Monday, January 26, 2009

PAYING A VERY HIGH PRICE FOR "GREED DISEASE"

I used to listen to the radio all day long when I was a home remodeler. One type of commercials that always caught my ear was the insane home mortgage and refinancing companies and their shady tactics. I also knew there was something very wrong with the content of these messages. Just to clarify, this is only one aspect of a combination of recent events that has hurt the American and the World economy in recent months. The interesting thing to me is that no one seems to want to talk about a dirty little secret I am going to share with you.
I would like to explain where I’m coming from. Please think about and answer one question. Is the Federal Government in existence to protect us or to take care of us? Opinions vary on this question depending on personal experience. In my mind they exist to protect us. This mindset is changing. If the collective soul of America is going to be fooled into thinking that the government is here to take care of our needs then Capitalism is dead. What will replace it, Socialism? Is that what we really want? Do you really want the same thing greedy politician’s lust for, more power over you? We still have the power to shape our own destiny but it is being eroded by the attitude of a “me first” generation. This applies to more than one recent generation. Remember John Kennedy’s famous speech, “ask not what your country can do for you but what can you do for your country”?
Congress and President Bush are either totally inept or they have traded in their responsibility for greed. First let’s talk about President Bush’s role in this mess. I get so angry when I reminisce about the countless times he made speeches about how home ownership is higher today than at any other time in the history of this country. That’s only because we have a large group of people that were irresponsibly given the opportunity to purchase homes they could not afford. Now we the American tax payer are paying a very heavy price and this problem is not going away any time soon. Is he lying to himself or just stupid? The other side of this coin is the democratically controlled congress. Several of these good ol’ boys have been getting sweetheart Real Estate deals and mortgages for years but no one in the press (except for a few) want to talk about this at all. The only reason these deals were being handed out to the power brokers in Washington D.C. was so that congress would not pass proper mortgage regulations and guidelines. Believe me, I am not big on government regulation but some regulation is necessary to combat greed.
The one disturbing element in the mortgage company commercials I talked about earlier is very simple. These shady mortgage companies advertised new loans and refinancing with one added bonus, they would be happy to appraise your property for free. Wow, what a great deal. They did this with IN HOUSE APPRAISERES. This is clearly a conflict of interest and should have never been allowed to take place. These guys were placing any value they needed to on a property and falsely inflating home prices just to secure the deal. Then they would turn around and sell these sub standard loans in large packages to banks that were backed by the Federal government, you the tax payer. Mortgage companies and appraisers need to be separated by law. This is where the government needs to step in and lead. They don’t want to though; this would jeopardize their personal finances, no more sweetheart deals.
I don’t know the answer. Do we let these industries fail and let them take their lumps? Do we let congress print more money and just give it away at our expense? The more money that is created out of thin air simply means it will just be worth less. I hope we never see the day that it becomes worthless. If the government continues to just dole out bail out money then they will have more control over how the private sector operates. The politicians are getting exactly what they want, more power. The sad thing is they are purchasing this power with our money!
UPDATE
I always write my blog a few days before I post. Today (1-26-09) I learned that CitiBank has just purchased a new $50,000,000 corporate jet from FRANCE! This is because their other 2 jets are over 8 years old. BOO HOO!
I have an idea. Instead of giving our hard earned tax dollars to irresponsible corporate CEO’s to waste, let’s give it back to us consumers. Let us put it back into the economy. But what if we don’t spend it? What if we decide to save it? How will that stimulate the economy? Who cares, it’s our money. We earned it and we should be able to spend it as we choose. If you think the government can spend your money better than you can then you are beyond hope.

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