Yeah, so I know that its like old news now but I want to talk about the bailout. When I first heard about the idea of a bailout, all I heard was that the government was going to help out struggling banks and I thought it was a good idea. Then, when I learned more about it I became strongly opposed. I fully understand that there are good people who just want their piece of the American dream by owning a home, and that for some, these sub-prime mortgages were the only way to make it happen, but to me that doesn't outweigh all the rest of the people who caused the problem. As I see it, the people who bought way more home than they could afford, and knew it, deserve to lose their homes. I have absolutely no sympathy for them.
The Banking institutions involved in all of this deserve to suffer some of the consequences as well. You can't pay your Executives millions of dollars, and approve mortgages that you have no business approving, and get away with it because the government bails you out. At least, that is what I think. Apparently our government feels differently. This just builds on an issue I already had with corporate bailouts.
Every time the government gives money to GM, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, or the Airline industry I cringe. What kind of a government do we have that professes capitalism, but practices something else? Capitalism is built on the principles of survival of the fittest, not survival of who can get the biggest the fastest regardless of financial consequences and then expect a government handout out to save them and "American jobs." Capitalism teaches us that those who work hard succeed, and those who don't fail. And yet here we are.
The thing that ticks me off the most with this situation is how much I get screwed by it. The economy took a nose dive just as I graduated college. So for me, it took a 2,000 mile move and almost six months to find a job at all (outside of fast food). Many of us who went to college also incurred student loan debt in order to pay for our education. And now that I have graduated, guess who isn't waiting for me to start paying them back? That's right, the bank.
So from my perspective, I am one of those hard-working Americans who went to school and got a degree so I could make a better life for myself. I paid for that degree with debt, and now I get to scrape by at a job that is irrelevant to my degree in order to pay my bills. (Don't get me wrong, I love my job.) Then I look at the other people out there, the ones who are benefiting from this bailout. Some of them don't even work, they live off the government because they can and not because they must. People who are genuinely disabled or have other circumstances I am fine with giving government help, the people I am not okay with are the lazy people. So, I sit here and look at the person who didn't go to college because they didn't want to or because it was too hard, and they don't work because they don't want to, and I see them sitting in their homes that they can't afford, and I think why? Why do we reward those people?
Why do I get screwed for working hard and doing the right thing, while the non-contributors of society get all the benefits? You want to know a much better use for that bailout money? Pay off every American's student loan debt. In my case, it would instantly mean a higher credit score and an extra $200 a month that I have to save for a house or spend on other needs. Those homeowners who can't pay their mortgages? Their student loan debt goes away and suddenly they have several hundred or even thousand dollars extra with which to pay their mortgages. Granted this isn't perfect and surely a number of people would abuse it, but to me, its much more fair (reward those who work hard and make sacrifices) and much smarter than handing $750 BILLION DOLLARS over to the banks who have already proven they can't be trusted with money! As proof... Washington Mutual loaned out $16 for every $1 they had on deposit. What kind of idiots were running the show over there?
Lastly, I called a loan officer at a local bank, just as this crisis began, to inquire about my qualifications for buying a house. To qualify for a $100,000 mortgage, my annual salary has to be above $50,000. That is double what I currently make! When is someone in my position going to get into a house? At our current rate of economic decline, probably never. I guess honest hard work doesn't really pay off.
3 comments:
Hey Matt, thanks for the invite for reading your reading your blog, but it's too wordy ... add a picture or two. :)
I think you're being a little harsh to those people who've lost their homes. Its true some of them were very stupid to get a house they couldn't afford, but that doesn't mean they "deserve" to lose them. Nobody should have to go through that awful event! The majority of people could afford their original mortgage, but were tricked by the whole "sub-prime" thing. So after those few years went by and their payment doubled, there was nothing they could do. I am having trouble wrapping my brain around how many people have foreclosed. And why is it happening all of a sudden?
Because of all this its making it virtually impossible to get a home loan right now. Hopefully things will look up in the future.
But its the banks that are the bad guys here, and I almost think they should have criminal charges for the swindling they did.
So many feel this way and it just is rotten timing for you! Fortunately, history proves that time will smooth out this dramatic dip in our present economic situation, and over the course of your lifetime, you will realize great results from your academic endeavors. Now, on an even better note, how about those Avs!!!!! Hahaha, it's great to stay in touch!
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