A Question on The Perception of Socialism, Can you help me with this one?

Despite what the first responder said, the blame can be traced back to a speech Pres Bush gave in June 2002, where he was laying out his grand new plan to make everyone a homeowner. Here's a few paragraphs:

e are here in Washington, D.C. to address problems. So I've set this goal for the country. We want 5.5 million more homeowners by 2010 -- million more minority homeowners by 2010. (Applause.) Five-and-a-half million families by 2010 will own a home. That is our goal. It is a realistic goal. But it's going to mean we're going to have to work hard to achieve the goal, all of us. And by all of us, I mean not only the federal government, but the private sector, as well.

And so I want to, one, encourage you to do everything you can to work in a realistic, smart way to get this done. I repeat, we're here for a reason. And part of the reason is to make this dream extend everywhere.

I'm going to do my part by setting the goal, by reminding people of the goal, by heralding the goal, and by calling people into action, both the federal level, state level, local level, and in the private sector. (Applause.)

And so what are the barriers that we can deal with here in Washington? Well, probably the single barrier to first-time homeownership is high down payments. People take a look at the down payment, they say that's too high, I'm not buying. They may have the desire to buy, but they don't have the wherewithal to handle the down payment. We can deal with that. And so I've asked Congress to fully fund an American Dream down payment fund which will help a low-income family to qualify to buy, to buy. (Applause.)

We believe when this fund is fully funded and properly administered, which it will be under the Bush administration, that over 40,000 families a year -- 40,000 families a year -- will be able to realize the dream we want them to be able to realize, and that's owning their own home. (Applause.)

The second barrier to ownership is the lack of affordable housing. There are neighborhoods in America where you just can't find a house that's affordable to purchase, and we need to deal with that problem. The best way to do so, I think, is to set up a single family affordable housing tax credit to the tune of $2.4 billion over the next five years to encourage affordable single family housing in inner-city America. (Applause.)

The third problem is the fact that the rules are too complex. People get discouraged by the fine print on the contracts. They take a look and say, well, I'm not so sure I want to sign this. There's too many words. (Laughter.) There's too many pitfalls. So one of the things that the Secretary is going to do is he's going to simplify the closing documents and all the documents that have to deal with homeownership.

It is essential that we make it easier for people to buy a home, not harder. And in order to do so, we've got to educate folks. Some of us take homeownership for granted, but there are people -- obviously, the home purchase is a significant, significant decision by our fellow Americans. We've got people who have newly arrived to our country, don't know the customs. We've got people in certain neighborhoods that just aren't really sure what it means to buy a home. And it seems like to us that it makes sense to have a outreach program, an education program that explains the whys and wherefores of buying a house, to make it easier for people to not only understand the legal implications and ramifications, but to make it easier to understand how to get a good loan.

<<liberals who made freddie & Conservatives only think it is Socialism if it helps poor people."

fannie extend loans to low income families who did not qualify>>

it is comments like this when you realize some people have no clue what is going on.

Socialism for the rich is fascism.

When the government uses its power for the benefit of elitists it is fascism. Do you think these bi businesses aren't governing government policiy to cover their own butts?

And yes i can definitely see someone saying "Conservatives only think it is Socialism if it helps poor people."

Especially the extreme right on Y/A who claim to be conservatives.

This probem should have been handled long ago when conservatives where denying it as lib doom and gloom, not just here on yahoo, but on talk radio, on FOX, and just about everywhere.

The kept saying the same thing.... the economy isn't it bad shape.

Like usual conservatives don't want to deal with a problem until it affects them personally.

Coporations tend to increase campaign donations to people who are in power, so they can help guide government policy.

"Saving and helping Millionaires and Corporations isn't socialism, but helping Poor or sick people is?"

That's right. Saving and helping millionaires and corporations is corporatism, not socialism.

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power."--Benito Mussolini

"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism—ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power."--FDR

Heaven help us if YA is representative of America. I agree with your read on the differences between conservative and liberal takes on the current bailout. Sad.

As a true Republican (fiscal conservative/social moderate) we should be unwilling to let our economy slip into depression over ideology as well as being unwilling to let people die in the street. The government is not the enemy, the government is the people. We bond together for lots of things: defense, infrastructure, health and welfare, education. We can and should react to save our nation on all these fronts.

The devil with the extremists in both parties who want to kill the country/people on a cross of ideology.

I agree with the poster that said "Conservatives only think it is Socialism if it helps poor people."

It's really simple-- the Government has no right to take someone's legally earned money and give it to another person or to a company.

Anytime this is done it's SOCIALISM......... or theft!

the real blame goes to liberals who made freddie & fannie extend loans to low income families who did not qualify

these companies just got in trouble holding garbage loan paper in the secondary market

hugs!