I found a post on NewsBusters about an article in the Washington Post where the writer was writing about how the “foreclose wave” is having it’s effect on immigrants. This article is among many where you are seeing about these bad loans being used as an excuse for more regulation and government influence. Did banks give out bad loans with horrible interest rates to those with bad credit or no credit? Yes they did and did these people voluntarily sign up for this ride? Yes they did. There were no guns to anyones head. The fact is many of these people made poor decisions based on the opinion of a banker who’s primary interest is to himself then to his bank and a variety of other people & institutions. Too many of these people failed to read and understand what they were signing including researching financing options. I listen to Dave Ramsey most days and I think he makes a good point when he talks about how we all make stupid decisions in our financial life. However it is important to learn from these bad decisions and not make them again going forward. In essence pay your stupid tax. However the politician’s are playing it this way instead they are looking for a way “fix” the situation. There is only one proven fix that will ever work and that is for the market to take it’s hits and move on. Is it hard for Americans and Immigrants alike to loose their homes? Yes. I have no doubt it is immensely devastating to loose your home from an emotional and financial standpoint. However if the government comes along and bails you out they are robbing you of the ability to learn from your mistakes. Thus we will see the cycle repeat.

I also want to address lending to illegal immigrants. I think over time we will hear more and more about defaulting loans made to illegal immigrants. After all these people did not find it important enough to follow our laws to get here much less financial commitments to a bank. I think it is horrible that banks in the US are being allow to lend money to illegal immigrants. It is no better than hiring them. It does two things in my mind first it place debt on domestic banks and thus risks American jobs. Second is many of these banks are insured by our government against failure. This is a bad deal for all honest Americans and legal immigrants.

Update:

Michelle Malkin’s take on this story.

Three good articles on Michelle Malkin’s site:

Illegal immigrants get home loans, low interest even
Home loans for illegal aliens
Home loans for illegal aliens, Pt II