CNBC's Rick Santelli is an asshole. He cemented it with his rant about subsidizing "the losers' mortgages." I guess he was talking about good people like Joseph Zachery and Paula Stevens. Zachery and Stevens, both from Kansas City, were featured in a Time magazine story called "House of Cards: The Faces Behind Foreclosures." Zachery was a firefighter until a firetruck versus garbage truck accident. He's on full-time disability -- too much pain in his neck and back along with memory lapses and depression. He got behind on his mortgage -- and the demolition business he was starting went south after the accident. His home could be sold on the steps of the Jackson County Courthouse on March 20.
Stevens is struggling to find work for the first time, and she's finding that employers don't want to hire someone in her mid-50s.
Time's David Von Drehle writes:
People like Paula Stevens and Joseph Zachery weren't flipping houses orThanks to former Pitch writer Jen Chen for passing along this link.lying on their loan applications. They didn't pile up mountains of
credit-card debt. They worked hard for what they had and shared their
modest portions with others. Each readily admits to making occasional
mistakes with money, but even Warren Buffett has made occasional
mistakes with money.
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There is so much gray area in this saga.
For every Joseph Zachery who falls on rough times and obviously deserves our sympathy, there's a jackass speculator who deserves none. I think most of us agree there.
But here's where it gets dicey. Most foreclosures have resulted from some combination of:
-buying too much house
-using home equity irresponsibly
-taking a loan that wasn't properly understood
-diminished income prospects
-poor overall money management
Now, how much blame do we assign to the home purchaser, and how much to the loan officer, the real estate agent, greed, etc.? Every case is different, and there is plenty of blame to go around.
Believe me - I am PISSED that I chose to make good decisions and live below my means, yet I will be on the hook to help pay for this debacle for the rest of my life. Nevertheless, if this collapse does not stop it only gets worse for everyone.
I guess if you blow your golden chance of the century to make money, earn a house, or go to college- you missed it! We owe them nothing, get on with it so the productive people can get on with things. Sorry you're having a rough time; get on with it, go BK, and move out! You can still start over if you decide to try!
@ Ken -- So these people should be thrown out on the street? All 2.5 million people facing foreclosure were just scamming the system? C'mon, Ken. And if you're going to call me an asshole, at least get my name right. It's Justin.
Jason is the real uninformed asshole. Story brings examples way out of the norm. What about the three fucksticks on my street that should have never been allowed to buy their houses in the first place? One guy had six kids and refused to work. One continued the refinance shell game taking cash out each time and wondered why her mortgage payment went so high. Dont give me these hard luck stories you dimwitted liberal obama worshiping dolt.
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