Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 4, 2009
Corker returns home for coffee and questions with CAR
Samara Litvack
Sen. Bob Corker returned recently to his hometown of Chattanooga to have coffee with members of the Chattanooga Association of Realtors. Modestly avoiding an elaborate introduction from CAR President Nikki Schwartzkopf, Corker took the floor in the standing-room-only space to thank those in attendance for their welcome.
“I’m glad to be not just in the country, but obviously in Chattanooga,” he said.
“Each of you are the ambassadors for our community. The fact is that when people come to the city of Chattanooga, likely the first people they meet are folks in your industry. And I, first of all, want to thank you for what you do.”
Corker went on to address the small, yet promising upturn he sees taking place in Chattanooga’s real estate market.
“I do feel it beginning to percolate,” he said. “As I talk with some of you, I sense that may be the case here in Chattanooga. I hope that’s the case. I know that housing typically is the thing that leads us out of a
recession and it feels like it may be the beginning of the case again
this time.”
Corker referenced the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit and said he worked extensively with the head of Housing and Urban Development to ensure it had a positive impact on the market.
“I’d hoped we’d have a $15,000 tax credit for all home buyers,” he said, adding that the proposal, which he endorsed, would have been an effective alternative to parts of the current $787 billion package, much of which will not be spent until 2011 and 2012.
Corker offered his approval of the reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve. He said many of the positive things that have recently occurred with the economy are a result of Bernanke’s “bold actions” and, having spent a lot of time with Bernanke, Corker believes he deserves the right to see them through.
The senator apologized to the crowd for seeming “duller than normal,” and explained he’d just returned from a trip to the Middle East. He told stories of being in Afghanistan on election day and offered thanks for the opportunity to be active in the Foreign Relations Committee.
“I think it’s one of those things that we should be very bipartisan in how we look at it,” he said. “We have men and women’s lives on the line and certainly it’s not a place to take partisan pot shots. But we live in a complex world and, while we’re focused here today in this meeting on real estate in Chattanooga, the world is a troubling place. We have lots of issues we’re going to be dealing with down the road that have taken, in some cases, thousands of years to germinate. And I thank you for letting me be involved in that.”
Corker also addressed current health care legislation. When he ran for Senate, he said, 80 percent of his time was spent on health care issues. And since being elected, those issues are still on the forefront of his focus. The problem with the administration’s current health committee bill, he said, is that it doesn’t pass the “common sense test.” His hope is that in September, something can be passed that does.
Corker then opened the floor to questions from Realtors and CAR associates.
Cap and Trade
Corker calls this bill, which puts a mandatory cap on CO2 emissions but provides sources of flexibility on how they apply, “sort of the worst of Washington.” He hopes that the country will focus more on alternative policies, such as the building of nuclear facilities, the leader of which, he said, is Tennessee.
When California Sen. Barbara Boxer brought the last cap and trade bill to the Senate floor, Corker offered three amendments that he feels were very educational to other senators. One, which he referred to as Cap and Dividend, was to return all the money produced by Cap and Trade to the American people.
“Under the Boxer bill, it was about $6.8 trillion coming into the central government, which by the way was pre-spent,” he said.
“There are very, very liberal groups and very, very conservative groups that have supported my amendment.”
Social Security
“Social Security is one of those kind of problems that literally four or five of us at lunch could solve,” said Corker. “And I mean that. It’s just simple math.”
He referenced current legislation, called the Gregg-Conrad legislation, that aims to create an equally-represented, bipartisan, half-House, half-Senate group to formulate a solution to the Social Security crisis and bring it to the floor.
“To me, that’s our best solution,” Corker said.
Proposed $15,000 tax credit
Although he adamantly opposed Cash for Clunkers, Corker said the one thing it showed was that if you give the American people incentive to buy something, they will. And while he also opposed President Bush’s 2008 stimulus bill, he does believe the American economy needs some stimulation. This is a driving force in his push for the $15,000 tax credit for all home buyers.
“The housing industry stimulates so many other things – refrigerators, stoves, roofing, glass, you name it,” he said.
“I hope what we’ll do is take some of this $787 billion that certainly is not stimulative, has nothing to do with the economy, that’s going to be spent in 2011 and 2012, and fast forward it forward and let’s use this $15,000 tax credit in its place.”
When will banks resume real estate investing?
Corker said lenders step back into the market when prices are depressed, as they are today. As has happened several times in past industry downticks, he encouraged Realtors to pay attention to large amounts of money being invested in the near future, as that will signify the comeback of local and national
markets.
“I lived through the early ‘90s,” Corker said. “I laid in bed every night calculating my net worth. I got no sleep for a year and a half, but I paid everybody back and I paid them on time.
“What happened, though? The market turned. I was able to dive in on the other side of that and I feel that time is coming again for our country.”
Corker addressed numerous other concerns for the crowd, and respectfully dodged questions about the upcoming Tennessee gubernatorial race. Instead, he acknowledged that he knows each of the candidates and referred to many of them as true friends.
“I’m just thrilled that we have candidates like we have that I think will bring great honor to our state and to the job,” he said. “And I’m happy you guys have such a wonderful selection of people to choose from.”
He also recalled the day he stood on the steps of the Hunter Museum of Art, when Volkswagen announced Chattanooga as the official location for its American production plant.
“They came here because of who we are as a community,” he said. “I remember saying to them, ‘Look, if you come to Chattanooga, no doubt it’s going to say a lot about us. I’ll give you that. But it’s going to say a lot about you too.’ And they chose this place because of the way we are.”
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