Posted by Kromey at 12:18pm Mar 3 '09I don't think any of you need me to tell you about the rapidly rising rate of foreclosures, although you might not have heard about Florida's "rocket docket" that pulled a judge out of retirement specifically to preside over 30-second foreclosure hearings.
Now there's a rising rebellion of homeowners who can't afford their homes refusing to be evicted. They call it "civil disobedience". They claim they aren't to blame for buying homes they can't pay for - it's all the banks' fault.
Tell me this: If you can't afford to pay for a $250k house, how is it the bank's fault that you bought it anyway?
Are banks blameless? Hell no! But neither are the deadbeat homeowners.
Should we bail out the banks? Hell no!
Should we bail out the homeowners who bought what they can't afford? Hell no!
Yes, the root of this problem may very well be banks relaxing lending standards to get as many new mortgages as they could, but does that render blameless the people who took advantage of that to buy what they can't afford? I'll probably get flamed out the wazoo for this, but the answer to that question is a very resounding "NO!" Economy is not built upon taking what you want and not paying for it - quite the contrary, you have to pay for what you get to have an economy at all!
Now there's a rising rebellion of homeowners who can't afford their homes refusing to be evicted. They call it "civil disobedience". They claim they aren't to blame for buying homes they can't pay for - it's all the banks' fault.
Tell me this: If you can't afford to pay for a $250k house, how is it the bank's fault that you bought it anyway?
Are banks blameless? Hell no! But neither are the deadbeat homeowners.
Should we bail out the banks? Hell no!
Should we bail out the homeowners who bought what they can't afford? Hell no!
Yes, the root of this problem may very well be banks relaxing lending standards to get as many new mortgages as they could, but does that render blameless the people who took advantage of that to buy what they can't afford? I'll probably get flamed out the wazoo for this, but the answer to that question is a very resounding "NO!" Economy is not built upon taking what you want and not paying for it - quite the contrary, you have to pay for what you get to have an economy at all!
Civil disobedience? - Kromey