Joel Burgess | Asheville Citizen-Times | February 22, 2009
But John Myers, senior vice president with HomeTrust Bank in Asheville, said if the government doesn't intervene now, things will only get worse. Fewer people will buy homes, hurting the housing industry and cutting into home ownership, one of the primary ways Americans build wealth, Myers said. That could mean more people are out of work and looking for government assistance, which is also funded by taxpayers, he said. “This is what we have before us today. And we've got to deal with this issue,” he said. “Taxpayers are going to pay for this one way or the other, whether it be directly or indirectly.”
Mr. Myers may have a personal interest in having the government bailout the riskiest Americans.
The economy is struggling to correct a government-created recession with lower housing prices and mortgage defaults. Home owners who cannot afford to buy must rent and prices must come down to where they really belong instead of the artificially inflated prices that the government is feverishly trying to prop up.
As for the "pay-now-or-pay-later " argument, this is an attempt at psychological blackmail. And it is a false choice. People who cannot afford their mortgages should be converted to renters in more affordable housing. This does not move them onto the welfare roles. It moves them into housing they can afford.
As it is now, the taxpayers are paying for affordable housing by subsidizing local housing stock that is overpriced.
I think Mr. Myers is looking for a bailout for his bank and I am not inclined to give him one. Let the markets clear, Mr. Myers, and get back to making sound business decision -- for the benefit of us all.
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Vincent Benard | Objectif Liberté | 26 octobre 2008
So, at the root of every mechanism identified as a catalyst of the current crisis, we can find a bad federal or local regulation.
