I won't belabor the national frustration and anger about AIG and the absolute absurdity of people getting that kind of money for precipitating our global financial meltdown.  I do want to ask - do you remember when $170 million was a jaw dropping, oh my god kind of number?  I do.  In today's world it is sadly chump change!  We, the taxpayers, have allocated nearly $200 billion to AIG alone in last six months.  Well, I am here to say $170 million is a lot of money and can do a great  deal of important work.

This is what Beyond Housing could do with $170 million...

We could fund our entire organization, serving thousands of individuals annually, help strengthen neighborhoods without any other support for over 30 Years!

We could open and complete 110,000 individual development accounts helping every family living in poverty in the St. Louis region begin to build their wealth and more to a brighter tomorrow.

We could buy and rehab over 3,000 homes in the St. Louis region and offer them to sell or rent to many families who desire and deserve a decent and safe place to live.

We could fully fund our Pagedale Family Support Center and open four more in the Normandy School District that would also be fully funded for 11 years!

We could provide over 45,000 first time homebuyers with down payment assistance to allow them to begin building their assets and wealth, strengthen neighborhoods and position their children for success.

I hope you get the idea.  Now, what would you do with $170,000,000?

Let me know.