Marx Warner: Communist VA Senator pushes housing/wealth “equity”

Isn’t this what we already went through a score or so ago? Remember…Bush, upping the home ownership numbers…defaults, bankruptcies. This almost sounds like college education: create policies and economic conditions to raise the price of housing to insane levels, complain the prices are “out of reach” for “working Americans,” create plans that virtually guarantee lenders no risk, then pay off “forgiven loans” off the backs of responsible taxpayers. So, lemme get this: I worked, scraped, went to school, had some success, bought a home…and Marx is going to give some of my fellow citizens a government deal that increases the equity in their home at half the rate? What the hell have I been doing for five years paying an extra $400 per month to “principal only”?

Good point, Steve. Eerily reminiscent of those disastrous policies.

I’m going to echo Steve’s comments. First, we have, indeed, been down this same road before, though it wasn’t pitched in terms of (racial) equity. And now? It’s being spun as “wealth equity”?!? WTH… has our Senior Marxist Senator lost his mind? The premise that there are “hard-working” Americans for whom home ownership is out of reach totally ignores this reality: that generations of hard-working Americans HAVE made it, including people of color, despite barriers of every sort imaginable, and have done so WITHOUT Big Government intervention. There is plenty of room for private sector innovation and lender collaboration that deserve encouragement and support, but the idea that the heavy hand of Government is either necessary, or sufficient, to create wealth is absolutely FOS. Confiscation (taxation) and Theft (redistribution) are ultimately Regressive. Second, how and when did WE decide to move from Equal Opportunity as in a level playing field to “Equity” which is the euphemism d’jour for “Free Stuff” absent hard work. Take note that Habitat requires a commitment of Sweat Equity for home ownership, for good reason. This proposal of Chairman Wo is your typical Social/Corporate Welfare scheme, designed to reward and perpetuate 1) voter loyalty and 2) cronyism. Lobbyists Hard At “Work” is NOT my idea of How Things (Oughta) Work.

Eric Schmitz, yes there are people who heroically overcome great odds. Are you one of them? No one who isn’t has a right to complain about government trying to help the poor (or about Warner doing the kind of thing the majority of voters elected him to do). Anyhow, “qualified home buyers” doesn’t sound like people sitting around asking for free stuff.

I agree that absolute equity is not a wise or achievable goal, but there is no such thing as equal opportunity — it’s a canard. Give two kids equal brains, equal parenting, equal education, equal social connections, etc. and you can begin to talk about equal opportunity. There is no level playing field, and there but for the grace of God go you and I.