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B-Rant- submitted by Linda Keenan on 02/28/2008And I'm Supposed To Feel Sorry For You Because...?First In A Series: Victim 1 By Linda Keenan The current economic crisis has many victims, and one of them is the wall next to my couch, where I literally fling the paper or magazine in disgust as I read yet another sad-sack story of average Americans who have finally figured out they can't afford that vast manse on the hill, the tricked-out home theater, the his-n-her Hummers. My poor, abused wall, that Money Magazine really lands with a bracing thud. So this is my own occasional series that I call "And I'm Supposed To Feel Sorry For You Because...?" in which I pluck a tale out of the paper, and parenthetically fricassee the latest "victim" of the great American overspending horror show. If I sound like a lemon-sucking shrew, well, on this topic, I am. Today's Victim: Stuart B. Breakstone, come on down! Stuart was featured recently in the New York Times.* For Stuart Breakstone, the problem hit home when he was forced to come to the closing on the sale of his eight-year-old custom-built house with a check for $65,000. The money, out of his own pocket, {umm, whose pocket should it come from? Mine?} was to pay the difference between what he still owed on the mortgage for his home and the lower selling price. Mr. Breakstone, a 42-year-old lawyer, {yeah, just what John Edwards was ranting about -- those two Americas -- the rich, and the dirt-poor lawyers} and his wife, who together earn more than $250,000 a year, managed to extricate themselves by paying off the mortgage {wow, how'd they swing that on a measly quarter mil' a year}. But the Breakstones are in danger of sinking, despite their high income. After forking over $65,000 on the house they just sold, they are struggling with $670,000 in debt on their present, larger home, perhaps more than the house itself is worth {super-size that mortgage, please! Yeah, and the Number 7, no onions}. The Breakstones, each previously divorced, bring three children to their union. Mr. Breakstone thought that he could sell his custom-built home quickly, but it sat on the market for 17 months and finally brought only $170,000 {Recap: his old house sold for 170K...he has to scrape together 65K, and now he's got a 670K mortgage? Livin' the dream, chief.}. He covered the shortfall by borrowing against his present home {my buddy at the club told me he did it, so I did too!} bringing it closer to being underwater, too. Now the Breakstones are saddled with $4,000 a month in house payments, and $14,000 more in fixed outlays {this gaping hole in my budget really hurts like a mofo}, including child support, car leases, taxes, consumer debt and utilities, using up the bulk of their income. {chahh....YEAH! That's 216K a year. Not that anyone's counting ‘cept me and the Times reporter.} "I used to think," Mr. Breakstone said, "that I would pay the piper later and enjoy life now. I've totally reversed that view." {That tax rebate will sure come in handy for him this year. Oh wait! He makes too much money for the full rebate? That poor, poor man.}
Linda Keenan is a contributing writer at Burbia. Linda worked 7 years as a head writer/senior producer for various programs on CNN. Before that she worked as a writer/producer for Bloomberg TV. She now writes satire, primarily about parenting culture, at Thoroughly Modern Mommy.   Right on, keep the doses of - submitted by BobfrWinnetka on 02/28/2008
Right on, keep the doses of reality coming!! give me a break - submitted by Elaine on 02/28/2008
Have you no sympathy? Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep up just with ordinary expenses? Do you have any idea what a divorce costs??? nope no sympathy - submitted by linda keenan on 02/28/2008
a divorce costs 18K a month? how about sympathy for people who havent overreached and 1. are seeing the dollar plunge to record lows. 2. are seeing their savings rate plunge. 3. seeing their home values plunge. 4. look ahead and see their kids ending up paying for this mess. how about sympathy for them? i agree with linda. you - submitted by Joey on 02/28/2008
i agree with linda. you don't hear enough about people taking responsibility for their dumb irresponsible decisions. there should be sympathy. maybe a little for the richer folks but a lot more for those who never had the choice and who are suffering for reasons they can't control I'm sick of the whiners. - submitted by Anonymous on 02/28/2008
I'm sick of the whiners. Can't make due on $250 thousand? Boo hoo, move into a 1 bedroom and eat ketchup for dinner. yeah i just think the - submitted by linda keenan on 02/28/2008
yeah i just think the entitlement attitude is going to lead to a decade of slow growth. i am a former economics writer so i do know a little. yesterday in my daily paper throwing this woman was talking about what she is doing to cut down because of gas prices. she said she would normally take her 4 kids to the movies with the works (food etc.), 70 bucks a buck, 4-5 times a month. so at MINIMUM she is spending 3400 a year just on movies. and im supposed to feel sorry for her because...... boy im bitter eh? waahhh i make $250K a year! - submitted by Christina on 02/28/2008
These people are ridiculous. I can only dream about what I would do with the money that those people make. I just feel sorry for the kids because they are the ones that will suffer the most. What happens when they want to go to college and find out daddy spent all of his money on a heated driveway and 3 extra bedrooms that nobody uses? It sucks when you're parents are financially retarded. I couldn't agree more, - submitted by KARRY on 02/28/2008
I couldn't agree more, Christina. I feel sorry for the kids and I have little sympathy for people who know better and are now acting dumb. Thanks to the author for saying things that many more should be saying. I hate hate that the government bails out the banks because they're pond scum. But the educated and rich who choose to behave the way they do shouldn't be bailed out either. i know I'm gonna be trashe - submitted by Anonymous on 02/28/2008
i know I'm gonna be trashe dbut 250,000 after taxes isn't as much as you all think. I don't feel so sorry for these people but don't think we oughta throw them under a train. I agree with the last commenter about the banks. they're the bad guys h ere and they're the ones who are going to get off free and thats a shame. dude Anonymous, 250K is - submitted by workingguy on 02/29/2008
dude Anonymous, 250K is plenty enough not to act like a moron. the guy was a lawyer for chrissakes. he's got a lot of nerve telling his story as if we're supposed to feel sorry for him. im sorry, i don't feel sorry for him. now i agree im pretty harsh - submitted by linda keenan on 02/29/2008
now i agree im pretty harsh with this. wait till you see the others. they are even more harsh. but im really getting angry about the huge impact this orgy of overspending has caused. yesterday pennsylvania had to halt making federally guaranteed student loans because of all this. and you can blame the 'pusher' here all you want, the banks, but if we are a nation that can send 18 year olds off to war, the rest of us should be accountable for figuring out that we cant afford half million dollar houses. ok, that connection doesnt quite work but you get what im saying, hopefully! Linda, I agree with you. - submitted by Gretta on 02/29/2008
Linda, I agree with you. People need to be accountable, period. Thanks for making the point! i lost everything in vegas - submitted by Anonymous on 02/29/2008
i lost everything in vegas but i knew the risk. some of these people act like they're in 3rd grade. i do feel sympathy but i know there are others who deserve it more and it kills me that the banks out there are going to get away with it all. they knew what they were doing and they couldn't care less about who they were screwing. shame on the banks and shame on the government for bailing them out. "a 42-year-old lawyer, - submitted by humorist on 03/01/2008
"a 42-year-old lawyer, {yeah, just what John Edwards was ranting about -- those two Americas -- the rich, and the dirt-poor lawyers" -- excellent line! thank you humorist! - linda - submitted by linda keenan on 03/01/2008
thank you humorist! - linda This reminds me - submitted by livinbelowourmeansandlovinit on 03/07/2008
of how my Mother reacted when my mid-six figure earning brother lost his job. Here I was, a single mom of 3 working hard to pay my bills, and Mom's worried about how bro is gonna pay his $10,000/mo. mortgage! Every one that seems to be - submitted by not a hater on 03/08/2008
Every one that seems to be bashing these people just remember that the money they were spending was helping keep other people in biz.Once all the spending stops you will really start seeing the pain.When companies start making the cutbacks you guys that are happy because these morons are losing money will start feeling it too. And at least he isnt just walking away from his obligations and sticking the bank with his mistake. Just charge the blame to... - submitted by McAllister Bryant on 03/08/2008
To answer your question regarding these three examples, NO, we should not be feeling sorry for that segment of the housing crunch. The era of conspicuous consumption consumed their ass and apparently their critical thinking skills. Many of them religiously watching the CNN, Fox and CNBC talking heads always touting the booming economy and the growth markets and the endless yammer of rose colored optimism. Spend, spend, spend. If we just spend enough, we can spend our way through these hard times. We can spend our way out of debt, we can spend our way out of an impending recession. But the talking heads never, ever discussed the negative ramifications of overleveraging [that might piss off their advertisers Chase and Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch and Bank of America and Countrywide]. That is not to take the blame away from the borrowers, but the lack of fiduciary responsibility of the banking industry to keep folks from over leveraging their assets and the lack of regulatory action by the SEC certainly bears a tremendous amount of the burden. Also keep in mind that for every story of a free spending [and charging] yuppy [to bring back an 80's term] there are just as many stories of folks who were targeted for their naiveté or helplessness in the system, not out to game it. I would be interested in your views as you dwell into these stories rather than simply picking the low hanging fruit. Heads, schmeads! Who cares about the talking heads? - submitted by MikeS on 03/08/2008
The point, McAllister, is that everybody has been talking about the fiduciary responsibility of the banking industry. All I've seen over the last few months are stories about the big bad banks and the evil that they've done. I'm glad Linda is telling the other side of the story. I'm sorry, but if you're making better than double my wage and you got yourself into financial trouble... c'mon. Where has your head been? And there are a lot of these people- I have been wondering where America's head has been for years now. The writing's been on the wall: low savings rates, high consumer debt, etc. I'm afraid there's more than just low hanging fruit here. When my wife and I bought, one nagging question we had was, "Look at these prices! How long can this keep going on?" With people's wages barely keeping up with inflation, how long can 10% year-over-year real estate prices keep going on? It's not endless, it couldn't be endless. That's obvious. People were greedy. "Pay the piper later, and enjoy life now." Didn't this guy's parents teach him about delayed gratification??? He sounds like a teenager. When you're a teenager you begin to learn that your actions have consequences... life is hard. Learn from it. $670000 Memphis home - submitted by MikeS on 03/08/2008
To top it all off, I can only imagine what a home worth $670000 in Memphis looks like. But heck, I make less that half what these guys make and we bought a $425000 two-flat in Chicago. How the hell did they manage to accumulate $14000 in fixed outlays? Methinks the other commenters complaining about "those evil banks" never owned piggy banks as children, either. Whatever happened to "spending within your means"? Case in point: I just got an offer from the bank for a refinance. It's an ARM, and interest is just 4.99%. That's Prime plus 1%, or something like this. Sounds good so far! ...Hmm, but, uh, if I'm gonna sign on the bottom line, isn't it up to me to ask the obvious question: "Hey buddy, how does that interest work? You say it's an ARM, right?" ...Well, lookee here! "Interest is tied to the Prime rate..." nice, I knew that, now let's look at that little asterisk, "...and can be adjusted 1% below (...riiiiight...) to 5% above..." WHAT!? You want me to sign up for a mortgage with interest that can, today, hit 9% at the bank's whim!? So I ask you: say I sign up for this mortgage. Which is most correct: A) The bank is evil? B) I am stupid? C) I am stupid and greedy? D) Both B and C? or E) All of the above. Nobody's Happy - submitted by MikeS on 03/08/2008
To "not a hater": No, nobody is happy that these people are in this mess. Nobody. I'm pissed as hell. This means that just like the banks' profits last year, any economic strength that was generated by American's overreaching debt was a paper tiger. So companies bought and spent and hired based on the same facade that's been generated by these people's overspending. I'm pissed because the whole situation has been a house of straw, and it's all going to come down on us, and responsible people are going to get hurt along with the knuckleheads, the naive, and the helpless. Yeah, I'm going to feel it. And it's going to be a lot worse then it would have been had we never gotten into this mess in the first place. Question: Let's assume that the government comes up with a massive bailout to help all the poor quarter-million-dollar-a-year unfortunates (and their much poorer compatriots). With the war in Iraq and all the other debt Bush has piled up for us, where are we going to get the money and who's going to pay for it? ...The more I think about it, the uglier it looks, and the more unhappy I am. For all of us. the breakstone family. - submitted by Anonymous on 04/28/2008
oh how i love the good ole' breakstone family... NOT ! How many people did the - submitted by Anonymous on 05/30/2008
How many people did the lawyer Stuart Breakstone ripped off... what goes aroung comes around. http://www.pokernews.com/live - submitted by Anonymous on 05/30/2008
http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2007-wsop/event-55-world-championship-no-limit-holdem/day1a/ Scroll down and look in the 25000 chips . Maybe this is also a reason why Breakstone could not pay......  |
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