Homes or Homeland Security

Do you know anyone who's losing a home because of what has come to be called "the mortgage mess"? While it's easy to criticize people we don't know as ignorant, should have asked more questions people, it doesn't seem all lenders went out of their way to make sure their customers knew what they were getting into.

When you spend $1000 on a television or refrigerator, you probably talk to a salesperson. If after telling the person your circumstances and the measurements of where you're going to put it, how would you feel if the salesperson said "This will be perfect for your space; yes it will fit," but when you get it home, of course it's too big. The store won't take it back because you should have checked the numbers yourself.

Oversimplified, sure, but clearly a close analogy. Mortgage contracts make millions of people's eyes roll back in their heads. They're difficult, especially the first time one buys or refinances. Isn't it fair to expect the sales person earning thousands to help you through the process to explain it?

Listen to Ernie's story:

While I'm not in favor of using tax dollars to bail our greedy corporations or cover for slimey salespeople, don't you imagine there's some way the government could force the lenders to keep people in their loans, lengthen the terms to keep the payments down, do something - anything?

* Funding for defense, homeland security, and international affairs has risen 47.6 percent between 2001 and 2004, after adjusting for inflation.

* By contrast, funding for domestic discretionary programs outside homeland security has risen 10.3 percent, after adjusting for inflation. Funding for defense and related programs has thus grown 4½ times as rapidly.

There's lots to talk about here. For one thing, if banks showed people how to pay off their homes in about a third the time, how to save enough to buy an investment property and begin creating wealth, wouldn't both the homeowner and the bank win?