I have one word for Czar Paulson: NYET!

[Manedwolf]

Sanctions or consequences for those persons whose poor decisions and improper actions caused this mess.

I still contend that the parties most responsible for this debacle are:

#1 - The idiot homeowner borrowers who signed the ARM loans they couldn't really afford and then got mortgages on top of them; and
#2 - The lending institutions (and their fellow investors) that made that money available.

They should pay for the cost of this situation completely on their own.

The idiot homeowners who signed the ARMs they could never afford will get bailed out and get to enjoy their vast space, while the people who chose not to get in over their heads will never be able to afford a house (prices will be kept artificially high) and will have to rent forever.

The lending institutions and the people who led them will get billions in golden parachutes and laugh all the way to their next bank.

Everyone loses but the stupid and greedy. Lying, cheating and the like are rewarded with money taken from those who did nothing wrong. The responsible and honest get screwed and spit on.

America, 2008.

[MicroBalrog]

The idiot homeowners who signed the ARMs they could never afford will get bailed out and get to enjoy their vast space, while the people who chose not to get in over their heads will never be able to afford a house (prices will be kept artificially high) and will have to rent forever.

The lending institutions and the people who led them will get billions in golden parachutes and laugh all the way to their next bank.

You forget how the media will make it out to be a failure of capitalism and glorify the government for riding in on a white horse.

[The Annoyed Man]

Maned, AZ, Micro:

You three need to stop whining. We've already been assured here that the taxpayer will not have to throw in so much as a dime to support these loans. Whatever goes on between the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, and Big Frickin' Debtors & Company has absolutely no effect on folks like you and me. Furthermore, these are loans, not bail outs. Lastly, the government has a proven track record of handling economic emergencies perfectly.



I also have some oceanfront property in Arizona for sale, and I'm willing to finance with an adjustable rate mortgage. PM me if you're interested.

[Firethorn]

The idiot homeowners who signed the ARMs they could never afford will get bailed out and get to enjoy their vast space, while the people who chose not to get in over their heads will never be able to afford a house (prices will be kept artificially high) and will have to rent forever.

This is my take on it.  I shouldn't be expected to pay $200k+ for a house when I could have a larger quality one build for ~$100k.

The lending institutions and the people who led them will get billions in golden parachutes and laugh all the way to their next bank.

There's a lot of talk by the democrats on severing those parachutes for any institution that the government assists; whatever form that assistance takes.

It's something that I can actually agree with.  One proposal was to limit pay to the highest paid office in the federal government - US President, $400k.

[AZRedhawk44]

There's a lot of talk by the democrats on severing those parachutes for any institution that the government assists; whatever form that assistance takes.

It's something that I can actually agree with.  One proposal was to limit pay to the highest paid office in the federal government - US President, $400k.

Executive salaries and severance packages are a pittance in comparison to the operating costs of these corporations.  I could care less about those from a raw, functional perspective; although it galls my ego to see them get rewarded for catastrophic failure.

[doczinn]

You forget how the media will make it out to be a failure of capitalism and glorify the government for riding in on a white horse.

That's the part that irks me the most - the myth that we even had a free-market system, and that that's what caused this mess.

[longeyes]

It was clear to Adam Smith, the "The Great White Father" of the free market, that economics and morality could not be separated.

We seem to have lost sight of that essential piece of wisdom.

"Reforms" built on fundamental injustice will not hold.  All we are doing is demoralizing those who try to play by basic social rules, discouraging savings and investment, and transferring ever more power to an autocratic state.

The time to say "Hell no!" is now.  We have a large and, mercifully, still vibrant economy that can handle a two- or three-trillion dollar loss rightfully apportioned, with the pain assigned to those most responsible.  What we most need is to break the bad patterns, to adopt austerity, not feed the beast with more financial narcotics.