Americans Split on Borrower Bailout

Lenders get no sympathy: 72% in poll oppose help
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 11, 2007 12:54 PM CST
Americans Split on Borrower Bailout
Boarded windows and a deteriorated porch are seen on a foreclosed home as it sits vacant in Westview Village, Saturday, November 3, 2007 in Atlanta.    (Associated Press)

About half of Americans say borrowers snared in the subprime mortgage mess brought the trouble onto themselves, but they nevertheless deserve "special treatment," CNNMoney reports. In a poll of 1,002 adults, 51% also said they felt sorry for borrowers, with 46% blaming financial institutions' lending policies for the situation.

When it came to sympathy for lenders, however, 72% of Americans said they would oppose any help for financial institutions. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The Bush administration said Dec. 6 it wants lenders to freeze some 1.2 million teaser-rate mortgages that will reset to higher rates. (More subprime mortgages stories.)

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