Taking Resonsibility

So, who's fault is it?

Barak Obama seems to think it's the people running the business:"We must protect taxpayers, not bail out the shareholders and management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," he intoned. Wow, that's the same group of management and shareholders that donated $126,349 to Obama's campaign. I guess there's no loyalty in this business.

John McCain, early in the mortgage avalanche said “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.” Once the scale of the problem came into focus, he eventually supported government intervention in the mortgage mess.

I'd like to take this opportunity to remind my fellow Americans that the reason that these mortgage companies, and related securities, are in such a mess is that people stopped paying their mortgages. With the default on this debt, american homebuyers were the start of this avalanche.

Both Republicans and Democrats alike were crowing about all the home purchases through looser lending standards. The banks are in a Catch -22: If you lend money to high-risk borrowers, you're a greedy capitalist, and if you have tighter lending standards, you excluding "deserving people" from the American Dream. Sounds like you can't win.

The shareholders and management of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, among other mortgage lenders, loaned money to homebuyers in good faith and expected the borrowers to honor their obligations. To vilify the lenders for the insolvency of the borrowers is ludicrous.

The most basic issue at the base of this mess will never be discussed. The urge to have more than we can afford, and lacking the honor to repay our debts.

The Bailout is for the deadbeat American Borrower.