Obama HUD choice reflects homeownership myths

First and foremost, contrary to President-elect Barack Obama and his Housing and Urban Development Secretary-designee Shaun Donovan, not everybody in America should own a home.

"He understands that we need to move past the stale arguments that say low-income Americans shouldn't even try to own a home or that our mortgage crisis is due solely to a few greedy lenders," Obama said of Donovan.

"He knows that we can put the dream of owning a home within reach for more families, so long as we're making loans in the right way, and so long as those who buy a home are prepared for the responsibilities of homeownership."

Unfortunately, people within the lower middle class who can't manage their finances become the targets of predatory home lenders, while those in the rich with the same lack of financial acumen get bailed out by parents, trust funds or the government.

Well, with the rich, we need to stop bailout option No. 3 and tighten tax loopholes against option No. 2. With the less well-off, we need to drop the myths of home ownership.

After all, those myths have been foisted upon us by the National Association of Realtors.

The truth is that if you invest -- even cautiously -- the money you save by renting, you'll come out even. And, if you invest cautiously, you'll have less stress.

Beyond that, renting is more environmentally friendly.

More environmentally friendly yet would be to eliminate the tax deduction for home mortgage interest payments. That would stop McMansion building right in its tracks.