I can’t believe that I actually agree with Michelle Malkin on a political issue.
Remember McCain’s “plan” he came up with during the last debate? The McCain Resurgence Plan:
The McCain Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes. By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages the McCain resurgence plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets.
The McCain resurgence plan would be available to mortgage holders that:
· Live in the home (primary residence only)
· Can prove their creditworthiness at the time of the original loan (no falsifications and provided a down payment).
The new mortgage would be an FHA-guaranteed fixed-rate mortgage at terms manageable for the homeowner. The direct cost of this plan would be roughly $300 billion because the purchase of mortgages would relieve homeowners of “negative equity” in some homes. Funds provided by Congress in recent financial market stabilization bill can be used for this purpose; indeed by stabilizing mortgages it will likely be possible to avoid some purposes previously assumed needed in that bill. (source)
When I bought my home, my bank tried to talk me into buying more house than I could afford. They laid out all of these “products” like adjustable rate mortgages, negative amortization mortgages, no income verification mortgages.
I used my brain though. I thought that I may want to gamble with some things in life — by my home shouldn’t be one of them. Instead of banking on the market and my income going up forever, I bought a modest house that I could actually afford. For exercising that responsibility and living within my means, my prize is that I get to see my tax dollars bail out the shitheads who decided that they could afford a $300,000 home on a $30,000 salary.
I’m all for helping the little guy. I also believe that having a home is a right. However, I do not believe in aiding complete irresponsibility. Let these idiots lose their homes, and provide them with apartments. Bailing out people who are losing their homes because they gambled on home prices and interest rates is not much different than standing outside a casino and bailing out gamblers who didn’t know when to stop.
