If It Walks Like A Duck…

Squawks Like A Duck, Even Smells Like A Duck, It Ain’t Necessarily A Duck!

A hat tip to Peter Viles, author of the L.A. Land real estate blog at the Los Angeles Times. Anyone who is an experienced consumer of news, information and opinion via the mass media should understand that we should always take everything that we read or view with a touch of healthy skepticism. Many of us “learned” this in the course of our formal education, many of us have acquired this knowledge through our life experiences. Some of us, however, never seem able to grasp the concept that everything is not always as it appears.

Viles had previously exposed to his readers that the AngryRenter.com website, while seemingly an advocacy for home renters (i.e. “the common man”), is actually a front for Freedom Works, a “conservative think tank” (or in plain words, a well funded conservative lobbying group). AngryRenter.com solicits signatures on a petition to Congress to purportedly deny passage of a real estate bailout, which reads:

WHEREAS: Most Americans rent or own their home outright, and the vast majority of homes (98%) are not in foreclosure.

WHEREAS: Both banks and borrowers should be responsible for their actions, and the government should not reward reckless behavior.

WHEREAS: It is wrong to force all taxpayers– including renters who are already subsidizing home owners through the tax code– to pay for additional bailouts for big banks and home flippers.

BE IT RESOLVED: That Congress should not pass any bailout programs that reward risky borrowing and lending. Let the free market sort it out!

Read more