This is horrible.. (Houston, Dallas: buying, calculation, income)

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

do you REALLY think that the mentally ill homeless have vehicles to live in?? i'm guessing that those who are the subject of this article and this initiative were once in the middle class, firmly or just by a toehold... but IN the middle class..... until this latest economic train wreck.......... i just want to work and live in my modest, 1400 sf house and pay my modest bills and take care of my 2 dogs and 2 cats...... WITHOUT having to constantly rob peter to pay paul ...... i don't think that is asking for to much.......

i get so aggravated at the holier-than-thou, you should have done this differently or done that differently ..... how DARE you?? until you have walked in the shoes of someone who has been blindsided by life, you have NO right to have that attitude......

Oh please. First of all, as long as I am a taxpayer I have every right to have any attitude I want. With that said, there is nothing in any of my posts that contain any type of smugness or personal attacks. Thirdly, stop getting aggravated at what anonymous people write on the internet. It's a sign one needs to turn off their computer.

I'm from L.A. I spent plenty of time at Venice Beach and worked in Santa Monica, the preeminent homeless city of sanctuary in the country (2nd & Arizona, right behind the Promenade for those who have been there). The answer is yes, take a look at the jalopies and their occupants who live in their cars by the beach in Venice and you will find a significant number of people who appear to be either mentally ill and/or willingly disregarding the conventions of society by living in said car. It resembles the parking lot of any given Grateful Dead show circa the early nineties.

I have never argued that there are not folks who through no fault or limited fault of their own end up in a very difficult spot. For them I have tremendous compassion for. I am merely pointing out the fact that these people are not, and have never been the majority. Thus, while sad and tragic, this is not a national emergency. I also point out that there are plenty of people who do make every attempt to live within their means. That others do not does not give anyone license to be as irresponsible and expect a bailout by taxpayers.

[latetotheparty]

sure hope you never have a catastrophe or 3 happen in short succession.... wait... maybe that would open your eyes and your heart some.......

i am in NO WAY advocating for those who, although capable, refuse to take responsibility for their own lives..... i just think that until you have walked the walk, you have no right to judge those who are struggling......

eta ... and i'm betting that i have been a tax payer for longer than you have been alive.......

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

sure hope you never have a catastrophe or 3 happen in short succession.... wait... maybe that would open your eyes and your heart some.......

i am in NO WAY advocating for those who, although capable, refuse to take responsibility for their own lives..... i just think that until you have walked the walk, you have no right to judge those who are struggling......

eta ... and i'm betting that i have been a tax payer for longer than you have been alive.......

Again, what I wrote has very little to do with *judging* and everything to do with my feelings on the efficacy of programs such as the one L.A. is trying at Venice Beach, and that nobody should expect that government assistance is an *entitlement.*

If tilting at windmills makes you feel better, then by all means let the dramatics fly. Can you only imagine the cleansing effect that TEN catastrophes in short succession would have on my soul?

[latetotheparty]

karma can be a biotch......

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

karma can be a biotch......

Indeed.

[cheryjohns]

I am getting ready to send the two of you to the corner.....

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by rb4browns

I have compassion for your plight. At the same time, many of us ARE living within our means and doing our best to be "paragons of financial virtue." Unwittingly, I think you have nailed one of the problems that exist here in Houston and around the country, namely an expectation that other people are not just responsible for poor choices made in in life, but that they are entitled to do the wrong thing because someone else is obligated to sweep up our mess.

So, now let me get this straight:

Because the company for which I worked (note: COMPANY) made financial mistakes (like growing too aggressively, giving multi-million-dollar bonuses to executives, etc) and decided to cut a layer of management (unfortunately, mine), a company for which I worked 60 hours a week, socked money in a 401 (which had sunk to half its value when I had to cash it in to keep afloat), and surprised the heck out of me when they laid me off (since my VP had told me 2 days before that my job was safe); because THEY did all that, it was somehow my fault for not planning better?

Had I planned better, I wouldn't have bought a house, I'd have lived in a hovel so I could save even more money against that rainy day; I'd have gotten by on crusts of bread instead of eating out and generally enjoying life.

Instead of buying the $500,000 house for which the mortgage gurus told me I was "qualified", I bought the $200,000 house which *I* considered a stretch (on a 6 figure income), getting a 30 year fixed mortgage. I bought a USED car instead of a new one; a Chrysler instead of a BMW; took a trip to Disney World (extravagance!!! how DARE I???) instead of Europe...the list goes on.

I had some pretty nice clothes, and I liked to eat out, and I had some nice electronic gadgets and yard equipment (I like doing my own yard, instead of paying someone else to do it).

But hey, I'm always glad to learn from a paragon of financial virtue. Tell me, what was my mistake? Believing in the American dream? Believing in capitalism? Believing in the people who told me to sink cash into my 401k? Believing that if I worked hard, saved -enough-, and was loyal to my employer, that I would be rewarded?

BTW, I have several friends, similar circumstances, who were laid off at the same time I was. They're still looking. One moved back in with his elderly parents (he's 50 and had a 6 figure income, beautiful condo, etc). One is throwing papers (with his Master's Degree) while he and his wife try to stay in their house on her income. Another friend moved to Dallas, bought a house, and now (1 year later) is facing a potential layoff. He's got the proverbial 3 months' income (as did I) in ready savings, then he's into the 401 (just like I had to do).

So tell me, rb, what did you do so differently? BTW, I have other friends just as smug as you. One works for Exxon-Mobil as an engineer; he and his smug wife live in their smug Woodlands home and also gripe about people "taking responsibility". (BTW, exactly how did I FAIL to take responsibility for myself? I've been gainfully employed since 1973...). I asked them how I was responsible for what happened to me and, while they didn't exactly say it, they felt it MUST somehow have been my fault.

I will tell one more: I got laid off. One of my smug friends gave me the old "hate to hear that, what did you do?" speech....ONE MONTH later, he was surprised when the bank for which he worked walked in with HIS pink slip in hand. He was unemployed about the same amount of time as me, and the smugness vanished. Like me, he took a significant pay cut/prestige cut/resume hit, was glad to get it, and is working steadily at a job he left (for promotion) in 1985. He's not nearly as big on people "taking responsibility" and other buzzwords as he was the day before they laid him off.

If you haven't been there, you don't know. Period. And beware: as someone else on this thread said, Kharma's a *****.

[Sampaguita]

Tried to rep you again, Malvie, but couldn't. ++

[latetotheparty]

some people just don't get it until something happens to them ..... then they get it REALLY quickly.......

don't know if Houston is in as bad shape, but for the rest of the country, there are 5-1/2 applicants for EVERY SINGLE job opening...... and yeah, corporate profits are up, but that's because spending is down..... people are working ridiculous (high) hours for even more ridiculous (low) pay and put up with it because they are just GLAD to have a job, any job...... until people are able to start spending more, this economy will NOT recover for the average worker bee ...... and that won't happen until that worker bee gets himself a job that pays enough to live on...... and that won't happen until people feel like they can spend again..... etc. etc. etc. ...... you get the picture.....

[Wonderful Jellal]

"VS threads" are rather normal I think.Compared cities and states is healthy because all states can know theirs weaknesses and become better.
It's sad for these californians, but maybe they'll understand consequences of unfriendly policies to business.