Reality Check: The banks have squandered $700 billion dollars worth of TARP money and still their toxic assets, made up primarily of tons of worthless MBS, derivatives, credit default swaps and CDO’s, continue to eat away at their balance sheets and now the problem has turned to commercial property; as more and more commercial loans are going bad because shopping malls and restaurants are being hit so hard and close daily.

Those that are still trying to weather the storm but sit vacant, still contain a great deal of value in their fixtures and fittings but there is an increasing trend in the theft of building fixtures, such as electrical cabling, plumbing and even floorboards; nothing new in hard times and high unemployment.

Also, too many vacant homes are being trashed and vandalized, lowering their resale value even more and making it harder to obtain a valid appraisal. I have seen these times and these thefts occur before but something is different this time; there seems to me to be more hatred in the country, more unrest, more uneasiness, call it what you will, maybe fear of the unknown might be a better way to describe it; people are showing an inordinate amount of distrust not only for financial institutions but with people connected to those institutions, some no doubt deserved but others I’m absolutely certain, are undeserved.

You cannot blame a Realtor, a mortgage broker or a banker for the state of this economy; if anything blame the system and the politicians because they “make it up daily” by passing legislation that affects us all. This economic mess that we call Capitalism seems to be crumbling before our very eyes. In Los Angeles, today, hundreds of doctors, dentists, optometrists and nurses gathered inside the Forum arena in Inglewood where they expected to see over 10,000 people, as thousands gathered outside awaiting the opening of the free clinic, another sign that the system of putting business into health care has failed this country. Put health care into health care and leave business to business.

Competition can provide good things but also bad things. Good things if everyone is honest but in this climate of fear; dishonesty seems to always rise to the surface and we can only hope that Obama is up for this challenge because, as much as I hate to say it, we are on the brink of disaster and I’m seeing it more and more everyday. Short sales are still long sales and banks are still taking TARP funds and delaying sales and this must lessen or the economy is not going to level out as many are predicting.