the meantime, thousands of innocent homeowners have no one offering to help them.