John Edwards, Exploiter Of The Poor

Captain's Quarters: John Edwards, Exploiter Of The Poor

"As a presidential candidate, Democrat John Edwards has regularly attacked
subprime lenders, particularly those that have filed foreclosure suits against
victims of Hurricane Katrina. But as an investor, Mr. Edwards has ties to
lenders foreclosing on Katrina victims. The Wall Street Journal has identified
34 New Orleans homes whose owners have faced foreclosure suits from
subprime-lending units of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edwards has about
$16 million invested in Fortress funds, according to a campaign aide who
confirmed a more general Federal Election Commission report. Mr. Edwards worked
for Fortress, a publicly held private-equity fund, from late 2005 through 2006."

A couple years ago I talked to someone about one of these subprime loans. I had thoughts of buying a house, a place to live. I knew that my income wasn't going to change drastically over next couple years though, and with payments that would be equal to what I was paying for rent, that didn't give me many options. The sales person told me about low introductory interest rates, and while that would work for the time being, it clearly wasn't going to address the question of how I would make those payments once the interest rates increased.

The story above is told to illustrate a point. The banks and other institutions that were offering this subprime loans to home buyers were irresponsible, and they will lose a lot of money for their mistakes. The people who took out the loans have no one to blame but themselves though. There was no point at which they were forced to sign these loans, they signed them of their own free will. It could be that they signed them with reckless regard for the long term effects of the loan, or maybe there was a lack of self education about the loans. In either case, they need to understand that they over extended their resources, and they should lose their houses.

I know it is harsh, but it is fair. I know they don't want to lose their homes, but I would like a home myself. Sometimes in life failure to allow people to be punished for their mistakes, is to reward them for those mistakes.