Watch Ty Buy His Way Into Heaven

As I was watching the crock that is "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," I wondered two things.

First, Why are the houses always so big? The families on EM:HE always have some sort of special need and one could reason that they probably have a tight family budget because of medical bills or other necessary expenses. Then you would think the families would have a difficult time paying for the increased heating/cooling/electrical costs and greatly increased property taxes resulting from their new and improved house. I guess Newsweek says it best.

Second, why do the producers always pick families? There are plenty of widow(ers)/singles/childless couples in America with tragedies that equal or surpass those shown on EM. It's like they're saying "Sorry you have cancer in every organ of your body ma'am, your husband was killed by an IED in Iraq, and you have not family left, but since you don't have kids... good luck with that cancer!"

*EDIT: Here's another site that discusses the increased tax impact on families.