As a lifelong political rebel, I appreciate a hard stance against the “powers that be”. So when I first heard about the 92 Percent Group, my initial reaction was “heck yeah!”. From the 92 Percent Group’s welcome page:
The 92 Percent Group is committed to the preservation of free-market economics in the United States, specifically in relation to the Obama Administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. We believe this plan is unjust to the vast majority of American taxpayers; in particular to the 92 percent of homeowners who are current on their mortgages.
Today’s economic crisis impacts all Americans, not just those who are behind on their mortgages. Everyone shares concerns over health care, job loss, and the decimation of their retirement savings. All Americans have made sacrifices over the past year. The American taxpayer is already on the hook for mismanaged banks, incompetently run auto companies and extravagant stimulus packages. We don’t need the additional burden of paying for our neighbor’s mortgage. The bottom line – we believe that being current on one’s mortgage should not be grounds for being put at a financial disadvantage.
But after reading that and exploring the site a bit further, I started to get a little peeved at them. Not for them making a stand, which is their right and I will defend that right, but for what the stand “stands” for. The 92 Percent Group, along with other blogs and pundits that agree, seem to more excited about beating up on the non-paying “schlubs” instead of the gatekeepers of loans, the banks. It seems like the “92 Percenters” are very eager to say, with much anger, that the Obama Administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan rewards bad behavior of the individual (I’m not so sure) when the mortgage gatekeepers get the residual anger at being the “fat cats”.
My fellow Americans, my anger is squarely at the fat cats more than the individual, delinquent mortgage “schlub”. When you are a gatekeeper, you pick and choose. You hold the power. You hold the keys. You hold the way. If an individual walks up to you with some shadiness looking for a mortgage, it is your job to vet that individual to the very last compound before they cross those formerly hallowed gates of home ownership. But you didn’t do that mortgage gatekeepers. No sir! You set up a myriad of side hustles that paid you super well that needed one catalyst: the seeker of a mortgage. And it didn’t matter how solid or shady that person was, you gave them that mortgage. Because the side hustles paid TOO DAMN WELL! To heck with due diligence and rigorous verification. It was about getting paid because in America, that is what we do: GET P…A…I…D! If your not down with the free market than your free to leave this damn fine country, right? Right?? RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!
Come to think of it, why am I more angry at the fat cats? We are all “schlubs” in this financial mess. We all were SO squarely focused on consumerism, day trading, house flipping, financial vehicles, global economy opportunities, side hustles, etc, that we didn’t heed this timeless warning:
IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS.
As one of our TMV commenters, Austin Roth, has said many times here, the financial day of reckoning is upon us. We are all going to suffer much longer. No amount of righteous indignation can save us from that suffering. So chin up Americans. Like it or not, we are all in this together. Schlubs United…
Good luck President Obama!
UPDATE
I received an e-mail from a friend that says banks were basically forced to lend to the less creditworthy individuals due to plans implemented by former Presidents Clinton and Bush. But I must ask this: who forced the financial industry to create lucrative financial vehicles that bought and sold debt (and other financial “stuff”) like a busy fish market for “easy” money? Who forced financial companies to become hyper leveraged? Well??
I’m not complex. Don’t have time for all that. And all that complex stuff bad for the stomach. Just color me simple and plain with a twist.