Bush Bailing Out Dumb Homeowners

Thursday, December 6, 2007 - 2:00pm

Bush Bailing Out Dumb Homeowners

I thought only Democrats were interested in government intervention and subsidizing dumb people. Regrettably, George Bush has decided to freeze mortgage rates for a select group of subprime borrowers. For the vast majority of homeowners, we are not effected by the, um, generosity of the federal government. Instead, only borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) that are beginning to reset in 2008 who also have bad credit can be eligible.

Homeowners with good credit are not eligible. Homeowners who actually paid attention when signing their loan documents are not eligible. Anyone who has a 30-year fixed mortgage is also not helped. In fact, there are 2.2 million subprime ARMs that should reset in 2008, but only 240,000 borrowers will be helped by this plan.

Government intervention in a free-market economy is not a good thing. The lenders and borrowers who got into this mess should have to get out of it on their own. Why should my taxpayer dollars pay to bail out idiots who didn't realize that the interest rate would adjust after a certain period of time? Is it my fault that borrowers can't or didn't read the documents presented to them at close?

In addition, why should predatory lenders also be assisted. While not directly a bail-out for lenders, the Bush plan functions in that regard. It costs a lender far more money to foreclose on a home than it does to simply collect lower interest mortgage payments.

This bailout is completely unnecessary. Sure, there are more foreclosures in this country, but they still represent less than 2% of all homes. The government needs to stay out of the lives of Americans and let the market dictate the end result. There are plenty of real estate investors who would gladly pick up a foreclosed home at a reduced price. The homeowner who can't afford that home in the first place shouldn't even be in it.

The Democrats actually think this bailout doesn't go far enough. No wonder people don't vote for them. Perhaps they should take a few economics classes to figure out how the financial world works.

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