Ownership Society


One popular bit of administration rhetoric is the obnoxious references to "ownership society" in matters like health care, social security, and so on. It's a classic propaganda ploy--after all, who'd be against "owning" a particular asset? Of course, what goes unmentioned are things like economy of scale--or the proverbial "fool in the [securities or commodities] market," who becomes a victim for any number of reasons.

Sometimes the reason is plain old fraud:

In a tightknit neighborhood, where people’s social lives often revolve around their churches, Beulah Penn and her daughter, Sharon, were well-connected and trusted. Beulah Penn was a lay minister in a local church; her daughter, Sharon Penn, dressed hair.

Using these connections, according to a recent lawsuit, the two women and another relative in Indianapolis perpetrated one of the largest mortgage frauds in American history, victimizing dozens of local residents and, according to sources with knowledge of the accusations, at least $40 million in fraudulent loans — perhaps even twice that amount.

“Looking back, maybe it sounded too good to be true, but everyone knew them, and my friends went to church with them, people I been knowing for 10 years,” said Timothy Jacobs, a 29-year-old worker in a fiber-optics factory who discovered recently that he owed $200,000 on two houses in Indiana. “They said they’d be responsible for everything. Now everyone’s probably going to end up filing for bankruptcy.” ...

Martinsville, a small Piedmont city of 14,925, once known for its Nascar track and its thriving textile mills, has lost both population and its economic base since the mills and furniture industries moved overseas in the 1990’s. Small older houses and often empty businesses cluster in the center of town, with larger, more expensive developments — like the ones the Penns moved to — on the fringes.

The median household income is about half the state average. Mr. Jacobs, who was out of work for nine months after a mill closed, said he and his friends saw the real estate venture as a chance to get back on their feet after setbacks. “Now we don’t know what to do,” he said.

I wonder if Team Bush will proffer a few pious pronouncements of the variety uttered when it became apparent that Enron was spiraling downward faster than an airplane on final approach to Baghdad...nah, probably not: Enron was a special case, thanks to the ties that somehow didn't bind Lay/Skilling/Fastow fraud to this administration like an albatross wired to one's neck. But this sort of stuff IS telling.

In a world envisioned by Team Bush, it wouldn't just be your savings that might/could be swindled: it could be your retirement or your health care funds, too. And, c'mon--if the swindler didn't get caught, do you think this administration would give a hot damn?

Hell, they'd probably solicit a campaign contribution.