Foreclosure, debt, and other thoughts...

ACORN is protesting again today because there are still a bunch of banks who wouldn't jump on the Obama bandwagon and agree to participate in the foreclosure plan put forth in his foreclosure prevention plan.

The whole thing is ridiculous!

In case you haven't been following it closely, I'll summarize the issue for you. There are many people whose homes have gone into foreclosure and the banks are taking them back and telling the families they have to move out. Is this unfair? Do they have an opportunity to pay their bills? Are they making payments?

Well... let's see. Many of these families have run up credit card bills and other consumer debt and continued to borrow, borrow, borrow (like many of us), but they borrowed to the point that they no longer pay their bills. Many of them also took out home equity loans and now that they're not making their payments, the banks want their money or the homes. BUT, Obama (and others) say that these people should keep their homes whether they've paid their bills or not. They also make it look like the banks are just TAKING these people's homes and leaving tons of empty homes in the United States. Weeeell, they aren't just TAKING these people's homes. There was a legal contract and these people haven't PAID their house payment and then the bank takes the home. There is a huge difference. It's not a matter of prejudice - whether against someone due to race or social status (poverty), it's simply a matter of taking someone's house who doesn't pay the bills. If you don't pay your electric bill, your electricity is turned off. If you don't pay your water bill, that is turned off. Ooohhh, well, actually, for some people that's not true since the government pays it for them....

Doesn't anyone see the trend here. When you give, give, give, they ask for more, more, more. (Think of the car company bailouts, bank bailouts, stimulus money, etc.) Now I'm not saying that help is bad. It's not! Biblically, we're supposed to help our neighbor, but when that person begins to take advantage of the help and they won't HELP THEMSELVES, then you have a problem. Chris and I have been on the receiving end of help numerous times, but when we have the ability, we also help others and certainly we DO continually try to help ourselves, but since I constantly seem to get sick lately, we have had to have some help. We are grateful for that, but would never take advantage of it.

What about the rest of us?!? We don't have any money either. We are struggling day to day to pay our bills, get food, and make ends meet. We've had help lately from friends and our church - as have some of you who are reading this, I'm sure. Life isn't easy, but we ARE using the little bit of money we do have to PAY OUR BILLS, not go buy new clothes, have our hair styled, and see the latest movie.

So I'm kind of tired of people saying that we need to help these poor little people with the foreclosure notices. I KNOW some of them and they aren't paying their bills. They make the same amount of money we do - some of them - and others who don't LIVE OFF THE GOVERNMENT.

OK, I better stop there because I'm just really irritated about all this. Christopher heard me and Chris talking about this one day and said, "If the banks are lowering the payments and taking away loans that the people say they can't pay, why are we paying ours?"

If a nine-year-old can figure it out, why can't the rest of us?!?

Sonya