访谈录 2008-10-12&10-14 买不起还买，危机找上来

Now over the past decades, more Americans than ever became homeowners for the first time, many of them we now find out couldn’t handle their responsibility of maintaining those homes and it turns out they may have known that going in as well.

Investment sage¹ Warren Buffet² offered this theory about how millions of Americans got in over their heads.

Most people aspire³ to own their own home and when somebody makes it very easy for you to do it by saying “you don’t really have to put up any money” or you know, “we will give you 100 percent mortgage”, you are gonna do it.

Um, everybody looks for their American dream and they do their best to try to get that, that dream and I know, for us, we thought we were gonna be okay.

Today, Kerry and Mary Jane Byrd are far from okay. They are facing foreclosure on their dream home in New Jersey⁴.

Did you feel that you were getting in over your head? They can’t grab your hand and force you to sign in blood.

No, I don’t think it’s our fault. If they really want to give you a mortgage, they’ll find someone to give you a mortgage.

So just who is to blame for this ongoing⁵ economic crisis, Wall Street or main street?

I don’t feel it’s necessary for us to try to bail⁶, to have to bail them out. They should be taking care of us, the people that they’ve wronged.

Not everyone agrees.

I lost my home to foreclosure. I didn’t go to the government and go “Hey, listen. I am losing my home. I think you guys should bail me out.”

Leah Talley took out a loan for a home she couldn’t afford and she knew it.

There was this little voice, little Jiminy Cricket voice going “don’t, don’t do this. They valued that loan at too high  a value.” I went ahead and did it anyway.

Like many victims of the mortgage crisis, Leah and Byrds do agree on one important point.

Well, have you told your son that there’s a chance that he may not be living in the place he’s been living in half his life?

I made a promise to my kids and they right now have a place to live in, but, how much longer? Once we get ourselves back on our feet, we won’t be in this, this, uh, situation or predicament ever again.

Nearly 400,000 Americans facing foreclosure will get a lifeline after Countrywide Financial reached an 8 billion-dollar settlement with 11 states to help those homeowners rework their mortgages. We know, there are so many more suffering.

So interesting when she said that Jiminy Cricket voice in my head said “don’t do it, don’t’ do it.”…

1 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

2 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

3 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。