My Bank the Crack Addict... how to get paid for not paying

Remember the days when the bank would bulldoze your house if you didn't pay your mortgage. Gone, gone, gone. Now you can get paid $100 just for falling behind in your payments:

The Mod Squad is planning a six-city tour; it hopes to attract struggling homeowners to information and counseling sessions with offers of $100 gift cards to Home Depot Inc. The number is (877) 362-6631.

Not only that, but mortgage companies are adjusting adjustable rate mortgages with the hope that they won't default and continue sending in those monthly checks. In essence, lenders are in the position of having to do anything to keep people spending or else they and everyone else starts losing money. Perhaps the system has become so efficient that that makes sense.

But it makes you wonder if the American economy has become so addicted to consumption that banks are willing to forgive missed payments just to keep feeding the addiction.