Don't We Deserve A Break?

Well, here we are again reading in the news where the jobless and homeless rates are up, but AIG is once again taking government bail out monies and paying out bonuses to the tune of $165 million dollars and we the tax payers are going to sit tight and let this happen. They are citing contractural obligation. Now, how can they pay bonuses out to executives who have had a hand in their downfall? I don't understand this at all.

If my husband doesn't perform up to par and doesn't meet his goals, he looses his job. He has no recourse to take the company to court and sue, it is cut and dried. AIG should be firing these people and not giving them bonuses for bad performances. It boggles my mind.

I just read last night that churches are having financial difficulties because with the recession, they are not receiving their tithes and offerings as they should be. My answer is simple and I have stated this fact over the last few days. We as Americans need to stop being slaves to banks and mortgage companies and we need to start taking care of each other.

As I have said, all it would take is about 200-300 people willing to pool their monies together for a few months to start helping each other pay their homes off. I realize it would take a giant leap of faith which Americans have had shaken to their core, but it could be done. Think of the benefits of NOT having a mortgage hanging around your neck! Wow! What a concept.

Christians and non-Christians everywhere could be doing this. For those of you that belong to a church, talk to your leaders about doing this and work together as a congregation to pay off the church mortgage first, then decide as a church who you want to help next. For some smaller congregations this would be an amazing testimony of faith and of how God wants us to live without debt!

I think this can be done and I am looking for 200-300 people who want to get this ball rolling and show congress, the president, the banks and the rest of the world that we as Americans can and will take care of ourselves. Does it take faith? You betcha it does. You would be sending money to a complete stranger month in and month out and hoping when your home is up for pay off, the money would be there.

But honestly, don't we send our money month after month to strangers anyway? How many of us have 401K's that we allow a stranger to control and yet, we have never even met the person or firm that handles our money? How many of us have lost thousands in this economic downfall out of our 401K and yet are still sending money to these companies?

I am believing in miracles, I am believing we can get a grass roots movement going here and when our homes are paid for we can breathe easier should the ax fall on our shoulders. Without a mortgage payment, some of you may be able to go on a vacation for the first time in years if not ever. Without a mortgage, some can afford to set money back for their children to go to college. Without a mortgage, some can give more to their church, volunteer more in their community, take a job that makes a little less money.

The Bible tells us to owe no man, but what I see could happen if this caught on, would be we could break our chains of slavery and bondage to the mortgage companies. Look around your family, your neighborhood, your city, how many vacant homes are there? How many people got caught up in the real estate hype and believed they could afford homes that cost a quarter to a half a million dollars when they made less than $100K a year?

God is very specific in His word about debts and borrowing. Proverbs 22:7, 'The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lenders slave.' WOW!! How powerful and truthful is this verse? How many Americans have become slaves to their debts? Their homes, vehicles, credit cards? How many of us thought we had to keep up with the Jones to make life easier to live?

Bloggers in blog land, wake up, the time has come for us to stop being slaves to the banks in this country and become debt free. How is it, that we are the slaves to our lenders and while they are enjoying thousand dollar dinners, we are eating hot dogs. While they are enjoying vacations several times a year in places like France, Spain and the Hamptons, we can't even afford to spend the night in a motel 6. While we would be fired from a job for not performing, company executives are getting bonuses for bringing their company into default!

I am NOT a Madoff! I wouldn't know how to rip anyone off & it certainly isn't in my nature to see people hurt more than we are all hurting now. Contact your church, your co-workers, your friends, grocery store clerks, teachers, etc. tell them we need to become involved in small groups to help each other pay our homes off. We can do this and I am not going to give up just because someone thinks I have a goofy idea! I think this goofy ideas time has come and I believe that Americans have had enough and will trust each other to see this through.

I say we start small and work our way up. Set a cap of when you want to stop. Set a cap of how many in your group you want. You would have to do this by taking the highest mortgage pay off and deciding how much each one in your group could afford to contribute each month until their home was paid for.

For example, the top cost of a home your group wants to pay off is $200,000. If you had 200 people in your group, it would cost them $1000 each one time to pay this home off and many people probably don't have this to pay. However, if you started at the bottom and paid off a home for a widower that had a mortgage of $75000.00 each person would pay $375 the first month. The next month, the widower doesn't have a mortgage payment, so he contributes his entire mortgage payment to the next person and so it goes on and on until all of sudden that top mortgage of $200,000 is even paid off in full.

This is how it could work and I believe it can. It won't take a leap of faith, it will take a GIANT leap of faith and someone that can sit down and work all the logistics out. It will mean once again having faith in our neighbors, family and friends. America was founded on Faith, it is at least worth a try to see if it could be done!

Have a blessed Sunday, we awoke to snow!