We are Quickly Running Out of Other Cheeks to Turn!

(Harrisville, N.H.) - According to an AP article titled “Foreclosure rate steadies as banks hold back”, written by Alan Zibel, and published June 10, 2010, “323,000 households or nearly 1 in every 400 homes, received a foreclosure notice in May”. That same article states, “The number of homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure hit a record of nearly 94,000 in May”. As the title of the article implies, the banks are dragging their feet in assisting struggling homeowners^[1].

While the initial estimate of how much the bank bailout would cost was approx. $700,000,000,000. There has been discussion within the government that the actual cost may be closer to $3,000,000,000,000 (that is Trillion with a capital T folks) before all is said and done. The details are as follows: $700 Billion for the initial shoring-up, another $300 Billion for additional shoring-up of late-coming bank-failures, $500 Billion to $1 Trillion for toxic loans, and $1 Trillion to kick-start the credit markets. There is no guarantee that all of this will have to be spent . . . there is also no guarantee that if spent, this is where it would stop!

Let me see if I understand this correctly: The banks foreclosed on 94,000 homes in May and sent notices to an additional 323,000 households that they intend to foreclose... but they expect these same families to contribute a percentage of their taxes, probably for the rest of their lives, to bail them out of bad investment decisions they made. Hm-m-m-m... am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?

As if that were not bad enough, these same banks that were failing because of bad investment decisions (that are now called toxic loans) turned around and gave the same executives who made those bad decisions tens of millions in bonuses! For what? For doing such a great job? So, the President and Congress decide to reward these banks and their executives and then pay for those clearly undeserved rewards via your tax dollar. Oh, and as you are completing your tax return, don’t let the fellow from the bank who is putting the foreclosure sign on your front lawn disturb you.

I see this and can’t help but ask if the lunatics are running the asylum. Maybe it is time to vote the lunatics out and populate Congress with individuals who believe that people are more important than political parties. Has the heart and brain of our government finally decomposed to a point where it cannot function? When work-a-day homeowners or mom-and-pop entrepreneurs are asked to bailout the same banks who laugh when these same folks ask for help, something is drastically wrong in the highest levels of our government. I think we should all kick-in a buck apiece to send every member of congress to the chiropractors to have their heads twisted 180 degrees, because they clearly don’t have their heads on straight . . . but, that is just my opinion!

Writer Robert Collingsworth is an American who isn't hesitant to talk about the good side of his country, and that is a welcome thing in this day and age. Salem-News.com admittedly, is very critical of both American politics, as well as those of other nations that we perceive is being wrong in their motives and actions. At the same time, within these structures we criticize, are many outstanding people who make each day a better place for all those around them. They embody and personify the American spirit that is sometimes fleeting, but always present. These are some of the things Robert takes into account when writing commentary that is designed reach people, to "get them thinking" in his words, and indeed it does. Salem-News.com's goal is for all people to be on the same page, we appreciate Bob's more conservative approach toward that same goal."

You can write to Bob Collingsworth at this email address: colli2@webryders.net