I agree. There is a huge difference between “intelligence” and “common sense”. Just because you have one doesn’t mean you have the other.

The adages “nothing in life is free,” “you get what you pay for” or “what goes up must come down” are things we all heard growing up. The current home price trends and the related mortgage “deals” were things anyone with common sense could have sniffed out without any education.

A ponzi scheme or a gambler’s emotional makeup have really nothing to do with intelligence or education, unless you’re a card-counter or a sophisticated racketeer, in which case why would society feel any responsibility for your mistakes?

The emotional desire to “work the system,” “pull off the hustle,” or “beat the house” are really just chilish fantasies and cop outs from putting in hard work over many years…work that feels great to those who are emotionally mature and take true responsibility for what happens to them.

Somehow I feel the need to defend ASU here…

Is it just me or is anyone else incensed by the countless inane ideas being floated by our so called “leaders” designed to protect the stupid in our society?

Not “stupid”, perhaps “unintelligent” lol – Gawd, does Diana Olick even know what ignorant means or is she umm…

Well to protect all those “uneducated”, perhaps we need a law that requires a test to borrow money for more than one months salary. Talk about a credit crunch!

A bit off-topic, but you reminded me of one of my stranger experiences flying.

I was once on a flight from Phoenix to L.A. sitting next to two young people I dubbed “Ditsy” and “The Tattooed Man”. “Ditsy” was a fluffy blonde who shook her hair a lot- “The Tattoed Man” was wearing a “wife-beater” and had about as many tattoos as I have ever seen on one person. They had a conversation that went something like this:

Ditsy- Excuse me, but, like, I couldn’t like, help but notice you’re totally into tattoos?

T.M.- Yeah….

Ditsy- Could I, like, ask you a question?

T.M.- Sure.

Ditsy- When I was with, like, my boyfriend Michael, like, I had an M tattooed on my ankle. Since we are, like, not together any more, I went to the tattoo parlor to have it covered up with like, another tattoo.

I was thinking like, flower or butterfly, they wanted like, skull or dragon. I got tired of arguing with them, and just had them put this on.

[At this point I was very curious about what it was, but I couldn't see it from where I was sitting.]

At any rate, I hate it, and I want to get it removed. I want to know if like, after I have it off, I can get something else right away, or if I have to wait a bit?

[At this point I'm thinking, "Girl, what part of PERMANENT do you not understand?]

The conversation wanders after that. He tells her about going to a job interview with long sleeves and a watch to hide the tattoos, and his boss’ reaction the first day he wears a tank. She asked “Do you ever think about how you will feel about your tattoos when you’re 40?” They both laugh hysterically.

Ditsy- “Like you care what you look like when you’re 40!”

Then he tells her the reason he had come to AZ was to visit his parents. His father had worked and saved for 45 years, and now he had a ranch in Arizona. The conversation continued:

T.M.- It’s a shame retirement doesn’t come until you’re old and can’t enjoy it. We should be able to do it now.

Ditsy- Like, yeah. I don’t know, like, how your father could stand working for the same company all those years.

T.M.- Me either. I can’t stand to work more than a couple of years in one spot. I wish I could afford to do more though.

Ditsy- Oh yeah. Like, isn’t it stupid that credit card companies, like, give you a card when you are in college and can’t afford to pay it back. Then when you get a job and want to buy stuff, you can’t. Like, how stupid is that?

At this point I wanted to shake them both for their short-sightedness and foolishness. Thank heaven it was a short flight and we were about to land. I doubt I could have listened to the baloney much longer.

They both apparently had college degrees.

There are those who haven’t had an opportunity for an education, and you can’t blame people who do the best they can with what they have. This pair however, should have known better.

I wouldn’t be surprised if both of those two were “duped” into bad mortgages and are in foreclosure somewhere- and probably blaming the “stupid” mortgage companies. Some folks refuse to learn.

I’m not saying the debts should be forgiven, or even that assistance should be made. Just keep in mind that there are (even if it’s a small % of the problem/population) some out there that are not blessed with your intelligence.

I love it when they go through the airports. What idiots

How do you take out a loan and have “no idea,” that you’d have to pay it back? Maybe all the metal in their faces from the facial piercings, the black and green hair dye, and the tatoos interfered with their reception, dulling their ability to hear what the loan officer was saying. What planet were they from?

I just googled what is an arm. It takes less than 30 seconds for the answer. Unless you spend time on quickenloan which says an arm lowers your interest rate and increases your cash flow. I still don’t think they’re that stupid. They might not fully understand all the particulars but I think they all knew it would adjust up. They thought their equity would also. The FED giveth and the FED taketh. Economics2008

It’s an election year. Bailing out homeowners, bailing out banks, giving away “stimulus packages” – its all about literally buying votes (with our money!)

@freemonster

I think some people were duped, but only because they didn’t bother to do any research. There was a report last year that showed something like 30-40% of americans didn’t know what kind of loan they had. I have a hard time feeling sorry for those people, though – in this day and age, you deserve to be ripped off if you can’t spend 30 minutes on a simple Google search to find out what an ARM loan is.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/28/business/20071031_HOUSING_GRAPHIC.html#

I’m going out on a big limb here. NOBODY WAS DUPED(homeowners that is). Station casino tv ads here in vegas are now saying you can win your mortgage payments gambling. NOBODY is stupid enough to believe that. Just simple greed. Just like getting into crazy mortgage deals. Why are all the Democrat leaders always on the wrong side of these issues.

When I was growing up, occasionally I would sometimes make the mistake of complaining about the fairness of my dad’s decisions. His unfailing response- “Life ain’t fair, Kiddo”

It’s one of the best lessons he ever taught me. You can be bitter because others were delt a better hand in life, or you can be grateful your hand isn’t worse. Too often the “Law of Unintended Consequences” kicks in when people get too obsessed about “fair” and try and legislate it.

I agree- I’m all for throwing the bums out- now if we could only find a better grade of bum!

LIFE is seldom easy and it is NEVER fair. The word FREE just means someone is paying more than it’s worth, but if you can manage to keep out of debt and hold your mouth JUST RIGHT it can be a lot of fun! The only right you have that can never be taken away is the right to try. Don’t let it go to waste.

I simply cannot understand why this one particular TINY segment of our society has captured the attention of our elected leaders. The bottom line is if you are a person who is underwater and cannot afford your mortgage payment then it is a 99.999% probability that you got yourself into this voluntarily when you made a stupid decision by either a) buying an asset at the height of its bubble or 2) financing the purchase using a loan that was incumbent on the price of that asset increasing.

I am so sick and tired of hearing about how we need to “help” these people while at the same time we blithely throw away trillions on a war in Iraq, ignore the fact that Medicare and Social Security (into which we all pay) will be insolvent in the next 25 years and gas and food costs have gone through the roof.

I hope everyone who feels this way will remember come election time: it is high time the smart and productive members of our society send a clear message to our elected leaders and kick them the heck (That OK Twist?) out on their rear ends.

My $.02