Finance Roll

Today, I read an article in the paper that stated HUD was going to implement new rules that would protect home owners from the big bad, predatory lenders. I have been seeing this kind of drivel in the papers and on the evening news for a while now, and I have had enough.

Every good story needs a hero and a villain, and in this case mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers are being made out to be evil, predatory, foul and untrustworthy. Now that is not to say that there are not bad people in the lending business, because every industry has their share of pirates and crooks. People who conduct their business in any other fashion than honorably definitely need to be driven out of the business at a minimum. But, I can attest to my experience over the past 17 years, that the people I have worked with and know in the financial services are good, honest hard working people who truly care about their clients and work very hard to help them.

So, rather than be complacent and not speak the truth, which most people don't want to hear, and the major media don't want to discuss. I would like to share what I believe to be the REAL reasons of the so called housing crisis. Stand back, because here it comes, (this has been brewing for a while)

Lack of Jobs, Loss of industry, ridiculous taxes on businesses and payroll, insane gas prices, a lack of domestic oil production and refining capacity because of weird and wacky environmentalism, food costs going through the roof, inflation numbers that are cooked to look good, credit card debts that are out of control, credit card payments that were doubled in 2007 by the governments own rules, a banking industry that could care less about the damage it creates; much less be held accountable for it, repeated Fed rate increases to stop inflation (which according to them wasn't really happening but could happen), Alan Greenspan recommending adjustable rate mortgages be offered by mortgage lenders in greater numbers, recommending that lenders offer the chance to own a home to people with damaged credit, a mindset that the American public is too dumb and cannot make good decisions about their own finances and therefore, should not be held responsible for any of their decisions, and last but not least...

Drum roll please..... a government that is so out of touch with the people, it is utterly ridiculous to think they can solve the problem when they have actually created it. The national motto is "In God We Trust" but no matter how pious you are, the Almighty didn't cause this mess and chances are, he won't be the one to fix it. Rather, we are somehow supposed to make the leap, once again, that the government can stop their own carnage and solve our problem(s). The truth is that they ARE the problem or at least the largest part of it.

The image of the Department of Housing and Urban Development riding in on a white steed, frantically waving additional regulations to save the day, is enough to make a person wretch. Call me silly, but to me, it is tantamount to letting a convicted thief come in to your home and charge you to explain how HE would rip you off under the guise of helping you to protect yourself. He still got your cash, the question is how you feel about it once it is done. Closing the barn door AFTER the horse is out is not exactly foresight.

The truth is, we need to return to a common sense approach to our money, our government, and taxes. My grandfather lived to the great old age of 99, and was the wisest person I have ever met. He once told me as he sat in his favorite rocking chair, "You know, common sense just ain't all that common these days."

I wonder what he would think about what's going on. Somehow, I think he would tell us to get back to basics. Pay cash, don't borrow, get the government out of your pocket and solve your own problems. It is a mistake to think the government is going to actually solve a problem. If you look at most of our problems as a nation, education, retirement programs, medicare to name a few; it is because the government is involved that you actually have the problem. "We the People" are the solution.

The first thing we need to do is buy back our country. We don't actually own the companies that made us a great nation anymore. Most of us might own shares in mutual funds or 401(k) plans where we don't actually have voting rights. But we are not active participants in our own economy other than to borrow, borrow, borrow some more. So, decisions on manufacturing operations that affect real Americans and their livelihoods are based on getting the highest level of return. Whether or not it is destroying American families and this country is irrelevant. It is all about the almighty dollar and not the Almighty, in whom we have placed our trust to protect us. We need to protect us from ourselves. The bottom line is that we created a great country once, and I believe we can do it again and we better get started pronto.