Where are the Pioneers?

This morning I found this article in the Wall Street Journal dealing with a Federal program to send money to the states to buy up abandoned property and refurbish it.

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- In this Phoenix suburb, two townhouses stand vacant, filled with trash and abutting an empty neighborhood swimming pool covered with graffiti. But to Gina Ramos Montes and other city officials, the dilapidated properties look promising.

As part of the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program authorized by Congress in July, Avondale is set to receive $2.5 million to redevelop neighborhoods blighted by abandoned and repossessed homes.

Think about what this says about our culture. 150 years ago, American pioneers were moving into the wilderness where there were no structures at all and building homes and farms and towns. In Oklahoma, there was a mad rush for such land on March 2, 1889. Can you imagine the reaction you would have gotten from those settlers had there already been homes on the land?

Settlers in Oklahoma. The people pictured include representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Or maybe not.
Nowadays, we need the government to come in and make the houses ready for habitation by other citizens. Meanwhile, we've just blown our economy apart because we decided to help low-income people buy homes by making home loans so easy to get that dogs could qualify for the money. At the same time, we subsidize rental housing for single parent families with no expectations on them for morality or thrift. Tax credits for such people will soon be in the mail.

Now, no post on a topic like this would be complete without a quote from the ultimate spokesman for helping people believe in money-dispensing fairies, so here we go:

Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and one of the program's main advocates on Capitol Hill, said in an interview that it "would have made a bigger difference if there were more money."

Is that classic, or what? We have abandoned homes, vandalized by neighbors who are most likely not even close to paying their share of the tax burden nor expected to do so, being rebuilt by the government with money borrowed from China that will be paid back by our children, assuming we don't simply vaporize our currency first.

Here's what might be the best part of all.

For new subdivisions, the city wants to entice buyers by subsidizing down-payments, closing costs and renovation expenses. The structures are solid, but the interiors are often damaged. Officials suspect that buyers might need a financial incentive before they'll take the plunge. "They're watching the TV," said Rogene Hill, the assistant city manager. "Everybody is getting bailed out. 'Why should I have to buy a refrigerator?' It's emotional, not rational."

Fantastic.

Wouldn't it be great to hold a seance with some of the Oklahoma settlers and let them know this was going on?