http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/13/real_estate/subprimebailout_cost.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2007041316 - Subprime bailout? $120 billion More than 1 million borrowers may be at risk of defaulting on their mortgages. Assisting them all wouldn't come cheap.

This part of the purposeful manipulation of the business cycle. We see it over and over again. Pump, dump, bail, and profit. 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7336845760512239683 - The Money Masters

I'd like to punch the bullshit artist who wrote that headline.  $120 billion to pay off every single subprime mortgage.  Oh.  Buried in the article "a partial bailout...a couple hundred million."

> a partial bailout

We'll see.

"Subprime bailout? $120 billion"

How many days in Iraq is that? Pelosi should take that tack - "we can't pay for the occupation of Iraq and to help out these people defaulting on mortgages. Thank the Commander in Chief. Sorry."

Depending on your measure, it is a little over 13 months.

bob>"a partial bailout...a couple hundred million."
TFA>But even a partial bailout plan would cost far more than a few hundred million dollars.

Wow, bob, misquoting for fun and profit?

Ohio alone is expecting to spend $100 million on just their own state:
>The state expects to raise about $100 million through a bond sale later in the month to fund the program. While lenders say the program is a good first step, few are reporting a surge in inquiries.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17969274/

Several other states are planning the same, and the federal bailout is going to be at least as big as all 50 states put together.

My opinion is that the bailout is coming only because some folks in the business have finally cottoned onto just how big this problem is, and just how many financial institutions are going to go out of business when this happens. I think that half the banks in the US will vanish as a result of this; mostly small to medium banks gobbled up by the huge chains just as the finale to the S&L crisis.

How is a "bailout" going to work, anyway? Who will the money go to?

> Wow, bob, misquoting for fun and profit?

Whoops!  My point was the headline was bullshit.  Off by 120 times.

I tried to get a subprime loan yesterday at the bank. The bank rep said a lunch known to be free is pretty expensive. Something about asymetrical information, then laughed as he pointed out how many subprime loans he had acquired just in the nick of time.

"lenders say the program is a good first step"

translation:

"I loaned money to a guy with no job at usurous interest rates. Now that he can't pay, I want the government to deferredly raise taxes through a bond issue and give the money to the corporation I represent without any strings attached. However, some choice campaign donations might be coming, but you didn't hear that from me."

It would be more sensible to work towards reducing the interest rate by attacking the root causes of inflation, no? Any clues as to what they may be?

God is the root cause of inflation.

I guess it keeps happening no matter what any mortal government can do. How else would you explain this?

http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/04/13/bush-administration-very-very-quietly-releases-abstinence-only-study/

A little inflation (all around, including wages) is good for the heart. It's a psychological trick to think one's a better person this year than last.

> God is the root cause of inflation.

Could someone explain the inside joke?

I thought the Ohio plan was to buy out the loans, so that the borrowers would be paying reasonable rates of interest.

It would still save the bacon for imprudent lenders, though only as a side-effect.

I think the worry is not about the lenders; it's about the vast numbers of repossessions and people that will be becoming homeless.

Though how the hell something like this can be allowed to happen without criminal prosecutions says something about law enforcement priorities.

We see the same kind of cases in the UK. Unscrupulous middlemen persuade old age pensioners to buy their council houses on a mortgage that won't be paid off until they are 110, at monthly payments greater than their total income, backed by loan applications with false data drawn up by the broker.

Very likely Ohio etc will find that their state constitution does not allow them to go into the mortgage business.

And of course many of these people will default. What then? Does the state use its unique state power to enforce the debt?

I'm experiencing a cost overrun building my monstrous mega machine. Who can I contact to bail me out?

Fucking pantywaists. If they get a bailout, I should get a lump sum payment for not being a fucking retard that needs a bailout.