A puzzling poll question

Today's Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll on economic issues contains a couple of headlines: Most Americans (65%) believe a recession is likely in the next year, and a lot of Americans (45%) have no opinion on the way Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is doing his job (we suspect a large portion of those don't know who he is, or what he does).

As for the housing crisis, we consider the poll a missed opportunity, and thus a disappointment. Asked, "What should be done to help alleviate the sub-prime mortgage problem?" respondents were given these options:
--Nothing, the government should stay out of it (28%)
--Government should help homeowners or tighten mortgage rules (40%)
--Prosecute firms that knowingly promoted unaffordable mortgages (15%)
--More than one of these things or all of them should be done (9%)
--Don't know (8%)

Our disappointment is this: One of the biggest sources of controversy surrounding this issue is whether the government should help people pay their mortgages. The pollsters, at some level, seem to understand this, and yet they have elicited no meaningful information on it -- lumping "help homeowners" in with "tighten mortgage rules" muddies the issue rather than clarifying it.

Your thoughts? Comments? Insights? E-mail story tips to lalandblog@yahoo.com.

Comments

[mike]

WHY HELP PEOPLE WHO NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO AFFORD A HOUSE ANYWAY????? IF THEY DO SOMEHOW HELP THE "SUB PRIMERS" THEN THE PRIME BORROWERS SHOULD GET A BRAKE ALSO WHICH MIRRORS THE PERCENTAGE OR DOLLAR AMOUNT OR WHATEVER THEY DO. THEY HAD THEIR TIME IN THE LIMELIGHT AND THEY SCREWED UP ALL THE EQUITY THEY WERE MAKING!!!!!!! THE BORROWERS WERE UNEDUCATED IN THE WAYS OF FINANCES,BUBBLES,REAL ESTATE. GIVE THE BREAKS TO THE PEOPLE WITH TOP TIER CREDIT WHERE IT BELONGS. GOD KNOWS WE WORKED HARD ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN 700= CREDIT SCORES.

[D]

THANKS MIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VERY INSIGHTFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mike]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jason M.]

Preach on brother Mike. I'm a prime borrower with a fixed mortgage that I pay every month at 6%. If the gov't steps in and freezes teaser rates at 3 or 4% for all those knuckheads who borrowed more than they could afford, who gets screwed? I get screwed.

Nothing should be done, let the market work it out on it's own. When ever gov't messes with the free market system, it's a disaster.

[mike]

WHO IS BEN BERNANKE?????

kidding

[fred]

Why stop with mortgages? Let's save all the idiots who are living beyond their means, like this guy who posted on craigslist...$2800/month for a car, wtf?!?!?! There are plenty more idiots trying to get out of leases on craiglist and leasetrader.com - a likely externality of the bursting bubble.

BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

2006 MASERATI QP SPORT GT - $72500
Reply to: see below
Date: 2007-10-23, 11:40AM PDT

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[Jeremy (jemarqu)]

The worst thing that can happen to people who take out mortgages they can't afford is they can become a renter like me.

[Joe-say]

all I can say is...Economics 101...just like Adam Smith coined the invisible hand ... so let this "hand" do its job...I completely ..and 100% agree with MIKE

[sheila]

anyone else sort of chuckling at the prospect of the "borrow and spend without accountability" congress of the past 7 years (or for that matter, the administration that told everyone to "go shopping" as they were mortgaging our future to china and war profiteers) having well-thought-out strategies to help americans out who aren't managing our money half as poorly as they are?

or how about the prospect of the government that signed up for the credit-card-company-welfare bill, which refuses to help curb identity thefts, negotiate fair pharmaceutical prices or curb global warming because those efforts might (but almost certainly won't) "hurt business" trying to create some sort of meaningful legislation and enforcement of shady mortgage or insurance practices?

uh, no thanks, guys. we'll take our chances with the sharks. just because they lie about the math doesn't mean they can't actually do the math...

ps - as long as we're playing word games today, does this position of wanting government to provide services to taxpayers but not believing our corporatocracy to be competent enough to administer them make me some sort of a liberaltarian?

[Jason Hoppe]

I agree with Lee.

Where have all the leaders gone?

[Steve Reynolds]

Well, tomorrow Countrywide reports I guess we'll get a pretty good idea what kind of fix we're all in.

[Inland Empire]

No bail outs because you can't cure stupid. Lithium in the water supply might be a good thing tho.

[Frisbee]

yeah, the guy with the 2006 Maserati looking for someone just to take over his $2800 monthly payment?

he was a real estate agent, broker or flipper. The money was fast and easy. And then the music stopped, and he was left holding a really nice, expensive bag. That car's going to be a bear to try and live out of.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

It's interesting to note the percentage of 'don't know' when polling, even when the question is 'Are you alive today?'

[Kathy]

I agree with Peter that the poll questions were poorly written; this indicates a lack of understanding on the part of the authors of the poll, who are part of the MSM who continue to MISS THE POINT of this mess. I'm not saying the blogs are indicative of the populace as a whole, but the anti-bailout sentiments are overwhelming, and that includes letters to the editor of this and other newspapers. This reminds me of the recent polls that showed a majority of support for amnesty for illegal immigrants, in spite of Congress being overwhelmed with emails, phone calls, etc., to the contrary. No wonder people dismiss the news media.