coolray1953 (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

AIG after getting 85 billion of our money The Fat Cats went on a half million dollar vacation

pjcumkhu (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

unbelievable, how much we are not told!!

GilbertsTi10R (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

Why on Earth would a bank give anyone making 30k a year a 400k loan? Banks that do stupid shit like that deserve to go out of business. 3 times your gross income is the MAX you should be able to get a loan for.

mpercy8383 (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

When the ARMs adjusted *down* a few years ago, no one complained. Now they are adjusting up and everyone is crying. People must live with their decisions. They knew they could go up, or if they didn't they were too stupid to be allowed to borrow money (and yet they were).

crashoppe (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

It seems they want us to "buy" these morgages so THEY can profit from the assets(housing)of the morgage. The houses and their value are still there.I'll be more willing go to prison for tax evasion before bailing out yet again the same 'ol failing system,,,,,AGAIN.WHAT GOOD DID IT DO YOU WHEN YOU BAILED OUT THE AIRLINES NOT TOO LONG AGO ???!!! HEELLLOOO????????????GO RON PAUL/ CHUCK BALDWIN '08 !!!!!

yakyakyak69 (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

Corporatism LOVES Socialism!The Dems/NeoCon's Community Reinvestment Act forced banks to give home loans to those with bad credit. This resulted in speculation which ARTIFICIALLY inflated housing prices causing meltdown.Printing MORE fiat US $Dollars to encourage more Wall Street greed will debase the currency and cause a MUCH larger GLOBAL collapse later!Real Estate AND the stock market MUST return to their TRUE value NOW before the problem grows any larger!Bailout? HELL NO!!!

thexjib (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

not everyone bought homes or benifited from the boom...

mgginn5 (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

ummm... if the taxpayers are stupid enough to go into such high debt than they are somewhat responsible too..are they not? Duh...if you make 30 grand a year don't get a mortgage for 400 grand! People are fundamentally greedy.

cloudbase1 (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

To continue: The issue here is banks can't put a value on the homes in this market. See mark to market. Also this is like Vegas not your home. The people who bought CDS,s simply are betting your will default. They have no damage to cover if you do other than the premium they payed. And to make things worse CDS are not regulated like regular insurance. So there are two to blame here. The home owner bought too much house and the banks over sold CDS. So those holding the CDS have the money.

cloudbase1 (December 31, 1969 at 5:59 pm)

Google Credit Default Swaps. These are insurance policies sold by the banks to investors. The bank sells the CDS to an investor who pays a premium just like you do on your home. If your house burns down the insurance company pays. Here if the homeowner or business defaults on a loan the bank pays the investor. The trouble is how much. The issue here is the banks never though this many people would default. So they sold way too many CDS. Now they don't have the money to pay. See next comment.