[fabsroman]

Honestly, I think I am with you on most of what you have said Lilred. However, in the end I seriously doubt that Bush, Congress, or any other President that gets elected will bail out the people that are being foreclosed upon. It is just way too much for the government to do. The government cannot just come in and re-write mortgage contracts, because that would cause panic for people that supply the money behind a mortgage. Mortgages wouldn't be worth the paper they are written on. The Bush administration did get some of the larger lenders to agree not to reset the interest rates on 5/1 ARMS for 5 years, but that is out of the graciousness of the mortgage companies hearts. There is no way the government could enforce that.

As far as a direct bailout from the govenment is concerned, that had better not happen with taxpayer dollars because this taxpayer would be pissed as hell. If that were to happen, I would stop paying my mortgage and insist on a bailout myself, or move into a huge house that we cannot afford and demand a bailout.

When we bought our townhouse almost 4 years ago, it was right at the height of the real estate boom. Sure, we wanted a single family home, but with our car payments, the expense of an engagement ring and the wedding, it just wasn't in the budget without us having to struggle. Our mortgage broker, who my sister worked for, approved us for $450,000 and they were willing to offer us a 5/1 ARM. I said no thank you to both. We took out a loan for $300,000 with a 30 year fixed mortgage. I also had a sense that the real estate market was getting as high as it possibly could and that it was going to explode.

We ended up paying our cars off early and now we are paying $1,000 extra a month towards the principal on our loan.

If I tell you the trouble that a lot of my clients are in, you would not believe me. I keep trying to tell them to spend less and be happy living with less, but they just cannot seem to get that idea. Everybody wants to keep up with the guy next door, but they have no idea how much debt that person has. I have clients that are paying $500 to $1,000 a month in interest on credit cards. I have clients paying $55,000 in mortgage interest a year.

This all boils down to responsibility. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their actions. People bought houses they could not afford, but that is because they were duped by the realtors and the mortgage brokers. They were probably duped into buying those Suburbans by the dealer and the oil company too.

Speaking of Suburbans, my F-350, which is a lot nicer than my 1998 entry level Ford Taurus, sits in the parking lot most of the time unless I need to impress a client. It costs $120 to fill up that truck, and with diesel at the price it currently is, I figured out it costs a little over 20 cents a mile to drive it. Pretty soon, I am going to get some luggage racks for my mountain bike and pedal myself to the grocery store.

What is really disturbing is the number of clients I have that are not saving for retirement. I have clients in their late 30's and early 40's that have not put anything aside for retirement. Meanwhile, they trade in their vehicles for new ones every two years. My wife and I are going to drive our cars until I can no longer keep them running at a reasonable cost. I read an article the other day that said keeping a car for 200,000 miles or 15 years can save a person $30,000+. It just amazes me how quickly people get rid of their cars.