Foreclosure bailouts an insult
You would think the financial bailouts, the auto bailouts, and the most massive “stimulus” bill in history would be enough government spending for a while. Oh no! Now we have to bail out all the people who are in home foreclosure at the estimated cost of $50 billion (sure to balloon as we have seen with other bills in the past few months). This should be personally offensive to anyone who works hard to pay their bills and spends responsibly. Due to some people’s irresponsibility, you and I are going to have to pick of the tab for them.
Wait a second, isn’t this what the financial bailout was suppose to do? I distinctly recall the government saying that it was to help rescue the housing marking and all those people in foreclosure. What happened to that? Oh yeah! That money was flushed down the toilet and the government doesn’t know what happened to it. So by all means, lets flush more money! After all, it doesn’t belong to congress and Obama, it belongs to you and I, our kids, and grand kids. So why not spend, spend, spend?!?
“We must stem the spread of foreclosures and falling home values for all Americans, and do everything we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes,” Obama said Tuesday
If they were “responsible homewoners”, then why are they being foreclosed on? Is “responsible” taking out a home loan for more than you can afford? Is not educating yourself about financing and accepting the terms of predatory balloon mortgages being “responsible”? Is buying at the height of an obvious housing bubble being “responsible”? Is flipping houses with no concern for risk being “responsible”?
This is a simple principal. Don’t buy stuff you can not afford. If these people can not make the payments, then they need to sell the home off. If they can not, or will not, sell the home, then they need to be foreclosed on. By the government jumping in and bailing these people out, they send a very bad message. This is the equivalent of telling the American citizens that it is not only okay to live off credit, but encouraged to outspend your means because the government will always be there to pick up the bill. Not only does this create government dependence (which is probably what the Democrats want), but creates a dangerous precedence of irresponsible spending that will haunt our nation’s future.
I am sure that some foreclosures are due to lost jobs and layoffs. These are the people I feel the most for. However, bailing them out of their mortgage with additional government spending programs is not the solution. This is what unemployment insurance is for and I can fully understand and support expanding this program within reason. Loosing your job does not mean you have to enter foreclosure. I was able to weather nearly six months of unemployment during the dot com collapse on basic unemployment, savings, and keeping my bills to an affordable rate. However, during this time, I was open to the prospect of selling the house and downsizing before entering into foreclosure. There are solutions outside of government bailouts.
What remained unclear was how the government will decide who qualifies for relief.
Is this any surprise? The government thinks they know how to spend money better than you and, in reality, they have no clue. As with the financial and bank bailouts, the government has no plan. The money will be tossed out with little regard. It will filter through the hands of numerous government and private agencies and by the time it reaches anyone who is in foreclosure, it will be pennies on the dollar. Even then, will it help those suffering in foreclosure due to lost jobs? No. It will go to investors and home flippers that got caught with their pants down during the housing bubble. Why? Because they can afford the lawyers that can find and figure out the mountains of paperwork required to get the money.
In the end, the hard working responsible American’s will get the bill for the irresponsibility of others. Failure will be rewarded. I know it’s been the same deal with financial, bank, and auto bailouts… and the stimulus bill… however, with a “foreclosure bailout” it suddenly gets chillingly personal.
