Phrasing how this nation finds a way to alleviate the joint economic and mortgage crises with terms such as “fair” and “bail out” slants the debate by invoking qualities the majority would deem good versus those often deemed bad. Responsibility and fairness are concepts about as American as apple pie while the phrase “bail out” evokes images of less savory actions which someone, or some company, are attempting to avoid or evade. If the debate is couched in different words, perhaps including “help,” “capable,” and “save,” I suspect the voting statistics relative to the crux of the matter (ie: should those who have not paid their mortgages be assisted in saving their homes by those who make mortgage payments on time and are not in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure) would be different.
The American taxpayer often finds portions of tax payments supporting programs the individual may not have selected to invest money in maintaining but taxpayers have the power to contact their governmental representatives to make their opinions known thus, should enough voters contact representatives expressing opposition to a program or programs, it that the representatives will take a stance against the program in question therefore the question posed is inaccurate in that both those whose mortgages are current and those who need help with their mortgage loan are equally represented by a government which is not based on precepts of fairness but rather precepts of community.
A recession impacts each citizen and, indisputably, this nation remains midst an economic recession which easily could slide into a depression deeper and darker than any known to the world if we do not evoke the better angels of our nation, as described by President Abraham Lincoln in his firm, but gentle, manner of healing the wounds of a nation divided by civil war. If America could withstand years of brutal warfare scarring the land and warriors in blue could honor warriors in gray as they surrendered, how much more can this united nation do to assist those in our national community who cry out in need? So-called “faithful” mortgage payers must recognize the bleakness of the economy could strike at anyone such that all Americans need band together to hold one another up and, when one begins to teeter, those with more strength pull that one back. Community and country must be combined or each of us risks individually sinking into an economic morass while the nation’s very real risk of depression and growing national debt weakens America in the eyes of foreign nations.
Each American’s house which can be saved must be saved and this must be done in a united manner befitting the democracy and freedom of which there is so much pride.