Kicked in the Nuts: Many Borrowers Getting it from Both Sides

I must apologize in advance for this one.  I promised my next post would be positive, uplifting, maybe even jovial. But a “man in the street” segment on one of the lame-ass cable news channels ticked me off and I have to vent.  Next one will be more jovialistic.

Begin:

I've had it with the narrow-minded bullshit talk from economic “gurus” about homeowners defaulting because they either "overborrowed" or "couldn't afford" their house in the first place.

Hello?  Anyone out there still actually reading the news?

There is this thing called UNEMPLOYMENT.  That's right.  It's basically a tally of those folks who WERE working a steady job, but are now NOT working.  The VAST majority of that tally consists of persons who were laid off.  A HUGE portion of them were from downsizing.

So, using the rationale I hear from the suit-wearing pundits on Fox, MSNBC, CNBC and CNN, they are saying that those people should have known they were going to get axed and shouldn't have bought a house at all, or should have bought a $50,000 shack when they were pulling down a $100,000 income.  Yeah.  That makes sense.  We’re all just a bunch of idiots.  I mean after all, YOU obviously know when you're going to be downsized, right?  So, why did YOU buy that nice house or condo then?

In fact, I've actually seen this entire concept debunktified (my own word, you like it? ha ha) on CNBC and MSNBC and Fox.  Whenever they have a "panel of experts" on to blabber about how the economy tanked, and what needs to happen to "fix it", they invite the most flaky person to represent the homeowners.  Then they use them as the entertainment punching bag.  That person will TRY to suggest that maybe a lot of the borrowers didn't buy too much of a house for their income, or that they weren't late on their payments, but were just caught off-guard by a sudden lay-off.  And that a lot of those unlucky folks happen to live in places where there is NO other employment (think Michigan, Arizona, Tennessee) and so on. That person might as well walk into a redneck bar and ask if anyone wants to buy a Toyota pick-up and a CD of Kanye West to go with it.  They commence to mocking and verbal beating and all the brainwashed viewers cheer them on like it’s a football championship game.

I know quite a few people in this boat.  They were fine and doing well until they got downsized.  Now as they struggle to keep up on their mortgage, support their families, and pay their other bills, they get to enjoy the constant bombardment with insults, mockery, blame and harrassment, all focused on THEM being the cause of the problem.  "Yeah, Mr. Homeowner!  It's YOUR fault!  You should've known you were going to be axed, and you shoulda bought a cheaper house ahead of it!"

So, to all those "pundits" like Larry Kudlow, Squawk Box goons, and all you conservative financial gurus that smirk at the thought of someone NOT having a country club membership: F-OFF.