National news - Page 1

More victims of the "mortgage crisis".

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080125/lf_afp/uspropertyfinanceanimals

Very sad.  But why would you leave your pet in abandoned?  Seems to me these were not the most responsible owners to begin with.  How could you leave an animal to starve locked in a closet?  How horribly cruel, can't even imagine.  Euthanasia would be more humane.

I .... just....don't....understand!! 

Hell, even dumping the dog in the street would be more humane!!

You are right Sunsilver, at least then there is a chance, albeit slim, of the dog being found and cared for.  That being said though, when people are faced with losing everything in this sub-prime mortgage mess, they might not put their dog's welfare at the top of their priority list.  I personally blame the mortgages companies who tempted people into overextending themselves with houses that they could not possibly afford. 

If I ruled the world, the management of these companies would be behind bars, not getting rich.

Everyone wants to blame this mess on the Mortgage Brokers/Bankers. I am sorry, but It was our goverment that let this fly. By allowing no down payments, no income verifcation. In the 80's & early 90's you had to have a 20% down payment for owner occupied and 30% for non owner. People who work on commission/bonuses, did what they normally do>push the envelope.  If you think the Mortgage's are a mess wait until the commerical paper starts defaulting, this will make the housing , credit cards and auto paper look like pennies. What I fear the most is the changes/polishing up of the laws in the last few years, leads me to understand our goverment is/was aware. They have added an EXIT tax, so if you try and leave the country, they are going to tax you and your pension. They have polished up the Gold confescation laws (it was done in the 30's and again in the 70's) Social Security payments are going to be paid by a debit card, is there a reason they do not want to continue to put the funds into the banks, which need the funds on the balance sheets so the percentages of bad loans against deposits, and why they picked a bank I have never even heard of to handle this?. Everyone is focused on the bond insurers, no one is actually talking about why they are in trouble> the bonds themselves. Even if they shore up the insurance, the bonds are still going to default. Our pension funds again are at risk, our 401 K's, if you look close, you will find at least 20% of the funds are into financials and bonds, so as the market declines, then the bonds go into bankruptcy. We wll be lucky if they are not eating their pets. I am very angry, I have worked hard, played by the rules, Ira;s, 401K, added to company pensions thru my husband, putting my kinds thru college and Grad school. (My Grad school child graduates in May, and she tells me she can understand why I am upset, at MY AGE< I will have a hard time coming back from this mess, but at her AGE> no big deal, she will get a JOB and life will go on). I just told her, I wish you luck Honey. amazaing to me, college grad, will be grad school, grad and no clue. This mess is so deep and gone to far and the new laws and poslihing of the ones on the books just keeps coming, there is no way back. We may see some sun but it will not last. We have the flu and until we throw up, we can not get better.  Our beloved pets will suffer the most, If you are a breeder, please be responsblie about who purchases puppies/dogs and for those of you who make a living and not just extra income, Please be careful you are going to get caught with litters.