Resentment

Rick Santelli's "Tea Party" rant Thursday morning on CNBC really resonated with me.

Democrats have been in power for one month and I've already had more than I can handle.

Gary Gentile, FOX News, writes:

Resentment Grows Over Paying for Others' Foreclosure Misery

Michelle Fry is a suburban Atlanta homeowner who has seen the value of her modest one-family home drop by more than half in the past year. She now sees a national mortgage bailout plan that appears to reward people who bought more house than they could afford and can't pay their bills. And she has a simple question for President Obama:

"Why am I paying for them?"

"We are very frustrated and scared," said Fry, 32, a newly expectant mother who works as a creative director for a public relations firm. Her husband Sam, 38, is a truck driver for a local printing company. Their combined household income is less than $100,000.

"My husband and I always discuss, 'Why do we try to better ourselves, when it seems if you do nothing, you get all the help in the world?'” she said.

That kind of frustration is being expressed at dinner tables throughout the country. Middle class homeowners who worked hard, played by the rules and paid their mortgage bills and taxes on time are wondering out loud whether the government is interested in helping them, too.

Their frustration is justified, said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. But the economic risk of letting millions of homeowners default on their mortgages leaves the government with little choice.

"A year ago I would have been appalled at this plan," Green said. "Now I think we have to do something like this. The moral hazard argument is valid, but is trumped by the macroeconomic situation."

...Green says the majority of Americans can be forgiven for holding their noses when they look over Obama's plan, but they should accept it nonetheless because it will help those who are in trouble through no fault of their own.

The plan will help millions of people who bought homes they could afford but now are unable to refinance or make payments because they lost their jobs.

"A decent number of these people have been completely responsible and have had the world come crashing down on them,” Green said.

And if the plan succeeds in bolstering sagging home values, that will help everyone, he said.

While the plan may help many who most need assistance, there may be some unforeseen consequences, warned David R. Henderson, a research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Bailing out homeowners who would otherwise be forced to find more affordable housing could hurt people who are ready to buy homes at rock-bottom prices, he said.

"All those people who have been saving their money, waiting on the sidelines, are being penalized," Henderson said. "The government is taking away this opportunity."

Of course, there's resentment.

I agree with Santelli that the "government is promoting bad behavior."

When one plays by the rules, works hard, and sacrifices, it's aggravating to have to pay for others' mistakes or lack of ambition and discipline. Why encourage bad behavior?

Sometimes, I wonder why we bother to live within our means.

Although I admit I do harbor some resentment, I still feel good about knowing that we did what was right, that we made good choices and succeeded.

What concerns me most is that the U.S. government, Barack Obama, and the Democrats are going to punish my family for living what used to be known as the American Dream once upon a time.

America used to be about infinite opportunity, no limits on one's dreams, the freedom to pursue and achieve and realize one's goals.

Obama and the Dems, directly and indirectly, are limiting dreams. I resent that. A lot.