There are a few things as a human you should be entitled to whether you deserve them or not; they are your God given rights. Having a place to live in, where you feel protected, and can sleep at night without fear of losing the roof above you is one of them. I don’t care how lazy you are you deserve a place to call home; even if it is the jail house.
Isn’t it funny that we humans feed, clothe and accommodate the worst among us; the murders and the rapists; yet we fume at the use of our tax dollars for helping our neighbors stay in their homes? We would rather kick them to the curb. Ironic? Not according to most people who pay their mortgages timely; you know those financially responsible types. Banks got bailouts; automakers did too; but when it comes to our neighbors it’s just not fair! Most people feel that the housing crisis bailout is rewarding financial irresponsibility and telling people who could never afford the homes they bought, that it’s ‘no problem’!
But it is a problem; and this is not just a problem for those who can’t make the payments. The popular way to appease angry on-time mortgage paying tax payers is to tell them that the overall value of their homes are being saved in the process of preventing more foreclosures. But reality goes further. Many of our neighbors were pursuing the same American dream as you and me; they wanted a home. They probably would not have bought the home they could not pay for, if they were given better advice and were prevented from taking out loans way above their means. Instead they were not only approved for these loans but to add insult to injury they were made loans at much higher rates than even you and I could afford. And therein lies the real lack of accountability.
How many lenders were punished for making irresponsible loans? For cajoling their low-income clients to refinance every year; yes EVERY year! They weren’t punished; they were bailed out. Instead of these lenders finding ways to get their clients into homes appropriate for their income level; and instead of trying to find them ways to get the best rates possible they did the exact opposite. Lenders took their client’s income as interest and left them with zero equity. That’s the price of their American dream.
If anyone deserves a bailout; it’s our neighbors. As an on-time mortgage paying, financially responsible; irritably tax paying type, I’m not angry about bailing out people who are losing their homes. Because when I miss a payment it won’t be because I’m irresponsible it’ll be because I fell on hard times; lost my job; or I was lured into a loan that I didn’t know, I'd never be able to pay back. And if I ever have to see that day; I’d want to be bailed out with dignity and the respect that every human deserves; which is a roof over their heads.
copyright d.i.
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