How it went down... "Joe" makes $40,000 a year, applies for a $399,000 house with an ARM he can't afford to begin with, greedy bank approves, than sells the note to AIG, Merrill Lynch, (pick one),....
Than the market tanks, prop values drop, maybe "Joe" gets laid off, bank already made their bling,... note falls short and defaults.
Everything was all LEGAL, due to the laws and regs. Now the bank can't get cash from the bigger "banks", and they fail. Than the "bigger banks" fail, and now, as a taxpayer, I'm responsible for bailing out poor decisions by greedy bastards who made multi millions in salary and bonuses, and the Dems say, of course, its Bush's fault. When the FACTS prove otherwise.
If I open Tom's Electric, and I fail, NO ONE will bail me out, its called Capitalism. The game is biting them back, and we're paying for it. I hope the CEO's saved some of their bonuses, I'd be SEIZING it to help pay for this mess.
OK, rant off. Sorry....