The Speech Joe Biden Failed To Give

 

I’m the property manger at Sandy Bay Apartments; we provide furnished apartments in Norfolk, VA. As landlords and property managers we are affected by people unable to pay their rent due to the corona virus pandemic. Many people have lost their jobs, are laid off, or furloughed as a result of the pandemic. When people can’t make an income, sooner or later it’s going to effect their ability to pay rent. Congress did a great thing by enacting a stimulus package which helped many businesses and tenants. People who were laid off received an extra $600.00 per week in addition to their regular unemployment benefits. This stimulus money went a long way towards helping tenants make their rent payments. Now as the stimulus money runs out, congress is struggling to enact new rounds of stimulus money. No one knows how long this pandemic will last; so will we need many more rounds of stimulus incentives? Will we have multiple legislative bills that incur greater national debt?

We all see the direction our current leadership is taking us. We’re facing huge economics losses and unprecedented sickness and death among the population. We need a new leadership direction to fix this situation and here’s the speech I’d like to see Joe Biden give.

Joe Biden ---

People of America, I’m going to address this pandemic and our lagging economy in the only way that truly makes sense. I will use the power of the presidency to provide contracts to every corporation in the country capable of producing N95 respirator masks, face shields, gloves, and isolation gowns. I will have companies retooled and retro-fitted so they can produce these necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) items. These are the tools every American needs to fight the corona virus.

Let’s talk directly about the N95 masks. These masks are in short supply in the country and are typically reserved for medical professionals. They’re reserved for medical professionals because they work!!; They’re the best masks on the market. They can be worn all day with relative comfort and have assured protection from the corona virus. The N95 mask is a respirator mask and has a breathing apparatus that helps you get air without exhausting through the sides and top of the mask. It is form-fitting to the face and the wearer has confidence of 95% protection from getting the virus and also has 95% confidence of not giving the virus to someone else.

I want the N95 mask to be the standard mask for ALL Americans! If every American citizen is wearing a N95 mask, we have mutually assured 95% protection in all situations. We can immediately restart our economy, because workers, teachers, students… everybody will be protected with 95% assurance.

Instead of having trillion dollar economic stimulus bills I’m proposing we spend mere billions instead. Billions to produce the N95 masks, face shields, gloves and gowns that every American citizen needs. I propose we create these items in such quantities that each household can have a fresh box of N95 masks in their home every week. If we’re all 95% protected from this virus, we can go on with our lives, our economy will flourish and we can get to a new form of normal until there is a vaccine for this plague.

What’s important here is giving the American people a level of confidence that they wouldn’t get sick or get their family members sick from this virus. By having the federal government pay companies to product these PPE products and having the N95 mask as the American standard mask, we can be well on our way to recovering our economy. People can go back to work, go to their jobs and get pay checks to pay their rent and pay their other bills. There will be some challenging business models of course, like restaurants and bars. These we have to address with other additional protective measures. But as a general rule if everyone wears an N95 mask and we can simply see that our neighbors, teachers, workers and students are all wearing their N95 respirator mask, we can go back to work, to school, the store, the gym, and other places with 95% confidence we are all protected. Then we can be 100% assured that we can beat this pandemic.

Read More

Moving in the Military – Purchase or Rent

 Moving is a way of life for military families and just because it’s done often doesn’t make it easy. Each time a family is up rooted there are many issues to consider; with every move there is the question of whether to purchase a home or rent accommodations. The average duty tour is about 18-36 months, so deciding to purchase or rent can be a major decision.Here’s the dilemma; if you purchased a home almost anywhere in the country prior to 2008 when housing prices were soaring; you would have been underwater with your mortgage in 2015 when the housing market bubble burst-ed and property values tanked. What would you decided to do today if your were in a situation where you were given military orders to transfer in an unknown housing climate?

It’s frustrating, because you can’t predict the market. Depressed housing values and over supply can occur at anytime. Sometimes price collapses are a regional event or it can happen on a national scale. For military service members who must comply with relocation orders, navigating a fluctuating housing market can be difficult.

Since military members know relocation orders are a possibility at any time, the Department of Defense encourages military employees to rent and not buy. However, the lure of buying a home is enticing because home ownership provides a military family with a feeling of permanence and a place to call their own. Also when a home is purchased in the right market there’s always a chance of turning a profit, keeping the home for retirement if the area is great, or renting it as an investment property.

Renting has issues for families too when it comes to the numerous relocations that occur over a military career. Each time you rent a different place you’re faced with a house or apartment with a difference configuration. The rooms in the new place may not accommodate that over-sized couch that fit perfectly in the previous living room. Invariable, families end up making purchases to accommodate the new living space.

Unpacking and settling into a new residence is a huge part of the moving process, along with coordinating the timing of the arrival of the family with the arrival of the furniture. At some point you can expect to live on blankets without furniture and personal items. The biggest issue with renting in an unfamiliar location is that over time, you get familiar with the new location and only then realize where the better schools are, where the best places to shop are and where that perfect neighborhood is located. At that point you already have a lease and have to stick it out before you can consider moving again. So what’s the solution?

Consider short-tern furnished rentals; either a furnished apartment or furnished house. Utilizing furnished housing gives you the chance to learn the nuances and environment of a new city before making a major commitment or investment purchase. Then, if you decided there is a better schools in a different neighborhood or more accommodating amenities elsewhere you could simply move or buy at the end of your short term lease.

Short term furnished rentals saves you the pain of packing and unpacking boxes, the costs of a full move, the uncertainty of committing to a large investment in furniture or property that you may come to regret later. Once you come to understand the real estate of market of your new area, you’ll be better positioned to make a wise property decision.

Some other pluses of renting furnished housing are, having everything you need for turnkey living already provided for you. The kitchen is already be stocked with everything you need to run a kitchen, glassware, plates, silverware, coffee maker, toaster, microwave, etc. The bedrooms come with beds, dressers, night stands, lamps, pillows and linen. All the utilities are included, like electric, gas, water, cable TV and internet service. And of course you have the option to add any items to make the rental feel more like home for you.

In the long run, renting furnished housing can actually save money. There is certainly less work and effort in using the rental option when relocating to a new city. You have to crunch the numbers for yourself, but it is an option certainly worth considering.

I’ve considered these options myself because I was a military spouse and learned from experience. I’m now retired and living in the Norfolk, Virginia area and actually rent off base militaryhousing. Visit my web site for furnished apartments in Norfolk.

 

Read More