Gov't wants to bail out the big three.

[karsen]

Yesterday's BBC podcast touched on this briefly. One man's research showed around 10% of people admitted to not even reading their loan documents and accepted the blame for foreclosure. He felt the number was much higher than those who admitted to it. Everyone else blamed someone else.

[incognegro]

Good points made by all. It's complicated for sure.

One assumption I challenge is that most Americans are smart or resourceful enough to research using the internet like we all do easily.

There are lots of undereducated people, lots with limited or no internet (believe it or not), and those who put too much trust in the bankers/mortgage pushers.

Nobody is blameless, and downturns happen, but bailouts seem like rewarding bad behavior to me.

When your kid lies, do you give them a big cake?

[Seacrest]

This is an interesting series from the Times, which I found illuminating.

http://nytimes.com/debt

[vision63]

Mr. Beerman, I don't know what apartments cost where you live, but you'll pay more for your apartment's rent than you will a house note around here. This is why people try to buy houses. You should factor "all" aspects of why people do what they do "before" you condemn them offhandedly. You can't just base it all on homeboy at the party.

[beerman]

vision63, you just don't get it. A person should not spend more than they can afford, period! Just because they can't afford what they want doesn't mean I should hand them a wad of cash. My grandparents (on both sides) moved from Kansas to Washington state a long long time ago for this very reason. You go where the work is and where you can afford to live. You don't just sit around waiting for a handout.

[mikeylikesit]

beerman wrote:
vision63, you just don't get it. A person should not spend more than they can afford, period! Just because they can't afford what they want doesn't mean I should hand them a wad of cash. My grandparents (on both sides) moved from Kansas to Washington state a long long time ago for this very reason. You go where the work is and where you can afford to live. You don't just sit around waiting for a handout.

So why did we just handout $750 billion to our banker friends?