Take the money and run

That's what it looks like the feds and the states are doing with regard to the mortgage scandal. The banks - Ally Financial Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and Wells Fargo & Co.  - will pay somewhere between $25 and $30 billion. These banks are responsible for about 55% of outstanding home loans or 27,000,000 mortgages. 

In return for the money, the banks will not be liable for any crimes related to robo-signing, except the recent prosecution by Schneidermann.  It does not look like a good deal to me. We need to put people who commit crimes - even non-violent crimes - in jail.