I am not sure if I get the correct vibe, so please correct me if I am wrong.  Are you trying to say that the government should help the individual people who made bad choices in agreeing to the loans but no the institutions that also agreed to the loans?

@der_lila_Stern - Basically, yes I am. You see, when you get a mortgage, you're supposed to be trusting the lender. You'd be suprised how many people don't understand all the legalspeak in a mortage document especially first time homeowners and those who didn't get the best educations. I'd be willing to bet that 100% of these borrowers had to have PMI - to cover the lenders in case the borrower defaults on their loan. What protection does the borrower have if the bank gets into trouble? Look, the goverment's going to be bailing out the banks at the taxpayer's expense, so I figure it's only right that the goverment should take care of it's citizens, who are also tax-payers. Heh.........they're basically helping themselves since they've had to pay taxes into the system for years already. Consider it a little payback. Remember, many of these people are literally victims of shoddy business practices - the banks that have failed and the banks that are showing signs of failing.

I'd rather see our government actually help it's own people - heaven knows they help people & governments in other countries. Charity begins at home.

@Moon_Huntress - I have to tell you that I laughed out loud (literally) when I read "you're supposed to be trusting the lender"  I laughed not because I dont agree.  Of course you should trust your lender.  But that doesnt give you a right to be stupid.  It took me forever to sign the papers when I made an offer on my house and when I got all of the mortgage documents.  If I didnt understand the legalspeak, I asked.  Everyone else who signed those papers had the same responsibility - regardless of whether or not they understood it, they agreed to it.

Non-mortgage example:  My brother-in-law got pulled over by a cop for speeding.  He finished his cigarette and flicked the butt onto the ground.  The cop told him that he had just littered.  My brother-in-law had no clue (it is a widely accepted practice).  The cop asked him if he had signed his registration - of course.  That signature meant that he agreed to all of the laws regarding vehicles and what you can and cant do from them.  It was my brother-in-law's responsibility to know and follow those laws.  If the cop had given him a ticket, his ignorance would not have been a valid reason for him to not have to pay it.  The same goes for people who have signed a mortgage they couldnt handle.

As far as the bailout goes, it isnt about trying save the banks exactly.  It is about making sure the people who did nothing wrong - those who didnt get mortgages they couldnt handle or too much debt in general.  If the banks fail, everyone is screwed.  So by bailing out the banks, they are saving the people who have gone about their lives responsibly AND the people who have not.

While your last paragraph makes a good point, I can't say I agree with your first paragraph. In theory, I agree, but theory is one thing, reality another. Unfortunately, many people, especially those who sought out mortgages for first time homes, are young, haven't been in the workforce long, don't exactly work for the best wages and don't have a lot of education. Keep in mind, I'm speaking about what I know, which of course, may be entirely different for your locale. FYI, I'm the Heartland..........or in other words........ the boonies. As a former city-girl (my husband tells folks that I'm an 'import model') I can attest to the vast difference in the quality of education when considering rural vs. urban. Urban schools are so much better, better teachers, more options for students -- whether just class (subject) options to vocational school options. When you attend school in a real city, students have options between from what foreign language class to choose (my local school offered Spanish & German last year, this year only German) to a wide variety of vocational studies. Out here, we have 1 vocational school in the area offering such 'practical' studies like welding, automotive, nursing, cosmetology. We don't have highly specialized vocs like my BFF back in the 'big city' - her son graduated this year from a vocational acedemy for his start in a college degree for anesthiseaology (probably spelled that wrong!), to which he looks forward to 12 years of college. The dropout rate out here is huge, the teachers & principals apethic, the school systems out here are a joke and rarely meet the government's educational goals.

Anyhoo, the point I'm trying to make is that in small town America, you have many borrowers who got into these loans because they really didn't understand them, they were literally told by the lender that it was a 'good thing'. I've noticed for at least a decade that most high-school graduates don't have the knowledge that people who graduated, say, 15 or 20 years ago do. You can't really lay all the fault on these former students, or students today even....... how do they know their capicity is below the norm when they quite literally don't have anything to compare it to? Most lack real hobbies (not talking about gaming/internet/sports). I even tried to start 100% funded (all materials donated, zero cost to the school & students) after-school program at the high school from the Ancient Coins for Education program whereby kids would receive ancient Roman coins at no charge, clean them, learn about them, learn to attrribute (i.d.) them (who minted them, where, etc. - thereby learning a bit about a classical ancient civilization), the school turned it down saying that they couldn't afford it. Don't as me why the principal couldn't grasp the concept that nobody had to pay so much as a dime...... everything is donated by the program, I'd be donating my time for the kids in hopes of sparking a glimmer of intellectual curiosity about something these kids have not been exposed to before. Such is the mentality out here. Heh......keep in mind to that this principal is a locally educated person as well!! A pathetic shame.........and the ignorance keeps breeding itself.  Who's to say that people like that can understand the intricate legal terminology in a mortgage contract? Do you really think these people are even going to have it run across their minds to investigate and educate themselves as to what all these fancy words on paper really mean and realize how it'll impact their life for the next 30 years? Hardly. It's a real shame. Sad part is, I'm sure that schools in inner-city areas breed these same problems. Sure, there's always the exceptional student - one who really wants to learn and explore new concepts both rural and inner-city - but unfortunately, that's the exception........and we really need that to be the 'norm'.  So....... basically, the better educated people seem to fall mostly from the middle class on up, leaving a large part of the younger population to wallow in ignorance, without a clue of their own ignorance and wallowing ..........

Sorry for such a long missive, haven't even had 2 cups of coffee yet. ;o)  You sound like you're an educated individual, and kudos to you! You would definitely be a rare gem out here.

have a great weekend!