This is the way it should be

I too think that the rest of the country should follow suite. By the way, what is happening with the lawsuit that the Feds filed against Arizona?

Well,, it was a couple of the most liberal Dems that got a bill signed that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae HAD to give loans to people that could not afford homes that were overpriced for them. (It aint fair some people can afford a nice house and others can't, whether they work hard enough or have been saving long enough to afford it). Then ofcourse since they took ARM loans, when the interest went up they couldn't make the payments.
You HAD to take an ARM loan???? I bought a house in the last 6 years too,, and ELECTED to take on a fixed rate at a higher number JUST so IF the rates increased,, I knew where I was and could still handle it. MY choice,, not luck of the draw or government interference. When rates came down,, I spent the money to refinance,,on my own,, without some government pundit making a law to cover my sorry ass. That's the problem. Dems trying to make everyone the same,, when they ARE NOT the same. Now we have people in trouble with Mortgages when they shouldn't have bought the house in the first place,, people trying to make money on houses they shouldn't have purchased (I bought mine to live in,,, not an investment that I wanted to bail out of soon as the value went down)
I'm a Conservative, first and foremost,, a Republican because they are the closest to my ideals. I wish the Repubs were more conservative than they are now, but since they try to appeal the the "independents" they have moved farther left. The problem with independents is that they have few real convictions and tend to blow with the political winds. Conservative until that wind blows out,, liberal until that fire grows cold. Gutless.
I've had a buisness fail in the 80's "farm crisis" and lost jobs to recession and and layoffs and somehow always covered my own ass. I have no problem helping people that REALLY need it, but too many people these days have come to EXPECT someone to bail them out, and thats why I'm a conservative, and why I blame the current crop of liberal dems.

And that's more words I've spoke since I've know'd ya........

Believe it or not, I too am a Republican, and for the same reasons as you, they are closest to my beliefs, however, to imply that the Dems are solely responsible for what has happened to our country is just ignorant. I chose the ARM because I bought a house that I could afford, not the one that I wanted, and when I bought my house, I was fully aware of what could happen to my interest rates, so I was prepared for this. In the end, the ARM loan was very beneficial for me because my wife does In Home Day Care. Because of this, I am able to deduct the interest that I pay on my mortgage, at a higher percentage than those that do not do daycare with in their home. Taxes bother me, I hate taxes.

I do not want to sound like that I do not think that the Dems have a huge roll in how in how our country got screwed up, because liberals, as you have said, have a tendency to think that everyone is alike.

Again, I agree with you that it was the DEMS that signed the legislation that started the end of our country, in these few instances, it was due to the lack of political backbone. Because of NAFTA, I really dislike BUSH SR.

Welfare. That is something that I see a whole lot of due to the business that my wife is in. I am not going to say much on this.

Nice to hear you talk though.

- Capitalism was not the problem here: Capitalism is the foundation of our freedom. The free market was interfered with by the government. Railing against capitalism means railing against keeping what you earned and against your ability to spend your money as you see fit.
- Irresponsible people taking irresponsible actions should be punished by the consequences of those actions. Bailouts and bankruptcies have gone too far. There are people declaring bankruptcy that have more assets hidden away than I have on the record.
- The ability to buy votes with other people's money is the lifeblood of the Democratic Party. When people don't have to earn a living, then they devolve to the useless lumps filling up the public housing throughout this country. Oh, bye the way - Wall Street has been an overwhelming supporter of the Dems, as has most big business. Smal business owners - the real strength of the Americanb economy - are overwhelmingly Repubs.
I could go on and on, but the truth is out there if one is truly interested in it. Seek and ye shall find..........
:cheers:

P.S. - Yes, I did take out a $50K home equity line of credit in 2006. Of course, I paid it back this year. Borrowing against equity/capital holdings is not a bad thing - only borrowing more than you can pay back is.

I do not have an issue with capitalism. If I did, I am going to school for the wrong career. Capitalism stretches way further then the Dems, and I agree, capitalism is a huge part of our identity. I do not have a problem with taking an equity loan out per say, I only have a problem with greedy people that do not know what their limits are. In your case, you were ok, and borrowed what you knew what you could afford. Good job. Why do you suppose that most business owners seem to lean towards the Republicans playing field? Could it be because of their fear of taxes? Pretty self serving, and that is OK.

But still, did we see the Republicans stepping in and saying that what was going on with the housing market was wrong and that it had to stop??? So there is my point, the answer is no, so we republicans are just as guilty as the demecrats.

You speak of bankruptcies and bailouts, I too think that our government should not have been involved with the auto industry bailout,which again, was set in motion by Bush JR., but in hindsight, if we would have allowed GM and Chrysler to fold, that just meant more people without jobs. How can that be good for an economy? As far as AIG, Bear Stearns and others, that is a little a lot more complicated than what the average joe can grasp, but from what I do understand, is that HAD TO HAPPEN, otherwise we would have been worse than what we were in the 30's.

Be careful of what you read and who has written it or reported it, people can be real persuasive. Question the source and what their intentions are.

JB - HRK is dead on right, the Bush Admin did try to fix it. They were stopped by Congress, and yes some RINO Repubs were part of the problem - but it was Dems that made the problem in the first place.

Note that I did not write that you were anti-capitalist, though with your including "the capitalistic America way of life" in your original analysis, could you blame me if I did?

And, yes, GM and Chrysler should have gone bankrupt. And eventually will anyway - only they'll bleed off billions first to Dem slush funds and union bosses. If I go bankrupt, should you have to bail me out? The employees took more out of the company than they earned, so tough beans on them. When all the other automakers (Studabaker, Edsel, DeSoto, etc) went under, America dealt with it. Adapt, improvise and overcome - it is what used to make us great, until we became a nation of touchy-feely coddlers. What friggin' good is it to have companies exist to lose money? Ain't that the governments job?