Responsibility is a Two- way Street.

Recently we have been hearing a lot of jargon in relation to us as consumers having a lack of restraint in creating our recent credit crisis. while there has been comment made of the irresponsibility of the lenders involvement as well. What's ironic is that when any fault is mentioned in reference to lenders, it some how seems to be reported as still essentially the fault of the consumer by purchasing more then they could afford and taking advantage of stated loans the basically were being pushed upon them in the first place.

As a topic of our last set of Presidential debates Sen. John McCain's viewpoint was there should be no aid for people's irresponsible spending, people that owned more than one home attempting to get on the market. Which also proved to be one of his losing points in the debates as his focus was consumer based versus lender based. Also failing to mention the lack of oversight of such industries.

People who are upset with a neighbor and others for attempting to purchase a house they could not afford ought to be ashamed of themselves. None of you have any position to speak on this issue in this manner as you are being extremely judgmental having no idea what circumstances led to these people being placed in these positions. Life is life and we all experience highs & lows, mountains & valleys. You never know they may of had a death of a loved one, significant other, illness of a child. They themselves could have been injured and if anyone is aware of disability it will hardly cover gas on a paid car let alone mortgage. they could possibly have had any number of situations that led them to be in pretty precarious situations. So broadly judging these peoples situations and promoting not to help these people is the opposite of what this economy needs which is stimulus in the hands of the people. What else is ironic that the way our current economic plan is being handled many of the very people who made such complaints may be inflicted with a personal crisis of their own directly or indirectly caused by the economy and will be looking for help wherever they could get it from.

Take my own mother for example it would be unfortunate if her neighbors were to possibly look at her in the same way when many of them are feeling the crunch themselves. The initial property value of her home as well as the term of her loan was $160,000. With the housing bubble bursting the value of her home as well as the others in her neighborhood tanked to an abysmal $60,000. She worked for a non-profit nuclear waste facility that simultaneously had to cut funding based on a lack of money being applied to these sectors. Herself and many of her other fellow employees were laid off. With the unemployment rate being so high in her area it has been virtually impossible for her to find work in her field. Naturally all of her bills are the same as if she is still working and of course whomever is also familiar with unemployment you all know you will be lucky to eat after paying a bill or two under that program. 401k is penalized for borrowing against that. Any sudden career change would not help her current situation in saving her home. This is the perfect example of victim of circumstance! Now of course there were temporary fixes, loans that patched the wholes and in the end made matters all the more worse.

There are so many stories similar to this one all over the nation. So this is a time where we need to understand the average consumer not as gluttons but as victims of poor economic judgment by our previous administration, wall street, and bankers alike.

If you were one of the lucky ones in this depression such as my mother's friend who foresaw the market crashing, took equity out of her home before the depreciation hit and thus has been able to apply that money towards surviving these tough times you may not be as greatly affected as the next person. Essentially the same if you were also one of the lucky people to be in an industry that has held reliable in the fall out. However there is a great percentage of us who at this time do not have the luxury of saying such things. So for those of us that see these types things coming it is incumbent upon us to follow the motto of each one teach one and pray for the economic recovery of these individuals, their families and their well being. In addition we need to rally congress for more direct help in solving these matters on a more personal level. To all of us struggling to keep pushing, never quit the fight because nothing stays the same forever, it will get greater later! You just have to believe it, hold your head high and keep moving forward.