Their dream, our nightmare

Ordinary people get it. Why doesn't Congress?

In one month, we've lost more value in our retirement funds than the value of the mortgages of many of the home buyers the government is trying to bail out. Why are we being punished for the misdeeds of Congress, who actually alotted $20,000,000 a year to protect buyers from "predatory lenders" while forcing banks to make risky loans.

We played by the rules--bought our first house in 1961--didn't exceed credit limits or go into consumer debt, lived in a crummy neighborhood, got fixed rate mortgages, fixed up our homes and never missed a payment. We weren't the ones who thought low income workers had to have "the American dream." We actually understood from 47 years of home ownership that a home isn't an investment, it's a place to live that you care about more than the place you rent. Period.

But Congress thought it was a good idea to provide NINJA loans (no income, no job, no assets) and push low income people into the suburbs to fill up cheaply built houses where they had no network of friends, services or church and a long drive to work. Not the best place to be when gasoline prices started to soar due to more diddling by Congress with e-regulations.

All this was encouraged by the other dream--"wealth redistribution" and "justice" (just-us) pushed by the left, by church groups and "organizers" with their hand out, like ACORN, and the clever entrepreneur real estate home flippers, and wealthy CEOs atop the Fortune 400 who never miss a chance to make a buck with government loop-holes.

Now you want to hand out below market rates to rescue these mortgages, and that's what got my retirement account where it is? Are you guys crazy? Why do you want to rescue people who couldn't make it the first time, but not me who did?