Circling the School. Not that School. Us.

"Hi, folks! I'm Fred Thompson. Like me, you've probably been wondering how to give your house back to the bank."

(Like John Kyl, I did not intend those quote marks to be factual. I intended them to be needles.)

About fifty years ago, when I was a much holier men than I am now, I tried to convince an old couple to sell their adjoining property to our church, at full price, giving them the money immediately, together with the right to live in their house for so long as they pleased. They chose not to sell.

Reverse mortgages are contracts with a bank that calculates how much money the bank will give you, over time, for your equity in your home, while you continue to live in it. There are deductions and fees, of course. Sometimes you live too long. The bank thought of that. Sometimes your kids suggest you are spending their money. Kids think of that. Sometimes--not always--there are horror stories, and fine print.

What offends me is what should not offend me. Fred Thompson projects a likeable personality, and like a lot of other seemingly-likeable people, he accepts a lot of money to sell things. He has a right to do that.

Maybe it is "the sucker be damned" attitude that irritates me. It is hard to believe that the likeable hucksters care that the banks have hearts of gold--real gold--not warm, thumpy heartbeats. Perhaps it is the odor of smart people dealing with old people who might, or might not, realize the trade-offs.

Maybe it is that what used to be good, old-fashioned Republican banks that stored your money, and paid 3% for the privilege of using it, have become cash cows for their chief executives. They hire folksy, believable actors, and use them to bait their hooks.

It isn't Fred Thompson. He is just a well-paid shill making a lamentable living, acting. It is the sharks, circling the school.

Comments

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