Again, to clarify…the lender is now the taxpayer, and the old rules should not apply.
First and foremost, we need to be accountable to the taxpayers. The lenders and borrowers made tremendous mistakes, and their rights do not trump those of the taxpayers.
If it were only the lenders losing money (and they weren’t asking us for bailouts), I couldn’t care less what they gained or lost, but they are not the ones ultimately responsible anymore. The taxpayers are the ones taking the hit, so our duty is to protect them at all costs.
