Homeowners Innocent?

Today, John McCain said,  ”Homeowners are the innocent bystanders in a drive-by shooting by Wall Street and Washington,” (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/22/mccain.blitzer/index.html)

I have to say I’m not so sure.  Yes, I do think that some policies were not regulated as tightly by Washington as they should have been and yes, Wall Street may have been looking for more and more profit – but I also think that all of us have some blame to take for this mess we find ourselves in.

What about those who took out much more of a loan than they could pay back?  Those who spent and spent what the they didn’t have?  What about those who encouraged that spending because it netted their companies more profit?  What about those of us who said nothing because the value of our homes kept going up – even if our neighbors were taking out loans they couldn’t repay?

I recently heard a financial commentator say that while the bailout may resolve some of the pressure in the current economy, the crisis wasn’t going to be fully resolved until we all changed our ways and learned not to overextend ourselves.  When we learn some self-control, we may be able to get back on our feet…. 

So were homeowners innocent bystanders during a drive-by shooting…. I’m not so sure.