Where is the moral indignity? Both presidential candidates are seeped with lobby money, one with a quasi Marxist agenda, the other with quasi free market agenda and both sleepwalking through a financial dilemma that attacks every property taxpayer and American.



Unqualified buyers were encouraged into mortgages, the root cause for the financial meltdown. Our financial subprime woes started with Jimmy Carter who, though well meaning, dumb-headedly enacted legislation to encourage loans to people who were bad credit risks. Purchasing a home and paying property taxes was sold as the ultimate dream for financial happiness and getting ahead. His administration began distancing itself from sound lending and accounting principles.

Along came Bill Clinton who put extra teeth in the law by punishing mortgage and investment companies that did not extend credit to people who were bad credit risks. He put them into residences they couldn't afford let alone deal with the property taxes. A further deregulating and credit risk was encouraged by mortgage companies; those that didn't comply to lose lending practices were hampered from expanding their footprint in the community.

These foolish loans were bought up by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They repackaged these loans and sold them on the open market to other financial institutions. They also gave hundreds of millions of dollars into political coffers to ensure this circus continued.

To insure these bad mortgages, AIG and other insurance companies evaluated the risk and sold insurance to cover these mortgages in case of default. Their leverage was set at a 12 to 1 ratio. They too threw millions of dollars into legislator's coffers and asked for and got the permission to raise their leverage to a 30 to 1 ratio. This spectacurlary increased their risk as well as greatly increased their short term profits.

How can fraudulent financial wizardry that has banks and brokerage firms leveraged at 30-1 be endorsed by Greenspan and Bernanke? How could they have allowed this shell game to continue? Quasi-Marxist promoters of Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and similar entitlement steering organizations bamboozled lawmakers into giving away the farm to future deadbeats. What's wrong with renting if you can't afford a house or taking a bus if you can't afford keeping a car?

Banking Committee Chairman, The House Finance Chief, SEC Chairman and other top-ranking government officials allowed this cancer to perpetuate because of the lobby money they received. The greed for lobby money twisted sound reasoning and perpetuated complete nonsensical thinking. The only solution for not tempting elected officials to sway their votes from socially responsible to sociopathic dimensions is to banish those accepting lobby money from government service as well as requiring jail time.

When the hot air balloon runs out of fuel used to create the hot air, the balloon crashes. When the easy credit real estate market turned and foreclosures ascended, the balloon was punctured and stopped climbing; it crashed. Humpty Dumpty and the 700 billion dollar bailout that was weighed down with pork project bought and paid for by additional lobby money show how corrupt these weasels are. Where is the ethical outrage?

Across the nation, real estate prices have fallen and municipal and state governments have raised their tax rates to compensate for the shortfall. If, when you get your assessment bill, you need to compare your home to the assessments of similar sold homes, you may find that you are overtaxed and could profit from a property tax appeal. It's worth further scrutiny.