Spinning The Loss

A few weeks back, our good man David posted a warning that leftists and their accompanying economists may try to blame some or all of any economic slowdown on the foreclosure rate of “sub-prime” mortgages.

However, if you watch the Lame-Stream-Media, you’ll notice that since the Democrats took over Congress, the US economy isn’t do so badly anymore. In fact, some are attributing the 3-Year high in the Consumer Confidence Index on the lack of hue and cry about how badly the economy is doing (oddly enough, since approximately around mid-November).

Which is why, when I saw the following post at the dKos Petting Zoo and Animal Farm, I knew the left would be trying a their favorite tactic of blaming the lenders (aka: Big Business).

dKos Diarist “bonddad” links to a CNN Money article about how “sub-prime” foreclosures are up 35% from December 2005. He puts his dKos filled brain to the problem, and as is usual for his ilk, comes to the wrong conclusion.

These loans account for 30% of loans sold in 2005 and the first half of 2006.

So — how were these products sold? In recent Congressional Testimony (see page 3-4), the General Accounting Office made the following observations about Alternate Mortgage Products (AMPs).

1.) AMP lending tripled over the last three years.

2.) Lenders relaxed lending standards

3.) Borrowers may not understand all the risks of AMPs because the documentation is complicated, poorly written and advertised inappropriately.

Another noted, “Increasingly, these products are marketed as affordability products… which is to say potential borrowers could use these products to afford larger homes.”

All of the things he noted are true. However, he forgot to note that no one is being forced to sign their names to these “sub-prime” mortgages and that if one were to look deeper into his links, these reports mention exactly that. Why can the left not blame an individual for something as simple as defaulting on a contract?

Yes, the legalese in a mortgage contract is difficult for the majority of Americans to understand, but guess what; if you’re buying a house or property and can afford $20+ thousand dollars for a down payment, forgive me for not shedding a tear about you not spending another $1000 on a fucking lawyer to go over the contract with you.

I am still renting because, due to a moderate credit hit from identity theft a few years back, I’m not only left paying off someone else’s fun and fighting with lending companies I never signed a contract with to get charges and ratings removed, but having to face lenders who will only offer me precisely these “sub-prime” mortgages. I refuse to pay any more than I absolutely have to in charges and interest on a house, and I waited and am still waiting, through historically low interest rates for my credit rating to go up before I sign my name on any dotted line for something worth six of my yearly wages.

If someone wants to jump the gun buying a house and then jump the shark with their mortgage payment, that was entirely their fault and I could give less than a rat’s asshole about the rise in the percentage of foreclosures of stupid people. AND, I most certainly will not let some bleeding-heart jackass use my taxes to “back-up” these people. It is called responsibility and the leftists need to look it up.

I foresee a levelling out of the foreclosure rates in the not-to-distant future (in 6-8 months). I’m not an economist, nor am I an expert on the subject of mortgages; I just believe that the market is thinning itself and that the folks who either couldn’t make their payments or couldn’t refinance are getting weeded out.

But this absolutely will not stop the Congressional Democrats from attempting to push legislation that will “guarantee” these “sub-prime” mortgages with your’s and my tax dollars.

Mark this post and come back to it either near the end of this session of Congress or shortly after the beginning of the next one. The left has already gotten numerous people to believe that housing is a right and certain Euro countries, France being the most recent, are passing legsilation that will guarantee housing to everybody within their borders.

Personally, I think a debtors prison should count as “housing”. But then again, I’m thought of as “Uncouth”.