Albemarle Talk

By FED UP

October 3, 2008 11:17 PM | Link to this

I’ve heard that the federal government itself recently caused part of this problem when it decreed that lenders weren’t making their fair share of loans to unqualified, disadvantaged or otherwise politically correct groups. This was during the Clinton regime, and it’s continued to this day. Equal Opportunity For All was the battle cry. Financial institutions were required to make a certain percentage of their loans to people who otherwise wouldn’t qualify…sort of a financial Affirmative Action program. And we all know how well that sort of thing works, don’t we?

Forgive me for paraphrasing the Rev. Wright, but this particular chicken is coming home to roost now. Creative financing has backfired, and the government is, at least in part, responsible for the outcome.

Common sense tells us that someone who causes a problem should fix it. True to a point - but where are the feds going to get the money? From those of us hard-working Americans who are now sick to death of financing every social program that’s been in existence since the 1930’s? Hell, no. If I want to help someone pull out of a hole, I’ll do it myself, and I’ve done so a number of times - both through my personal actions and by voluntary donations to charities of my choice. But I want to pick and choose those whom I care to help. I don’t want my choice made for me at gunpoint by some bureaucrat, and neither did the Founding Fathers.

The alternative - which also happens to be constitutionally correct - is for the feds to DO NOTHING. Let the market correct itself. Yes, it’ll be “too bad, so sad” for a lot of people, but since when is it the function of government to control the financial market? Or to do most everything they’ve been doing for the last umpteen years WITH OUR MONEY? Financial aid to third-world dictatorships…unconstitutional, undeclared wars…the welfare state…even Social Security? How about financing public education and medical care for illegal aliens? Millions “to fight AIDS in Africa.” The list goes on and on.

When the talk of bailout(s) first started, the news reporters were editorializing that there were great fears that this would put the United States “on the slippery slope to Socialism.” Well, I have news for those Einsteins. It’s been going on for decades now…and when you throw in the efforts of some of our so-called representatives to take away our right to keep and bear arms, it gets even scarier.

There’s a lot more I could say, but I’ll finish with this: This is the reason why I proudly display a bumper sticker on my truck that says…

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
VOTE LIBERTARIAN.

Or vote Green Party, or Constitution Party, or ANYONE BUT A REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT. They’re two wings on the same bird, to quote Pat Buchanan. And that bird ain’t no American Eagle.

By Ryan Somma

October 7, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this

Let’s clear something up real quick for all you Rush Limbaugh Dittoheads out there: this economic crisis is not the result of African Americans and Hispanics getting home loans. I’ve gotten three FHA loans in the last decade, and I had to meet rigorous documentation requirements, producing months of bank statements, income verification, credit history, appraisal requirements, and more. Every time I buy a home with an FHA loan I must sign hundreds of documents to qualify, just like everyone else.

The loans that have caused this crisis are No-Documentation Mortgages also known as “Liar Loans.” Private companies, not the American Government, were handing out loans to people without any proof of income, credit, or assets. Now these companies are acting surprised that these people can’t repay and that the housing bubble this influx of free credit created has popped, giving them negative equity on the assets they repossess.

The lack of critical thought required to believe this crisis is the result of FHA protections for minorities is mind-boggling. This crisis is the direct result of two decades of Reaganomics, the philosophy that unfettered markets driven by greed will somehow care for all of us. Now that Reaganomics is as dead as Communism, its partner on the other end of the extremist political spectrum, America needs to return to a system of active market regulation, like they have in Europe, to prevent future crises and ensure a system where upward-mobility is possible for all.

By Carolyn R

October 9, 2008 10:45 PM | Link to this

Just today I called my banker at Wachovia with a hypothetical question concerning loans. He assured me that FHA loans are continuing as they always have; requiring a down payment. The problem is that in the past when someone couldn’t qualify they simply went to another type of loan and were loaned the money. I hope that the ones who pushed for this policy will be exposed, regardless of who they are.

I am and always was opposed to the bailout. It is really working great isn’t it? Why shouldn’t it? After all, our Congressmen are experts in Economics and the financial markets for sure.

By Ferebee Matthews

October 11, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this

In answer to Ryan Somma why would anyone need three FHA Loans in one decade???

By Ken

November 10, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this

Ryan, you missed the point of the whole mortgage meltdown. Regardless of what company made the initial mortgage to the borrower, many of the loans were sold to Fanny and Freddie to allow the original lender to have more cash on hand to make more loans. Sure the people who had the income and were able to verify it got loans and are continuing to pay on them, but when questions started to arise about what Fanny and Freddie were buying up, legislators never stepped in to demand accountability. They kept insisting that full home ownership was going on schedule with no problems. This is not a Reaganomics issue, it’s a fraud issue brought to us by CEO’s and Congressmen with no scruples.