As our Senate is about to pass the health care bill ...

... remember this warning from Ronald Reagan -- from 1961:

How I'm feeling today

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Sarah Palin on The Tonight Show

This has been out for a couple of days, but it is awesome!

So Gov. Doyle's going to Copenhagen

How is this getting paid for, since we don't have like, you know, any money?

Editoonial, 12/11/09

The American Dream 2: Shirking Responsiblity?

I was reading the WSJ.com article, "American Dream 2: Default, Then Rent," with the expectation about how these families who got stuck in these upside down mortgages decided to take a safer, more fiscally responsible route and rent.

Not quite.

There was something about the whole article that rubbed me the wrong way, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

People's increasing willingness to abandon their own piece of America illustrates a paradoxical change wrought by the housing bust: Even as it tarnishes the near-sacred image of home ownership, it might be clearing the way for an economic recovery.

Very true ... people have to default on their mortgages for a variety of very legitimate reasons, including job loss, being in a very upside down mortgage which coupled with the current economy does not make for a good mix, or being saddled with another big expense (i.e., medical). There should be no stigma attached with these.

This piece focuses on two people: schoolteacher Shana Richey and fireman Jay Fernandez, who both were in upside down mortgages and are now renting homes in the same neighborhood.

As I continued reading through the piece, I found what bothered me: the lack of remorse, the lack of willingness to learn from past mistakes and work towards a more fiscally sound future.

Some are leaving behind their homes and mortgages right away, while others are simply halting payments until the bank kicks them out. That's freeing up cash to use in other ways.

Ms. Richey's family of five used some of the money to buy season tickets to Disneyland, and plans to take a Carnival cruise to Mexico in March. Mr. Fernandez takes his girlfriend out to dinner more frequently. "We're saving lots of money," Ms. Richey says.

Don't pay your mortgage and you get to go to Disneyland and on a cruise. Sigh.

Where is the gratitute that you were given this gift, the remorse for making such a poor financial decision, and the resolve for becoming more fiscally responsible? Where is the commitment to cut back, to simplify, to prioritize, to live either within or below your means? Where is the commitment to start saving money?

So where are they now?

For Mr. and Mrs. Richey:

On one trip, they drove by [the house they are now renting]. It was bigger than their house on Caspian, had a pool with three waterfalls, and boasted a cascading staircase that Ms. Richey says she could picture her daughters descending on prom night.

And for Mr. Fernandez:

With an income of about $8,300 a month and a rent of $2,200, Mr. Fernandez says he now has the wherewithal to do things he couldn't when he was stretching to pay the mortgage. He recently went to concerts by Rob Thomas and Mat Kearney. He also kept his black BMW 6 Series coupe, which has payments of about $700 a month.

There is nothing wrong with occasionally treating yourself or your family -- there isn't. There is a moral obligation to pay this -- defaulting shouldn't be done so that cash can be freed up to live lavishly in other ways. Remember, with these mortgage defaults, someone has to pay for it, and in these cases it is the taxpayers who will be receiving the double-whammy, from both the government programs to deal with this stuff and from the banks in the form of tighter credit and more fees, and eventually, higher interest rates.

My family fortunately is in good shape with our mortgage and home equity loan and should have the HEL paid off within a few months, and the mortgage, if we put our nose to the proverbial grindstone, within three years. As Glenn Beck advises, "... be beholden to no one."

Where is our Daniel Hannan?

Mr. Hannan was just on Neil Cavuto's show talking about the increased British taxes on bankers' bonuses, as well as the proposed global taxes being supported by PM Gordon Brown and President Nicholas Sarkozy. I was reminded of the speech above.

Who will our Daniel Hannan be, standing up with such frank language, to Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Reid about the out of control spending, the spiraling debt, and the incredible burden being placed on not only our children, but children for generations to come?

Quote of the Day, 12/09/09

"...and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them."

-- Margaret Thatcher

H/T Sykes.

Tuesday Night You Tubin' -- The Band edition

First off, "The Shape I'm In" (from The Last Waltz):



"Don't Do It"



Finally, from Robbie Robertson's excellent Storyville album, "What About Now?"

Sen. Harry Reid: Ignorant of History

Reid Compares Opponents of Health Care Reform to Supporters of Slavery

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday, comparing Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago.


The Nevada Democrat, in a sweeping set of accusations on the Senate floor, also compared health care foes to those who opposed women's suffrage and the civil rights movement.

Unfortunately, Sen. Reid was so busy trying to demononize his opponents and score political points that he apparently did not check his historical references prior to throwing out these accusations:

The history lesson appeared to have some of its partisan wires crossed, however. It was Sen. Strom Thurmond, then a Democrat, who famously and unsuccessfully tried to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1957. And in the 19th Century, it was Republicans who led the charge against slavery.

Oh, and for a bit more historical correction ...

1912 Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive (Bull Moose/Republican) Party becomes the first national political party to adopt a woman suffrage plank.

Sen. Reid, this is a very important debate, and it is not the time to go on these types of attacks. If this legislation passes, it will fundamentally change this country. The American people deserve better. We deserve an open, honest debate. We do not need historically inaccurate sniping.

You are the Senate Majority Leader -- it is time to lead.