Congratulations, YOU now own Freddie and Fannie

[propertymanager]

The government is now announcing that they (we) are taking over Freddie and Fannie.  So, you and I are now the proud socialist owners of a couple of huge failed businesses.  Personally, if I was going to spend my money on something, I would have rather bought a successful business!  I guess I'm a socialist after all!  I just became part goverment owner in a socialized business!

Mike

[BrianA06]

A part owner with no say.  And this isnt the first time either.  But the people that put us in this position are our neighbors. 

[justin0419]

I know you'd never hear this out of either candidate's mouth because they'd lose a ton of votes in a heartbeat, but it just INFURIATES me that we are being forced to bail out tons of people who were too stupid to understand their own finances enough to buy a house they could actually afford (both now and in a few years when their teaser interest rate changes).  People need to be responsible for their own actions.  

[tatertot]

It's what the voters want; socialize the loses, privatize the gains.

[Hoosier4life2005]

Unbelievable...

Can you really go wrong buying Stock in Fannie and Freddie now?  You know it will never crash because the government owns it now correct?

[propertymanager]

Hold on to your wallets, because you will probably be bailing out General Motors next.  I wonder if I needed help if the government would bail me out?  Oops, I forgot that I'm not "too big to fail".  What a load of crap!

Mike

[John_in_NC]

I know you'd never hear this out of either candidate's mouth because they'd lose a ton of votes in a heartbeat, . 

There is ONE candidate that agrees with you totally. Bob Barr.

Here is his announcement concerning Freddie and Fannie

http://www.bobbarr2008.com/press-releases/123/barr-blasts-latest-government-bailout/

[BrianA06]

Our government is so corrupt and dysfunctional that is cannot right itself.  A 2 party system does not work "for the people".  Who is it helping by bailing out failed businesses that are publicly owned?  Does it seem right that a company that fails to do business fairly should be saved when it is going under?

[furnishedowner]

The ONLY people who needed to be bailed out were the ones where the lender committed outright fraud in signing them up for loans. Those loans should be re-written.  The expense of that should be on the lenders who did it, if they are still solvent.

I am as burned as all you are if we have to bail out investors who thought appreciation would go on forever. Let their ships go down in flames!

Yes, it sucks that the government has to bail out Fannie and Freddie. Why aren't there hearings, firings, and accountability for that kind of leadership failure?

Furnishedowner

[justin0419]

There is ONE candidate that agrees with you totally. Bob Barr.

It's just a shame he has zero chance of winning.  Someone like him has no prayer of making a successful run at it unless he can get the media behind him.  Unfortunately the media has been and will continue to misconstrue things to steer the elections in the way they want them to go.  Their "unbiased" views are only reflective of the owners of these media giants (i.e. the Communist News Network).
I fully support and defend people voting for their choice of candidate.  My personal view is that in a race like we have (where we know no candidate besides Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain will have a decent chance of winning), a vote for a third party may as well just be a vote in favor of the major party you DON'T want to win.  I may not agree with everything either of the major candidates have to say, but I'll still vote in favor of the better of the two until we see an outsider in the future who can make a successful run at the Presidency.
I still think it's pathetic how people will trash each other early on and then all seem to support and talk up the nominee when the nomination has been clinched (see those quotes of Sen. Biden saying Sen. Obama isn't prepared to be President, but now Sen. Biden is saying Sen. Obama IS ready).

The ONLY people who needed to be bailed out were the ones where the lender committed outright fraud in signing them up for loans. Those loans should be re-written.  The expense of that should be on the lenders who did it, if they are still solvent.

I am as burned as all you are if we have to bail out investors who thought appreciation would go on forever. Let their ships go down in flames!

Yes, it sucks that the government has to bail out Fannie and Freddie. Why aren't there hearings, firings, and accountability for that kind of leadership failure?

Furnishedowner

I'm not just ticked about the "investors," but also the homeowners who thought they were going to ride the never-ending appreciation train.  The fact is that if you don't understand what you are signing for, you should not sign for it.  The loan documents had to have these terms regarding interest rate re-adjustment written in there somewhere.  The government should not shield people's stupidity.  It was blatant greed that caused these problems.  People wanted to be able to keep up with the people down the street.  If you make $50K/yr and are told you qualify for a $1MM house, there should be all kinds of red flags going up when the lender shows you what your monthly payment will be.  The responsibility stops with the people signing to purchase the homes.  No one held a gun to their head and made them do it.  Face the foreclosure and learn the lesson.

[jimbojr]

Lots of opinions here. The facts, however are that bailouts are the golden parachutes of wall street greed mongers.

Who here remembers the S&L crisis of the 80's and the bailout by Big Govt with the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC)?

This is history repeating itself. However, this time it's hitting homeowners close to home (no pun intended) because the fraud was allowed to take place in the residential mortgage markets like never before.

Don't think guys like James Cayne (Bearns Stearns), Angelo Mozillo (Countrywide) and the rest aren't fully aware that history is on their side if they decide to shipwreck their companies and destroy the fortunes of their investors. They know that once you're big enough, Uncle Sam has no choice but to bail you out, lest the droves of bought-off politicians have their back-room deals exposed and risk losing their coveted positions of power. 

This is nothing new folks. The only question for me is when will Americans stop putting up with blatant fraud, mismanagement and the complete failure of the Feds to stop rampant greed by turning a blind eye to these types of situations. When will Americans stop putting well-dressed, well-spoken empty suits in congress and start considering the character, credentials, ethics and morality of the people they elect.

It's amazing either how much we Americans are tolerant of, or how blindly ignorant we are to what's happening in Washington and in our own state legislatures. Don't we as a country realize that politicians will take care of their own at the expense of us taxpayers?

The Saving & Loan debacle cost an estimated $29 BILLION (that's about $55 billion in today's dollars). This fiasco, if the numbers are not understated as they usually are, will cost nearly $400 BILLION DOLLARS!!!  Let's pile that onto the mounting war debt and other unfunded obligations both domestic and abroad (especially Social Security) and we are just going to have to devalue our currency into oblivion, since the government seems to have an endless supply of bailout money.

I know it's oversimplified, but if we had to cash in our chips and pay off our debt, the average family of four would have write a check for over $127,000 to cover the existing debt, without even considering future obligations, which could easily triple quadruple that number. Thank goodness we don't have such a financial day of reckoning to deal with--at least not yet.

Sure we can place the blame on everyone from the banks and wall street to the ignoramuses who borrowed money they couldn't repay to the loan sharks that made the loans in the first place. But why, oh why, must we bail out these so-called victims time after time?

Geez!

[jmd_forest]

I think that most Americans actually approve of this bailout because, in my opinion, the psyche of most Americans has transformed from one of self sufficient, hard working, calculated risk takers to one of risk adverse guarantee seekers. They want someone or something to guarantee that with minimal effort they will reach some modest level of success. They like the idea that someone has their back when the reality is no one and nothing can save them from a life of low level mediocrity or worse and if they fall hard there will be no one to pick them up....but they like the idea there will be.

Regarding the idea that you waste your vote if you don't vote for one of the 2 major parties... I believe that I wasted my vote if I don't vote for who I believe is the best candidate regardless of party. Did you wast your vote voting for Gore or Kerry (Dems)? Did you wast your vote voting for Bob Dole (Rep)? None of these guys won either!

jmd_forest

[HoldAndBuy]

well, Jim Cramer was raving this morning about how it's going to improve things. 

[BrianA06]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080908/ap_on_bi_ge/mortgage_giants_consumer_impact

Mortgage rates dropping because of the gov takeover.

[jimbojr]

Of course it's good news.... for some.

Govt takeover = lower risk in mortgage secondary market = more capital available = lower rates

(consider this a shot-term, good news "bounce")

However, inflation is still a major Fed concern. Rates could be raised next Fed meeting.

Cramer thinks this is a good move from the point of a Wall Street'er. I guess if I had shares of Fannie/Freddie, especially preferred shares guaranteed to foreign investors, then I'd be jumping for joy, and have a great day on the exchange with more "irrational exuberance. " Or, if I were getting a boost to my stocks because there's a savior for Fannie/Freddie I'd be thrilled as well. This was a temporary shot-in-the-arm for Wall Street for these reasons. But, I believe it's a short-lived bounce that will fade quickly as the reality of the bailout begins to affect the economy.

Bottom line is the guys who allowed this unholy marriage of private sector and government--the ones who allowed this mess to occur, now own the whole kit-n-kaboodle! If they mismanaged this bureaucracy before, what can we expect now?

While this move may make jittery investors holding worthless paper feel good, it should make taxpayers SICK!

We've been through this all before. We apprently didn't learn any lessons. And, we don't hold anyone accountable, neither last time nor this time. In fact we rewarded the bums who mismanaged FM/FM all these years with muti-million dollar severance packages--albeit, not the $110 million rewarded to Countrywide's Angelo Mozilo for his stellar performance, but only a paltry $9.4 million (in addition to the $12.4 million in compensation and options since 2004) to tie Mudd over until he finds another ship to sink.

Corporate raiders always celebrate when they know the good faith and credit of the US Govt. confirms that they'll bail out the perpetrator of the biggest act of fraud know to mankind. The only problem is that WE, THE PEOPLE ARE THE REAL BAILOUT.

We either pay taxes, or we devalue our monetary system as the printing presses crank out another several hundred billion to "pay" for all this. It's getting so bad that I advise my parents to get their savings out of dollars and into tangible assets to avoid the raping of their purchasing power by the Feds.

Well, I've again had my catharsis. I thank you for being part of it.

Jimbo