It's everybody's child support

This morning the rants and raves continued about PRESIDENT OBAMA'S plan to help the toxic morgages. Everyone was saying "we shouldn't help these people who bought beyond their means", or "I paid my morgage on time, why should I be responsible for their irresponsiblity?". Well as I see it there are a couple of factors that have been left out.

1) If you did not see your house go up in value over the last 7 years then you are right, you shouldn't have to assist. The value of houses did not go up 5-7% annually on their own. It was a direct result of more buyers (qualified or not) entering the market. Greenville was not as badly effected as other markets but we for sure were not exempt.

2) If you did not see a significant jump in your 401 or in your stocks during this period you are exempt too. In Jan 2003 the stock market was at @7600 pts. Over the next 5 years it almost doubled. Peaking at @ 14000 at the end of 2007. People were not only buying houses they couldn't afford, but they were 2nd/3rd mortgaging and buying items they couldn't afford. Thus driving up the market with borrowed money.

It happens all the time. During those prosperous 80's, it was called junk bonds. The market crashed in 89,we stayed in a recession until the mid-90's then the dot.coms came to the rescue. The market took a downturn in 2000, 9/11 hit and we used make believe mortgages and money to bail us out. The only problem this time is peoples homes and lives are effected. We used greed and a lack of oversights to create this problem. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend watching "House of Cards" on CNBC. It is very educational and explains how deep it really goes.

Bottom line is this: homes and the stock market were never meant to be cash registers or slot machines. Houses were things you made a home of and raised your family in. The stock market was something for long term investments. Not a source for a quick fix. This is our baby.

"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction". 1 Timothy 6:9

Syd

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