archives

I get frustrated, bordering on disgusted, with irresponsible personal finance. I mean really, how hard is it to only buy what you can afford? Credit card debt – is this what mankind was supposed to be wrestling with in the 21st century? Sub-prime mortgages – let me get this straight; someone buys a house they can’t afford under terms they don’t understand by borrowing the money from a lender who doesn’t clearly disclose the terms who really doesn’t expect to get paid back who sells that loan to someone else who doesn’t really know how much it’s worth but is willing to take the risk for a potentially high return who then gets stuck with a loss when the borrower inevitably defaults on his unexpectedly high payments. To top it off, Congress, which got upset in the 1990’s when lenders wouldn’t loan enough to people with less than ideal credit ratings, now jumps all over those same lenders for being “predatory” for lending too much to people with less than ideal credit ratings, while federal regulators stood by and watched under the oversight of, you guessed it, the Congress.

Why do the same people who complain the most about the high cost of gas celebrate the high cost of gas as being needed to discourage driving and save the environment? Which is it - Bush and the evil oil companies are getting rich with high prices at the pump, or Bush and the evil oil companies are helping stop global warming through conservation caused by high prices at the pump?

Unscrupulous “chop shops” are talented at taking cars that have flood or collision damage and prettying them up for unsuspecting purchasers.

These rebuilt wrecks often have hidden damage or lack safety equipment such as airbags. They can be dangerous if they are in a subsequent wreck.

The town of Greensburg, Kan., has shown incredible pluck since a tornado demolished it a year ago.

It buried its dead; 12 persons were killed in Greensburg and nearby, including a police officer on duty.