Thanks. I gave a link of this letter in my blog….

Unfortunately, they will also have very little body….

To say that both lenders and borrowers didn’t instinctually know that they were playing with fire (especially with these sub-prime and ARM loans) is like me saying that if I eat anything I want (including that yummy fudge sundae) I don’t have to work out to burn those calories. My husband and I shopped around for homes in Colorado and I saw those prices and they smelled fishy.

The sales agent at one development (this is the construction company selling the home too…no conflict of interest there) told me it would be super easy (and affordable) to buy a house, no money down. I instinctually knew that was not a sound fiscal decision for my family…if I can make that decision, why can’t others? What made me unique? Or what made the
“victims” gullible? CHOICES and GREED. Sure, I want a house I don’t want to pay for but does that mean I’ll buy? Ummm….you know the answer, right?

I think the housing market got hot too fast and wasn’t priced accurately. There was a lot of speculation involved in this market too, but nobody is going after the speculators. What sticks in my craw more is that many good, hard-working people will have to bail out the irresponsible consumers and lenders. Let’s face it…this is no longer Monday morning quarterbacking going on because many other analysts and experts were saying something wasn’t right.

Another aspect of homeownership I despise (and I’m not a homeowner) is why the hell is the state or town you live in entitled to any piece of the home you bought, maintained, and invested in? Where I live, I’m hearing reports that elderly folks to the very young cannot even pay their damn taxes because the assessment has not caught up with the actual valuation of their homes. Now they’re paying thousands of dollars in property taxes that the state/town/city you live in gets to collect and pocket and is not entitled to (unless they’re helping with the upkeep and not already charging you for water, gas, power, trash, sewage… those are what I already pay as a renter). Now, that’s what I find pretty pathetic.

Where I live now (Virginia) I see the state and local towns/cities with their hands out taking people’s money for everything and not just “property taxes.” How do you explain why the same kind of house is assessed in one state for $250,000 and in anther it’s $350-$400k? Where’s the role in the local assessor in all this nonsense?

It was all well and good when many homeowners were patting themselves on the back when their homes were appreciating out of the stratosphere like mad and therefore they could use the homes as convenient ATMS’s. Now, the market has hit rock bottom (or getting there), it’s sunk in that you treat a home for what it really is, a HOME, not just an investment, and plan for it accordingly (+ the taxes), or you might as well not buy one in the first place.

Virginia, like other states, also like to charge its citizens a “garage fee” otherwise known as a personal property tax just to drive my car in their state. Where’s the fairness in that? When does the taxation end and the revolt begin?

People of all political bents/views really need to wise up! We’re already taxed to the gills and when instances like the sub-prime fiasco arise, people stll have their hand out taking and takig and taking. My elderly in-laws are paying 3,000 dollars in property taxes for a 50-60 year old house in the NYC suburb area and that’s ridiculous. Once you buy a house, it’s your house, in the good and the bad times, but it seems like even the state whether it be New York, CA, or VA wants a piece of it. When voters start looking at the voting records regarding taxes for some of their local/state politicians, maybe we’ll actually see changes. NOT! That would be real consumer empowerment and research at work.

One further note: my heart really “bleeds” for those poor, poor construction companies now not as busy as they once were, putting their illegal immigrants to work. Too bad. Less deadbeats sucking off the public, taxpayer trough.

Clearly we have a national crisis in air safety that can only be solved by massive cash infusions by to Gulfstream owners. So hike my taxes now so we can end this crisis!

How does the government protect homeowner’s equity without manipulating the market value of homes or absolving borrower’s of their debts? Splain, please.

There are other ways than handouts or bailouts that the government can use to stop the bleeding and restore confidence in the markets. It’s the panic that causes the most damage and makes people overreact.

I support the voluntary measures that President Bush and other Republicans have begun working out with lenders. Allowing homeowners more flexibility in working out their problems before evicting them helps slow the snowball down just a little bit. This can help both the lender and the borrower in the long run.

Fed money policy also affects the markets and has been doing so for many years. When rates go up some people benefit and others are hurt. That doesn’t mean adjustments should never be made. It means they should be made carefully in an attempt to do more good than harm.

Besides, my parents lived through the depression and they say laissez-faire works for them. Milton Friedman probably felt the same way.

I’m curious; were your parents part of the small minority who voted against FDR all four times? When FDR took office in 1933, most banks had shut down, and 13 million people were without jobs. Yes, laissez-faire was working quite nicely.

Your parents must have really hated FDR’s New Deal, including his TVA and WPA programs to create jobs, his bank reforms, and The Social Security Act that provided unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and government old-age pensions to workers. I suppose they refused to take even a dime of their Social Security pensions.

I’m not saying I like everything FDR did. He went overboard on spending. But he did help restore confidence in the market place and the people loved him. When was the last time you or your parents lost money because of a run on the bank?

Crank up the printing presses, paper and electronic! Hyperinflation, here we come!

On the Six O’Clock News on teevee, the nice anchorette refers to John McCain and Hillary Clinton as the “frontrunners” in the nominations race. It is so stupid. After Iowa, the media and the political blogs had the shovels ready to bury Hillary. McC…

I don’t often make a comment like this but I think you are out of line and made a comment that is beneath you. There are a lot of factors that go into hospital pricing and they are the responsibility of the CFO not the administrator. Pick on Obama he is a legitimate target, his wife is not.

That said I agree with you about Obama, when has he had a real job or financial struggles like the rest of us? Same with Shrillery

To the unscrupulous and greedy lenders who knew what they were doing, I hope your asses are sued into oblivion.

All homes lose value and all homeowners lose some equity.

Equity is the market value of one’s home less the remaining mortgage debt. How does the government protect homeowner’s equity without manipulating the market value of homes or absolving borrower’s of their debts? Splain, please.

A surplus of homes on the market causes prices to drop.

Bad if you want to sell now, great if you’re a young family looking to move out of your cramped apartment and want to buy now. Whose interest should prevail? Buyer or sellers?

Ask anyone who lived through the Great Depression if they would like to go back to the good old days of “hands off” government policy.

All evidence points to the fact that it was government policies (e.g., passage of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs and restrictive monetary policies) that created and prolonged the Great Depression.

Besides, my parents lived through the depression and they say laissez-faire works for them. Milton Friedman probably felt the same way.