Ok... so the home mess is the fault of those that signed the bad mortgages right?

conservatives seem to say:
the banks were just providing a service and the people just didn't read the fine print and didn't know enough about mortgages, so they did it to themselves....

even though the banks clearly knew that the people most likely wouldn't be able to pay them back...

would it be ok in conservative ideology if I created a business that basically took money from the elderly, overpriced minimal services perhaps, as long as it was all clearly stated in the contract?

if the elderly took me up on my offer, wouldn't it be their fault for taking me up on my deal, since everything was in the contract...

after all, I'm just providing a service to people who aren't familiar with a product, as the banks were...

what do you think?

Republicans are lining up to defend the banks now and blame the lender...

and the constant conservative push for "less regulation" certainly helped some of these policies work...

It's the fault of both. The banks should have never forced the numbers to look good knowing that the slightest change in the future would make it impossible for the buyers to pay. And the banks are paying for it, they've got the houses, but few to buy them.

It's just as much of the fault of the buyer. If you're getting into 100k's of dollars that you'll be paying back for years, you damn well better read the fine print, your livelihood depends on it! Crunch the numbers yourself and find sources and advisors who have nothing to do with the sale if you're not sure what's a good deal or not. Haste and hurry and now homes and money down the drain.

What I can say though, it's not the governments fault, any of it, and it shouldn't be on the taxpayers to bail them out.

Did Republicans write or endorse these types of loans? Did they like say hey pssst come here have we got a deal for you? Mortgage companies were just taking advantage of a segment of the market and take advantage they did how you can misconstrue that into being the fault of the Republicans is beyond me. Course I'm sure some blame everything on Conservatives and Republicans its more convenient than actually using ones brain for a change.

Lenders knew they were giving people risky loans. They also lobbied congress to rewrite bankruptcy laws so borrowers couldn't seek relief in court. Primary mortgages cannot be adjusted in court by a judge. They also made in harder to write off credit card debt while making it easier for credit card companies to cheat people. With no relief in court, consumers just walked away from the asset and told the bank to take it. I have no sympathy for them. The chickens have come to roost as far as I'm concerned and these banks got what they deserved. It's sad that so many people had to suffer.