Re: thoughts on Bush mortgage bailout?
 

The tax break sounds very unimpressive (easy for me to say I guess). If I was in a situation to short sell I would fear long term credit damage more than a few thousand dollars in tax discounts.

Re: thoughts on Bush mortgage bailout?
 

The tax was kind of stupid in the first place. You borrow money to buy an asset. Part of the debt is forgiven and you're taxed like that money was given to you. The asset you bought with the loan dropped in value, but you don't get a deduction. It's probably a good idea to get rid of it because the people caught in this situation can't pay the tax anyway.

The Bush plan doesn't really do much and he knows it. It's a political thing to get people off his back. But he's not about to bail out people that were stupid or greedy, either on his own initiative or via a bill from Congress.