Homeownership and the American Dream

Six years ago, George W. Bush declared that, “owing a home lies at the heart of the American dream.” Yesterday, President Barack Obama said that home foreclosure means losing a “foothold in the American Dream,” an idea that dates back to the Great Depression. But there’s a downside, and it’s come to a head in the current recession as millions of homeowners are losing their homes to foreclosure. Why should tens of billions of taxpayer dollars help people get back into housing they can’t afford? What’s wrong with renting?