It used to be, that I could look at my income, then look at my required monthly expenditures, and determine how much disposable income I had. Then, my wife and I would look at the things we wanted, decide which we wanted the most, check that the price was fair, . . . and then I would argue that we should save or invest the money instead of spending it. Heck, sometimes I even won out on that issue.
But now, it seems, Senator Harry Reid tells me that there's some salesman guy out in the midwest somewhere who has come upon hard times. It seems that his income has dropped (35% ?), and his house value has dropped more than $100,000 in value since he bought it.
Senator Reid assured me, several times, that the saleman's problems were "no fault of his own". So I feel quite confident that this guy must be the best salesman ever, but his employer is a jerk and refuses to pay him what he is worth. Although I can't figure out then, why a good salesman doesn't sell his services to a new employer who will pay for his salesman services. But I'm not supposed to ask, just fork over the taxes.
And I guess that I am also not allowed to ask how much the salesman paid for his house. I'm not allowed to ask if he was smart and got a fixed rate loan so that he was sure he could afford it, or if he got an ARM. Could he have managed with a smaller, less expensive house, so that he could be sure to make the payments, or did he go for the larger more luxurious house? Did he, and the bank, calculate how much house he could afford based on his salary plus (variable) commission? Or did they use a more, uh hem, conservative approach and base his purchase on what he could afford should his income decline somewhat? And what is the big deal anyhow --- the home price goes down, the home price goes up --- what does it matter as long as you can make the payments? Does this salesman want to move, and now he won't get "enough" money for his house??
Now normally, in a polite and civilized society, I wouldn't have any right or business to ask those questions. But now, . . . well, Senator Reid and 73 other US Senators have passed a measure that states that it is I (and you) who must make up for the shortfall between what salesman can afford, and what he actually purchased.
Now, my dilemma only gets worse. My neighbor just bought a shiny new car. Normally, I would be very happy for her. I would say how nice it looked, and ask her how much she likes it, is she excited, those kind of things. Things nice neighbors say to each other.
But now, . . . well, what if she can't make the payments? Then Senator Reid's gonna show up and tell me to cough up some more money. So instead of being happy for her, I am very angry that she bought much more car than she really needed. How dare she. What right does she have to a new car, when her old car ran just fine.
I don't like being angry with my neighbor. But you see, my wife and I haven't been on an actual go-away-from-home vacation in over 10 years. We would dearly like to spend a few thousand and get away for a week. But, how am I supposed to know if I can *afford* to go on vacation???
I am very good at math, but my math skills fail me. You see, the money I earn isn't mine anymore, to spend at my discretion. Instead that money belongs to Senator Reid, to dispose of in the way he best sees fit to save the country.
The only way that I can hope to get my money back from Harry Reid is to come up with a sob story that is sorrier than the salesman's. I must then apply to Harry Reid to see if he agrees that I am a needy case, and that my story is the saddest in all the land. If I had known, I wouldn't have studied to be an electrical engineer. Instead, an actor, a writer, -- somebody who can really tell a sad story and tell it well.
I'm gonna start working on my sob story soon. But right now, I gotta go let the air of my neighbors tires. Otherwise, she's going to drive to the mall and buy more stuff using a credit card. And I have to cut the lines for her cable modem so that her kid can't go online and apply for a college loan. I hate to do these things, but I just don't know if I can afford to spend my, er I mean Senator Reid's, money on those things.
No comments:
Post a Comment