And now we will soon owe $700 billion, or far more in reality, more to foreign lenders because WE ARE BROKE and $13 TRILLION in debt now and can't cover the bailout ourselves. I'm not financially savvy enough to intelligently comment on this type thread, but since I, my kids, and their kids, and their kids, ad infinitum will be taxed through the nose to pay for this debacle I will anyway and risk showing my ignorance.
First of all, IMHO lenders who encouraged unqualified buyers to buy homes, luxury vehicles, and other properties they couldn't afford by offering sub prime rates should not have been bailed out by taxpaying people who are struggling to stay afloat themselves when they knew perfectly well that they were heading for a future collapse that would ultimately drive the US even deeper into insolvency. How on earth can anyone justify allowing execs of failed lenders to walk away from the disaster they created with tens of millions of dollars in their pockets when they are responsible for costing the taxpayers trillions of dollars that we don't have, and may have trouble getting from the usual overseas sources who must be close to the point of telling us to get our house in order or do without their help?
I don't know much about high finance, but even a fiscal dummy like me can see that this entire debacle and the government's response to it stinks to high heaven. Where was government oversight of banking and lending institutions when this was going on, it wasn't done in secret. I have to wonder how many in Congress and the Senate are also walking away from the debacle with pockets stuffed full of the green paper that the government still insists is money.
Any of you out there who may be in the banking business or who know a lot more about it that I obviously don't are more than welcome to try to educate me on the intricacies of high finance if you care to.