I mostly just lurk here and appreciate your insights on most matters but on this one, I am amazed at the level of ignorance & malice exhibited by some of you in your zeal to hang (or inject) anybody you think is responsible for this mess.
Society has tried things like debtor prisons and all in the past and found that they do not work (anybody read Charles Dickens?). If you commit a white collar crime like swindling money out of folks pension funds, it still ranks low compared to violating their rights in person. A white collar criminal has not violated your civil rights by talking you out of your money. You had a choice to do business with that person. This is not the same as breaking into your house and stealing, say $100 worth of your stuff.
Why should folks who ran Enron get death penalty? Did they commit homicide? Did they violate a fellow citizen’s rights? Is it their fault that their investors were a bunch of dumbasses who did not do their homework before investing in Enron?
Extending the same to the mortgage issues in CA or FL, the law will eventually catch up with those brokers & agents who committed fraud, and they will eventually pay for it. But hopefully not in the part of capital punishment as some of you here are asking for. Their customers had a choice to do business with them.
Why is it that those ultimately responsible for this crisis (the new homeowners) are the ones squealing the most and asking for more punishment for brokers and agents? Is it their way of picking on others for their bad judgment? It was greed that drove everybody from hedge fund managers to the homeowners. They all are part of this mess. Now that the party is over, they are all blaming each other for the bad hangover.
Where does this stop when one party asks for capital punishment of the other party in this mess? Can those renters who sat out of this show ask for capital punishment of those home owners who made it difficult for me to buy a home due to their greed?
