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More mortgage misery

Ken Baguley says everything will be fine.

What's a few people thrown out of their homes as long as the neocons stay in charge.

Don't worry. Be Happy.

Only pediphiles and nutjobs are up at 1:10am scouring the internet for fodder.
Take an econ class.

It's the second sentence in the fourth paragraph that grabbed me: "Among mortgage holders in Utah, 23 percent are nonprime borrowers with FHA and subprime loans, compared to the national average of 19 percent."

Utah is going to experience the same thing the rest of the country is, only delayed. We're going to look the dumbest, though, because people were still buying in a frenzy when the rest of the country was showing signs of a downturn.

Things have gotten so bad that the cable/sattelite TV companies are in danger of going out of business, the cell phone companies are also hurting, the NBA is not selling seats and the kids are wearing hand-me-downs and $15 sneakers again. The ecomony isn't bad, peoples priorities are.

I am sorry but this is a problem that people got themselves into. Most people did not know the questions to ask their Mortgage Broker at closing or before closing, they did not understand what they were signing. Or this was an investment property that turned Sour. This is not a bad thing. It is a WAKE UP call to Americans to know what you are signing and to take your contracts seriously. This is going to Humble our Country and FORCE them to Educate themselves as to what they are getting themselves into.
Banks Were greedy but then again were so many Americans who got into House flipping and investment properties. We look at things now and we know that people made a big error with their money and they are now paying for it. I do not feel bad for all those loosing their homes but there is a small percentage that truely fell on hard times that my heart goes out too. But the Greedy ones... I say Too Bad

Kevin - It is a well known fact that Utah has a higher percentage of self employed individuals than most states. I am self employed and I make well over 200K per year. I bought a house that I can definitely afford yet I have what is considered a "sub-prime" loan because I had to do a stated income loan (since I'm self employed). Anyway my point is taking one sentence and making some ridiculous generalizations out of it doesn't prove that Utah is in a worse situation than any other part of the country. It proves that you don't have a clue.

To: Self-employed: I got a regular mortgage even though I am self employed by putting 20% down and having my CPA draft a letter to prove I have been in business for more than two years. My tax records proved my income. So self employed people can get regular mortgages, contrary to your implication.

Yeah! Self Employed, you should go back to your bank and prove your income, rather than "state" it. You could probably get a better interest rate, and maybe by now you have 20% equity in your home and can refi. I learned something new here.

Either way, Utah's subprime majority is NOT a function of us just having "so many" entrepreneurs. It's because we start families and own homes so young that we've gotten hardly any money management life experience. We go bankrupt more than other states too, probably because when we figure out how much stuff costs, we can't work it around our behemoth mortgage payments and we have to turn to credit cards for any extras. 21-23 year olds are building these brand new houses, but don't have any credit yet, so they have to get subprime.

Too many of them will flounder and foreclose and rent for a few years, which will be humbling but strengthening. I'm 26, I rent, and there's nothing wrong with it. It is natural to be a little nomadic in your 20's and figure out where to settle down later.

Props to those my age who have 5 yrs equity though!

Simple economics: home prices in Utah will go down for several years. Deal with it.

Don't ya just love it when Republicans come on here and post about how well they're doing when the article is about people losing their homes? It just goes to show ya how compassionately conservative they really are.

Neocons worship wealth and power - and really nothing else when it comes down to their values.
And the fools like to pretend they are bosom buddies with the mega-wealthy they keep voting into power at the expense of the little guy.
Which group do YOU belong to?
Mega-wealthy or little guy?

LOL, the Democrats are pushing our country to Socialism ie) Obama and Hillary. The Republicans have done a terrible job over the past few years by overspending. People need to take responsibility for their OWN actions and not depend on the Government (Democrats) to bail them out everytime they make the wrong decision. Obama will push us deeper into recession will all his Tax increases and McCain probably wont make it out of the presidency alive if he makes it. What great choices?

Republicans are to blame for everything, huh. This is a sad fact for you "Gotta Love It", but the problem is with the mortgage brokers and borrowers like "Self Employed". Are all of them Republicans? I don't see the connection. I just see someone who tries to leverage every bad thing that happens to promote their political views.

The housing crisis is sad. But at the same time it is a happy time for responsible people like myself who didn't freak out at the price jump and get a loan I couldn't afford. I'm waiting for them to come down because I took economics (it's actually considered a science you know).

If you take big risks in life because you don't collect all the facts, occasionally one is not going to work out. We can try to build a GINORMOUS government all we want, but we can't govern away risk. People occasionally need to make good choices without being governed to do so.

Anonymous 10;58 I am a "little guy" but I generally find your ranting against neocons to be more offensive than their behaviour. And yes - I have values other than wealth worship.

The dying modern American conservative movement has never been, nor never will be, on the side of "the little guy." They choose CEO's over statesmen everytime and that has been their downfall.
This is why millions of young people are registering Democratic in preparation for some ray of hope from a liberal black guy named Obama whose been there, can identify with them and speaks their language.

Hey, I'm as rabid an anti-neocon as there is fully realizing that they're a canker on the arse and cancer to the body politic of this country. But don't blame the neocon alone for the mortgage crisis... this one extends across the political spectrum.

Liberals/conservatives, left/right, all got caught in the roller coaster ride.

If the neocons are responsible for a part of this tragedy, it is their Bushy attitude that 'everything's fine, we're not in a recession...' mentality.

The real cause is Corporate Socialism/Welfare that are all driven by rich, privileged greedy individuals and corporate executives. A thorough investigation of the mortgage crisis will uncover that the root of the problem is the HEDGE FUNDS! These are unregulated investment speculators who have put this nation at risk not seen since President Hoover. Like then, with its disasterous consequences, has a small number of super rich held the nation hostage to unregulated profit taking at the expense of the other 99% of the American population.

Time for an FDR type of bringing markets and commodity trading back to needed government regulation and oversight. 30 years of free-market (actually free-wheeling) economy run amok has been disasterous, time to pull back.

When you go from a liberal administration (Clinton)that left this great country with a healthy surplus and then have a conservative administration (Bush/Cheney) that is running the country into the ground with massive debt, unemployment and a totally insecure future, while their pals become richer by the day ...
you bet your (blank) I'm upset with the neocons.

A question:

Assuming Barack Obama wins the Presidency in November (which I'd put good money on), what will his devotees' response be when, in 2012, the glittering future he's promising has failed to arrive -- and not only that, we're still mired in recession?

(Which we will be -- we've put off the day of reckoning for so many economic loose ends for too long -- like about twenty years, by my reckoning.)

It seems to me the United States can never be the economic power it used to be.
Countries come into power and each and every one eventually gives way to another.
It may be difficult for the champions of capitalism to initiate a re-education process (some say it is already being done) commencing with telling our children: "You really don't need that BMW."
Or even: "You know ... the best things in life are free."
But what is really the alternative?

You are so off based both as to your premise and lack of historical context.

Historically speaking... Republicans love the rich, privileged and corporations... Democrats love the laborers, common guys and small business owners.

Historically speaking... both parties love their own type of socialism/welfare schemes... Republicans - Corporate Socialism & Welfare, Democrats - Public Socialism & Welfare... but BOTH ARE SOCIALISM & WELFARE all the same!

Historically speaking... Republicans grind the overall American economy into depressions with their out of control free-market (actually free-wheeling) economics that makes wealth flow to the upper 1% at the expense of the 99%... Democrats could (because it never happened) grind an American economy into depression with out of control over-government regulation economics that makes wealth flow to the lower 1% at the expense of the 99%.

Solution: Both political parties need to dispense with religious and elitists ideologies and incorporate ALL of the capitalist economics of Smith and Locke, which requires a balance of "the hidden hand of free markets" being accountable to "the role of government to regulate commerce and assure the safety and welfare of its citizens against both foreign and domestic incursions that put the public at risk."

Pretty Simple!