The big investment banks in America are being bailed out by the taxpayers. The banks created a boom in the housing industry by lending money to people to buy a home with the understanding that they could resell it for a profit before having to pay anthing on it because the bankers were artificially driving up the prices on houses. Many of those people didn’t have a job that would enable them to purchase a home.

Then the bank officials bundled up hundreds of thousands of mortgages and labeled them triple-A securities and resold them at a handsome profit to other investment banks all over the world. They also sold houses to people who could not afford it by giving them low rate, adjustable mortgages.

When the housing bubble burst, people’s homes were worth thousands less than they paid. Adjustable mortgage rates went higher, and people walked away from billions of dollars worth of overpriced homes.

Banks have gone under; people have lost their life savings in company 401(k) accounts, as well of billions of dollars’ worth of bank stock that became worthless.

The investment banks tried to recover their losses by manipulating oil futures, and that drove everyone’s gasoline and heating oil prices through the roof until Congress put a stop to it.

The banks also took good companies that had great earnings and shorted their stock price to artificially drive the stock price down to steal stockholders’ money.

John Dillinger was a hero compared to them.

Warren Packard, Rumford