From the “I am not making this up” department:
Houston taxpayers could start footing the bill to help first-time homebuyers pay off debts and improve their credit scores, under a proposal before City Council this week.
The “Credit Score Enhancement Program” will give up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers.
More here.
What’s the net of this? Some people have too much debt and/or poor money management skills, so to teach them a lesson we’ll pay off part or all of their debt. That will help them buy a house that they can’t afford and may not have the life skills to maintain.
What a swell plan! Perhaps they didn’t notice that giving loans to unqualified applicants is a major factor in the problems we face today.
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: communism, debt, housing, mortgage, Politics, socialism, stupidity
Neil
I think America is quickly going down a path we will sorely regret in the near future. I hope that we come to our senses soon and learn to ride out the bad times just as much we enjoy the good times.
A great piece of wisdom for today,
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown
Granted financial literacy education will not solve all the problems, when you have a stream of marketers telling us to buy, buy, buy.
But instead of handing money out, I would provide $3,000 of financial literacy education by a reputable company/person.
BDO:
I discovered the following rendition of the quote you posted in a Thomas Sowell column a few years back:
“The old adage about giving a man a fish versus teaching him to fish has been updated by a reader: Give a man a fish and he will ask for tartar sauce and French fries! Moreover, some politician who wants his vote will declare all these things to be among his “basic rights.”
Sad, and becoming horribly true.
Respectfully,
Joseph
If even Putin is telling us to avoid socialism, there must be something really wrong with it.
[...] “Hey, let’s just skip Socialism and go straight to Communism” – Eternity Matters [...]
NEIL,
I SAW THIS TODAY AND I ABOUT FREAKED THEY CANNOT BE SERIOUS. WE NEED RICK SANTELLI TO GET HIS HANDS ON THIS STORY.
KW
I read some of the comments…maybe they should use those funds to clean up those neighborhoods and they wouldn’t have to bribe poor-over spenders to move there.
Leftists in America should be listening to Putin who said that there is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state. http://tinyurl.com/d85ekx
Where can I mail a rather large donation to this program?
I will have a few dollars left over after I pay my taxes and mortgage payment.
Amazing that they are contemplating doing exactly what got us into this mess in the first place!
wow. simply stunning. Just imagine what will happen when Obamanism becomes the law of the land. this stuff will seem tame to the disastrous policies he will put in place for the “good of the country.”
Also heard that Obama’s home owner bailout plan includes letting people borrow more than their house is worth, and a low beginning interest rate.
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
The money would be better spent on setting up a high course on money management to be taught by people from the community on the lines of pairing the students off, pretending they’re married and running a household budget. You must pass to graduate. This is not taught at all now. Students (hopefully) would learn you can’t buy everything you want (especially on credit) and you might actually want to study and get good grades because if you end up working at most blue collar jobs you”ll be at the lower end of the income scale.
That’s like saying, “Well, these students are a few points away from passing their trig classes, so let’s give them some extra points and pass them off into calculus.” That works beautifully, until they flunk calc.
If this gains traction, and sadly it seems that way, in the not too distant future when someone asks you “what’s your handicap?”; chances are that they are not referring to your bowling or golf score.
Best,
Joseph
The “Credit Score Enhancement Program”…
I can think a better name for this boondoggle:
Credit
Repair
Assistance
Program