My two cent on billions being spent......

The events of the last few months have brought back some memories. Memories of my childhood and time spent with my father. One incident that has stuck with me occurred in our front yard one lazy summer evening. A small group of ants, less than a dozen or so, marched across out front porch in a perfect line, one following the other. "They must have be out scouting for new food locations", said my dad. I followed them for quite a distance with my young eyes. All of a sudden one of these ants lost track and meandered into the dry leaves from our trees. The rest were quick to realize and stopped in their tracks and huddled in conversation. Within seconds one ant left their small huddle and headed in search of the lost one. These ants weren’t too good at small talk. He found the lost ant but couldn't make it back to the huddle. But the other ants could see the lost duo from their perch on a dry twig. Another ant set out as soon as group realized that they two weren’t headed in the right direction and led them back. In a few moments, this dozen continued their march back home.

In the past few weeks, I have been hearing my share of views on the US government bailing out troubled banks and other institutions and now the talk to supporting several million home owners whose properties are either in the midst of or close to being repossessed by their lenders. To set things straight, I never liked the idea of my taxes being used to pay the salaries of Wall Street executives, who pay 10 times in taxes what the average Joe earns. I also find the concept of using my hard earned money to prop up the failing car manufacturers ridiculous. If GM, Chevy and Ford didn’t see the writing on the wall for years, are they going to gain this wisdom overnight? And don’t get me started on irresponsible home owners. Common sense should prevail and red flags should have gone up when someone (an irresponsible lender/bank) tells you that you can afford a home costing ten times your yearly income.

We waited all these years to buy our first home. We waited because we knew we couldn’t afford a monthly payment more than 30% of our monthly incomes. We waited because we knew that we couldn’t buy the home we wanted at the price that we could afford. Please note I used want, not need. Many on this side of the Suez Channel fail to see the distinct between the two and I think we Indians can teach them, if ever they would be willing to hear. We waited all this time and, with God’s grace, are ready to move into our new home. We don’t own it yet, the bank does. But I intend on chipping away at its share month after month. We waited….but the person next door didn’t.

He bought a 4000 square foot home with top of the line appliances, a 62 inch LCD Hi-Def TV and every manmade thing that credit can buy. Why should my money go to him, to refinance his home loan to make it more affordable for him? Build a road, employ 100 people; I understand. Build an elementary school, employ a dozen teachers; I get. Give this frivolous spend thrift my tax money, I don’t! That in this is the Mecca of free market capitalism, I don’t either. Social Justice and redistribution are words from a bygone soviet era, which just got rekindled in capitalist America. All this brought quite stirred many feelings in me, none of which were pleasant. Until, I heard one word on the radio this Friday morning. “Compassion”

I quote the news anchor and the Chairperson of the Federal deposit insurance corporation; who is trying to work out the details of this financial rescue package; “As for the people who were careful not to get in over their heads and would have to watch while their neighbors get help with their payments, Bair says, "I think that I would say to those neighbors … I want my neighbor's mortgage fixed because, yes, I do have some compassion for that person, but I also realize that it's in my economic self-interest to get this situation stabilized. This relentless procession of foreclosures is creating havoc with our housing market and we need to get it stabilized." Unquote.

This got me thinking in a whole different way. I knew about the self interest factor all along. I knew if my neighbor’s home is repossessed, I have to deal with my home depreciating in value and I have to deal with all the safety concerns of vacant bunglow right next to my home for 6 months or maybe more. Until this word struck a chord with me, I never thought of this irresponsible loan taker as a human being like myself. The dazed ant probably was just one of thousands in that colony. But if he wasn’t back home at sundown, his absence would have been felt. Especially to the ants that slept to his right and left.

Reference: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96993722

mike testing

hello 1 23 123..mike testing.....