According to a recent Newser article, an astonishing 1 million Americans will likely lose their homes to foreclosure this year. This is even more incredible if you consider that during a normal year before the recession, about 100,000 homes were foreclosed upon. In addition, 1.7 million Americans, or 1 in every 78 homeowners, received foreclosure notices between January and June of this year.

Although there may be some who are voluntarily giving up their homes due to decreasing value, the vast majority of those being foreclosed upon are people who have fought hard to keep their homes and simply can no longer make the payments. Even with various loan modification and foreclosure-prevention programs available, many homeowners are still unable to keep up. This is not surprising given that many have lost their jobs, and others could not even really afford their subprime mortgages once they ballooned.
In addition, the politically motivated blockage to extend unemployment benefits by Senate Republicans has permanently pushed many who may have otherwise been able to scrape by off the unemployment rolls toward foreclosure. Even though the extension has now passed, the delay has done tremendous damage to many individuals and families, all in the name of politics. Amazingly, many of those most in need of the unemployment extension (who will likely be first in line now that is has passed) are so-called Tea Party members who have fought tooth and nail against it. This is not really surprising, because Tea Partiers seem to take pride in fighting against legislation that would actually benefit them the most.

Although the number of foreclosures is expected to increase, it is still disheartening to see such large numbers of people in foreclosure, and many more on the verge. To many politicians, the foreclosure crisis is just another issue to be used for political purposes or debated for pleasure. However, to millions of people, this is not simply a discussion topic; it is a gritty reality. The repeated political use of situations like this that have a devastating affect on people's lives.

It is a recurring fact that during times of economic despair, people look for someone to blame. And, most often, that blame usually ends up directed at black people. Now many are scapegoating immigrants. But it is imperative that people understand that the ones who are truly prospering are not the powerless but those at the top using real-life turmoil for their political gain. Perhaps when 1 million more Americans go into foreclosure, and the government fails again to act quickly, Tea Partiers and others in denial will finally be motivated to take a stand.