So I'm a pretty liberal guy; I was born in Massachusetts, live in California. I believe in welfare, believe in education grants, and government investment in research. I believe in low interest government loans so that people can buy new houses. I believe in universal healthcare. I believe in drug treatment, and rehabilitation instead of punishment, but I cannot, for the life of me understand why we are talking about bailouts and helping stupid people, who thought they were rich, buy houses they could not possibly afford.
The "sub-prime loan crisis" could be described a different way. It could be described as the "greedy borrower crisis". People sold crappy loans, but the people who bought them knew they were bad. Everyone did.
Here's the thing - a house is a big commitment and if the people who have these sub-prime loans, then no one is stopping them from keeping them. There are tons of low-income immigrants who come to this country and buy houses. They work hard, sometimes two jobs, and have their friends and family move in with them.
Did [edit] the "victims" of the sub-prime fiasco [/edit] pay too much for houses? yes. Did they buy houses they couldn't afford? yes. Does that mean that money from responsible tax payers should be given to them to pay for their mistakes? No. I would even go so far as to say that while an infusion of money into the industry may help the economy in the short term, the long term inflation in the housing market it would cause would be more detrimental.
::sigh:: I guess I'm just frustrated about this. I specifically waited and put off looking at buying a house because the crash was obvious and inevitable and if politicians bail them out, it's not only going to hurt me by artificially raising the house prices again, but it's going to keep inflation rising and devalue the money* I saved while being responsible.
This sucks. The worst part is everyone's on board with bailing these people out, dems & repubs. [added for clarification] There is nothing wrong with renting a home, or staying in a hotel for a while. I'm not specifically trying to attack these people, but bailing them out is tantamount to encouraging unwise investment. Good government programs exist to help people into starter homes, and I'm not advocating kicking them out onto the street. Ultimately, if we bail these folks out, good people though they may be, this will only be rewarding the companies that gave out these loans, including the ones who encouraged irresponsible behavior. [/added]
*1. It buys less
- government is not raising taxes, so it's printing money to pay these things
PS: Sorry if the tone is a little harsh, I'm stuck at the airport. If you're looking something a little lighter try this