Since when is it a conservative thing to use government to put pain on people. The government and the fed helped create the loose money situation which fueled the housing boom. Tightened too much is gonna crunch a lot of people, even those who were fairly responsible with their mortgage. I see this as a bunch of jealous losers. It is in the best interest of everyone to make this a soft-landing, which is what we currently have. If the housing market is hit too hard by getting too tight, the whole economy will be taken down with it. Good thing the fed gets it. I don't think the White House does, but the fed does.
Sold our house in Florida just as the bubble was starting to lose air.
Now we are renting and waiting to scarf up some bargains. I consider myself a winner in this.
The Fed partially gets it. They'll still wait too long to correct their mistake as usual. But as you say they are way ahead of the White House, if one goes by the statements of Paulson and W.
Of course the WH doesn't get it. Remember how, for years after 9-11 Bush kept putting that "record home ownership" line in his State of the Union Address and in many other speeches?
The WH is in full Ostrich mode. Stick your head in the sand and pretend the world is still the way it was when you stuck your head in.
To admit the housing boom was created by the WH in concert with the fed would make them look bad.
“I see this as a bunch of jealous losers”
So, by following your logic, someone who is described in the article as having bought a Hummer on a home equity loan is simply a victimized “winner”?
It is not a conservative or smart principle to bail out people who bought way more house then they can afford. Let the the market shake itself out and do not bail out the bankers.
I have no sympathy for these people who speculated on houses, absolutely sure they could only increase in value (tulips, anyone?) - or those who bought homes they can't afford by using ARMs and other creative financing. How about those who used their home equity as an ATM and are now upside down and couldn't sell if they had to. These people abused the credit markets and now they're paying the price. And you're blaming the federal government? Who bought the houses? Who applied for a loan whose interest they KNEW could go nowhere but up?
Who cares? Not me - unless maybe I can capitalize on it.
In the meantime, I'm living in a decent house with a 6.5% fixed rate mortgage, have two paid-for older cars, zero credit card debt and scads of cash saved. Why? Because I wasn't greedy - trying to buy things I can't afford (like a house on option ARM). I don't think this makes me a 'winner' but I'm quite certain I'm not a 'loser'.
Eh. Nobody who was prudent with their money is getting burned by the subprime mortgage bust. The first law of investing: Money always returns to its rightful owners.
Yours is the first post I’ve seen that talks about tight and loose money. The media blathers on about interest rates but they are lower than they were before W took office. It’s the money supply, as well as the interest rates, that matters.
The liberals in HUD, Fannie and Freddie did this to us ... and now they feel glee? Makes me want to vomit.