Housing Bail Out.

Maybe I'm being a jerk for even thinking this way, but with all the talk of bank bail outs and now homeowner bail outs, I can't help but think: what of the the homeowners who have kept up with payments and weren't aggressive in pursuit of unaffordable properties and mortgages?

Frankly, I reject with extreme prejudice any notion that banks suckered home buyers into adjustable rate or other types of "exotic" mortgages.

When I purchased my house in 2007, I was offered these "deals" too but managed the foresight and financial maturity to recognize that down the road these offerings would pose problems for my personal finances. To that end, I selected a traditional 30-year mortgage, and found a great interest rate that has given me some stability in our current troubling economic times.

Now, was my decision somehow driven by an uncommon financial wisdom? Do I have peculiar powers of prognostication? Hell no. I'm just not stupid.

Yet, somehow we're now in a position where our federal government is going to swoop in and "make it all better" for people who were short sighted and irresponsible in their real estate transactions. At a minimum, that's how our President's presentation read to me yesterday.

Moreover, it at least feels that, as a responsible adult, I'm being asked to subsidize these failed and failing real estate dealings with my tax money.

Can someone explain to me why am I paying to support homeowners who accepted poor mortgage terms?

I'm sorry, but it isn't a requirement to own a property. I mean, if the banks aren't willing to offer decent mortgage terms, walk away and go find an apartment, townhouse or house to rent until you can find better offers. Nobody put a gun to my head and required me to sign on the dotted line at Wachovia; that's something I freely selected.

If a mortgage is something we must freely enter into on our own terms, then why am I paying to support a third-party homeowner who overreached his/her financial means by purchasing a home they never had any business owning?

Let's be frank here -- adjustable rate mortgages and interest-only mortgages were predominantly offered to buyers who either had low incomes to begin with or were preparing to purchase homes larger than their budgets could support. In both cases, it was the buyer's fault that they ultimately wound up in financial trouble.

Those buyers got greedy and accepted insolvency in favor of more house then they afford.

Granted, some of the blame does belong to the bank for allowing the transaction in the first place, and even more blame where the bank faked income records in order to have the mortgage approved. But I'm still not willing to fault the banks with more than a small portion of the blame. Its still an individual decision to enter-into a mortgage, and bad terms are recognizable.

These individuals should have known better.

Yes, you can be laid off from work. Yes, you can get hurt and not be able to work, or you may have medical expenses that make paying bills difficult. There are lots of reasons why a homeowner can fall behind on mortgage payments that are truly "no fault" issues. But more often than not, the stories being told are really about those homeowners who have mortgages resetting to higher rates along time lines they've long since known about. This is a risk those parties accepted.

So why am I, the responsible, mature tax-payer, supporting these people? I have my own problems, and I don't have the extra money to support someone else in their real estate idiocy.

I say we let them fall flat on their faces; let them deal with the consequences of their own actions, and (hopefully) learn from the experiences. The rest of us shouldn't have to "pass the hat" with our tax money, particularly when we have our own financial concerns, in order to bring solvency to a broken equation.

Miguel Tejada Is Yet Another Cheater

As a baseball fan, I'm once against disgusted by the headlines.

We've yet another cheater in the sport and, this time, he's conceded guilt to not only knowingly consuming so-called "banned substances" but also lying to Congress about the same subject while under oath. Accordingly, Miguel Tejada faces up to 1-year in prison for his lies, though his plea agreement and federal sentencing guidelines call for less of a sentence. He may also face extradition under US Customs and Immigration Enforcement. Good!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/tejada_steroids

Frankly, I'm all for Miguel's immediate, permanent expulsion from baseball too, and I'm growing rather weary of MLB's complete lack of action on this front.

So, add Miguel Tejada and Raphael Palmeiro to my earlier list of professional baseball players whose records, in my opinion, should be expunged. After all, they are all disgraces to the sport, and are not worthy of any further consideration.

A-Fraud: New York Yankee, Liar and Cheater

Over the weekend, Sports-Illustrated released information that Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the New York Yankees, tested positive for steroid use in 2003.

As reported by Sports-Illustrated, this information was leaked to SI by four, indepenent and anonymous sources who have access to a list of major league players who've tested positive for banned substances under MLB survey testing. This list was seized by federal agents using search warrants as part of the recent doping investigations.

At the time of his positive tests, A-Fraud (formerly known as A-Rod) was playing shortstop for the Texas Rangers under what was the largest contract offered a major league baseball player. Coincidentally (not really), that was the year of A-Fraud won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award.

Approached at his gym over the weekend, the Fraud denied everything.

Today, ESPN is reporting an interview with the cheater in which he concedes to the drug-use over a 3-year span (2001-2003). He attributes the poor decision to his youth, the baseball environment and the pressure created by the expectations of his team in Arlington, Texas. I attribute the decision to greed, pure and simple.

• http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ao36IAJXOhYNcQ6_6FM3XbU5nYcB?slug=ap-rodriguez-steroids&prov=ap&type=lgns
• http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/02/09/arod.admits/index.html

As a fan of the game, I'm disgusted and disheartened.

In fact, this past weekend I concluded a discussion with another baseball fan that MLB Commissioner Bug Selig should buy stock in BIC as soon as possible -- the Wite-Out BIC manufactures is going to be in short supply soon, because as far as I'm concerned (and there are many who share my position), there are now at least two five players (Barry Bonds and, now, A-Fraud) (Barry Bonds, A-Fraud, Andy Pettitte, Jose Canseco and Jason Giambi) whose records and names need to be expunged from the record books entirely. There are a lot of record books in print.

Moreover, based on the information provided in the stories listed above, there's plenty more players who should be erased from baseball. 104 total players were included on the same list of "positive test results" as A-Fraud.

They're all cheats.

Edit: There are five players on my list. What an exclusive fraternity the Yankees are building! (Four of the five were/are New York Yankee players).