Responsible Irresponsiblity

This past week, our government launched the new "Making Home Affordable" initiative. It's a 75 Billion dollar loan modification program to help struggling homeowners keep their home. Are you as unhappy about this as I am? "Don't worry!", we are told. The government is not seeking to reward the irresponsible people in our society who bought more than they could afford. This initiative is aimed at the "responsible" irresponsible people who bought more than they could afford. And what do you have to do to qualify for a little "help" with your mortgage payments? Just present your 2 latest paychecks, last year's tax returns, and a signed declaration of financial distress. Really? Isn't that what should have been required of the potential homeowner when they originally applied for their home loan?
Speaking from experience, of having gone through the mortgage process twice, sometimes documented information was required and sometimes not. When dealing with our local community bank, my husband and I had to present paychecks, a few years of tax returns, and the promise of our first born child....OK, not our child, but you get the idea. When we purchased another home with a large national bank, we were asked for NOTHING! No verification of income, assets, tax returns...not even a valid identification. Now, maybe I could understand the lack of information we were asked to supply if we were downgrading or even purchasing a home comparable to our first mortgage. But this was not the case. We were taking on a mortgage that was at least twice the size of our first. Whatever happened to the caution of banks only lending to people who were a good risk? People deemed a good risk after the examination of their assets, income, and ability to pay? Needless to say, the second bank that I am referring to is one of the giants with toxic assets and had to take bailout money from taxpayers. Since my husband and I are part of the tax paying community, it's like paying the bank way more than we signed up for.
But let's not get too carried away from even the greater point in all of this....personal responsibility. The majority of homeowners, who are now facing foreclosure, knew they were biting off more than they could chew but went ahead and did it anyway. I do not feel the American taxpayer should be put on the hook for generations to come because of someone else's bad personal choices.
There is much talk about our rights as American citizens. In this country, you have the opportunity to own your own home if you can afford it. But it is no where written, in the constitution of this great land, that homeownership is a guaranteed privilege of every citizen. When immigrants from all over the world flocked to our shores in search of something better, do you think they were coming with the following guaranteed rights in mind: socialized healthcare, free college tuition, paid retirement from the government, expanded welfare, a home to live in.....the list could go on and on. Immigrants were looking for freedom and opportunity. The opportunity to do great things and the freedom to pursue them. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness....now those are the guarantees of this country.