18th Feb 2009, 12:24

That might be true if that were actually the case. The reason we are in the situation we're in is because for close to 30 years - yes that means as far back as Reagan - the largest lobbies in Washington are ALL either real estate, investment banking, or mortgage related lobbies whom are the biggest contributors to political campaigns. That includes both parties, Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, and so on. Untold hundreds of millions of dollars per year from real estate and mortgage industries alone. All in an effective effort to get politicians to look the other way as these industries became more and more deregulated and chaotic.

Turning to God is fine. But turning to Politicians and getting them to stop accepting outright bribes from corporations and industrial groups is the way to fix this problem.

18th Feb 2009, 15:12

And then there are car enthusiasts who buy the cars of their dreams after their home is paid for, and their children's educational needs are addressed.

I also did not take out car loans, I flipped a property.

It's not to impress, but to really enjoy from working smart.

I heard the number one credit card from millionaires is a Sears card. The only issue I had with the Walmart comment was that only new domestic buyers with zillions of kids and drink Bud shop there. I agree that's off base. I could care less who and where I shop or who sees what I drive. But I like driving great handling cars. Boring, uninspired appliance new vehicles are fine as basic transportation, but we love driving and can afford without a loan.

18th Feb 2009, 23:32

"Wealthy people do not get where they are by throwing money away, or concerning themselves with exhibitions of wealth like fancy cars or expensive houses."

I agree. From what I have observed, the people who earned the money drive sensible cars. Fancy cars are driven by people who inherited the money, or just got the cars on credit and don't really have the money.

I am kind of having an interesting time watching the automobiles of my nice neighbors two blocks away that last year tore down a $500,000 house and spent $2,500,000 building a nice house so they could be next door to their elderly mother and father. You know they don't care about the fact their house will never be valued anywhere near what they spent building it since it is so much more expensive than any house within a half-mile radius of them.

They own one of the biggest construction firms in our small state, and I see their names in the paper on the lists of contributors to miscellaneous elected officials in dollar amounts that would buy most of us a nice new car. I think they drive what they like and don't care what people think about it. What I see in their compound are some sensible cars for weekdays. I see a Sable, a Civic, a Focus, an Acura TL, some kind of big Buick SUV, a C class Mercedes and a Mercedes SLK. There are a couple of other cars I can't remember. But then sometimes on weekends when the garage doors are open, we see a Ferrari, a Maserati, and a Lamborghini. It kind of makes me wonder what I would drive if money truly were no object.

19th Feb 2009, 06:58

I mentioned this on another review. I live in Delaware and know a family with a Ford Ranchero wagon in the garage. It's not their only car, but it is still registered. But they also own 6 airplanes. Cannot go by what people drive or dress. It's likely more relaxing when going out with less security issues and/or unwanted attention.

But we recently had individuals paying very high six figures for low # active De. registration tag #'s for the back of their cars. The last was $675,000. Just for an active low # tag before buying a car as De. is a small state with an affinity for # tags. And the tags appreciate. I have had my low tag for 3 generations and it has appreciated greatly. It was on my grandfathers car first. Whatever makes money, if you have it to invest where it counts.

19th Feb 2009, 12:08

This is one of the most concise and best summations I have seen of our current economic mess. And with regard to our auto industry, it has not been just a case of people being manipulated by ad hype from Japanese companies. If the U.S. had universal health care (like all other civilized countries do) our auto makers would not be in the mess they are in. They have to pay BILLIONS in health care for current and retired employees, cutting deeply into operating expenses and profits. The U.S. is the only civilized nation on Earth that sits idly by and allows our poor, elderly and children to die for lack of medical care. It's ironic that the current bailout would have paid for healthcare for every man, woman and child in the U.S. Maybe someday we'll grow up as a nation if we don't go bankrupt first.

19th Feb 2009, 19:31

The solution is not to regulate industry. It is Washington who accepts all of the special interest money you mention and needs to clean out their own house. We tried regulating the banking industry, requiring banks to loan money to people who could not afford to pay them back. Now the banks are in trouble because of all the bad debt they have on their books. The government's devious response to have taxpayers buy up all this bad debt that it (government) created so they can slither in and take over the industry.

The real corruption in the banking industry is the Federal Reserve system, where we have a group of unelected and unconstitutional banking authorities controlling our monetary policy to profit themselves, while blindly running the economy into the ground with their flawed economic models.