Self-Reliance and Accountability

The liberal philosophy forgives everything. Nothing is anyone's fault. Anything bad which happens is clearly the result of evil forces, never a bad judgment on anyone's part. I wonder if that has anything to do with the Trial Lawyers Association basically owning the Democratic Party. If everything is someone else's fault, there is always a reason for a plaintiff's attorney to file for damages. No one ever does anything wrong but instead has situations foisted upon them... unless, of course, you are a Republican. In that case, you clearly are evil and it is only through fortunate circumstance that you are exposed.

Most people find over their lifetime that other than their parents, no one is ever really looking out for your best interests. The may SAY they are, but they aren't really. If your best interests happen to coincide with theirs, then okay, but when given a choice, they will always go with their own. That is a stone cold truth. The object lesson there is that you better wake up and pay attention because if you don't look out for yourself, you are going to get hosed.

There are, of course, no people more self-serving and full to their necks with fecal matter than professional politicians. Their whole goal in life is to convince people that they are looking out for the people but sooner or later, their true colors are exposed. The House of Representatives is a group of politicians who essentially continually run for office and occasionally vote on something. The Senate is a group that does mostly lip-flapping and wallow in their self-importance.

This wasn't originally about politics. What inspired me to write this time was the current housing "crisis". Recently, I have heard Hillary Clinton propose a moratorium on foreclosures. Barrack Obama has also promised help. It is an interesting problem to deal with. There is no way to correctly separate: 1) people (novices or not really smart people) who were given loans by predatory lenders and didn't bother to figure out if they could make the payments when the interest rates went up from 2) the much larger group of real estate speculators. I known what you are thinking, "These are people in their primary residences". True, but most of the people I know who overbought in the last few years did it as an investment figuring the way housing was rising in prices, they could make money by living in the house a couple of years and unloading it and taking their profit. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt so I think the group of morons (read "victims" if you are a liberal) is a minor population compared to the investment crowd. That brings in some harsh reality. If I bought Google at $200 and the stock tanked, would I be asking the government to bail me out? Most would think I was crazy for trying. That is what investing is all about. You take a risk after looking at the cost/benefit scenario. Sometimes you make money and sometimes you lose money. These people for the most part are not the victims of lenders as much as they are victims of a mob rush to make money in real estate. They gambled and they lost. I never saw a form in Las Vegas that you fill out to allow you not to pay the casino after you lose.

Last year, I found a house that was too good to pass up and paid off my 4.375% mortgage on my first home (sadly, I miss it) and bought a new house at 6.0%. My mortgage payment doubled. Before I bought the house, I did something apparently novel... I figured out if I could afford it. I also did not get an adjustable rate mortgage and spend my evenings praying interest rates wouldn't rise. Let me summarize: I bought a house I could afford and got a mortgage I could pay. I know it sounds simple but apparently it is genius to some. Senator Dick Durbin wants to allow bankruptcy judges to be able to adjust mortgages. The reason first home mortgage rates are lower than second homes, yachts, etc. is precisely because that CANNOT happen. If he succeeds in passing the legislation, people who pay their mortgages and buy houses they can afford will have to subsidize the speculators and ignorant people who buy over their heads.

But of course, it isn't their fault. It is always someone else's fault.