Should we all pay for greed?

The front of the San Francisco Chronicle business section yesterday said, “State seeks ways to relieve homeowner misery.” What I really want to know, is why? (I assume everyone knows about the mortgage industry problems with sub-prime loans)

Ok, I know this is going to make me sound a bit heartless, and maybe even a bit Republican, but why are our tax dollar going to bail out greed? Yes, I said greed! The greed of homeowners who bought houses much larger than they needed or more expensive than they could really afford. The greed of the lenders who approved and funded loans (big money in funding loans and fees alone, EVEN if the loan goes bad) to people they knew could most likely not pay for them. The greed of the homeowners who used their homes like ATM machines, taking money out over and over to buy, in most cases, things they did not need or could not really afford, like new cars, SUVs, boats, immense home improvements (who REALLY needs a $8000 Wolf range in their kitchen?), and long luxury vacations, for example. IT IS ALL GREED!

And now that the housing market is slumping (who didn’t see that coming?) homeowners and lenders alike are crying for help and want the government to bail them out. NO! And while we are at it, maybe we should stop baling out the big companies who make stupid decisions too. People and business alike need to make smarter decisions and understand the ramifications of bad, greedy decisions, and it is not the government’s job to bail them out of their errors when things go badly.

I really am trying to feel some compassion here, but the Chronicle’s story of a woman who has owned a house for 40 years, which should be fully paid off by now, only to borrow against it TWICE for a business that failed so badly that she might now loose her house and business, did not do that for me. Sorry, a home is NOT an ATM, and poor business and borrowing decisions do not mean the government should use tax dollars to bail her out.

Show me some stories of real tragedy here. Find me some people who did not over buy or borrow, and now are victims of greedy lenders who not only put themselves into this position in the first place, but are partially responsible for the frenzy they created in the housing market that has now gone bust. Maybe this makes me seem heartless, but I need at least one truly sad story out of all this, not stories of greed and bad decisions looking for the government to now save them from themselves!

And now the rest of us are or will be paying in lower home values, higher interest rates, and increased costs, even if we have good credit or make smart decisions. (I mean, you really do not expect the Banks to brunt the costs of their stupid lending policies now, do you?) I do not believe we should now also be penalized by the spending of our tax dollars to bail them out when money is needed on so many other programs that truly need the money, like schools, health care, transportation, and food safety, just to name a few!

Am I being just uncaring and heartless here, or do others feel this way as well? Personally, I do not think so, but then again, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong!