The meltdown of America

If you are concerned about how bad things really are in this country, watch or set your DVR to record FRONTLINE tonight on PBS.

I often hear people complain about the billions (soon to be trillions) being spent by the government on banks, propping up Wall Street or the auto industry, or all the money in the stimulus package and I assume these people must not understand what has happened to the financial system -- and thus the economy -- of the good ole U.S. of A.

If they did understand, I think they would complain, instead, that it's not enough.

We all know the country is suffering, jobs are being lost, stock market is falling, but unless you understand what has happened to the financial system, you don't quite understand how serious this situation really is.

The major banks of this country no longer exist.

At least, they no longer exist in the way you've thought about a bank most of your life. The major banks are essentially insolvent. The ones that haven't failed, will fail. The only money left is government money and it's not enough to keep them going.

We have kept them alive for a few months. We had to. We needed to give ourselves a chance to save things by trying to come up with some kind of economic stimulus, plans to fix the financial system (or have the government take over) and maybe start to do something about the problem that started it all: housing. It's all going to get worse if more isn't done.

The economy of this country was on the brink of total collapse when Lehman Brothers failed, the first round of TARP kept that from happening ... for a while.

Don't believe me? Watch the show tonight. Here's a preview below:

Top 10 Real Estate Deals in Los Angeles

I just finished my first monthly post for an interesting website called TopTenRealEstateDeals.com. They asked. I figured: Why not? I like making lists anyway.

Here's my debut: Los Angeles Luxury Real Estate and Condos

But if you're too impatient to click, here's the Top 3 of my Top 10:

1. Downtown condo with designer furniture included – $499,000 – 1155 S. Grand Avenue, Unit #913, Los Angeles – Studio, 1 BA, 726 sq. ft EVO, the new luxury, green downtown high-rise near the Staples Center has put together a great deal on one of their studio condos. They lowered the price $50,000 and are throwing in $45,000 worth of designer furniture.

2. Downtown loft from resort developer – $364,900 – 510 S. Hewitt St., Unit #416, Los Angeles – Loft, 1 BA, 916 sq. ft. – This is the best bargain in the best selling downtown project, Barker Block. And the Arts District is undergoing an amazing transformation – an Urth Caffé just opened up across the street from the Barker Block.

3. Luxury Home in the Heart of Cheviot Hills – $1.649 million – 10326 Walavista Rd., Los Angeles – 5 BR, 5.5 BA, 4,500 sq. ft. – This home has been completely remodeled and is going for an amazing price. Honestly, it’s worth more than this even in this market. Cheviot Hills is a great neighborhood just south of Beverly Hills and Century City that is close to FOX Studios, freeways and is very quick to the ocean. This house is spectacularly finished. Really, buy this and the woman in your life will feel like a princess. It’s near the freeway but totally shielded from it. It’s got a pool and is really underpriced for a home of this quality in this part of time.

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