The story points out that, in general, consumers trapped in bad mortgages with other lenders also face difficulty, yet even government officials put a rosy face on the problem:

Lenders, government officials and loan servicers, who take in borrowers' monthly mortgage payments, contend that troubled borrowers everywhere are being helped to stay in their homes by those overseeing their loans. But neither data nor anecdotal evidence supports this view.

In today's New York Times, economist-columnist Paul Krugman has a follow-up: Enron's Second Coming?, pointing out that Countrywide kingpin Angelo Mozilo, who was paid $142 million last year, has "achieved the rare feat of victimizing three distinct groups": borrowers, investors and Countrywide's own stockholders. Krugman refers back to Morgenson's article:

Why block mutually beneficial deals? As the article points out, Countrywide can make money from the fees it charges on foreclosures, while the losses from mortgages that could have been saved, but weren't, are borne by others.

Meanwhile a listener comment to a Marketplace story on Public Citizen's new report on unfair credit card arbitration practices points out that -- in the end -- the Star Wars rebels defeated the evil Deathstar, twice. That's true, but let's hope the Jedi return and prevent Countrywide from blowing up a lot more neighborhoods first.