This came up on another board I post at. Like here, most of us took a "buyer beware" stance. I feel for those people losing their homes, but if you go to a used car dealership and some dork tries to sell you a car you can't really afford. . .that's on you! What we concluded is that it would be nice if some kind of mandatory first time home buyer class would be required. We took a similar class when we bought our home and it would help in the cases of people just being told that they can afford something they really can't. A few years ago we looked at buying a house in a better neighborhood. . . . man I wanted that house!!! It would mean finally having a garage, our kids being in a better school district and FINALLY having more than one bathroom. BUT. . .the mortgage broker tried to feed us some crap about being able to afford it if we took an interest only loan. . .we had to pass. If a lender was involved in fraud and predatory lending then there are already laws on the books regarding that. Go after them. . like Countrywide, I've heard. BUT if someone just made an uneducated, stupid decision, than that's on them.

Do I think we should bail these corporations out? I see it like this. I understand the ramifications if we don't. . .BUT. . .we had a small business, painting houses. If we convinced everybody in town they could afford to have their houses painted, did the work, then a lot of people couldn't pay, we would have been screwed. That's on us! I wonder what the top guys at Freddie and Fannie May have been making?

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm