Be careful what you wish for

With all the talk these days about CHANGE by both presidential candidates it brings to mind a story I recall from my childhood. Be careful what you wish for. A small boy with a crippled, badly deformed left arm went to a wishing well one day. With his good arm he pulled out a coin and tossed it in the well saying: “Wishing well, wishing well, please change my arm to be like my other arm.” POOF: His right arm was immediately crippled. Moral: Be very careful of the change you wish for. It may not be what you expect. Also, watch out for unintended consequences. For example: The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) passed in 1977 is designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to meet the needs of borrowers in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The Act requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage regulated financial institutions to relax mortgage loan qualifications. The intent was to make home ownership more available to low/moderate income families. A valiant goal. However, this act gave rise to the “sub prime” mortgage industry that is at the heart of the current financial crisis. Congress passed a $700 Billion dollar “bail-out” bill to shore-up the financial institutions from complete collapse. The saddest thing is that many of the low/moderate income families that this act was meant to help are losing their homes in foreclosure and declaring bankruptcy. Now their credit records are ruined and THEY STILL DON'T OWN A HOUSE!!