Why not simply regulate them properly, so that corporate fraud couldn't be hidden? We shouldn't have to bail them out NOR should we have an economic collapse because the Greedy Bastards go bankrupt and fail to pay off. They should have been properly regulated so that this crisis couldn't happen and there are no shadows for greedy bastards to operate in. In the 70's corporations were over-regulated and stifled. Carter and Reagan started changing that with de-regulation bills and the economy responded positively. But now after two decades it has gone too far and corporations are out of control with the freedoms they now have and are tempted into fraud and greed and other illegal practices that are not in the best interests of the nation. Some regulations must be instituted to enable control and oversight over issues of vital national interests but not enough to stifle them. A proper balance.
Neither do I. I want them to prevent this bullchit by proper regulations and oversight. Lenders and other business won't do illegal practices if they know they will get caught. They will do if it they know that they can get away with it. We have to make an effort to make reasonable regulations and enforce them. Then no bailout is ever needed. No lender is ever bankrupted. And no borrower is ever cheated.
I hear you Red, this just starts a slippery slope. Now you want to regulate tempations? Vegas would be shut down in a day Who gets to decide what people would be tempted to do?
In fact you can fix stupid. I don't want Daddy Government coming to the rescue of everything either. I want them to prevent this bullchit by proper regulations and oversight. Lenders and other business won't do illegal practices if they know they will get caught. They will do if it they know that they can get away with it. We have to make an effort to make reasonable regulations and enforce them. Then no bailout is ever needed. No lender is ever bankrupted. And no borrower is ever cheated.[/QUOTE]
Maybe I just don't understand how the borrower's were cheated? I have bought 2 homes. Both times, the mortgage guy gave me the spiel about ARM's with the ole "you'll be making more money in 3 years, so when the rates adjust, you will be better off". I simply said, "no thank you", I'd rather stick to what I can afford today. No lender ever bankrupted? I don't know how you could prevent a poorly managed bank from making dumb decisions. How do you regulate stupid?
Loans were peddled to people with risky credit and no obvious means to make payments when the inevitable increases happened. People were mislead about the mortgages, their ability to pay, and the nature of the variable mortgage.
I hear ya red, and I'm sure in many cases the mortgage sales person saw them coming, so to speak. But seriously, the government can't protect people from themselves. If that were the case, then they should just pass a law to make suicide illegal, then that problem would be solved. I don't care how uneducated or just idiotic these folks were. I find it hard to believe that, at some point in the transaction, that they didn't think "I don't think I can afford this house on my Blockbuster salary".
Suicide is illegal already. We don't protect them from that. We protect them from being lied to or mislead and we establish guidelines for what needs to be discussed openly between borrowers and lenders, one of which is a professional with a ton of experience and the other can be someone with no experience at all. Just to keep either party from being taken advantage of. Its a small thing to avert a huge crisis. If there were regulations and lending guidelines, this wouldn't have happened.
I can check it off my list, today at 4:04 EST, I learned something new. Now I don't have to learn anything else the rest of the day
