Reply #15: That was uncalled for

[PurityOfEssence]

Your initial point was that job loss was the only real issue. This poster pointed out that the increase in an adjustable rate along with other inflationary factors could push people to the tipping point. That's a very real possibility and we're already seeing it.

The interest only loans and the adjustable loans made when interest rates were as low as they could reasonably be expected to be will wreak havoc if (when) things sour a bit.

Yes, you obviously have an ax to grind about the economy, and most of us here agree with that, but don't deny the dynamic of a changing economy as it affects payment rates. There will be--and already have been--great moments of "envelope shock" as people open their bill to find out what the new nut is. People often overextend themselves, and it doesn't take job loss to start the whole thing to crash down around one's ears.

If you're on a one-note screed about job loss you're not smoking something, you must be slamming something that would make mommy faint.

As if this isn't enough of a lecture, remember this: YOU took this discussion to the point of blaming and ridicule, so you have no real claim to righteousness.

Life isn't like the movies, that's why there are movies. In movies, you see the pivotal moment where things change; in life, you're chipped away at by all sorts of little events. People lose their houses by a few increases in their mortgage payments, a steep incline in gasoline costs for their huge idiotic Eff-You-Vee and an odd health expense or two. Yes, they also lose them due to job loss, but you're missing the really big point here: adjustable rates can take the whole thing down even if the job is stable.

It's the fault of the person who signed on to the deal, but most of us on the left feel that government and laws should be there to help protect people from themselves. That's the reasoning behind Social Security. Far too few are math-savvy, and even though it's their fault for gallivanting about in a reckless way, it's to all of our best interests to keep people from crashing and burning; the price of individual failure is just too great.

Regulation is good. It slows things down and erodes profit potential, but it keeps people safe and keeps society stable.