It's pretty screwed up, but also more complicated than that. First of all, it would probably be a lot more expensive in the long run to pay the tab for all the new homeless people who would come out if all those people were evicted and foreclosed on. Second, it's not just a bailout for the homeowner, but also for the banks. Many of those homes lost much of the value they previously had, so banks would take a huge hit if those loans were defaulted. Even if they could find a buyer for a foreclosed house at all, they likely wouldn't find one willing to pay as much as the previous owner. Further damaging banks, unfortunately, means fewer loans for small businesses and new home buyers. It may well be that owning a house shouldn't be encouraged so much as it is, but small businesses frequently depend on short-term loans to meet all kinds of obligations. Such loans also allows start-ups to actually start up. Also, government bailouts are not really socialism. They're state capitalism, namely the government taking an active role in the capitalist economy.

I think this policy will start a revolution in the works...the silent working majority will and can only take so much...it's going to get uglier.

Hahaha. God, you people. Have you been living under a rock for that past 8 years? Do you have any idea what your failed policies have done to this once great nation?

That is what lazy people who do not work or earn a living do is wait for someone to feel sorry for them and charge the taxpayers.

i cant believe ppl DR this question!! wtf? you know how i feel about this it DISGUSTS ME! pursuit of happiness-- everyone has the same opportunity to make the best decision and if you make the wrong one it is only YOUR responsibility to clean up the mess. NOT MINE! good question!

well i dont follow it that closely, but if what u r saying is correct- its totally unfair.

i think its bullshit. People should buy houses they can afford and not be dumbasses by writing checks their ass can't cash.

Glad he isn't giving all to the rich and big business like the republicans want to.

I think it stinks. People who couldn't afford their houses are being rewarded a second time, this time by the taxpayers. The policy is meant to stabilize the housing market. But it's bad because it continues the same process that caused the problem and, in addition, creates more pulbic debt. It would be healthier in the long run if the market is allowed to run its course by wiping out the bad debts and allowing housing prices to reach their natural market level.

I think it is an attempt to undo the damage of eight years of corruption,greed, and poor financial policy. During W's reign, we were told to spend, spend, spend. Spending is patriotic. It strengthens our economy. There was no restrictions on borrowing either since lenders got greedy and extended credit to people they shouldn't have in their quest for more revenue. Hell, Uncle Sam was spending more than he earned, deficits be damned! True, people should have been wiser, but that means ALL people. Banks, government,, EVERYBODY! And now we are in a position where we either spend money to bail out homeowners and banks who financed them or letting the whole system erode even further. Homeless people are more concerned with survival than with productivity, though that is a moot point since our manufacturing jobs are being shipped overseas. Homeless, jobless people are a drain on the government and taxpayers, though there are more people below the poverty line and more uber-rich that can afford to avoid paying taxes, which puts the burden on the middle class. Unfortunately, there is no truly fair solution unless you want to get some of the money back from those that personally prospered disproportionately at the expense of others, like the CEOs that got 9-digit performance bonuses for driving their companies bankrupt and throwing thousands of working-class people into the street. I see it as the lesser of many evils and a sign of the damage that trickle-down economics does.

I think we should let the bank they owe money to go bankrupt and then it will be easy to forgive their mortgage. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should pay for 3 houses to live in one. It's a corrupt system, and it cannot survive, no matter how many billions we throw at it.

I feel fine. It just amazes me the imagination the Conservatives have when it comes to the Blame Game. Somehow the notion that folks deserve to be kicked onto their ass in the middle of winter because of a lackluster economy caused by a bunch of heartless rich bastards, doesn't sit well with me. I have no problem with the notion of paying for it all, just to spite the rich bastards.

imagine for a second, that seven years ago that you were financially doing well and enjoyed a life with your 2.5 kids and wife. Being financially sound, and in a secure job doing contract work for the city, you knew that you could afford a little more on a mortgage to keep your family happy. I don't have to explain the next 7 years because you already know what has happened. Cooperate pirates, recession, houses declining in value while your mortgage stays the same. Not to mention the freeze on commercial building the last few years. I feel sorry for these families that got caught up in this mess.

Pissed off

Hey...where did my country go...this isn't America... In my America you worked really really hard to save up a down payment to buy a modest house. You qualified for the loan and you made your payments. You didn't sign anything you did not understand and you saved for a rainy day...If you couldn't do these things then you were living above your needs and destined for failure...So is anybody really that surprised that after decades of "getting the credit you deserve"..throw the big screen on the credit card, that is has come to this..I say let them all go bankrupt, let them lose their house, let the bank fail...there are still plenty of people who can and will take up the slack...purchase these properties... I would like to pick up one of these myself..

we really need to be more active and less bitchy. start by removing your money from big ass banks. and stop shopping at wal-mart and buying all those outsourced goods. boycott big businesses. get off credit, that's the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on any people. write and call your reps.

Just for the record, this isn't about "helping out" the individuals who borrowed money they couldn't pay back to buy a house they couldn't afford: it's about helping out the jerks who loaned it to them, the financial "geniuses" who monetarized those debts, and the fatcat mega-institutions that invested EVERYBODY'S bank deposits, insurance equity, pension plans, 401ks, and mutual funds in them! At least that's the stated intent of "the plan." The real intent, of course, is to disastrously expand government into a Totalitarian regime and simultaneously pay off political debts.

Rewarding irresponsibility is Obama's byword. Jack Kemp once said that liberals measure their compassion by how many people they're helping, while conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need our help. That would explain this stupid mortgage policy and the idiotic repeal of the welfare reform of 1996 -- more people to "help." If we ever woke up in a world wehre nobody had any problems, liberals could not function. They need people to be dependent on them to justify their feel-good worldview.