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Letter | Bailout baloney abets bad mortgages

By on May 26, 2010 in Archived, Headlines, Opinion

It was revealed in a staff report from Kirkland at their joint meeting with Redmond that “Almost 25-30% of households pay more than the recommended 30% of their monthly income.” They either bought too much house, their income has gone down, or they are spending too much on expensive cars, cell phones, cable TV, and Internet along with many other electronic devices with their monthly fees, money that could be used to help pay for the house.

Requests for government subsidized human services are rising. They want a bailout. It’s a bailout for irresponsibility and needs to stop.

Politicians thought they were helping potential homeowners afford the American dream of owning their own home. Politicians also encouraged banks to make loans solely on credit reports without looking at assets, net worth, and the ability to pay. They encouraged banks to lend regardless. Liar loans became standard. While many can share the blame for the bad economy, politicians are the major cause. Now they too want a bailout. For what, adding to our debt?

Governments should not abet bad decisions with bailouts. That’s baloney. Bailouts do not fit in with Obama’s era of accountability. Who should determine the accountability of congress? It’s certainly not Obama, the fox in the chicken coop. It’s for the people to hold congress accountable.

Paying for bailouts reduces our ability to take care of ourselves and our families. That’s not good. If it continues, we too might need a bailout. I’ll probably have to wait in line.

Bob Style

About Robert L. Style

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  • harry berlin

    Bob, this is just a nice website for non-contoversial news about Kirkland.I don't see too much left wing P.C. stuff here, so why try to pick fights. There are plenty of other web sites for that.

  • David Wall

    So are those in need of “human services” today the same people as those who paid more than 30% on their homes and now can't afford them? And “when your income goes down” such as after a layoff or becoming ill hardly fits the same category of reasons as buying too big a home or spending too much on expensive cars. One seems to deserve compassion, though compassion delivered by the government has never been big on my list of preferences: donations and taxation just don't generate the same satisfaction or sense of community, and charitable work certainly isn't the same as a government job.

    But as Harry wrote, this is not a forum to effect changes to federal bailout policies, most of which went to big corporations, several of which somehow managed to show record profits.

  • Bob Style

    I agree. When it comes to national policies, other media can address those issues.

    When news impacts Kirkland and other cities on the east side, I feel it's necessary for the Kirkland residents to become aware of what's going on. If your neighbor needs a bail out, you should be concerned.

  • Bob Style

    You are right on when it comes to compassion dilivered by the government. There is more satisfaction and a greater sense of community and charity if government is out of the picture. I remember when. In our community, we took care of eachother without having government telling us how to do it. However, there are those who believe government needs to function as a charity. They want more and more Human Services.

    Our constitution states that government is not a charity. As long as we have public officials handing out money to influence votes, communities of dependent people will grow. As it is now, 47% of people who file tax returns do not pay any taxes. Is it charity to have someoone else pay for services? Over the years, holding people responsible for what happens to them and the services they receive has decreased. Services need to be paid for. They Obama's era of responsibility is not directed at people. It should be. We would have less debt and better neighbors.

  • Bill Bern

    I agree people need to live within there means. I know that my family has worked hard for what we have, and we have lived within our means. But it seams that we are now paying the price for those who haven’t. I have watched my property value sky rocket and tried to never tap the equity. I new that the only thing that would come of higher prices is higher taxes! And look at us now we are totally sideways.
    But here is a better wrinkle yet to think about.
    There are 900 book1 union electricians out of work
    Now add the number of none union electricians (number unknown)
    Now take a wild guess at the number of construction related work force that are laid off
    Now hears the deal: think about all the unemployment that is being paid out and keep in mind that unemployment is being feed by stimulus funds!
    Now hears the clincher how many of these people are collecting unemployment and working under the table? I don’t know what the exact numbers are but what I can tell you that the legitimate contractors like me are losing work to them and cannot afford to increase their work force because of it. So don’t hire these people they are killing us or we will all have to close our doors. They not insured licensed or bonded, they don’t pay taxes and we pay for them on the back side. Most home owners just look at the good deal they just got but let me be the first to say .You may have to pay twice for something and most people can’t even afford the cost the first time. “get permits its for your own good trust me” Is this how our bailout money should be spent? Or Have we become a nation of enablers? This is one of the few things we can control at a personal level so don’t allow it in your home or Business .
    I love home inspections,