Can you afford a $750k mortgage? You can now--you'll be paying for it for someone else though, who will be grateful--to the politicians! ~Bob
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Subsidizing Bad Decisions
by Thomas Sowell
Now that the federal government has decided to bail out homeowners in trouble, with mortgage loans up to $729,000, that raises some questions that ought to be asked, but are seldom being asked.
Subsidizing Bad Decisions
by Thomas Sowell
Now that the federal government has decided to bail out homeowners in trouble, with mortgage loans up to $729,000, that raises some questions that ought to be asked, but are seldom being asked.
Since the average American never took out a mortgage loan as big as seven hundred grand-- for the very good reason that he could not afford it-- why should he be forced as a taxpayer to subsidize someone else who apparently couldn't afford it either, but who got in over his head anyway?
Why should taxpayers who live in apartments, perhaps because they did not feel that they could afford to buy a house, be forced to subsidize other people who could not afford to buy a house, but who went ahead and bought one anyway?
We hear a lot of talk in some quarters about how any one of us could be in the same financial trouble that many homeowners are in if we lost our job or had some other misfortune. The pat phrase is that we are all just a few paydays away from being in the same predicament.
Another way of saying the same thing is that some people live high enough on the hog that any of the common misfortunes of life can ruin them.
Who hasn't been out of work at some time or other, or had an illness or accident that created unexpected expenses? The old and trite notion of "saving for a rainy day" is old and trite precisely because this has been a common experience for a very long time.
What is new is the current notion of indulging people who refused to save for a rainy day or to live within their means. In politics, it is called "compassion"-- which comes in both the standard liberal version and "compassionate conservatism."
The one person toward whom there is no compassion is the taxpayer.
Read it all here:
Posts
Robert Hall's comments about the country are right on the mark. I an very tired also! Former MA resident now in TX
ReplyDeleteJim from N.D. thank you and Glen Beck Foxs news.
ReplyDeleteThus said, I'd also be pissed that taxpayers just bailed big business out when they had the means to do it themselves. I'd focus on why these C level executives refuse to let go of posh quarterly bonuses, fat salaries, and other lavish perks so they can pay their employees decent wages. The cost of living is rising while the wages are dropping, and hard working people unable to save properly for a house (because they make nothing) are more than susceptable to predatory lending schemes.
ReplyDeleteWhile many people are to blame for the mortgage crisis, I agree that the primary blame rests on the people who chose to take out a mortgage for a house they could not afford. The usual arguement is that the poor people buying the house were hoodwinked by their loan officer.
ReplyDeleteNonsense.
My husband and I bought our first home in 2005 when we were still in our 20's. We were naieve and inexperienced, but fortunately not stupid. Our loan officer wanted us to lie about several things on our loan application. We refused. We could have qualified for a much larger loan, we knew we couldn't afford to pay a mortgage for more. We bought a less expensive home.
Duh. I refuse to believe that most people do not have the intelligence to do as we did. Let them pay and learn from their own mistakes.
-Mother and educator of six young children, wife of a hard working milk man and former Army engineer who served proudly in Iraq.
THANK YOU FOR SAYING SO WELL WHAT I AND MILLION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS FEEL . YOU SAID IT ALL SO WELL. CA
ReplyDeleteI echo Robert Hall'comments! Only wish I had written it. My question is - what can we, who love this country, do to stop or slow down this train wreck? I'm ready to do my part.
ReplyDeleteJoan Ingle
We need more men of Robert Hall caliber. Thanks Robert. Marshall in Texas
ReplyDeleteWe need more Robert Halls. I'd work for this guy anywhere any time. Go Robert.
ReplyDeleteHow can folks learn from their mistakes if they're encouraged to keep making them? Isn't this basically spreading the consequences around?
ReplyDeleteThose who bought homes well beyond their means were naive at best and stupid at worse.
ReplyDeleteThe real do-do birds such as Barney Frank and others in Congress that have and continue to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to be brought down. Their pressure on the private sector to make loans to folks that couldn't afford to pay them is the root cause of the housing mess. Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to be phased out (shut down) as soon as possible. They are a cancer within the housing industry.
I read the article “I’m Tired" and it is one of the best on the subject I have read … keep up the good work Marine!
Semper fi,
Paul Underwood
Captain USMC (Ret.)
"... with mortgage loans up to $729,000, that raises some questions that ought to be asked, but are seldom being asked."
ReplyDeleteI liked Sowell's post, but I wish people would avoid saying things that are patently false (presumably for effect). I know I've asked questions such as those he claims "are seldom being asked", and I doubt that I am in a small minority asking such questions.
The thought of the stimulus pkg. makes me ill!
ReplyDeleteWhy dont they just give each adult American citizen a couple of hundred thousand bucks each
and let us boost the economy by buying cars/trucks, paying for our kids college, paying off our homes or buying a home...the list goes on
and on. NO WAY, THAT WOULD BE TOO EASY!!! Who can we write about this angle?
So what??
ReplyDeleteNothing's going to be done about any of this anyway. We have become a 2nd rate nation & I cannot see any possibility of turning back. The losers in this country turn out in LARGE numbers to vote for the politicians who will continue to give, give give. RIP..United States of America.....a once great nation
When are we all going to get together and do something about all this crap? If someone would just tell me what I can do!!!
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I bought our first house in November 2004. We were 49 at the time and had lived in apartments or rental houses because we could not afford a house until then. We told the initial loan broker what we wanted and could afford. He continually tried to sell us on 3 or 4 times the loan that we wanted. When we told him NO for about the 6th time he told us that it was "un-American" to do what we wanted.
ReplyDeleteWe fired him and went to another loan officer that would do as we wished.
It was a good thing that we did because, on August 28, 2006, my wife passed away from a cerebral aneurysm. Because we didn't over extend what we could do, I was able to keep the house.
I don't mind helping someone that, from no fault of their own (maybe even a little) got into trouble. I will gladly give someone a hand up, but I'll be damned if I want to give them a handout. That includes AIG, Citi, and all of the other bastards.