Please know that I, one of your constituents, strongly oppose a taxpayer-funded bail out the housing market.
I feel that it is morally and fiscally reprehensible that Congress would force responsible Americans like myself to pay for the acts of the financially reckless.
Although the popular sound bite for the housing "crisis" portrays the plight of honest, hard-working Americans who are at risk of losing their homes, this sympathetic image is far from reality. In truth, the vast majority of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are from speculators or borrowers who took out a mortgage on a home that they could not afford.
Rather than deter this irresponsible behavior, a bailout merely provides an economic incentive to continue it; why change your risky behavior when you know that the government will bail you out if anything goes wrong? This is the epitome of a "Moral Hazard," and it should not be tolerated.
In addition, a bailout will prolong, but not prevent, the current correction that is occurring in the housing market. Over the past decade, home prices across the country soared, resulting in fewer Americans being able to afford the American dream. To keep housing affordable in the long-term, housing prices must be allowed to return to reasonable levels. Please do not interfere with the market's necessary correction by supporting a bailout.
Although I appreciate the goal of helping Americans stay in their homes, it is simply unfair to ask me to pay for the mortgages of people who bought houses that they could not afford. This is especially unjust given that doing so will prop-up inflated house prices, making it impossible for me, and a whole generation of Americans, to buy a home.
The proposed housing bailout will reward the very people who acted recklessly, while punishing those who acted responsibly.
This is flat out wrong! And I plead with you not to support it. |  |