As I opined last August, bailing out home owners is a bad idea. I still have not seen a single instance of what the left calls “predatory lending.” I have seen plenty of examples of buyer and lender greed, along with an equal if not greater amount of apathy and/or ignorance.
The New York Daily News has a feature article today on Marlo Saab, an “ideal candidate” for assistance under the president’s new plan. Reading the details makes me want to start skipping my mortgage payments. This home owner bought a $555,000 home three years ago with no money down with an $80,000 salary. I’m not Stephen Hawking, but even my simple mind can see that the math doesn’t work out. Factor in the cost of living in New York City and it seems even more unimaginable that Mr. Saab could afford this home.
In 1996 with a $45k salary I qualified for a mortgage of around $250-300k. Did I overextend myself and get the most house I qualified for? No. I was taking home about $2500 a month, I felt that I could allocate half of my income to a mortgage. This resulted in me purchasing a modest starter home for $108k, with a mortgage payment of $1,200 or so. Fast forward to 2007: My family relocated and we rented a house for more than two years until we could find one that met our needs and our budget. When we were ready to buy again it took us six months of tedious searching to find something that we liked, met our needs, and most important: was within our budget. Thanks to a good down payment and my diligent search efforts I now have a home with a similar mortgage but I make much more than I did back in 1996.
Thanks to MichelleMalkin.com and www.makestickers.com for this image.
Now President Obama is asking me to help pay the mortgages of thousands of people that didn’t do the research, take the time, or just didn’t care. What motivation do I have? What motivation do others have not to repeat the negative behavior that got them into trouble in the first place? As a parent, it is not my job or responsibility to keep my children happy at all times and at all costs. Sometimes the answer is a firm “no.” Other times we have to do things that the child does not like. For the good of America President Obama needs to learn how to say “no” to the mental children in our society that can’t act appropriately.
I think this quote sums up my feelings appropriately: “Which is most blameworthy. those who see and will steadily pursue their interest, or those who cannot see, or seeing will not act wisely?” (George Washington to David Stuart – March 28, 1790)
America's Financial Iceberg
As Kevin McCullough noted today, “if we took the projected size of the stimulus at $1,300,000,000,000, and divided by the population at present time – individuals would get back roughly $4290 per person and the average family of four would get back a little more than $17,000.”
I think the concept of a stimulus package is a farce. Congress tried to scare us into supporting the TARP saying that the $700M was absolutely needed to prevent a financial disaster. It didn’t help, in fact, we don’t even know where the first $350 went. Have we seen a financial disaster yet? Nope. We were sold crap sandwiches for bailing out Fannie/Freddie, AIG, Bear Stearns, the big three auto makers, et al. Our government, a government supposedly of the people, by the people and for the people, is throwing our money away and refusing to listen to our voices. And if you think the current $900B (closer to $1.4T after interest) will be the last request, think again. There are already talks about TARP II, Electric Boogaloo. And how much more will Congress beg for when this magnificent crap sandwich fails? This, my friends, is just the tip of the iceberg, and sadly, not even Al Gore’s Man-Made Global Warming can’t melt this chunk of ice.
But back to my initial question. If my family of four received $17,000 I would pay off credit cards and buy a new couch set that my wife has had to repeatedly put off buying to other more pressing needs. That means some of my money would go to banks, and some money would go to a furniture store. I might use part of it as a down payment on a new vehicle to replace our aging van.
I think many people are in the same boat. If we had this money we would not “hoard” it as many liberals think. Most people don’t have the financial freedom to hoard anything right now. If the economy is as bad as politicians and the press say it is, then people need this money to handle immediate expenses. Yesterday President Obama said something along the lines of “We are not rushing to try and ram this down peoples throats. We are rushing because we are told that if we don’t it will lead to certain financial disaster.” My burning question: who are these we people? Are they the same bankers that are hoarding the $350M they have already received? Are they the same financial institutions handing out millions in bonuses? President Obama, I implore you to share with us exactly who is telling you this and exactly what will happen if we don’t act. Stop the scare tactics and give us the facts. The American people are smarter thank you may think.
What would you do with $4290 per person in your home?
President Obama (I can say that now that it is official) is warning America that we need to support his $750B bailout. Specifically, he warned that failure to take “dramatic action” on the package as soon as possible would have devastating long-term consequences for America.
Funny thing, Hank Paulson said four short months ago about the proposed $700B bailout, “I am convinced this bold approach will cost American families far less than the alternative — a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets unable to fund economic expansion.”
This after taxpayers were asked to fund Bear Stearns, Fannie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, AIG, $150B for the original “economic stimulus” and the big three auto makers. What reason do Americans have to believe or even listen to Obama for this time? More of the same, second verse, same as the first. Given our government more money is like giving a debt-ridden spendaholic a brand new credit card. When will this insanity stop?
