What Now, Oh Great Leader?

Face it, America, we're screwed. Not that I feel like purveying gloom and doom to those who read my blog. No, that has been done very effectively by the economy and furthered by the idiocy of the current leadership of our state and nation.

The entire world is on the brink of disaster, with war on the minds of many countries, as Obama tries to "make nice" with them. To many he's seen as a brilliant speaker and a non-issue, the same as he was on the campaign trail ,when he caught the fancy of so many idealistic voters. It's telling when the glut of press reports out of a country he's in, are on Michelle Obama's clothing, rather then President Obama's speeches or actions. To the rest of the world, she's more interesting, I suppose!

The leadership has squandered out tax dollars effectively giving billions, leading into trillions of dollars of debt to companies who don't deserve a dime. AIG is just one glaring example of how handing out cash unfettered by proper and adequate regulation ends up feeding an alligator with fresh meat. When the meat is gone, he comes back for more, and all you have is the detritus he's left behind in the pond. That's what AIG has left for the taxpayers, my friends. If you don't know the word, it's what comes out of the other end of the 'gator. And, in the case if AIG 'gator, it seems to have a huge hunger and the poor employees and "little guys and gals" are whats getting squashed under the outflow. The executives are riding high on the head of the 'gator eating the fresh meat and probably will for the foreseeable future because while Washington talks tough, they don't follow through. Only on the little guy will they put the screws to them and ruin their life...not to the big guy.

Take Bernard Madoff for example. How did he get away for so long with so much? Didn't the Securities and Exchange Commission see something wrong there? Greedy people were the most likely explanation, as Ponzi schemes feed off those who seek high returns on their money in markets where the general rate of return just isn't all that great. The old adage "if it seems too good to be true, it usually is" always seems to be factual. In this case it was disastrous for all those investors. Madoff will likely die in prison with no enjoyment of his swindled money from here on in, but that's little comfort to those he screwed with his scheme. Then again, I ask the same question...why was there no watchdog at any level seeing this couldn't happen, especially at this level? Was the government blind or just turning a blind eye?

I have little faith in the current administration as I see it being filled with tax evaders and people who have had questionable pasts. Obama seems to draw these people into his circle and promote them to what could be their highest level of incompetence. Will this be the "peter principle" at work once again in Washington? We'll see soon enough as the bottom continues to fall out.

Obama will continue his tirade that all this mess belongs to Bush. And any success will be Obama's. You and I know that's a bunch of bull! Bush didn't start the housing crisis nor the meltdown on Wall Street. It was started by bad decisions in Washington, mostly forged by the Democrats and the illogical mantra that everyone deserves a house regardless of whether you can afford one or not. Push Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into cramming low down loans down the banks throats to keep money flowing, and add in the liar loans, and here we are. Cities crumbling, and once prospering neighborhoods becoming ghost towns.

Nice work, politicians. You sure have done well in screwing America, haven't you?

Housing Foreclosures

This might be a delicate subject with some, but here goes anyway....

What the heck were you thinking?? Now I'm not saying that some people in foreclosure didn't fall on hard times through illness, job loss, or maybe being flim-flammed into thinking that mortgage payment would somehow be affordable when interest rates doubled or tripled. To those people, I am truly sorry that you ended up in these hard times. I sincerely wish you the best, and hope you can somehow find a way out of the housing debacle.

For those who were possibly scammed by lenders or real estate agents into signing documents, who could never have afforded the homes in the first place, and then having income amounts changed, as some newscasts suggest could be the case, my suggestion is "go get 'em" and use every legal avenue available to you along the way. I truly hope justice can be done if any of this has occurred.

But for those that simply bought way over their heads and now want the federal government, meaning me and my fellow taxpayers, to bail you out...not only no, but he** no!

Looking at some local neighborhoods with big dollar homes, I've seen the Mercedes, BMW's and even Lamborghini's in the driveways. People living larger than life on income that couldn't possibly support that lifestyle for a reasonable future. Then the interest rates went up and all of a sudden here's panic. The $6000 a month house payment, $3000 a month payment on the Merz and Lambo, the $1000 a month property tax plus all the credit card payments, not even considering food, fuel, utilities, etc would require an income in excess of $200,000 just to sustain. POOF! The for sale signs went up.

The lucky ones shed the fancy cars and within a few months, a drive through the same neighborhoods saw the same houses with the driveways stocked with Hondas, Toyotas, Chevys and Fords. Others were lucky enough to be able to sell at the very beginning of the foreclosure troubles. For others, though, the for sale signs become weathered and replaced by foreclosure signs, bank sale or short sale signs. Perfectly manicured lawns gave way to less than perfect, although in areas like this, there is no urban decay. People moved out and the homes just sit, waiting for the auction man to do his thing or some cash-laden buyer to make an offer in this now buyers' market.

But why should the government help homeowners keep their homes when they themselves went way over their heads in purchasing them? The answer is they should not! Home ownership is a responsibility, not a right. These people whine and complain like it's the government's fault that they're losing their home. It's not. It's their own fault! They knew the potentials for mortgage rate increases, and in many cases, how much the payments could increase! If they bought a reasonable cost home to begin with that they could afford then, and into the future, and didn't gamble on interest rates remaining low, they would still be living in their home. They took a chance and lost! Simple enough.

If they went to Las Vegas and bet the money on a roulette wheel while staying in the casino's hotel, and lost all their money, the hotel would kick them out. They wouldn't expect the government to bail them out of their loss. So why bail them out of another gamble they made and lost?

Just another example of people not taking responsibility for mistakes they make. If you make a decision, you have to stand by it. If it's a good decision, then you profit from it. If it's a bad decision, you lose from it. But either way, it's your decision. Unless you're mentally unstable and incapable of legally making that decision, you made it and the results are your responsibility. If you were incapable of making that decision, then you wouldn't have signed the papers, and all this wouldn't matter anyway.