Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Anger Management
The title is "Anger Management". That's what this blog is about, anger management. Thank God I have somewhere to vent, yell and generally rant about things that are getting to me....
Again, it's the news. I stopped watching the news when I found myself yelling like Archie Bunker at the anchors who were reading the news articles. I intellectually understand that they are the mouths of the writers, but it's kill the messenger as far as I'm concerned.
Tonight was a prime example of why I don't purposely watch the (expletive deleted) news......As I walked by the TV I heard another story that immediately sent my blood to boiling levels. It seems that someone has defaulted on their home mortgage payments and the bank is trying to foreclose. However, some financial blood sucker has given the homeowners perhaps a round about way to get some of the money they owe from the Feds...(that's you and me...if you didn't realize it....)(not that these folks were ever really the homeowners -the bank gave them the money to live in the house with a contract that clearly stated..."I promise to pay the money back with the interest you are asking for"...got it?).
Here's the deal....The people that bought something that ended up being more than they could pay for, can try to get the Feds to go to bat for them to get the bank to reduce the principal on the mortgage. Then the bank can refinance the new amount to reduce the mortgage payment. The bank can then file for some kind of payment from the Feds (you and me....) to get some, if not all, of the loss they are taking by allowing the principal to be reduced. The bank won't be out so much money, the original mortgagee gets a reduction and we (the tax payer) get the shaft.
What really gets to me about this kind of thing is, some people think this is a great solution to the ongoing mortgage defaulting problem. How is it great? Someone has to pay, and so many folks think the Feds will be paying for this, and they're right....but the Feds need money to do that and guess who gets the tab??? Better start looking around for a second or third job, you need to find some extra money to give to the Feds so they have enough to give to the banks. Oh wait, I have a better idea....
Here's what we all have to do.....Starting tomorrow, all of us need to open a bank account and put money in it....I don't care if you have to sell your blood to get the money....or maybe a kidney...whatever it takes....Then people that can't afford to pay for their house, even though they agreed contractually to pay for it, can forget the middle man and call you or me up and tell us to send them the money we put in the account....Just think how much easier that would be for everyone....
Here's another idea....since social security is not giving seniors a cost of living increase for this year (or next, for that matter) but the Congress got a small raise (hmmm...sounds a bit skewed...or is it just me.....) there must be masses of money sitting in a "slush fund" down there in Washington waiting for someone to ask for "help" to pay the bill they "contracted" to pay....
Don't be telling me that there are masses of Greedy Geezers out there just waiting for a handout from the Feds. I see more of the type that need every dollar they get from the Feds in the form of monthly social security payments to stay alive.
For that matter, I'd be satisfied if the Congress got the same retirement bennies that most of us not in politics get. I want them on Social Security, Medicare, and all the other fantastic, "make us wealthy" (not) systems that most of us are on right now. Yes, I know there are some Seniors out here that are making money from their investments and don't need the benefits from the Feds that everyone else clearly needs, but the system doesn't, and never did, exclude people because they made too much money.
I get angry with this kind of thing I hear on the news because we live in a house that we own. We started out with nothing, worked like horses, saved money on things and didn't live above our means. We paid the mortgage off early because we made sacrifices that I don't see people today willing to make. Our kids learned what it meant to earn money to have things they wanted. They weren't given things, we all earned what we had. We didn't have credit cards, consequently we didn't have an over abundance of "stuff".
The folks in the news report were living in a house that I'd love to have, but I can't afford that kind of house, nor could I ever afford that kind of house. The reality is, if you can't afford to pay for something, you shouldn't have it.
I remember when I was a kid thinking, "If ever I get to the end of the week and there's $20 left in my wallet, then I'll know I'm wealthy". Now, I'd have to say there has to be a bunch of $100's. The problem is, I don't have any cash in my wallet, I have credit cards...but I pay them off every month.....
I know there are lots of folks out there that must use the credit cards to get through to the next paycheck, but I wonder how many of those same folks would be willing to write down every cent they spend every day for two weeks, to see where they could tighten up a bit. It's way too easy to use the plastic, and it becomes a habit for all of us.
I now know I'm old...I'm talking like my parents did and other older folks I listened to as a kid growing up. I used to think they were nuts and didn't know what it was like to live in the "real world", but now I realize that it was me who didn't know what the real world was, and didn't find out until I was old, like them.
oh well......
Again, it's the news. I stopped watching the news when I found myself yelling like Archie Bunker at the anchors who were reading the news articles. I intellectually understand that they are the mouths of the writers, but it's kill the messenger as far as I'm concerned.
Tonight was a prime example of why I don't purposely watch the (expletive deleted) news......As I walked by the TV I heard another story that immediately sent my blood to boiling levels. It seems that someone has defaulted on their home mortgage payments and the bank is trying to foreclose. However, some financial blood sucker has given the homeowners perhaps a round about way to get some of the money they owe from the Feds...(that's you and me...if you didn't realize it....)(not that these folks were ever really the homeowners -the bank gave them the money to live in the house with a contract that clearly stated..."I promise to pay the money back with the interest you are asking for"...got it?).
Here's the deal....The people that bought something that ended up being more than they could pay for, can try to get the Feds to go to bat for them to get the bank to reduce the principal on the mortgage. Then the bank can refinance the new amount to reduce the mortgage payment. The bank can then file for some kind of payment from the Feds (you and me....) to get some, if not all, of the loss they are taking by allowing the principal to be reduced. The bank won't be out so much money, the original mortgagee gets a reduction and we (the tax payer) get the shaft.
What really gets to me about this kind of thing is, some people think this is a great solution to the ongoing mortgage defaulting problem. How is it great? Someone has to pay, and so many folks think the Feds will be paying for this, and they're right....but the Feds need money to do that and guess who gets the tab??? Better start looking around for a second or third job, you need to find some extra money to give to the Feds so they have enough to give to the banks. Oh wait, I have a better idea....
Here's what we all have to do.....Starting tomorrow, all of us need to open a bank account and put money in it....I don't care if you have to sell your blood to get the money....or maybe a kidney...whatever it takes....Then people that can't afford to pay for their house, even though they agreed contractually to pay for it, can forget the middle man and call you or me up and tell us to send them the money we put in the account....Just think how much easier that would be for everyone....
Here's another idea....since social security is not giving seniors a cost of living increase for this year (or next, for that matter) but the Congress got a small raise (hmmm...sounds a bit skewed...or is it just me.....) there must be masses of money sitting in a "slush fund" down there in Washington waiting for someone to ask for "help" to pay the bill they "contracted" to pay....
Don't be telling me that there are masses of Greedy Geezers out there just waiting for a handout from the Feds. I see more of the type that need every dollar they get from the Feds in the form of monthly social security payments to stay alive.
For that matter, I'd be satisfied if the Congress got the same retirement bennies that most of us not in politics get. I want them on Social Security, Medicare, and all the other fantastic, "make us wealthy" (not) systems that most of us are on right now. Yes, I know there are some Seniors out here that are making money from their investments and don't need the benefits from the Feds that everyone else clearly needs, but the system doesn't, and never did, exclude people because they made too much money.
I get angry with this kind of thing I hear on the news because we live in a house that we own. We started out with nothing, worked like horses, saved money on things and didn't live above our means. We paid the mortgage off early because we made sacrifices that I don't see people today willing to make. Our kids learned what it meant to earn money to have things they wanted. They weren't given things, we all earned what we had. We didn't have credit cards, consequently we didn't have an over abundance of "stuff".
The folks in the news report were living in a house that I'd love to have, but I can't afford that kind of house, nor could I ever afford that kind of house. The reality is, if you can't afford to pay for something, you shouldn't have it.
I remember when I was a kid thinking, "If ever I get to the end of the week and there's $20 left in my wallet, then I'll know I'm wealthy". Now, I'd have to say there has to be a bunch of $100's. The problem is, I don't have any cash in my wallet, I have credit cards...but I pay them off every month.....
I know there are lots of folks out there that must use the credit cards to get through to the next paycheck, but I wonder how many of those same folks would be willing to write down every cent they spend every day for two weeks, to see where they could tighten up a bit. It's way too easy to use the plastic, and it becomes a habit for all of us.
I now know I'm old...I'm talking like my parents did and other older folks I listened to as a kid growing up. I used to think they were nuts and didn't know what it was like to live in the "real world", but now I realize that it was me who didn't know what the real world was, and didn't find out until I was old, like them.
oh well......
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