The Dirty Little Secret of the Bailout Plans

[Vinnie From Indy]

Firstly, is there any doubt that the same "Masters of the Universe" on Wall Street that brought us to this point made their plans to deal with this crisis months ago? You can be quite sure that these folks spent hundreds of hours in the months leading up to this point to examine the profit potential of many bailout scenarios. The fact that the original "bailout" plan was ready and waiting for the day it would be needed is proof that the very "elite" in America knew this day was coming and they have prepared to make money from it.

One of the dirty little secrets of this bailout is that the very same people that wrote and traded these bad mortgages are fighting tooth and nail to keep the average homeowner that signed the mortgage notes on the hook for the outrageous terms orginally agreed to at time of purchase. There has been no meaningful discussion of the government mandating that these companies rewrite the terms of these mortgages nor is there any program being discussed that allows distressed homeowners the chance to participate in the same types of voluntary programs being offered to the banks. In short, Wall Street wants our money AND they want to keep people on the hook for the horrendous mortgage terms that they, in many instances, were lied to about when offered the loans in the first place.

The second dirty little secret is that many of the smart people on Wall Street have calculated that many distressed Americans will be driven to using their credit cards for more and more basic purchases. They are simply giddy at the fact that the new bankruptcy laws passed a few years back will all but guarantee a large pool of indentured servants working for years to try and get out from their high interest credit card debt. The also know that they can jack up the rates at their whim and there is nothing a consumer can do to relieve themselves of the ever increasing obligations to these banks.

ANY bailout package must include a government mandate for homeowners to re-negotiate their mortgage terms. Many of these distressed homeowners would be just fine without ARM loans. They should be allowed to renegotiate their loans.

In the end, it seems the banks on Wall Street want to be bailed out, but they also want to keep all the fruits of their deceptive and outrageous loan practices as well.