[Wendyb0077]

Ben... I guess America is getting scr***ed. Sounds that way, doesn't it...

Originally Posted by Ben Screwed

It realy doesen't matter who did what or for that matter what party upheld their part of the contract they signed and which didn't. Fact I have an Attorney friend who with BIG foreign money people have just this past week purchased 1100 huindred homes from several Banks and MTG. Co. in the state of Florida, in a package deal for $.38 on the dollar. this is how the repoed homes are being sold . If the banks and Mtg. can do this for foreigners , I ask why can't they do the same for the people that are in these homes? Do they really care? and when they foreclose and the people have nothing for the banks to grab ,what is the benifit to the Banks and Mtg co. to take this action? most of the walk aways are because of the increase in mtg. patments . Before the increase they may have been having a hard time but most were still paying . Could it possiably be that the government has found a new way to keep the American people under controll. ( so called bare foot and pregnant?) What do you think ?

[harry chickpea]

Momma bear, you are wise in understanding that it often isn't an all or nothing proposition, and that people should use common sense on their own. In a world where people have a consistently high mental capacity and some education, common sense should be commonplace.

The reality is that not everyone has common sense at all times, and our system of laws and checks and balances protect us from the lack of same, whether it be the despot who wants to ignore the Constitution, or the driver who can't remember which side of the road to drive on, or the predatory lender who charges outrageous interest for payday loans... OK, maybe we haven't quite gotten there yet...

My point is that going after the small fry, who now don't have the proverbial pot to pee in, serves no purpose. Since it serves no purpose, other than flogging dead horses, it IS mean spirited. However, going after the people who benefited from the loss of others, and still have their ill gotten gains, is a balancing and a societal way of saying "WTF did you think you were doing, you greedy antisocial dipwad????"

There is a common Libertarian and Conservative credo that everyone is smart enough to avoid pitfalls. Rubbish. Those same people who claim moral high ground have fallen hook, line, and sinker into the black and white thinking of a certain romantic fiction author, who asked the lofty "Who is John Galt," while cuckolding her husband. To make it even more intriguing, they do this while at the same time espousing that the principles of Christianity, which are totally anti-objectivist, are core to the Constitution, which never mentions it. The dichotomy of those who would sit in judgment is often laughable in its own lack of common sense.

I was in a position in Florida of reviewing job applications. I'll flat out say that the education system in the state was so bad before NCLB that it created a generation of incompetents, who couldn't answer simple questions like "when can you work?," much less negotiate a mortgage application. Is it a coincidence that Florida is a hotbed for foreclosures? I think not. Yet there are those who would say that education is not the purvey of government, while at the same time decrying the stupidity of the results of that lack of education.

The peanut gallery seems to be more and more represented by a crowd of rabid misanthropists ready to pounce on the weakest, while holding the tormentors in high esteem. It is long past time to call them out for their own weakness of character.

I applaud you for not blaming the victims, other than allowing that they made their own nests, which they did and are paying for. I challenge those that claim a road of recalcitrant pebbles made their own road to easy riches harder. To them I say, don't repeat the same sorry tales of the fellow choosing between a Mercedes and walking out on a loan. Foist your one-size-fits-all rhetoric on the unwed rape victim raising a kid on the salary of a waitress, who now is out of a home and trying to keep that kid from robbing your ___ and going to jail.

On second thought, don't bother. Just do yourself a favor and go and read some of the background of the mentally and morally deficient authors and pundits that you parrot. And while you are at it, have a great day.

[DanBev]

If this is Euro money which is worth half again more than what our dollar is worth?

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by DanBev

If this is Euro money which is worth half again more than what our dollar is worth?

What is your question? It makes no sense.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Momma bear, you are wise in understanding that it often isn't an all or nothing proposition, and that people should use common sense on their own. In a world where people have a consistently high mental capacity and some education, common sense should be commonplace.

The reality is that not everyone has common sense at all times, and our system of laws and checks and balances protect us from the lack of same,

Huh? No it doesn't, nor is the law supposed to protect people from making foolish decisions.

Three years ago people were buying houses they knew were expensive with low adjustable mortgages. I asked a lot of people what they would do when the mortgages went up, and they said "I'll refinance and get the cash out" or "I'll sell and make a lot of money."

Those are the people claiming to be victims and claiming they were duped and sold a bill of goods by banks. That is plain ridiculous. If could sell their houses for more money, do you think they would be complaining? No, they would be saying they pulled the wool over the bank's eyes.

When you sign a note and borrow money, you are making a promise to pay it back. It was someone else's money, not yours. You don't just walk away from a promise. You show some integrity. What kind of example are we setting?

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by Momma_bear

Most people were not lied to. Most people shirked their responsibility to understand their loans.

did you magic 8 ball tell you this?

[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Yep. You are right, except I think the bubble bath is over. I left some stuff out, because when you get to really discussing the economy it can easily become a history of the U.S..

I am beginning to feel that the tech bubble didn't have to end, but that the squeeze from patents and copyright issues, and the increasing monoculture of MS operating systems stifled creativity, but that is yet another story, as is the debacle of NAFTA, which failed in protecting us from China's economic world war against us.

There is no question but what all U.S. prezs have made some serious errors - with the possible exception of the only one we never elected to either Prez or VP, and who had a limited term.

True but the current adminstration is the leader by a wide margin.. Your point about the S&L fiasco after the oil bust should have been something perhaps the current president who lived in TX and was an oil man himself should have been aware of in facing the consequences of a credit induced mania when he was touting the 'Ownership Society' program a few years ago. The most disgusting of all were the mortgage brokers and realtors with their own radio shows in 2004-06 constantly touting how to get rich by real estate while pumping 1% option ARM's and cash flowing property with guaranteed double digit appreciation into perpetuity because their part of FL was so special and everybody was moving there.. I do feel for the folks who were duped into this whole scam courtesy of DC, Wall Street and the RE industry..

[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by Lilybeans

Huh? No it doesn't, nor is the law supposed to protect people from making foolish decisions.

Three years ago people were buying houses they knew were expensive with low adjustable mortgages. I asked a lot of people what they would do when the mortgages went up, and they said "I'll refinance and get the cash out" or "I'll sell and make a lot of money."

Those are the people claiming to be victims and claiming they were duped and sold a bill of goods by banks. That is plain ridiculous. If could sell their houses for more money, do you think they would be complaining? No, they would be saying they pulled the wool over the bank's eyes.

When you sign a note and borrow money, you are making a promise to pay it back. It was someone else's money, not yours. You don't just walk away from a promise. You show some integrity. What kind of example are we setting?

A very bad example. Lots of blame to go around. Folks shouldn't have bought properties or ever been given loans at 8-10 times annual income by any respectable banker of any integrity. It was those stupid 1% option ARM's with $900 monthly payments on a $300k loan on a $45k income but when the loan finally adjusts and you add in RE taxes and insurance that also skyrocketed at the same time you are talking perhaps $3500 a month. Then you find out recently the house you bought for $330k in Cape Coral or Palm Bay is now worth only $165k. I can't blame the folks from walking now..

[floridasandy]

housing is cyclical and it will take a while to correct from the buying frenzy that it has experienced in the last 4 years. the national foreclosure rate is still only 1 in about 1,000 houses so most people are hanging onto their homes. The five states with the most foreclosure filings in March -- California, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Ohio -- together accounted for 50 percent of the nation's total. Foreclosure activity increased on a year-over-year basis in all five of these states, and all five documented foreclosure rates above the national average, but foreclosure activity was down from the previous month in Florida and Michigan.

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by JohnVosilla

A very bad example. Lots of blame to go around. Folks shouldn't have bought properties or ever been given loans at 8-10 times annual income by any respectable banker of any integrity. It was those stupid 1% option ARM's with $900 monthly payments on a $300k loan on a $45k income but when the loan finally adjusts and you add in RE taxes and insurance that also skyrocketed at the same time you are talking perhaps $3500 a month. Then you find out recently the house you bought for $330k in Cape Coral or Palm Bay is now worth only $165k. I can't blame the folks from walking now..

But they agreed.

Who didn't do what they said they would. Did the bank loan the money? Yes, they did their part of the bargain.

You don't change the rules because you don't like the outcome. Unless you are Hillary Clinton in Florida, of course.