Living the "American Dream"

From the NAR (National Association of Realtors) website:

President Bush Signs American Dream Downpayment Act, One of Many Consumer Victories NAR Championed This Year

WASHINGTON (December 16, 2003) – Thousands of Americans will enjoy greater access to more housing opportunities under several pieces of legislation backed by the National Association of Realtors® and recently signed into law by President Bush. The legislation, S. 811, will provide an average of $5,000 in grants to approximately 80,000 lower-income families over the next two years to help them pay downpayment and closing costs on their first homes.

Fan-effing-tastic. Way to go NAR. Way to go President Jorge W. Arbusto. You made it possible for low-income families to live the American Dream. Never mind that these people were not qualified to own a plant let alone a house. Never mind that these people could barely make a payment on their 29% Sears credit card, let alone a mortgage.

Here is what that dream is in 2007 in Atlanta:

Eighty-five bungalows dot the cul-de-sac that joins West Ontario Avenue and East Ontario Avenue in Atlanta. Twenty-two are vacant, victims of mortgage fraud and foreclosure. Now house fires, prostitution, vandals and burglaries terrorize the residents left in this historic neighborhood called Westview Village. "It's created a safety hazard. And if we have to sell our house tomorrow, we're out of luck," said resident Scott Smith. "Real estate agents say to me 'We're not redlining you, but I tell my clients to think twice about buying here.'"

This is the Frankenstein the NAR and Jorge W. Arbusto created. They created an environment where everyone thought they were entitled to own a home. Didn't matter if you had a 500 FICO or $10 to your name. You were entitled to be a home "owner". The NAR and Arbusto made sure of that.

The NAR benefited of course. The more houses sold, the more Realtors earn in commission. Who cares if people making $20K a year are getting $500K mortgages? Housing only goes up and you can always re-finance. Or better yet move again in 2 years into an even bigger and more expensive house and pay another 6% in Realtor commission. The gift that keeps on giving.

Jorge W. Arbusto benefited. His biggest constituency - illegal aliens - got cheap loans. They got to live this so-called American Dream too. Never mind that they had no legal right to own a home. He also bought into the NAR nonsense that everyone should own a home. Everyone should not own a home. People who have no money for a down payment should not own a home. The government should not subsidize down payments. When the govt does that, bad things happen. Anyone with an ounce of gray matter could see that. Jorge W. Arbusto couldn't...or refused to. Either way he messed it up.

And of course the lending industry benefited for obvious reasons.

And this is the legacy that will be left behind once the housing crash is complete. Millions of unwanted, empty homes all over the country. Homes that will be vandalized and used by hookers and drug dealers. Homes that will either be bulldozed or turned into Section 8 ghettos. You've done a wonderful job Jorge, way to go.

B-A-I .... B-A-I....B-A-I-L....B-A-I-L-O-U-T

Hank Paulson gave his speech yesterday where he said there will be no housing bailout of f****ed homedebtors about to foreclose. And since he said there will be no bailout and he is a politician, and even more so is a politician in the Bush administration, there is a 99.99% chance he is lying. Therefore we must assume he will do the exact opposite and the bailout is coming. And did I just hear that right, there is a housing crash happening? Who could have predicted that? Not me.

Now I suppose technically you could say there will be no bailout. As in the government won't send a check to every homedebtor. But what it will do will be the same thing. It will allow lenders to write off bad debt and allow lenders to refinance the 1% teasers into 1% 30 year fixed loans. Lenders will be compensated for this loss one way or another. Either through tax incentives or some other scheme. At the end of the day my (and your) tax dollars will be used to allow $14K a year strawberry pickers to own $720K homes.

I sure wish I had borrowed $5.5M to buy that Aspen, Colorado ski chalet I've always wanted. It is my dream. I am an American therefore it is the American Dream. If a $14K a year earner can buy a $720K house, I sure as hell should be able to buy a $5M house using the same price to income ratio. And as the media and El Presidente Jorge W. Arbusto has told me over and over, the American Dream of home ownership must be met at all costs.

And my goodness we can't have 2 million people foreclosed on. Why, if that happens 2 million dreams will be crushed. These people will have to -- GHASP!!! -- move into a R-E-N-T-A-L, yuk. Can you imagine the horror? Can you imagine the psychological impact, especially on the children to do the "r" word? I even heard that renting instead of owning can cause severe side effects like dry mouth, nausea and in rare cases high blood pressure.

It is absolutely imperative that this holocaust never happen. Doesn't matter if 1.5 million of these 2 million should never have been allowed to buy in the first place. Doesn't matter if they lied on their application about how much money they made. Doesn't matter if they never really "bought" anything but used an interest only loan which is no different than renting to begin with.

No, none of that matters. All that matters is that we grow government some more. We spend more tax dollars propping up yet one more special interest group....mortgage foreclosure "victims".

You got a fixed 30 year loan that you could afford? SUCKER!! You didn't lie on your loan application? SUCKER!! You live within your means? SUCKER!! Once again those that play by the rules are thrown under the bus in order to save those who lie, cheat and steal.

America...what a country.

Are you responsible with your money? SUCKER!!

That is what the federal government thinks of you. The brilliant minds in DC have come up with yet another bailout scheme for the $35K a year earners in $800K homes. This one is to give people with 550 FICO scores fixed mortgages at 3% and it is absolute BULL-SHIT!

What's the point of being prudent? Paying your bills on time. Building up a good credit score. Only taking out debt you know you can pay off? Instead become a deadbeat, take out debt you can't afford and the federal government will be there to help you out.

So for all you people with 6% or 7% mortgage rates and high FICO scores, too bad. You should have been a deadbeat and your fixed loan would be 1/2 as much.

Here is the disgusting story.