Gold in 'dem 'dar Homes

Photo taken in desert surrounding Lake Havasu

For the past several years people have treated their homes as goldmines, and have kept mining the gold out of it and now the price of gold is going down. I found this following letter at thehousingbubbleblog.com and I could not say it any better than one commenter on the site did.

RE: Mortgage bailout plan due to the subprime implosion

Dear Senator Dodd,
With every passing day the memories of my youth become more strained. But I am not so old that all clarity has faded. I can still remember much about growing up in this great nation of ours. Our family was large. Only my father worked. We had little. But we never asked, nor would we have accepted, anything from anybody else. The envelopes that we put in the church collection basket were filled with coins and dollar bills. There was a “mission bank” in our cupboard. Its contents were periodically sent to the poor in Africa and then filled nearly as quickly as it had been emptied. Our clothes were handed down. So was an ethic of hard work and responsibility.

What happened to those days? Today, responsibility is a curse word and hard work is a punch line. It is not necessary to rely on one’s self nowadays. That is not in vogue. The game plan in the 21st century is to do whatever you would like, whenever you would like, and if there are dire consequences wait for some half-baked do-gooder political bailout.

There are reports that you are searching for a way to pull the borrowers and lenders of this disastrous housing mania from the jaws of the monster they worked so hard to create. These buyers were not buying homes to raise families. These lenders were not lending money to add stability to their communities. They all rushed to the mountains, with picks and shovels in their hands, when they heard the first cries of “gold”. Often they turned those picks on each other. While these reckless souls were prospecting for disaster, there were some of us that kept our heads down, worked hard and saved our pennies. Now you wish to steal our pennies and hand them to these “victims”. They are victim only to their own greed.

Did Jefferson, Franklin and Washington understand the situation of the common man any better than the politicians of today? I cannot say for sure. But I would hope that their understanding of the situation would be more substantial than what you have demonstrated. I would hope that their solutions would be for the long-term stability of this great nation and not just a reward for those that have played the system. I would hope that they would exhibit more vision than the current governing body that appears to be so blind. It is sad to see government officials seem so shocked by a disaster whose birth was so easy to foresee. Where were you five years ago? Did you just stand aside and let this madness reign because it was the easy thing to do?

We, the hard working and responsible of this nation, are being killed. And it is the people in power, like you, that are doing the killing. Every time you bail out the greedy, you kill us a little more. Every time you give a handout to reward lying and cheating, you kill us a little more. Every time you rush to give assistance to the lazy and irresponsible, you kill us a little more. The

Republicans throw us to the big business wolves. Then you come along and pick off any flesh that remains. For god’s sake, either quit killing us, or just finish the damn job. And when the task is complete, climb to the top of the highest tower and herald our demise, for all the world to hear. Let the entire universe bear witness to what you have done. This is something that has been worked at for years. Your accomplishment should not go unnoticed. Take pride in the destruction of Responsible America. It appears to be the goal of your life’s work.
Sincerely,
NYCityBoy

Here is the link to his letter.