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Vanguard, I work in the industry. There is plenty of blame to go around. The CRA loans were less than 2% of loans that went bad. The biggest issues were: 1) the deregulation of the financial services industry, and 2) the creation of exempted over-the-counter derivatives. Both of those were primarily the work of Senator Phil Gramm (R - Texas).http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877330,00.html
The people I have NO sympathy for are the people that "bought" a house knowing they could not afford it. How do you think you can pay a $2,000 a month mortgage when you bring home $2,800 per month?
Well, evidentally they did something right, cause now they're gonna get bailed out, and you and I are gonna pay for it! A gamble that paid off....(note the hint of bitterness in my voice)
My understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that Obama's plan will get people's loan balance below the value of their houses. For example, if they bought and financed a $200,00 house, and now it's only worth $150,000, they will get to rewrite the loan for the $150,000 that their house is now worth. I have found written documentation that states "If it's necessary to reduce principle, then Treasury will provide assistance with this, as well." That's not fair. My husband and I did things the right way...saved for a down pymt, financed over 15 years, so the amount we owe is WAY less than the value of the house, even in these depressed times. What we should have done, is buy more house than we could afford, finance everything in a crappy mortgage, and then when the value of the house dove, we could let the goverment help us refinance a $200k mortage for a 150k mortgage. That's quite a return.........
I saw a bumper sticker that you might like too:[size=16]Honk if I'm paying your mortgage!![/size]