Emmanuel Njoku thought he was living the American dream. During the housing boom, the Nigerian immigrant built a portfolio of 16 properties in Prince Georges County, Md. Now his family has lost a $1.5 million home, and he faces foreclosure on half a dozen other properties. But he says he hasn't lost faith in the dream.You've got to listen to the audio to fully appreciate the mushy-headedness of that description. The reporter, John Ydstie, never challenges the man -- whose annual income from his job is $20,000 -- to take responsibility for his absurdly risky decisions. Njoku's an immigrant who believes in "the American dream" -- which apparently means taking all you can get and blaming others when huge risks don't pan out. People like this deserve to go bankrupt. Obviously.
Don't give this man or anyone like him any of our tax money. Why should he be helped to live in a $1.5 million house? Try to picture the collection of characters NPR considered before deciding Njoku was the one to do a big human interest story about.
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33 comments:
Spread the wealth around.
HA!
If Paulson and Bernanke want to bail out all the wealthy and brainy smucks running the financial insititions who thought nothing of obscenely leveraging their balance sheets and engaging in purchase of high risk derivatives while living high on 'the American Dream,' why not this smuck?
After all, its only someone else's money.
Welcome to the USSofA.
I don't believe, based on MarginalRevolution and the like, that the problem is each individual idiot, but the total number of idiots that may cause the potential bailouts.
I hope a lot of wealth is spread around to him, and that he gets reparations, too, when those are handed out. He is ever so deserving...
Mushy-headedness and socialization of risk are the basic economics of envy enshrined by the Democratic Party. NPR is just telling the same goddamned story they've always told.
Corporations and "The Rich" = bad.
Individual failures and "The Poor" = good.
Solution? Punish the former; confiscate their wealth and give it to the latter. The latter, which outnumber the former, will always vote to take from others for themselves.
Just look at the state of Michigan, especially Detroit. Liberal economics have worked so well there that in 2007, Michigan was the number one state to move out of, tied with North Dakota. It has the worst unemployment rate in the nation. Not surprisingly, those leaving are the young and the educated.
Michigan is and has been a liberal state run by liberal principles for decades on end. Now it's a place only fit to leave. Thaks, liberal mushyheadedness!
Now Obama threatens to demicate the coal industry by the same leftist economics.
People believe Obama's bullshit because they want to believe it, and they'll blame someone else when it fails miserably, just like NPR and Njoku. Just like they always have.
This is what liberals do. The big question is, why do you think it would or could be otherwise?
By the way, I think bankruptcy is the correct choice to make here, in the short read, and in many other instances.
It seems that one of our problems is that we try to take the best of both worlds, government involvement and open markets, without excepting the major downsides with either.
Yes, as I listened to this story this morning, I couldn't help but think that someone living inside a bubble economy who doesn't know when the bubble is about to pop is foolish and deserves nothing. Especially stupid was the guy's obliviousness to the fact that housing prices couldn't just keep going up.
It does raise an interesting point, though. What does happen to all those McMansions?
I actually couldn't tell, though, if NPR's lack of criticism was sympathy for the guy, was letting him hang himself, or was some commentary of American optimism. I'm still not sure.
By the way, all the Obama signs in my neighborhood were stolen over the weekend.
That story is almost as awesome as this similar one.
It's about an immigrant strawberry picker who makes $14,000 / year, but bought a $720k home with no money down. The sympathetic title of the article? "Minorities Hit Hard by Foreclosure Crunch."
Obviously the bank was idiotic to loan him the loan too; I don't see how he could have possibly made the payments without refinancing on the home price massive increasing.
MadisonMan:
Probably and hopefully it was just a kid's prank. Unfortunately, one political season as a kid, I stole signs of both political parties and put the democrat signs on the lawn of a friend whose parents were supporting republicans and put the republican signs on the lawn of a friend whose parents were supporting democrats. All the while not suspecting that what I was doing was illegal and probably caused them to think that there was some wacko out there.
Ha ha Ann admits she thinks like a conservative.
The country will be even more bankrupt if we keep leaving Uncle Sam's cash register drawer wide open & unattended [anyone in Congress listening?]
Hey NPR how about a follow-up story on which banks this guy left holding the bag and how it affected Fannie Mae?
"I actually couldn't tell, though, if NPR's lack of criticism was sympathy for the guy, was letting him hang himself, or was some commentary of American optimism."
I think the written description on the web page answers your question.
From the link:
Emmanuel Njoku thought he was living the American dream. During the housing boom, the Nigerian immigrant built a portfolio of 16 properties in Prince Georges County, Md. Now his family has lost a $1.5 million home, and he faces foreclosure on half a dozen other properties. But he says he hasn't lost faith in the dream.
Well, he seems too optimistic and somewhat delusional. But that description, and the story, engendered little sympathy from me. So NPR better try harder if that's there intent.
BTW, I never knew how to spell John Ydstie's name before, and the way it's spelled would not have been one of my guesses.
Re: the missing signs.
The neighbors we talked to mostly just had a shoulder shrug or eye roll in reaction.
I could also have stated that all the political signs in the neighborhood were stolen. So maybe they weren't selectively taking Obama signs, but that's all that they could find :)
GOOD DAY AND COMPLIMENTS. THIS NPR REPORT WILL DEFINITELY COME TO YOU AS A HUGE SURPRISE, BUT I IMPLORE YOU TO TAKE THE TIME TO GO THROUGH IT CAREFULLY AS THE DECISION YOU MAKE WILL GO OFF A LONG WAY TO DETERMINE THE FUTURE AND CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF THE ENTIRE MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY.
PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. MY NAME IS EMMANUEL NJOKU. I AM A REAL ESTATE SPECULATOR WITH A PORTFOLIO OF OVER 15 PROPERTIES IN PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, MD. AFTER THE RECENT FINANCIAL CRISIS AND THE SUBSEQUENT TAKE OVER OF GOVERNMENT BY THE LAST ADMINISTRATION., THE PRESENT DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IS DETERMINED TO PORTRAY ALL MY UNCAPITALIZED REAL ESTATE SPECULATION IN A BAD LIGHT AND HAVE GONE AS FAR AS CONFISCATING SOME OF MY PROPERTIES, FREEZING MY ACCOUNTS BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY.
IT IS IN VIEW OF THIS I HAVE MANDATED JOHN YDSTIE, WHO HAS BEEN ASSISTING THE FAMILY TO RUN AROUND ON SO MANY ISSUES TO ACT ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILY CONCERNING THE SUBSTANCE OF THIS LETTER. HE HAS THE FULL POWER OF ATTORNEY TO EXECUTE THIS TRANSACTION WITH YOU.
I HAD/HAVE EIGHTY MILLION USD ($80,000,000.00) SPECIALLY PRESERVED AND WELL PACKED IN TRUNK BOXES. IT IS PACKED IN SUCH A WAY TO FORESTALL JUST ANYBODY HAVING ACCESS TO IT. IT IS THIS SUM THAT I SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE TO GET OUT OF PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE PRESENT CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT FINDS OUT ABOUT IT AND CONFISCATE IT JUST LIKE THEY HAVE DONE TO ALL OUR ASSETS.
I IMPLORE YOU TO PLEASE GIVE CONSIDERATION TO MY PREDICAMENT AND HELP AN IMMIGRANT LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM.
MAY ALLAH SHOW YOU MERCY AS YOU DO SO?
YOUR FAITHFULLY,
DR (MR.) EMMANUEL NJOKU (M.O.N, F.A.C.S., P.H.D., J.D., B.V.S., L.H.O.O.Q.)
N/B: PLEASE CONTACT JOHN YDSTIE ON THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR FURTHER BRIEFING AND MODALITIES
AJ Lynch said...
Hey NPR how about a follow-up story on which banks this guy left holding the bag and how it affected Fannie Mae?
Take yer pick:
Since late 2006
298 major U.S. lending operations have "imploded"
Stolen Obama signs?
They'll come in handy as insulation when the Dow hits 4500 and unemployment reaches 15%. I guess those "homeless awareness" camapigns, where the comfortable pretend to be poor for a night in a "cardboard city", will turn out to have been excellent practice for the new Obamavilles!
Probably someone's just getting an early start.
National
Propaganda
Radio
I know - cliche' - but it's true.
Pal - excellent use of "L.H.O.O.Q". Long live Dada!
In the old days, signs were cardboard, something you could burn for warmth. Now they're more plastic-y, cheaper and less green. And when you burn them? Less heat.
"Njoku's an immigrant who believes in "the American dream" -- which apparently means taking all you can get and blaming others when huge risks don't pan out. People like this deserve to go bankrupt. Obviously."
Obviously to you. But to Obama, he wants to spread the wealth to Njoku and we're racists if we think otherwise. Enjoy Big Brother, Ann.
"Staying green" is very important when you are freezing to death.
"Obamaville" is very catchy and I like it.
Wasted away again in New Obamaville
Lookin' for my last Government Check
Some people claim that it is Bush who's to blame
But I think, that that argument's dreck.
I'd like to riff off of John's berry picker tangent with:
In April, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the NAACP, the National Fair Housing Alliance, the National Council of La Raza and the Center for Responsible Lenders called for a six-month moratorium on subprime home foreclosures. Those groups reported that minorities receive a disproportionate share of riskier subprime loans, and while those loans make up only 13 percent of the overall mortgage market, they account for more than 60 percent of new foreclosure filings.
So the same community organizers that blackmailed banks into making subprime loans, then got HUD money to matchmake loans, and now baragining for more grants to counsel which they are using to lobby for more bailouts for their "clients".
Simple bottom line, if you are a non-english speaking immigrant with no education and no huge income spike in your future, you are NEVER going to be able to make the payments on a California house you bought for 750k. Never! So unless Obama ends up giving you the house, and the utilities and the property tax payments ad-infinitium, the tax payers are pissing away more money every day with you.
Spread the wealth around!!
Vote Obama
Michigan is and has been a liberal state run by liberal principles for decades on end. Now it's a place only fit to leave. Thaks, liberal mushyheadedness!
Now this is just silly. Michigan is experiencing the dramatic shrinkage loss of a major industry (auto manufacturing) as other areas have done before. North Carolina and textiles, for example -- it hasn't been the end of NC, and what's happening with auto manufacturing won't be the end for Michigan either.
And Michigan is a middle-of-the-pack state when it comes to its tax burden (nowhere close to NY or Calif) and is required to balance its budget every year. Given the need to attract businesses, taxes should be lower, and the state government has dabbled in ill-advised attempts to pick winners and jump start new industries here (pharmaceuticals a few years ago, green energy technology now). We'd be much better off if the state worried about the business climate generally rather than targeting specific industries.
But in general Michigan has not really an outlier in terms of tax and spend liberal politics. Certainly not compared to California or the northeast. In fact before Jennifer Granholm, Michigan had a 3-term Republican governor (John Engler) and has had Republicans in other state-wide offices and in control of at least one house of the state legislature continuously.
Picking Michigan as the poster boy for the disaster of 'liberal government' is nonsense.
The reporter, John Ydstie, never challenges the man -- whose annual income from his job is $20,000
...
Try to picture the collection of characters NPR considered before deciding Njoku was the one to do a big human interest story about.
Ann's second point is the stronger one -- why detail the stupidity of the Nigerian Casey Serin? Surely a profile of a family who can no longer afford the house they live in due to a mortgage reset would be more likely to elicit our sympathy.
But, listening, I did not get the sense that NPR approved of such foolishness. It seemed to me that Ys... was just giving Njoku enough rope to hang himself, and let his stupidity speak for itself. He could have piled on, I suppose: "Were you out of your mind?"
Summarizing the story a different way: A professional man, a pharmacist, found after his wife became ill that he could make more money buying houses than by dispensing pills. This worked quite well until the housing bubble burst.
This phenomenon reminded me of the stupid "knowledge workers" who quit their jobs to become day traders fifteen or so years ago, and lost their savings. They did not get my sympathy, either.
I was in the post office this morning when I heard this NPR story. (The Postmaster generally has either NPR or the local country station on. I can't figure him out.) My immediate reaction was much the same as yours. "Here's another sob story on the economy." Sheesh, he's just a guy who trusted a roll of the dice and they came up snake eyes. It happens.
What's next, we going to replace all those quarters folks lose to the one armed bandits in Reno, Vegas and Atlantic City?
Bail out? Not on my dime.
Richard Epstein - Uof C Law Professor on EconTalk discusses wealth redistribution. Says if your going to do it then expand the pie rather than to consider the egalitarian question first and production last.
Richard Epstein on Happiness, Inequality, and Envy
From the U of C Law School blog:
Audio: Richard Epstein and Cass Sunstein: "Should Conservatives Vote for Obama?"
The Obama I (Don't) Know
Interesting and funny guy with a Nu Yawk accent.
Pogo:
"They'll come in handy as insulation when the Dow hits 4500 and unemployment reaches 15%. I guess those "homeless awareness" camapigns, where the comfortable pretend to be poor for a night in a "cardboard city", will turn out to have been excellent practice for the new Obamavilles!"
No way!!
I predict the MSM reports on the disappearance of all homeless folks the day after the inauguration.
"Picking Michigan as the poster boy for the disaster of 'liberal government' is nonsense."
Yeah, you must be right MarkW. That explains why it's hemorrhaging residents. Well, at least the smart and young are leaving; the old and dependent are staying.
Good luck with that plan!
Too bad about the signs.
I understand the price of coal may go up a bit.
Picking Michigan as the poster boy for the disaster of 'liberal government' is nonsense.
Well, two of the big factors in the decline of the auto industry appear to be the layers-upon-layers of taxation, and the unions.
Normally I'd suspect that the government colluded with the Big Three to strangle competitors (because that's what happens when Big Business and Big Government get together) but that's only "liberal" in the sense that the only way to stop it is to get gov't out completely. And I suspect that the sheer cost of setting up car manufacturing was the far bigger barrier.
CNN Money puts Michigan in the top 10 for small businesses. Tax rankings put Michigan in the middle--though they do seem to collect a lot of money.
But these little snapshots don't tell us how they got there or whether (and how) they've reacted to change.
If you want to use a poster child, pick Washington DC. A failure in every way, but immune to that failure as the repository of all the tax monies.
Big government exists because it can. That's why it's biggest in the rich places.
And he'll just go bankrupt. He'll be none the worse for the experience except for a bad credit rating. He got to live in a 1.5 million dollar home for a while, so he got something from it all.
Meanwhile, he drove up home prices for everyone else. No sympathy from me.
I heard the story and had no sympathy for him.
This is just another in a long line of bizarre NPR stories on housing. Last week they had a sob story of a woman who had earned six figures, had medical issues and had to move to a house that's, in their words, falling apart. You feel bad for them until the end when the woman reveals that the bank will refinance their loan to reduce their $4000 plus monthly payment! Have these morons ever heard of renting? Or a trailer home?
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