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The parlous state of the economy inspired each network to file a money feature. NBC's Hard Times featured financial planning tips from Suze Orman, a CNBC contributor, who appeared to plug her new book Women & Money. Orman believes homeowners should pay off their mortgages in full by the age of 62 and that savers should switch from bank accounts to dividend-paying stocks. CBS concentrated on the bottom end of the income scale for Hitting Home. Bill Whitaker reported that more Americans need food stamps than at any time since the program began four decades ago: in Michigan one resident in eight uses them; in Kentucky one in seven. The benefits average $100 per person per month but Congress is unlikely to approve any increase.
On ABC's Kitchen Table series, Jeffrey Kofman invited us to pity the poor landlord. He profiled Scott and Lori Pustizzi, a thirtysomething Florida couple, who invested in apartments in 2004, when the state "was seized with condo fever." They bought the units before they were built and their plan was to sell them at a profit upon completion. By the time construction finished, the bubble had burst. "Desperate speculators are competing with buyers and renters." The Pustizzis had to let the units to tenants at a loss. Their rent "covers just half their monthly payments."
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