After listening to NBC Senior Correspondent Lisa Myers’ story on The Today Show last week, I am more convinced than ever that, as the old saying goes, people want their cake and to eat it too!

In my personal opinion*, that’s not going to happen in this economic downturn.

As Myers points out in her story, the new housing bill signed by President Bush earlier in the week will help a fraction of the families facing foreclosure. As the mortgage expert she interviewed projected, of the 3 million homeowners currently in distress in this country, this bill will help out maybe 10 to 20 percent.

Personally, what irked me the most about the piece was a couple she interviewed who are facing foreclosure and are obviously expecting this bill to be a personal bailout by the federal government. As Bush so aptly put it last year, it is NOT the federal government’s job to bail out people who bought a home they could not afford and had no business purchasing in the first place.

Both spouses work in this family with two children. As for dad, in his sound bite he said they can’t lose the house and be on the street with two kids. Well, I have bad news for him. They would not be the first people in America stuck in that situation. Whose fault is that? Let’s see…maybe…the government? I don’t think so.

Although, as Myers pointed out, this family won’t qualify for the program under the new housing bill anyway because they don’t fit the preferred profile: people who, but for their mortgage, are in “reasonably good financial shape.”

In this particular case, mom and dad not only bought a home, but then they loaded up with substantial credit card debt and car loans. I guess that’s the government’s fault too though.

As for the wife, in her sound bite she said, “It seems like no one’s there to help you out.” Now, granted that television news crews are infamous for editing a story anyway they want to. Maybe she was taken out of context. I have no way of knowing.

But, standing alone, based on what she said in the piece, my answer would be that if they want help they should seek it from the same sources everyone else does — family and friends. Or, they could consolidate their debt. Or they could speak with a financial consultant or credit counseling service. But don’t expect us — the hardworking taxpayers of America — to bail them out of a situation they shouldn’t have gotten themselves into in the first place.

We all have our own financial concerns to deal with in these troubling times.

What I think is unfair is for people like me, who play by the rules and can’t afford to buy a home in the neighborhood they want to live in, should have to pay for somebody else’s mistakes. Particularly when those people cheated the system, possibly lied, and then got to enjoy the fruits of their malfeasance.

Life’s not always fair, but as another old saying goes, you made your bed now lay in it. This couple needs a reality check. The scary thing is there are so many other people out there who are just like them and don’t deserve what they have either. These people probably signed up for option ARMs and some other type of so-called “liar loans” where they either didn’t have to qualify at all, or accepted some other option in order to get into a home.

They need to dig themselves out of the financial hole they’ve dug. Otherwise, there’s always filing for bankruptcy protection, but that won’t save the house either. It only delays the inevitable.

In any case, as Myers’ story illustrates, there’s a lot of people out there in for a rude awakening when they realize that this new housing bill does not give them a pass to financial freedom.

It’s time for a reality check folks! WAKE UP!

*This is the personal opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of RealtyTrac management or employees.