My latest letter to my "representative" in Congress

To the Honorable Elijah E. Cummings:

Regarding the email entitled "Falling Behind on Your Mortgage Payments?"

Mr. Cummings, I am not, in fact falling behind on my mortgage payments.

Our residence--and the rest of our lives--is debt-free. We achived this status by working hard at jobs that were not glamorous or always well-paid; by buying the worst house on the block and fixing it; by having purchased a house in a neighborhood that was well below the range of what the realtors and banks SAID we could afford to pay; by saving enough to make a 20% down payment WITHOUT help from our families or the governments; and by staying here in the same place for thirty-four years, even when we might have been able to afford to move up, and when many of our original neighbors were moving because they feared the influx of people who didn't look just like them. In that process, we've endured the derision of the old neighbors who decided I was "the neighborhood hippie" the summer I spent scraping, re-puttying and repainting windows every spare moment, as well as the derision of our newest neighbors, to some of whom we are Honkies, Crackers, and "White motherfuckers."

We managed to afford to do this because we did not buy a new car whenever the urge struck us. We bought durable, inexpensive and unfashionable vehicles, and drove them until they were literally used up. For the first twenty years here, much of my spare time (aside from fixing the house) was spent beating the cars/trucks into shape for another week of taking us to work. We've owned a total of four new vehicles, three of which were purchased for cash. Our "new" car is ten years old, and our older one twelve. They will have to satisfy our tranpsportation needs for the foreseeable future. Most of the vehicles we've owned, we kept for more than ten years. The new truck that I bought and made a loan to purchase lasted me 17 years, and was still in running condition when sold.

NOW, you come along with all these plans to spend OUR money to bail out people who have lived beyond their means for years, never saved a goddamned dollar, and been financially and socially irresponsible at just about every opportunity.

Mr. Cummings, I resent being forced to do this. My wife and I have made our share of sacrifices all along, and reaped the consequences of a few bad decisions we made. The people who have made stupid decisions in the past ten years, creating the "real estate bubble" that inevitably burst, should not be insulated from the consequences of their bad judgment. Especially when that requires that they be saved with the dollars earned by total strangers, who just happen to live in the same country.

The interesting thing about this is that I don't think my household is in the minority regarding how we've lived. My mother lives in the first and only house she and my dad bought; my sister and her husband likewise; and their son as well. Most of my friends, ditto.

You fellers and gals in Washington and Annapolis had better goddamned soon figure out that the responsible portion of the American public will only be pushed so far, in terms of having stuff shoved down our throats by the government. And sooner or later, guys like you, who buy votes by giving away our money to people who have not earned it, are going to find yourselves out of a job.

Now, you or someone at your office has generally answered my messages in the past, and I expect this one will be answered as well. If so, please give me the courtesy of calling me "Mr. Modjesky," not addressing me by my first name, as has always happened in the past. If Ms. Rawlings-Blake insists upon being called by the proper honorific that goes along with her job, a little quid pro quo is in order when you politicians are addressing the People.

'nuff said.