mortgage mess

I paid my big mortgage the other day. I paid it for the previous month and the month before that. Come to think of it, I've been paying on that debt obligation since I signed on the dotted line several years ago. I got a 30 year fixed at a great rate (I know, I'm bragging a bit) because I wanted the security of knowing what my monthly payment would be give or take a few bucks.

Now comes the mortgage-crisis of the masses. Essentially it's folks who were lured in to homes, actually payment schemes that they could never afford from the onset by other not-so-fine folks (mortgage brokers, and the entire banking/financial industry that thrived on easy money.) Inevitably lots of these fine folk crapped out on there obligations only to leave their assets on the market. Skip to present day, when lots and lots of fine folks have stopped payment on their obligations likely because they were faced with a decisions like food or housing. As a result, the market is flooded with homes of decreasing value, no buyers and no lenders.

Now let’s talk about responsibility. The fine folks who originally purchased the homes are screwed. Their credit is a mess. They are likely out of a home, or a bunch of money, or maybe they are still struggling by to make the payments and sacrificing other necessities like food and/or medical care. The point is, that the individual is paying currently for their part in this whole debacle. My question is what responsibility is being born by the rest of the system - the brokers, the banks, the multi million dollar CEOs who are floating to ground on their golden parachutes even as wall street institutions (Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns) crumble? Conservative rhetoric often pegs individual responsibility. So, I ask what is the responsibility of those who made (stole) all that mortgage money?

It seems that a partial answer is a 700 billion dollar bail out is on it's way. Our fine leader, Mr. Bush wants to ram it through congress (no lube) so that horrible things (depression) won't take hold in America. Hmmm, the private financial system (read in irony that conservatives will always say that corporate America does it better and more efficiently than government) which created the mess, (its executive and under-minions who all enjoyed the perks financial hey days) seem to the avoiding responsibility here. The bail-out is a 700 billion $ tax on the people (me and you and some who have already been hit with these f'ed up mortgages.) Great!

Now not only am I paying my own mortgage responsibly, but I’ll potentially be paying to bail out the fools (wall street institutions that we’ve tied our entire economy to) who have managed to orchestrate the biggest financial collapse since the great depression.

Thanks.

And finally, confidential to George Bush and the those right wing conservative think tanks: I’m trying to be independent and responsible, but your pro-corporation economic policy and blatant failures are making it really hard.