Thursday, March 27, 2008

There but for the grace of God go I...not.

CNN has one of those human interest stories about a poor woman in California who fell on hard times: "From $70K to food bank, one family's struggle" The story is meant to evoke sympathy or warn us of the consequences of a sputtering economy but it doesn't take too long into the article to see that things don't add up:

Guerrero is estranged from her husband and raising her two young children. She's already burned through her savings to help make ends meet, and is drawing unemployment checks. She has had to take extreme measures to pay for her interest-only mortgage of $2,500 a month. In fact, her mother moved in with her to help pay the bills.
So:
1) She's too proud to ask her estranged husband for help, yet won't divorce him and sue for child support.
2) She had absolutely no savings if she's unemployed for a single month and already filing for food stamps.
3) There is no way somebody making $70K a year can afford a $2500/month mortgage. She's clearing somewhere around four grand a month, meaning she's spending a mammoth 63% of her take-home pay for a mortgage on which she's gaining no equity.

If only she had the fiscal knowledge that interest-only loans are a dead-end:

A former loan processor, Guerrero knows all about that, although so far she has been able keep her house.
There are genuine tales of hardship out there in America but this story just does not make any sense. Worst poster child since Graeme Frost.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm unfamiliar with this story, but Grahame Frost & Family kicked the GOP's butt around the block. Invoking him for rhetorical support is like John Kerry bragging about his success in making "swiftboating" a verb.

Eric said...

That makes no sense. The Frost story utterly derailed the Democrats' 2007 attempt to expand socialized medicine. They had to scramble to find a "better" family but by then the legislation was essentially scuttled. Maybe you're thinking of a different Grahame Frost.

Brian said...

Funny how the 22 Republicans can do so much damage in California. I am sure its the GOP's fault too that your home state is being deserted little by little.

I told my wife a year ago that, in 2008, no matter what, the economy is all you are going to hear about since Bill Clinton won on his bullshit in 1992.

Anonymous said...

That makes no sense. The Frost story utterly derailed the Democrats' 2007 attempt to expand socialized medicine.

Ignoring the "eek!" socialism angle, the Democrat-led Congress passed two SCHIP bills which were subsequently vetoed by Bush. Bipartisan support was greater than usual for this period. After the first bill, 44 House Republicans voted to override the veto, with the override falling short by 13. The second bill's content and fate was much the same.

An 18-month stopgap was passed last December, and the SCHIP program will be revisited in early 2009. A 13-seat pickup for the House Democrats would be a conservative estimate. What you call "utterly derailed," most people would call "briefly delayed."

There is no evidence, none at all, that Graeme Frost cost the SCHIP bill votes. Neither did the GOP get their "butts kicked around the block," especially since dozens of Republicans would have been participating in the kicking.

I call it a "push," but we can't have that in this environment. So if obliged to choose, I'd say the Frost story - to the extent it mattered at all - has registered against the Republicans. Bush's belated fiscal restraint certainly hasn't improved his standing or his clout. Health care as an issue is in the Democratic column, but it probably would have been there anyway. Round One of this story wasn't exactly the greatest victory in Democratic Party annals. But there's NO way to sell it as a Republican win of any significance.

Anonymous said...

Michelle Malkin, on the Democrats and Graeme Frost:
"The use of Graeme Frost was part of a larger left-wing strategy to hide behind children and use them as cannon fodder in their losing bid to get S-CHIP passed into law... From Jennifer Bush to Graeme Frost, the Democrats have gladly welcomed the opportunity to use these kids as ideological human shields in the war over health-care entitlements. Ignoring the perils of poster child abuse, the mainstream media have served–and continue to serve–as willing propaganda tools. Perhaps it is time for the Left and its mouthpieces to take a political Hippocratic oath: The next time they contemplate exploiting youngsters in their drive for socialized medicine, they should Do No Harm."

Michelle Malkin, on GWB surrounding himself with "snowflake babies" while vetoing stem cell funding:
".........chirp chirp...........chirp..........."

Anonymous said...

This woman is an idiot. An interest only loan? If her husband is on the mortgage, let it default if he doesn't chip in - not like she'll lose any equity.

Perhaps a smaller, affordable dwelling would be in order. If they don't have much equity and are underwater, turn in the keys and walk.

Looking for a new job might help too - although it won't pay that worthless monster mortgage.

They really ought to require coursework in personal finance before awarding high school diplomas.

JorgXMcKie said...

Sooooo, I take it that, since the full SCHIP bill is still pending, the Dems are still using the Graeme family as their poster children for the bill? Or that at least early next year they'll begin to do so again? I mean, after all, if they "kicked the GOP's butt" then they should still be kicking, right.

Oh. Another of those falsities that 'Progressives' figure if they repeat all the time will be believed. Nevermind.