The US Senate has approved a rescue bill designed to prop up America's battered housing market.

The new law creates a $300bn (£150bn) rescue fund to help thousands of homeowners get cheaper loans.

It may also be used to bail out the struggling mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which own or guarantee around half the nation's mortgage debt.

The bill has been approved in a very short time. President George Bush is expected to sign it into law next week.

The housing crisis is causing serious problems for the wider US economy.

Almost 740,000 US homes entered the foreclosure process in the second quarter of 2008, according to research firm RealtyTrac.

The worst-hit areas were Nevada, California, Florida and Arizona, which had seen the biggest house price rises during the boom years, and the largest volume of sub-prime lending.

The bill's Republican critics say it will cost US taxpayers billions, and query the wisdom of bailing out irresponsible homeowners or unscrupulous lenders.

I do wonder why they call them irresponsible considering the quantity of people that have been getting laid off.

How can u sit at ur puter in another country and call those that are on the brink of losing their homes irresponsible when u don't know the reasons behind each individual foreclosure? There are many hard working Americans who are losing their homes not because they won't pay their mortgages but because they have unfortunately lost their jobs, many due to work being sent overseas due to cheaper labor, who no longer have the money to pay said mortgages.

I dont think;
1) Im calling anyone irresponsible.
2) Winx is from outside the US
3) Republicans are not American ...

Anything else?

I wonder how many Pro-Illegals feel for the folks who are losing their incomes and homes to the Illegal Invader? An excess of 20 million Illegals does have an adverse economic impact.

Yeah I do have something else. Thank God You aren't in this country in control of anything. I love it when people for other counties generalize all Americans.(Good ole American sarcasim, in case you don't recongnize it) I don't know anything about your country so therefore I'm not gonna sit here and bash it in anyway because that would be unfair of me. However I do want to say, Don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their moccassins. I take great offense to your statement that all people who are losing their homes are irresponsible and I'm sure that I am not the only one. Not all Americans are money hungry monsters who want to control the world. Streotyping and generalizin all people from a particular group is a sign of ignorance.

I have absolutely no issue with people from other countries immigrating into the US legally. I'm only a second generation US citizen on my Mother's side. My grandmother immigrated here legally and faithfully renewed her green card everytime.
However I do have issue with those that come into this country by illegal means. I also have issue with those that hire these illegal immigrants. The illegal immigrants do have an impact on our economy and resources. I feel that those businesses and business owners who are hiring illegal immigrants need to be punished for such actions much more harashly. A slap on the wrist isn't going to stop them from doing it again.
Working as a deputy sheriff I had a hand in having many illegal immigrants deported knowing that given the first opportunity they would be back. They knew that those jobs would be waiting for them when they got back over our borders.
This nation was founded by immigrants. Until we do something about these businesses and business owners hiring illegals there will always be a huge problem with illegals.

Nope. Winx was born and raised and still lives in the mid-western part of the U.S.

And...Winx doesn't look at the people that are losing their homes as being irresponsible. We have a Chrysler plant closing in my city. There will be over 2,000 unemployed people when that happens. The Anheuser Busch headquarters is in my city. They were sold to a Belgium firm. We are expecting job losses there too.

If these laid off people lose their homes, they are not being irresponsible. It will be a sad situation.

Hey Winx, like Fanta said on another thread, Belushi is just pissed his countrymen got kicked outta the US back in 1776!!

Oooh, that Fanta.

the russian are coming, whoops they are already here,

welcome commrade

your welcome commrade.

Can you actually read?

Please highlight the exact phrase where it says I am saying that people are irresponsible.

Why would I be pissed that a bunch of illegal immigrants rose up against their oppressive government to get freedom.

Im all for freedom. Freedom that all humanity is free to be where they want to be.

Im not pissed, its just Fanta has nothing else to say, day after day, stuck in front of his computer, because he has no life.

Where's Belushi Alex?

Anyone who took a variable rate mortgage in order to afford more house than they could actually support is irresponsible. There are those who have lost their homes due to other reason but the majority of those in "crisis" are to look no further than the mirror when dealing blame.

The numbers look huge at 740,000 or whatever. What percentage of homes in the US does that represent? It's about 3% or less if I recall that means 97% of mortgages are doing ok. Sky Not Falling!

So quick to bail out the industries who made bad loans, so slow to bail out the homeowners victimized by predatory lending.

Try to start a small business and see how quickly the government will bail you out if it goes belly up or you go bankrupt.

Oh, that's right.

You can't declare bankruptcy anymore.

The banks and credit cards companies put an end to that.

Actually I want to know why banks like Bank of America & Citmortgage arent taken to task for charging the interest they charge? They are totally uncomprimising in lowering their interest rates to something their borrowers can afford. This is driving property values down but they want no part of the blame.

I'm sure there are many people who are caught up in a wrong formula that might help them get the mortage they can afford. I wish the legislators would have done something to force these banks to lower their interest rates on these mortgages. Why aren't the bank interest rates competitive with the FHA & other govt. loans? These banks are the equivilent of being loan sharks. I also think they should make adjustable rates mortgages a crime.