I appreciate people admitting they're wrong. And by the way, yes I could have looked it up myself but the onus wasn't on me to do that. I wasn't the one making the claim that the facts pointed the finger at the poor.

I appreciate the effort you made (however quick) to look up the facts but Steve should have done that work in the first place. You do have a tendency to step in and jump to the defense of people on your side of the aisle before they've really had a chance to respond themselves. I understand that inclination. I've come to the defense of others when I see them being ganged up on but I do try to allow some time to pass to see if they'll defend their position on their own first.

Often I feel that you're poised on the sidelines in damage control mode waiting to pounce into a conversation if one of the conservatives here begins talking out their ass. Why you feel that need to bail them out when they're dead wrong or overreaching is beyond me.

It seemed this issue was obvious without even a lookup necessary. I had heard numerous interviews with experts in the housing market definitively say that the problem, although beginning about the same time as the program to assist the poor, was primarily caused by the rapid speculation of the upper and middle class after the fact not by the initial bunch that participated. But even had I not heard a single one of those interviews, the claim Steve made didn't pass the smell test. First programs like the one that historically don't attract the bottom of the barrel in the lower class but often the bunch who are working diligently to move out of that class. They're also usually more educated to even hear about the program. They are willing to jump through the red tape that always accompanies government programs like this. No matter how they'd try to simplify the steps, it had to end up much more complicated than simply filling out a form at the welfare office since it involved the transfer of property. Lazy and non-productive folks are simply not motivated to put in that much effort. Of course there would be failures among the group but one would assume the cost of the houses they went into would be on the low end of the spectrum.

The other factor was I was acutely aware of what was happening in the economy around me during this period. I could see with my own eyes who the participants were in the rabid speculation and it was chilling to know that many of those folks were on a speeding freight train and the bridge was out. Way too many people (and I'm not talking the poor) had wild expectations that the unrealistic price of their home would continue to rise and that they could use that equity to become real estate barons.

This was a political talking point pure and simple and a complete piece of propaganda aimed not at solving problems but simply to score a cheap hit. I'm just not going to stand for that type of crap anymore.

Art