I am not an economist or really much of a politic follower at all, in fact I'd say I know very little about how it all works. I still have opinions though, so if you want to hear them, read on!
I have been hoping that the bail out pacage would pass for the whole last weekend. Not for the sake of Wall Street, but for OUR sake. While I don't think greedy bank CEOs and Wall Street big shots should be given a second thought for helping put us in this situation, I was hoping that the people who would be affected by a major shift would cause both sides to come together and agree on something for once. Now it's all the buzz.
We just lost the largest amount of money in history because our politicians are acting like a bunch of children fighting over a much sought after toy at a play date gone bad. It's silly really. I mean, we all want the same thing, don't we? Why can't we just share and be nice and not resort to childish name calling? I know it's an election year and all, but I find it extremely distasteful that people are sniping and finger pointing amongst all of this turmoil. Can we just please put our political posturing behind us and do what's best for everyone? Where are those naughty children's mothers and fathers right now, I think they need a time out!
Maybe it would be easier for us regular folks to stomach a bail out package if the people in charge of all of the failing institutions would be kind hearted enough to give those big, undeserved payouts back to their employers. Fat chance that will happen, but one could hope times like these may cause greedy business mongers to be kind and generous enough not to perpetuate a failing system. What can we do to get out of this mess anyway?
At least I know I'm not the only person getting my credit lines on my credit cards reduced, it hardly feels very soothing to know that though.
Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Cindy
8 comments:
I don't know what the answer is but I'm really opposed to bailing out bad decisions by banks and wall street. No one is bailing us out when we get into financial trouble. Maybe they should all take a salary cut or promise to repay us when things turn around ~ anything to show they are serious. I think we're all in for a rocky time.
I agree with Kathleen completely. I don't think it's fair for banks & wall street to expect the tax payers to bail them out when they screw up. And it's not like they are even giving us a choice. Our representative are going to make that choice for us whether we like it or not.
We cannot afford to bail them out. It is not the "government" that will pay for this. It is you and me (the tax payers) that will pay for this. It really is frightening, but hold tight, we will all be okay.
Hi Cinj .. I'm not American so my opinion isn't valid for what is happening over there .. but a lot of Canadians are thinking the same thing .. the bail out would only help the rich , the middle class as in our country, will see no help.
The trend truly is the rich will get richer (one way or another) and the middle and lower income families will get poorer.
We are being dragged into another election too .. but gratefully it hasn't lasted for a year with having to hear about that long .. at some point you just want them to shut up and do what they are getting paid to do ! or pay me and I'll whip things into shape damn it ! LOL
Hey everyone, thanks for checking in. I value international opinions as well, so don't feel you need to be American to tell us what you think.
They really have been making bad decisions, haven't they? No one has tried to help me either with the decisions I've made. I made those decisions with the full help and support of a banker. Now I'm in a real mess. Are they bailing me out? Nope. But isn't the mantra to do unto others as you would have done to you? Just because the fat greedy banks refuse to see reason, should we not try to extend a hand of truce to help some of us get our homes sold? I know it may not make complete sense to throw money at a problem, but if it is done intelligently and with rules to get those loans paid back.
They haven't tried to work with me really at all with the sale of my house. They don't want to budge in any direction and I just simply can't afford to keep two houses.
I guess it may be easier for us if they changed their attitudes and tried to be more considerate and understanding. I suppose they feel they can't afford to take on that kind of attitude when their investors are worried about their money. How much could they gain if they were more flexible though? Would we even be in this mess in the first place?
How much of the money that was lost yesterday was ours? I know we don't invest as much in the stock market as the rich do, but I have to think that we lost more money with the market loss than we would have with a bail out package. The houses we buy out will all be eventually sold, so I really do think that we will get the money back in the long run.
People wanted to buy my house but their bank decided that they were no longer qualified to buy it because of the new credit rules. It's just crazy really. I can't sell my house because no one can get a loan. My house will be foreclosed and written off as bad debt because they won't approve people for a loan. I was approved for a loan that I can't afford to pay, and now someone can't get a loan even if they make more money than I did for the same house.
I don't claim to have answers, but I have a few ideas. It sure would be nice if a bank would consider something from this list as viable, but as I said I'm no economist.
What if we found someone who wants to buy the house but doesn't have enough money for the down payment? Couldn't they take over the loan we already have and just pay the agreed to payments? (Of course the bank could run a check on them to make sure they were qualified)
The bank would not be loosing any money and we wouldn't have to keep worrying about selling the house. They also wouldn't have to pay the costs of foreclosure, which I understand can be incredibly expensive. Our interest rate is at 5.75%, wouldn't that be attractive to a person who's looking to buy?
While it MAY help the rich more than the rest of us, I can see how it would help all of us out of this mess. I would be helped by being able to sell my house. Banks will be more willing to lend us middle class people money to buy a home if they hadn't made so many bad loan decisions. Middle class people can get a house for a steal in these times, if they couldn't afford a house during the bubble this crisis has brought the homes to an affordable level. Now they could afford the loan if they could even qualify for a loan they could afford to buy a house. Wouldn't it be nice of us to help them achieve the American dream?
Hi Cinj! I really appreciate reading your kindhearted, compassionate, moderate take on this. I myself would like to see every one of those arrogant bastards slapped on their designer-clad behinds and tossed into jail for abusing the public trust, never mind a bailout! Let's see the government rush to bail you out when it's time to make a mortgage payment, or bail me out when I'm faced with a bazillion-dollar fuel oil bill every month this winter. Uh-huh. Instead, I just read an article that our local electric company had cranked up the cutoffs of power to people who had fallen behind on their payments by over 100% in response to the crisis. And I'm sure that's just one example. Thanks, guys! That's the public-minded spirit we all know and love! I wish the "big guys" would show more of your open-minded willingness to cooperate to find a solution we can all live with.
Ben- They should be investigated once this whole mess is over. I say if they lied and acted corruptly, they should deinately be jailed AND pay a fine. We're not a bunch of chumps to be taken advantage of, but we really do need to lend each other a helping hand in times like these.
We need to be able to rely on each other and feel that we can trust in the common good. I know things will work out.
Imagine how much better life would be if we were all just a little kinder and more understanding of each other. I know that kindness in itself doesn't pay the bills, but I believe that good things really DO happen to those who wait. Not sure how much longer I'll have to wait but I'm in it for the long haul.
The political cartoonists sum it up well, why bail out these 'institutions' when the ordinary folks on the street can't be helped? What makes them more valuable than you or I? I think that had the bailout passed, it may have been a good thing, but then again I believe in capitalism; which means the market will take care of itself-read the failing institutions are on their own.
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