Just who is responsible for whom?

By Dr. M. Sidney Wallace

I managed to complete my daily assignments early last Friday evening and had the evening off. I am too old to go cavorting at the local watering holes and did not want to attend any function at the theater. So I was able to sit back and catch up on some reading. All of a sudden my attention was drawn to the TV where three bleeding hearts were discussing "Who is looking out for the less fortunate home buyer and those who had to pay exorbitantly high interest rates on borrowed money."

These "blathering idiots" were sharing horror stories of how individuals were losing their homes, their cars, their boats, their stereos and home entertainment centers, all because they could not keep up with their repayment schedules.

The consensus of these bleeding hearts was that the government should step in and save these "poor" souls from their lives of poverty. The government should not let the evil money lenders charge exorbitant interest rates to these "poor" individuals.

In 2005 total federal, state, and local spending on assistance to the "poor" was a whopping 620 billion dollars. That was over 100 billion dollars more than the entire budget for national defense.

I started wondering if there were laws on the books in each state pertaining to legal interest rates allowed to protect the citizens of that state. I decided that yes each state had such laws.

I then considered if there were laws on the books in each state pertaining to armed coercion to make individual citizens accept the term of a "voluntary agreement" between two consenting adults. I decided that each state had laws on their books pertaining to the use of armed force.

Next, I wondered of there were laws on the books of each state pertaining to contracts being in writing. I learned many decades ago, that fundamentally for a contract to be binding and legal it needed to be reduced to writing.

At this point I decided that this discussion on television and the entire liberal agenda for "helping" the poor could be summed up with two words: Bovine Scatology.

There has not been a single documented case where any individual has been forced at gun point to sign a mortgage application, to sign for a car loan or to sign for a home entertainment center loan.

Our legislatures need to make reasonable laws pertaining to allowable interest rates, disclosure requirements, and acceptable and recognizable language of contracts. Once this has been accomplished, then all levels of government need to get the hell out of the way and let the citizens decide what is best for them at the time and place they are living in. Inherent to being allowed to contract is the personal responsibility of both parties to fulfill their side of the contract.

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