Don’t Just Walk on By / Blanca DeBree Blog

Don’t Just Walk on By

foreclosure-exit-sign1 A growing number of Americans are simply walking away from their financial obligations, dumping underwater mortgages, and moving from home “ownership” to renting. These people argue that they are simply making a financial decision, weighing both the pros and cons, and deciding that it simply doesn’t make sense to continue to pour money into a property, which may have no hope of ever recovering its value.

These people couldn’t be more wrong. First, who do you think you are? You have made a solemn pledge to pay a mortgage, and to walk away from that promise is not only irresponsible, it is morally reprehensible.

It’s not like these people are millionaire bankers or company executives, who can honestly break promises, walk away from pension obligations and raid corporate coffers in order to pay millions in bonuses baked by American taxpayers for a job not done.

You are the so-called “little guy,” and if you haven’t figured it out yet, you are fucked more than a Missouri Republican leader’s mistress when he forgets the safety word. You have no rights. You have to keep paying, no matter how painful, because you signed a piece of paper. And we all know how important paper is. Contracts are the basis of our economy. If we don’t honor them, then what will become of our society.

It’s not like you are Lou Dobbs, who can just be released from his contract when it’s no longer fun brown bashing on CNN. It’s not like you are Miss California, who can just conveniently forget her compact and wing it as she goes about doing shit expressly forbidden in her contract. You know you don’t have the luxury of just giving the Donald a blow job to get an early no-fault release. And it’s not like you are Sarah Palin, who can walk away from a promise to serve the people of Alaska in order to run around the country on a book tour.

No, you must honor your commitment to the very same people who got you into this mess in the first place. To saddle them with a worthless property like they have done to you is just plain wrong. It’s just not Christian.

Because let’s face it, Jesus was a capitalist, and a supply-side capitalist at that. He never asked you to look out for the little guy. He never blessed the meek or said that they would inherit the earth or anything like that. And I believe he said rich men would get into heaven with camels and needle eyes. At least that is what I read in my latest copy of the Conservative Bible.

So all you dead beats hear me now. You must continue to pay. Because if you just walk away, what will happen to all those fat cats on Wall Street? Can you look them in the eye and tell them that they will have to get their millions in bonuses from taxpayers instead of ripping it off from excessive fees and penalties?

I just don’t think you could do that.

Won’t someone think of the millionaires?