STOP USING MY MONEY TO BAIL OUT GAMBLERS

Bravo!! you speak for millions of us. Let the deadbeats, lenders and investors suffer justly. Get this word out. Well done!

You are SOOOOO right, but then this is symptomatic of the entire society that we live in. Personal responsibility is always mitigated by rationalization whilst the responsible rest of us pay the price.

I agree wholeheartedly, but why don't we hear more about this in the mainstream media? and what's up with the CEO's of these two behemoths? How did they get bonuses last year? Since when do we reward record losses? Think they should be the first to give back their bonus - just the first band-aid on the gaping wound.

Totally agree with you. It is exceedingly frustrating. And it is not only the mortgages these people couldn't afford. What about the Beemer and Hummer parked in the driveway??? We have a society of instant gratification. Twenty-somethings think they are entitled to the conveniences of life that it took their parents a lifetime to achieve. It is scary. At our house, we preach financial responsiblity to our kids on a daily basis! Maybe the silver lining is that people will take stock more readily when they go to make ANY purchase, let alone a big-ticket item.

I bought my first house last year and I had to supply about 100 pages of paperwork to the mortgage lender. Anyone who was buying a house that didn't have to provide any paperwork or proof of income should have been smart enough to know something wasn't right. If they signed the papwerwork anwyay, we should'nt have to bail them out. I understand why they want to bail out FM, but this economy has been artifically propted up by the government for decades now. It's about time the fed lets the economy correct itself so we can move forward. How much do you think this is going to cost us considering the S&L bailout in the 80's is at like 120 billion and counting..

Liz, You are correct on all counts. What our government has done and continues to do will actually cause great damage to those of us who were diligent in our efforts to make sure that the contract we signed would not over extend our financial health. We have a broken system, no matter how you slice it, but further down the road, if one takes the time to investigate, the financial "train-wreak" that we are headed toward is staggering. It is really sad that as the darkness grows, neither our candidates nor our current government provide the real truth about where this country is headed, financially. Hopefully, the facts that I know to be correct, do not play out the way I think they will. Wishing everyone well and good luck! Bob

Thank you for expressing a frustration that is being felt by Americans all over the country. When does this bailing out stop? In watching recent events, the government will not stop, and by not stopping, weigh all Americans down with a burden of "bailout" debt unknown in common history. Let the banks fail. When will "too big to fail" become "Burden too big to carry"? Thank you again for the courage to express your outrage.

Liz, This is a beautifully written article, and you speak for the majority of Americans who are fed up with our government's excessive use of the governemnt "credit card." The situation at Fannie and Freddie Mac is a perfect example of another misguided government policy, and the investors and taxpayers are once again left holding the bag. The securities of these agenices were at one time a very attractive investment vehicle for retirees to park their money and receive interest and dividend income; however, a few years ago, the liberals in Congress decided that people with poor credit and low income should have mortgages too and ordered Freddie and Fannie to loosen the underwriting standards so "everyone" could own a home. Well, we now see what is happening as a result. The funny thing is our elected leaders are pointing the finger at Freddie and Fannie for creating this mess when in fact it was their fault. This "nanny state" that our government has created will stop only when the American taxpayer has had enough and vote them all out. I seriousily doubt that is going to happen anytime soon...

Liz, your saying what everyone else is thinking and the general news and politicans don't want to tackle. This is what is killing america today. NO ONE, it seems, has accountability and those in power all seem to look the other way when their pockets are likely to be fed. The sad part to me is I don't think there is a good way out. Eventually, these actions will catch up and the 'system' will fail. Everybody will be hurting bad. Out of the ruin, hopes of a better future for all of us. Great article. Love the way you communicate the news.

Liz, I agree that having to be responsiple for your actions is an absolutely important for a free market to function. One point however, the money the Fed is going use for the bailout is not tax money, I wish it was. No, the fed will debase the US dollar AGAIN with imaginary fiat dollars, just as they have done with Bear Sterns and the rest. This flies in the face of ever ecomonic rule the Fed has (research what Greenspan said about this a 2 weeks ago!). this action is actually not legal. The Fed is using emergency powers reserved only for economic depression prevention. The Fed is inflating into deflation, a very risky bussiness....