The Boston Globe reports today on the tragic case of Carlene Balderrama, a middle-class homeowner in Taunton, MA. At 2:30 on Tuesday afternoon, just two and half hours before the scheduled foreclosure of her family home -- where she lived with her husband and adult son -- Mrs. Balderrama faxed a note to her mortgage company. The note said "by the time they foreclosed on the house today she'd be dead."
For some reason, police did not get to the house until 3:30, and sure enough they found Balderrama's body. She had shot herself with her husband's high-powered rifle.
More on the flip.
The Balderramas purchased their home, in a comfortable ex-urban area about a half-hour or so from downtown Boston, about four years ago. The market was hummingly along high, and lenders at that time were aggressively marketing adjustable-rate mortgages. The Balderramas were confident of their earning power -- he's a plumber, although Carlene apparently was a housewife -- but when the interest rates rose on their ARM, they began to fall behind on their mortgage payments.
Unfortunately, there's a political dimension to this tragic story, and even more unfortunately 18 of our very own Democratic Senators bear a certain responsibility in the course of events:
John Balderrama did, however, file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times from 2004 to 2006, but the courts dismissed the petitions. Debtors who declare bankruptcy under Chapter 13 generally can keep their homes while paying off their debts under a court-approved reorganization plan.
The US Congress, of course, tightened the bankruptcy code in March 2005 -- making it harder for families exactly like the Balderramas to seek protection from their creditors. The bill was the subject of outrage on Daily Kos when it passed; today we see the very human cost of reorienting our economy away from human needs and towards corporate profits.
As you go about your day today, please take a moment to pause and reflect on the tragedy that befell Carlene Balderrama. After all, electing Obama is only the beginning of the work we need to do to win back our country.