Folks may recall Rick Santelli, the commodities trader who sparked outrage when he went into a diatribe on CNBC about not wanting to pay his neighbor's mortgage. The context was the mortgage modification program proposed by President Obama, which uses government money to provide lenders and servicers with an incentive to modify mortgages. (The money actually goes to banks, not homeowners, but we'll ignore that for now.) This complaint resonated among at least some segment of the population, who were given considerable attention in the media. Congress subsequently passed a stimulus bill which included an $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit. This tax credit is about to be renewed and expanded to apply to some current homeowners who buy a new house. Given the anger over the mortgage modification program and the attention that this anger received, it would be reasonable for the media to be investigating the anger (or lack thereof) over this tax credit. After all, if Rick Santelli is angry about paying for his neighbor's mortgage, isn't he also angry about paying for his house?
--Dean Baker
