If the banks, which frequently lent irresponsibly, and many homeowners, who often borrowed irresponsibly, are getting government assistance, Mr. Lawrence says he believes sober souls like himself are also due a break.
“Why am I being punished for having bought a house I could afford?” he asked. “I am beginning to think I would have rocks in my head if I keep paying my mortgage.”
But the benefits of a bailout for his neighbors seem ephemeral to the 45-year-old Mr. Lawrence, especially because he figures the cost of helping them will come, one way or another, out of his pocket as a taxpayer. “I’m basically financing my own financial destruction,” he said.
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“If all of our neighbors are getting bailed out despite their own bad decisions, arrogance or ignorance, and we’re asked to keep playing by the rules for the sake of the greater good, I don’t want to participate,” Mr. Luker said.
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those who will benefit the most are the ones who, unlike Mr. Lawrence, spent far beyond their means — who refinanced their houses and used the cash to buy toys and lavish vacations, or sometimes just to pay the bills.
“You put something down, you have something to lose,” Mr. Schiff said. “You put nothing down, you’ve got nothing to lose.”
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