Subprime Suspects

Can someone answer this question for me? Why are we just blaming the banks and government for this mess! There is a thing call ???buyer beware??? and ???seller beware???
If you ask for a loan and can not afford it. It is your fault! If you give a loan to someone and know they can not repay it. It is your fault! And if you buy stock and not think about the risk when the stock are down!!! IT IS YOUR FAULT!!!


I have people that work for me drive a bigger car and have bigger house than I do??? I drive a 1996 Acura to work and my 25 years old engineers drive a BMW X5.

We own one property that is payoff and we are leasing it out??? our home are nearly pay off, and when the house is payoff we can take that monthly payment and by another property. Many of our friends think we should not payoff our house because of tax shelter. But I think they are wrong??? we will still have tax shelter because after paying off our house that we are living in now, we will buy another house. At lease I know if the depression comes, my family will have a house to live in.

As for stock investment, the rule I thought was as you get closer to your retirement age you need to move your money to something more safe??? both our parent are heavy into CD, Bond and Cash. My wife and I are very much diversified and we are not really taking a big hit.

Anyways my point is:
The poor is at fault because they are not living with in their mean. The rich is at fault because they are greedy and risky (but remember they will be rich no matter what the economy is that is why they are rich). And the government is at fault because they are nothing but politician looking for vote.

Thanks for the clarity. Clarity of the fact that journalists should not write about topics they have no understanding of.

That's like saying it's not the killers fault because he had a bad childhood. The people borrowed they money didn't they? They should expect to pay it back right? The evil bankers didn't intend to GIVE them the money did they? Was it really a case entrapment set up by the right wing? The Oprahization of society is going to be the downfall of this county. Sad that I should have lived this long to see it.

Get real Daniel. What a joke. Lending money to people who have no way to pay it back is a bad idea. This was pushed by Democrats and when the Republicans realized their was money to be made, then it went through. People with bad credit and no real income are demanding houses and things that most of us work and save to earn. Let's not start on all of the billions lazy Americans and illiegal aliens are costing us.

Everyone should have realized Republicans are racist they never want to do anything for middle class because they think we are lazy and only want handouts. They said this at the convention but nobody paid attention. Our press has really done the nation a disservice with their reporting on this election. Thank you Gross for pointing that out as if you were too dumb see it when they keep saying Joe Sixpack people and hockey moms, that is definitely not minorities so that left us out from the get-go.

Republicans are nothing but a bunch of old racists and need to fade in the sunset including the ones they've groomed, Cantor, Palin, etc., the lists goes on

The intentions of relaxing the lending standards were good, but it created millions of new customers for homes. This caused the demand for homes to drastically increase the value of homes; simple economics. This caused tons of people to refinance the false equity out of their homes which provided the liquidity that caused every aspect of our economy to boom. Now it's time to bring things back down to reality. If the lending standards had never been relaxed, the boom wouldn't have occurred and thus the bust would not be occurring. It turns out the more stringent lending standards weren't created to keep minorities from owning a home, instead, they were created to keep banks from lending to people who can't afford to pay (which coincidentally had a larger number of minorities). No, it's not the minorities fault for this crisis, it's the legislators fault for changing the lending standards that created the false demand that created the false equity that created the false economy. We're simply getting real now, but of course it's now going to be stated that minorities are going to be punished since they won't be able to get home loans again. Once again, it's not due to being a minority, it's due to not having the ability to sustain a home loan.

You sited one Housing Program (Nehemiah) from one state. Were are the staticts from the other 49 states. Bottom line, it is not a matter of rich vs poor or democrat vs respulican. It is a matter of personal responsibility, (don't borrow more than you can afford) and bad business practices.

"A Look at New Jersey???s Subprime Mortgages in Foreclosure" traces patterns of regional variation in, and neighborhood concentration of, owner-occupied subprime mortgages in foreclosure. New Jersey ranks fifth amongst states in subprime mortgages in foreclosure per 1000 housing units and exceeds the U.S. ratio. The highest concentration???a combined 25 percent of the state???s total number???is in Essex and Union counties. Within these two counties, zip code-level data reveal that about 75 percent of foreclosure activity occurs in neighborhoods that are grouped together and tend to have relatively lower household incomes.

http://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/regional_outreach/2008/an080804.html

In your article you quote 1 Housing Program agency, Nehemiah, but you failed to mention the other 49 states and there records. Bottom line, it it not a matter of rich vs poor, Democrat vs Republican It's a matter of personel responsibity and bad business practices.

Thanks for articulating what I was thinking. It shows why blacks and other minorities will never embrace the Republican Party without fundamental change.

thank you for being a voice of reason in the blame. you have articulated in a way I could not have. Blaming the poor and minorities for this mess is unfathomable. People with very little money and precious less influence bringing this huge money junket to its needs. That one more reason I am voting Democratic this election. The Republicans have certainly made it clear, Blacks and other minorities, need not apply.

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Well, it sure is nice to hear someone call these robber barons on their stuff. If the truth hurts it should. Just when I thought these people couldn't make me any sicker, they go one lower and blame the poor. I begin to wonder if greed destroys one's moral compass completely, or if they were all sociopaths to begin with.

Well, somebody finally told it like it is. If the truth hurts, it should. Robber barons who stand on the shoulders of the drowning poor want to blame us for their troubles. Their greed and lack of a moral compass knows no bounds....

This is a weird article. For some reason the author makes an obvious mistake in logic.
He acknowledges "Fannie and Freddie, which didn't make subprime loans but did buy subprime loans made by others, were part of the problem" . Then, ignoring that crucial fact, heaps blame on others for maikng the subprime mortgages. Unless Fannie and Freddie were there to buy those mortgages, those other companies would not be making them. The author complettely ignores this even though he mentions the fact early on. The rest of the article is some weird racial baiting stuff about rich white people screwing others.
Newsweek- you're hurting me. I expect better from a professional periodical.

You are ignorant and/or simply stupid if you truly believe that this disaster wasn't created by the rich and powerful and their Republican friends. To go back and actually look at the facts you will see exactly how this occured. The rich and greedy thought they could go on forever making even more money off the backs of regular people, deregulating everything and now it has blown up in their faces. But ,of course, who will truly pay the price? The middle class while the super wealthy will stay that way. It really is incredible! They never will pay the price for what they have done to our country.

Hey Y'all!

Hulu.com brought back the Saturday Night Live Congress Bailout skit. CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/38041/saturday-night-live-washington-approves-the-bailout#s-p1-st-i1

Saw this on TV last Sunday. It was a very interesting take on why things happened they way they did. It can all be summed up in one word. GREED. If it was greed for the peopel securitizing the loans that they made and promising a "swap" or the iinvestors buying them knowing what they were doing was not regulated and very risky but were willing to bet so much on. It is all about the GREED http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/05/60minutes/main4502454.shtml