Road to where, exactly?


I think this little friendly snowman with the sticks full of money says it best: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

This is the image that eHow has used to help explain the Bush Mortgage Bailout Plan - 2007! Not the latest and greatest plan. Is anybody reading this stuff? Exactly how does this help?

"To qualify for the new program, homeowners whose loans are owned or packaged by Fannie and Freddie must be 90 days or more past due on their payments for single-family dwellings in which they live. They must prove hardship, can't be in bankruptcy and their outstanding loan values must be at least 90 percent of their homes' current values."


"The goal could be achieved three ways: The loan could be stretched into a 40-year fixed-rate mortgage; the interest rate could be reduced; and/or money going to the mortgage balance, called the principal, could be deferred interest-free until the end of the loan and recaptured in what's known as a balloon payment. Fannie and Freddie will pay $800 to financial institutions for each loan they modify."
What? What?

So if you really can't pay your mortgage, but haven't pursued the legal avenues currently available to you, and have a house that is way more than you can afford, we'll not only help you by getting you to stay in debt longer, or by requiring you to pay a big lump sum somewhere in the future, we'll even pay the folks a nice fee who do this for you. And by "we" I mean the American taxpayers will foot the bill for your irresponsibility. After all, it's good for the country.

And if you can't get enough of paying for the mistakes of others and eat up the fear pedalled by the bureaucrats, the patriotism drummed by the politicians, and the "sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice" being chanted by the altruists, don't worry, there's plenty more to come. Soon enough we'll be paying to fund the Auto Industry Bailout Plan and maybe even the Mall Bailout Plan.

With all this economic central planning, can serfdom be that far ahead? We've already come so far along the road that we don't even need an external enemy to jump start the process.


(From Hayek's illustrated The Road to Serfdom).

Comments

Christina said…
Saw your entry's title and thought maybe you were watching the old "Road to. . ." movies starring Bing and Bob. We just tonight finished watching "Road to Utopia." Guess where Utopia was? Alaska. Sarah P. would be so proud.
November 12, 2008 at 9:19 PM
Lynne said…
I love Bing and Bob (not as much as Danny and Frank), but I have yet to see a complete "Road to" movie. Is there any one you'd recommend to a newbie?
November 13, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Christina said…
Road to Bali stands out in my memory, not that I remember anything about it (except Bing and Bob fighting over Dorothy Lamour). Our local library had Road to Utopia, which is why we watched that one.
November 13, 2008 at 8:34 PM
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