FOOLED ONCE? FOOLED TWICE? WHAT’S NEXT

Fooled once happens to the best of us, and everyone else.

Then you get fooled again and it’s different, but not for you because you might be blinded by love, money, power, then more love, more money, more power.

If that’s your excuse, it’s not everyone’s.

Love and power are nice, but the driver is, ‘GET THE MONEY.’

What’s the limit on falling for ‘get rich quick’ schemes?

Keep gambling until you go broke?

Pump up your ‘lifestyle’ with mortgage payments that put everything else in the shade?

Lease a fleet of big cars?

From investopedia:

Lenders can sometimes approve a buyer for a larger loan than they can afford to pay. People who accept these loans are at risk of losing their home to foreclosure if they don’t make the payments. They may lose their job or facing some other financial setback.

Some mortgages have adjustable rates, which means the homeowner’s monthly payments can rise if interest rates rise. If a borrower suddenly faces a higher mortgage payment that they cannot afford to pay, they may be forced to file for bankruptcy.

Lenders, gangsters, and heroin dealers look for a particular customer, someone they can lure in and lean on.

A lender who floats a larger loan than customers can afford to pay is in the fooled twice box.

Does anyone remember the first?

In the early 2000’s it had the name ‘predatory lenders.’

What are the problems with predatory lending?

Predatory lenders often use aggressive sales tactics and exploit borrowers’ lack of understanding of financial transactions. Through deceptive or fraudulent actions and a lack of transparency, they entice, induce, and assist a borrower in taking out a loan they will not reasonably be able to pay back.

I remember hearing, “get a loan on your home, buy a rental house, an RV, take a family vacation of your dreams.”

I remember seeing meetings on the news of crying people gathered in matching t-shirts printed with “Save My House.”

1987: Twenty Years Earlier Is Ancient History?

When little guys get burned, get fooled once and lose the money they signed up for, the people who bought that investment property, that luxury RV, and vacationed around the world in their high school letterman jackets, are the people who gather together and compare notes and share Kleenex.

All they wanted was a taste or the good life and instead landed face down in the sewer.

What happens to the big guys who take a flyer when they think no one is looking? What happens?

As a director of a failing thrift, Neil Bush voted to approve $100 million in what were ultimately bad loans to two of his business partners. And in voting for the loans, he failed to inform fellow board members at Silverado Savings & Loan that the loan applicants were his business partners.

They get books written about them.

They get slimed and their daddy gets elected president. So does their older brother.

Then the world turns. Today:

In his professional life, Neil develops international business opportunities. He is chairman of Singhaiyi, a Singapore company investing in U.S. real estate; co-chair of CIIC, a property development business in China; and chairman of A&A Consulting, a global platform that attracts Asian capital for investments in health care, education and food in the United States.

Fooled Once, Shame On Them; Fooled Twice, Shame On You. Third Time?

The top image of the post shows young W working out the details of saving the economy.

To the right is the guy, Obama, who cleaned up the mess left behind.

It’s a frozen moment in time.

I couldn’t find a picture or video of people begging not to lose their homes, their savings, their self-respect.

After following advice from smart money people like George W. Bush, Harvard MBA, the first ‘Businessman President,’ his followers took out loans on the house they owned, spent it, then discovered they owed it back.

But something changed.

Home prices dropped, loan interest didn’t, and instead of standing on the sidelines while everyone else lived big lives, their homes became vulnerable to foreclosure.

These were all good, honest, God-fearing people who took the advice of their elected savior.

Quick aside: Let’s all remember that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has never run or been elected to anything, no matter what Trump fans claim.

If you hear a preacher claim otherwise, well, bless your heart.

Most of us, including me, are on the same ‘Fooled Once’ treadmill because we’re smart enough not to be fooled twice.

Only fooled once. Oops.

Only fooled once, again. Oops.

How did I get fooled? I never get fooled. Oops.

What will it take for people to wake up to the idea that they’re vulnerable to being fooled by the same schtick all their lives?

Who is that stupid?

This is the list of Bernie Madoff’s clients.

We’re all that stupid with the right pitch.