Hillary and Barack Will Punish the Wise
So for those of you that have ignored the sleazy “Nobody can do what Countrywide Can” advertisements, and didn’t get in over your head by buying a home you couldn’t afford, our democrat nominees what you to pay for the irresponsible! So, its like being the kid that didn’t put your hand in the cookie jar, while another child did, and now you are getting a spanking just the same! No thanks Hillary and Barack, take your bailout and blow it out your back orifice.
Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday mocked John McCain for urging government restraint in responding to the mortgage crisis, saying the Republican would ”just sit back and watch” as millions of Americans lose their homes. Campaigning in Greensboro, N.C., Obama ridiculed McCain for his belief that working Americans should not be punished for the mistakes of the irresponsible.
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds dismissed Obama’s comments by saying McCain “has called for an immediate and balanced approach to provide transparency and accountability in an effort to help homeowners who are hurting, while Barack Obama has made a $10 billion election-year promise that is sure to raise taxes and handcuff an already struggling economy.” Just where will that $10 billion come from? The answer is it will be available after his proposed tax increases go into effect, taxes on the working middle class.
Hillary Rodham Clinton called for direct federal intervention to help affected homeowners, including a $30 billion fund for states and communities to assist those at risk of foreclosure. Obama’s housing agenda also includes creation of a fund that would help homeowners avoid foreclosure, along with a new mortgage tax credit.
McCain, drawing a sharp distinction between himself and his two Democratic presidential candidate rivals, had warned earlier in the week against vigorous government action to solve the deepening mortgage crisis and the market turmoil it has caused, saying that ”it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.”
The government should not reward fiscal irresponsibility. Democrats often forget that the government is spending our money, as in what working Americans pay in taxes. The fiscally irresponsible barely pay taxes as it is, if any at all. So, Hillary and Barack are asking those of us that have behaved and been wise with our hard earned money to further pay for the irresponsible and ignorant’s mistakes. Again, this is outright socialism.
If you do a little research you will find that those that are in trouble with their sub-prime loan are likely driving a new car and carrying both an Ipod and cell phone. It seems as though the committed left voter base tends to be fiscally challenged. They outright want those of us that save our money to give it to them, so they back government leaders that will make that happen though oppressive socialist policy.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Thing is, I don’t think it is that simple.
I agree that people made mistakes, and it is not right to reward them for irresponsible behavior. Thats true. But just like the Sterns/JP Morgon situation, some times some wrong has to be done to help the over all economy.
The argument for Bear Sterns/JP Morgon was that if that was not done, it could cause a run on the banks which would have overall effects on the rest of the economy. The management of Bear Sterns screwed up, and as a result we as the tax payer have to bear that burden. But the alternative was worse.
The situation with the housing market is much the same. There is no reason those people should be rewarded for stupid actions of getting in over their heads. However, if we let all these people lose their houses, there are greater social consequences that have to be taken into consideration. What will the effect to the overall economy be if these people are homeless or have a massive amount of people declare bankruptcy this year? What will all these empty houses have in way of effect to neighborhood’s home values?
Then there is the question of, what do we do about those in the government that were going around saying there was no housing bubble? When Greenspan encouraged people to take out adjustable rate mortgages? Is there liability on those that helped create this situation? Same question applies to Bear Sterns.
The sad thing is, there are no good answers on this one. Someone is going to get screwed no matter what. We have to look at this not from what is good or bad for individual people, but rather what will help protect the overall economy. I am open to the idea that bailing these home buyers out is not a good idea, that might be true. But make the argument based on how letting these homes go empty and these people potentially homeless is the best thing for the overall economy. Do that, and I will buy into it.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:45 am
When I wrote this piece I anticipated the argument “the good of the many” or “the good of the nation as a whole” yet I neglected to address it. With all due respect, I think that is the standard canned argument of the liberal.
The political heads discussing better regulation are having the right discussion. Country Wide and the other sub-prime lenders should never have been allowed to put the nation in this situation. I fully support the Democrats and Republicans pushing for tighter regulation over the lending industry. And on a similar note, I wish they would ban payday loans while they are at it. I suppose that is the Democrat side of me talking. These lending predators target people that are notoriously irresponsible with their finances and lack the good sense to stay out of debt. Bailing them out won’t change them, so the best we can do is try to protect them to some degree from the lending predators, and that is for the good of the many; because it is cost effective in the long run.
You say, “if we let all these people lose their houses, there are greater social consequences” and “people are homeless” which makes me point out what others have been asking, what’s wrong with renting?
Apartment owners and other landlords are sitting with an all time high in vacancies while people who have no business buying homes are out buying homes. Do they believe that they are too good to rent? Probably not, money burns a hole in their pocket. Some sleazy lender told them that they should own a home, even though it is beyond their means and they lack a significant, if any, down payment.
Look, I rented for years until I saved enough to put 20% down on a house. No one should be allowed to purchase a home unless they have 20% to put down. I wasn’t making car payments because I sacrificed. I drove a low cost used car. I didn’t waste money on trinkets and vices. I shared a house with roommates, and worked 70+ hours a week, rarely went out, and saved like crazy.
For those that think they have to drive a new or late model car, own a PDA, Ipod, Nintendo WE, and Xbox 360, and then get a home with no money down…. I don’t want to pay for their waste, and ignorance. I could have blown money like an idiot too, then cried and begged the government to come bail me out.
What it comes down to is that these people will never learn if they keep getting rewarded for their lifestyle. And for those that have scarified, they end up being penalized.
We’ll get past this housing issue with or without government intervention. No one will go from home ownership to on-the-streets, that is simply an absurd argument. What will happen is this:
1. Those that have been responsible and saved will now be able to get a really good deal on a foreclosed or short-sell house.
2. People that had no business owning homes will go back to renting. They will be just as broke as ever since they blow their money on trinkets and cars.
3. The economy will dip, then rise, and level out again. We will ride this wave like any other.
4. Hopefully there will be much better regulation over the lending industry so we can prevent a future lending disaster.
This situation will make the rich even richer though. I can recognize this fact. The privileged few will scoop up houses at discount rates and then later sell them for more when the economy levels out. However, other rich will lose, they are the wealthy homebuilders cranking out thin walled houses like a machine flooding the market with houses when there is no market to sell them. So even at the top there will be as many getting stung as getting ahead.
On a final note, the government is also one of the culprits. Government programs such as the one offered to U.S. military Iraq veterans so they may purchase a home with no money down has put a lot of families in homes they couldn’t afford. I have a friend that served two tours in Iraq. He got a home via this GI program. His home has since been foreclosed on. It was beyond his means, and it was our government that put him in that home.