Many politicians and political figures tout homeownership for the low-income families as a path to the middle class and financial security. While homeownership can sometimes be a good way to build savings and provide a measure of economic security to low-income families, this is not always true. It is certainly not true when low-income families buy overpriced homes in the middle of a housing bubble. It is also not true when they use mortgages that they really can't afford to make the purchase. The NYT endorsed a proposal today for the federal government to put up money to help bail out some of the low-income families that are now in trouble because they paid too much for a home and/or got a mortgage that they could not afford. Certainly these families are in difficult situations and could use some help. But, instead of taking the money from the taxpayers, maybe it could be taken from the politicians and organizations that pushed policies that got these low-income families in trouble in the first place. Also, is there some reason that we don't want to help the low-income families who were smart enough to ignore the experts on wealth building and continued to rent? It is really tragic that millions of low and moderate income families are suffering because of the social engineering of policy elites. Anything that can be reasonably done to ease their hardship should be done, but the media should be shining a spotlight on the mistaken policies that got us here. [USA Today has a good piece that explains why some of us don't believe that everyone everywhere should always own a home. Sometimes you have to move to follow a job.]
--Dean Baker
