Be ticked off – but get over it

I’ll be over being mad when I get back from the polls, having done my best fire those who failed to represent their constituents. Party lines won’t matter one whit to me- what I saw proves that we have a one party system owned by the rich. Obama, McCain: shame on both of you for failing us.

no pay us the money

what bothers me is that our government waits until apparently there is such a crisis we need to write a blank check for 700B!

We need to slow down, regardless of the state of the markets and have a reasoned debate. There needs to be oversight, the taxpayer needs protection from paying too much for these toxic assets, these bad banks need to be forced to do mortgage work outs where people can stay in their homes, and I’d like to see some proposals for some brand *new* banks – let the worst banks fail, but start a new crop of banks with a clean slate. Let the new banks do some lending with government sponsorship short term in exchange for some profits down the road for taxpayers to get them going. Don’t allow unregulated CDS investments, and don’t allow irresponsible lending – I am suspicious at hearing over and over again that we have to ACT NOW… – instead of being told (by CNN) to “get over it” — let’s ‘get it right’ this time.

I wanted to buy a house a few years ago but I couldn’t find anything affordable except a condo in the ghetto and even that was over valued. I ended up moving my family back home with my parents in the hope of saving money.

And now the market is correcting its self…

I say let it run its course.

If I couldnt get a loan before all this than nothing has changed

The bailout is absolutely necessary to keep the financial markets moving, but that is it. The plan should include punitive aspects. The whole sub-prime, MBS securities situation makes me sick. Nobody has any idea to what these things are worth. Every executive should be let go with only the shirt on their backs, if that. This was all greed. One hand washed the other until nobody knew what the hell was going on. If I hear about one CEO getting a severance package I will have lost all my faith in this country. The bailout plan needs to include oversight, hate to nationalize businesses but it has to be done for now.

America is going down the drain – thanks to Bush’s and Cheney’s administration in the last 8 years. Can anyone just name ONE (I don’t need two or three), only one, good thing that this administration has done for our country in the last 8 years? I guess when people get hit hard in their pocket books, they are not jumping on the bandwagon of “Spreading democracy around the world” anymore. Terrorism actually starts right here at home with inept leaders and greedy CEOs, and people with negative IQs that would still vote for them. BTW, those planning to vote for the same party that we have in the last 8 years – please tell me what the party represents to you today. They have wrecked this country from inside-out. Talking about implosion.

Let’s march! Don’t bother calling your elected leaders. Let’s all descend onto D.C. and demand our own bail out. These Wall Street crooks are getting a trillion dollar bailout while the poors are getting surplus cheese from the USDA.

We are being blackmailed. These extortionists (from Alan Greenspan to Bernenke to Paulson) are holding us hostage and Congress is about to let them. ARGH! Their illusion of wealth has been dispelled. Everyone, get your pitchfork.

It’s time for tough love and here are some rambling thoughts..
1) Limit future government intervention in the housing market and stop guaranteeing loans to people who cannot afford them, I talking about you Fannie and Freddie.

2) We need executives who contributed to this mess to do jail time and community service…start with the Countrywide and IndyMac folks.

3) Permanently ban short selling or tax the gains heavily.

4) The top executives and board of directors of any bailed out company should receive zero compensation this year.

5)The government should force credit card companies to lower their interest rates, lower their basic monthly payment requirements and allow consumers to skip at least one payment in the next 6 months.

6) No more no down, no doc loans!

7) Now for the liberals…your idea that everyone should own a home will not work. We are in this mess because you forced the banks to lend to people who were bad risks. Get a grip you socialists! I can just see it now, in 10-15 years we will be talking about a bailout for the government health care program you want!

While I understand the anger that a lot of people have stated here in bailing out these companies, the arguement to simply let them fail is unbelievable. Some have stated this is socialism, but you all need to go back and take your history lessons again from the Great Depression. Then like now we had collapsing markets and liquidity issues with credit. Then, like now, it was fueled by a lack of government regulation, greed and artificial increases in the value of the assets they held only in paper. The thought of intervention by the American government was unheard of then by Republicans or Democrats. The result was a complete collapse of the economy. Imagine GM not being able to get a loan to retool factories, farmers unable to get credit to buy seed, small businesses unable to purchase inventory on credit, etc.. It has been standard practice, even before the depression in some instances, that government intervention, and government programs in general are done when you have market failure. If this does not qualify, I don’t know what would. What I would say is that it is right to demand some accountability. Paulson says if we put limits on executive compensations for failing that they won’t participate and everyone will get hurt. I got news for him. If they don’t participate then perhaps we should nationalize the banking system completely and fire all those involved with getting us into this mess. Nothing in the constitution prevents the govenment from intervening when our national security is at risk, and that is what we are talking about. If you define that as socialism, then remember that this is exactly what was done in the depression and it allowed us to survive until we got back on our feet.

No, let them burn. And when their done let them smolder, bankrupt, in a stinking toxic cesspool of here own creation. I would see these bankers in hell before I would ever agree that they need or are deserving of a bailout.

Ask yourself this,”What would they do for me if I were in their shoes”?

Let’s play “What IF”

What if we bail out these “inept” bankers. Ok…we give them the money, oh yes, and of course we agree to “no oversight”. By all means let’s not insult them by asking them what they are doing!

Five years or even less down the road we are no closer to financial solvency than we are right now…PROBABLY worse, because

no one has been watching to see what is going on, and the same jerks are at the helm….siphoning off even more money and they can’t pay back the loan.

Why? Because they are already talking about loosing up restrictions so they can allow for more mortgages. WHat a cycle.So we are worse off than before.

Then what? We owe the 700 Billion plus interest, and we are forever in debt and even worse off than if we had let the chips fall where they may.

We’ve become slaves to what ever country they then turn to bail us out AGAIN.

If you don’t discipline “bad” behavior in children….THEY DO NOT LEARN.

Same goes for these “childish, spoiled brat bankers, and the rest of their wall street groupies?

Throw them all out…cut the cords to their “Golden Parachutes” and let them free fall all the way down….. crash and burn.

I guarantee you my little simple IRA is already gone, along with my social security and I am only 8 short years away from retirement. I don’t want to be saddled with this loan TOO!!!

Congressman Howard Coble needs to know that we all stand ready to vote him out of office if he votes yes to this BAil Out. His email box should already be overflowing and his phones ringing off the hook, and folks lined up outside his office.

Abolish the federal reserve!
and Go back to Gold standard
read “A creature for jekyll Island”
and you will understand
We are heading towards high inflation, this is will be more painful.
Buy Gold and Silver and save yourself

One thing you don’t hear much in the media is that even with 1 trillion dollars of taxpayers money spent to bail out these companies, there is NO GUARANTEE that this will work. All that money may still not be enough to fix Wall Street. Then where will we be????
I suggest we ignore Paulson’s comments that we have to act fast on this. He has no credibility. He did not act to prevent this mess. Congress should carefully craft a plan with oversight and new regulations to be put in place.
I want it done right…..not fast and furious based on the opinions of just a few men.

It saddens me to realize that the two major contenders for the highest office in the land (McCain & Obama) do not spend much time discussing a need for our country to revert back to the fundamentals that were so clearly defined in our Consitution. We have strayed so far away from the vision of our Founding Fathers and as a result we have less liberty, less prosperity, and ultimately less security.

So how did we get here?

Here is an excerpt from a recent article published by Ron Paul that sums it up pretty well.

“Unfortunately, the government’s preferred solution to the crisis is the very thing that got us into this mess in the first place: government intervention.”

“Ever since the 1930s, the federal government has involved itself deeply in housing policy and developed numerous programs to encourage homebuilding and homeownership.
Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to obtain a monopoly position in the mortgage market, especially the mortgage-backed securities market, because of the advantages bestowed upon them by the federal government.”

“Laws passed by Congress such as the Community Reinvestment Act required banks to make loans to previously underserved segments of their communities, thus forcing banks to lend to people who normally would be rejected as bad credit risks.”

“These governmental measures, combined with the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy, led to an unsustainable housing boom. The key measure by which the Fed caused this boom was through the manipulation of interest rates, and the open market operations that accompany this lowering.”

“When interest rates are lowered to below what the market rate would normally be, as the Federal Reserve has done numerous times throughout this decade, it becomes much cheaper to borrow money. Longer-term and more capital-intensive projects, projects that would be unprofitable at a high interest rate, suddenly become profitable.”

“Because the boom comes about from an increase in the supply of money and not from demand from consumers, the result is malinvestment, a misallocation of resources into sectors in which there is insufficient demand.”

“In this case, this manifested itself in overbuilding in real estate. When builders realize they have overbuilt and have too many houses to sell, too many apartments to rent, or too much commercial real estate to lease, they seek to recoup as much of their money as possible, even if it means lowering prices drastically.”

“This lowering of prices brings the economy back into balance, equalizing supply and demand. This economic adjustment means, however that there are some winners — in this case, those who can again find affordable housing without the need for creative mortgage products, and some losers — builders and other sectors connected to real estate that suffer setbacks.”

“The government doesn’t like this, however, and undertakes measures to keep prices artificially inflated. This was why the Great Depression was as long and drawn out in this country as it was.”

“I am afraid that policymakers today have not learned the lesson that prices must adjust to economic reality. The bailout of Fannie and Freddie, the purchase of AIG, and the latest multi-hundred billion dollar Treasury scheme all have one thing in common: They seek to prevent the liquidation of bad debt and worthless assets at market prices, and instead try to prop up those markets and keep those assets trading at prices far in excess of what any buyer would be willing to pay.”

-Ron Paul

BOSTON TEA PARTY is right….if the government passes this bailout then I will think long and hard if I will pay my taxes….nobody bailed me out when my business went under 2 years ago….why should I pay to bail anyone out? that money could be used for many other purposes…once a true blue Republican now I don’t even recognize my own country

It is all about POOR CHOICES, people! The Democrats want FREE STUFF for everybody and this is what FREE STUFF costs! Jeez, how can people not see that? The Democrats’ battle cry since the Kennedy administration has been “Let the minorities proper at whatever cost!” Nevermind that no one learned from the Gabrini Green fiasco and tons of other absurdly expensive social experiments. This is just Gabrini Green on a national scale! Hey, all of you Liberal bleeding hearts, guess who is going to be stuck with the bill when the deadbeats run off somewhere and wait for their government checks to roll in? YOU! And all the other honest Americans who work their asses off and pay their bills and try to do the right thing. That is, until their money runs out, too. This is just the tip of the iceberg, folks. The money is gone! Better rethink your priorities.

Crooks and Wall Street need bailouts! Wake up America this bailout is a short term fix. The market will always correct itself. We need to pay down the debt now. It’s a crime that these baby boomer are going to leave the next generations with all of this burden. What’s next after these bailouts don’t go as planned. Will you force us to join a world banking system? We need to bring all of our troops home and use that money to rebuild our economy! OBAMA & McCAIN both should debate a system to pay down the debt before this country is ruined.
Don’t tell me to chill when my generation can’t find a job, afford a home or have children. Our founding fathers would be ashamed of us! We are all slaves to Wall Street and the Federal Reserve.

Marie in Baltimore…you are correct there was greed amongst Americans buying homes they could not afford and chasing what they saw as their “American Dream” BUT shouldn’t the banks have been more prudent in thier lending? they could have turned down speculative buyers….the banks could have said “NO”…they didn’t …why? they were greedier and wanted that mortgage so they could sell it an make lots of money ….a lot more than the homeowner….so at the end of the day WALL STREET WAS GREEDIER THAN MAIN STREET and I don’t see anyone bailing out the american who has to walk away from their home…do you ? so why should WALL STREET get the break and not the taxpaying citizen….and WALL STREET wants you and me to pay for their mistake… I say like most of you THIS STINKS NO WAY !!!

Humm…This bailout is only a temporary fix not a permanant one. This will get worser times will get harder and more jobs will be lost regardless of the matter. I worked my fingers to the bone and I lived well within my means while paying child support and doing it on my own. I made sure that I had discpline when it comes to money. I knew hard times where coming and here they are. I truly don’t thimk that this bailout will help the “American People” at all. Watch and see things will get worser before they get better. Whether we like it or not. The goverment is corrupt and has been since “BUSH” became president. I just can’t believe that people couldnt see this coming before he took office 8 years ago. I said when “BUSH” takes office this country will go downhill and it has..It’s called desernment..

Something in all this is very predictable. The Financial execs and CEO’s will all land on their feet while the common man, unrepresented by a powerful lobby, will feel the pain the most deeply.

Congress taped into info on this site today.
Financial Crisis Fundamental Foundation Flaws and Solution

On http://coinage.me/

The flaws are articulated in detail as well as the solution which involves a New Global Value Exchange Accounting System they have a list of power questions that media and journalists can ask.

We have a fiat currency bubble burst.

One interesting ironic insight is a small fortune can be made off pennies as a result of the amazing paradox resulting from current market conditions. 1 lb of pennies is worth $6.00 tangible and only $3.00 intangible.

They make an interesting point why shouldn’t the bail out (citizens going into debt) go to pay off the mortgages and then trickle down to those firms needing to be bailed out?

Read the power questions. http://coinage.me/power_questions.htm

You can’t be serious in thinking no one wants this bailout. Yes the top multibillionaires at these “financial institutions” WANT the bailout. They also want their big bonuses that it looks like some are going to get. And the top government officials WANT total control with no oversight or else they wouldn’t have added Section 8 asking for NO OVERSIGHT into this bailout. Yes, those two groups WANT a bailout completely contrary to what your video says. Please do not try to subdue our disdain for this completely unamerican fiasco, by daring to tell us to “chill out.” Chill out while our powers, or what’s left of them, are stripped away? Chill out while we pay for top executives to make more millions on top of the milions they’ve already made because it’s “time to pay the piper.” They KNEW this time was coming. I’m just 40 something year old guy making less than $40,000 per year and I KNEW it was going to happen. Who is supporting my debt?

Paul, there is essentially no difference between the argument that you are advancing and the claim of 70 years ago that Fascism was a good thing because Mussolini made the trains run on time.

This is about much more than jobs and the solvency of the Banking system. This is amount the very nature of our system and the American nation.

AMERICAN TAXPAYERS

I have a solution for those not involve in this mess.

You’ve heard of the BOSTON TEA PARTY.

REVOLT !!!!!!!!

They want to spend your money.

Then give yourself a TAX deduction and call it BAILOUT.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!

It is us against them. Taxpayers against the Politicians. If they knew we meant business. This would stop their money grubbing antics.

SPREAD THE WORD against the great treasury heist.

If you want to blame someone for this mess, blame those who took out a mortgage they could not afford to pay. That means all those who did “no documentation” or zero-down or ARMs or who inflated their incomes, and who are now NOT BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE. Banks and mortgage companies need to work with these people to get payments that they can afford, but they should not just let people walk away from their home and loan with no consequences. Hold them personally liable! People could change their mortgage terms to pay over 50 years instead of 30, that would reduce payments, but they would still be making a payment and would be held accountable. It was BETTER when any debt forgiven on a short sale or refinance was considered income. The people who are just walking away from their homes should have their wages garnished to make up for the loss the bank is taking. It is horrible how there is no personal accountability!! People are whining about Wall Street, but really the problem started with GREED ON MAIN STREET.

Hey Mr. …La Monica you sound like a socialist. Was is not the USA which had fought against the USSR for exactly the type of system/ actions you are proposing/ supporting right now. You are all scared to death by the scaremongerers Paulson, Bernanke & Co. Huh … the world will fall apart if …..you don’t give me all authority I am asking for. hahaha … its ridicules. The world will not end just because some/ most banking institutions will fail. Let them fail and let prudent people/investors take over the death corpses of the fallen institutions. Learn to live within your means instead of trying to jump-start another liquidity driven bubble. You and all in favor of the proposed action are like drug addicts begging for the last shot before to become clean. ILMAO
The way to treat an illness is by giving medicine not cocaine (i.e. liquidity) but I assume most of you will never understand this as you all have become so accustomed to your drug of debt/overspending. The US will go down the tube no matter how you try to masquerade it if you don’t take the medicine, which may sometimes be a bitter one.

Think about it!

False Dilema
(Bailout or Crash) It is like a screaming child acting as if he will die if he doesn’t get a candy cane. Just say no and let the industry find another way to deal with it.

It is clear that:
1) no financial “expert” predicted this mess but now these same people want us to accept that they’ve grown wise enough to understand what will happen if government fails to act. Really?
2) it is being rushed. Is rushing a major decision ever a good thing? Ever? (of course for an iron-clad argument here, see #1…
3) Although individual senators and representatives may not have been directly responsible for this mess, they were asleep at the switch. I suggest anyone who votes for this bailout be voted out in November. Democrat or republican… it’s time to go.

I have worked hard to understand my financially choices in life. I still work hard to pay my bills, raise my kids, pay my mortage and my taxes. Now I am supposed to use my tax money to “invest” in trash that not even greedy bankers want? And for those of you who think we can make money on this deal, to whom will we sell this junk if nobody else wants to touch it? No, this is a bailout, pure and simple and I say: let the bluechips fall where they may.

This country is built on allowing unviable institutions to die which lets better ideas rise from those ashes. If we allow a bailout to take place, no lesson is learned by any party involved. No individual or business should be allowed to operate consequence-free, and that’s what a bailout equates to. If this results in a recession and job-loss, even my own, that’s tough luck but life will go on. We have to let this cycle play itself out and resolve itself naturally, regardless of how tough and painful it gets. Otherwise, we never really solve anything and just add a few more patches while keeping fingers crossed that it doesn’t happen again in our lifetime.

What makes me angry is the fact that I as the responsible American, didn’t buy the house I couldn’t afford, didn’t buy fancy wares such as cars and other things I didn’t need why? Because I have been planning for the future in the hopes of bettering my quality of life. In the past year I have had to postpone all of my goals due to every element that is out of my control. The economy, inflation, taxes, energy, and now this. Where is my bailout or reward for being a hard working responsible taxpaying member of this society. Does the Gov really think that I want to give up more of my stagnant wage to help those that already have a golden parachute or those that decieded to trick people into signing a contract that they new they wouldnt live up to? Or how about the poor folks that decided not to read the fine print on their mortgage agreement. I don’t believe in welfare for the rich and I sure as heck don’t think that people should be punished for making the right choices. This is uppose to be a free market. Free to thrive and free to tank. Ask those millionaire CEOs if they would like to hand over everyhing they have swidled out of people to pay for this mess because believe me. We all will have to pay for this whether it is in taxes or inflation. Its already started and the ink hasn’t even touched the bill yet.

It is not possible to know whether the bailout is what is needed to cure the ills of the financial and housing markets or if it will ultimately be successful. What is known is that the majority of taxpayers, for a variety of good reasons, do not support it and therefore it should not be passed, regardless of whether or not it turns out to be the lessor of two evils. The charlatans who participated in these transactions deserve to lose their jobs. The institutions that participated in these transactions deserve to lose their jobs. The financial and housing markets deserve to take a beating, be restructured, or go out of business to eliminate the possibility of anyone even thinking about perpetrating such irresponsible and reckless acts in the future. We do not know if this bailout will be successful, but we do know that prior bailouts have not taught Wall Street a lesson.

If the dollar is getting stronger on the news that this plan is being questioned, it sounds like this is not a careful plan. The dollar got stronger on the anouncement of saving Fannie and Freddie. That was a good idea. If this bailout doesn’t prevent new bankrupcies, but just slows it down it doesn’t seem worth 5-6 years of recession to pay this debt back. In my opinion selling these banks at the right price to investors say from China would be a better option. If this is how they knew to do business this is what they deserve. Besides, the more the state steps in, the longer the crisis. Look at the real estate crisis in Germany after 1990, it lasted 14 years. Look at Japan. The free market concept is great, but it has to be regulated. They knew they’ll end up like this if they deregulate. If they’d have acknowledged the Iraq war was expensive enough to generate a recession we’d have a much milder situation of a couple of months troubles. I’ve read that in the middle of this, one or 2 weeks ago, the government increased military budget by 200 billions. What is 200 billions today…

700 B will only create a feeding frenzy amongst the Banks and Financial institutions, especially if the same type of person that created the problem is the keeper and dispenser of the funds.

I suggest the 700 B be given to a handful of the best institutions that are still fiscally sound and have a demonstrated history of prudent management and let them administer the funds on behalf of the tax payers, not the government.

And I demand from those institutions a return on my money, as a taxpayer, I do not intend to “Give” anything, but will gladly LOAN the funds – there is no reason at all why I shouldn’t expect a good rate of return on my loan so I can buy down my other irresponsible borrower’s trillion dollar deficit.

You’ve heard of the Great JEWELRY Heist.

Well, this is the GREAT TREASURY HEIST.

If The Bailout is really to help the baby boomers into retirement by propping up house prices and 401k’s, please just come and drain my bank account and do it. At least this way there will be no pretense, and less waste on the wall street fat cats.

I am soooo ANGRY !!!

This is f*^$ UP!

How dare they appropriate $700 Billion Dollars.

Let the S*&# fall apart! Damn it.

I rather lose everything than give these thieves the money.

We are being held hostage. Paulson is the madd scientist in Austin Powers, “I demand $1 million dollars or I’ll destroy the world”.

NO BAILOUT. NO. NO. NO. Have we completely lost accountability in this country? Should I trust the people who created this mess, and made billions doing it, to make the best choices for the American people? Should we give these sheisters a blank to check so they can buy their next mansion in the Hamptons and a new yacht? And not have any checks and balances for their spending? Should I trust an administration that misleads and manipulates the American public?Hell NO.

I am more angry about this than any other government action in my lifetime. This issue will biggest factor in how I vote in the coming election. It is time to stop this insanity before I lose all confidence in our government.

I personally don’t agree with that it is needed! So what if jobs are lost, that means there were more jobs than were needed! Things change, and yes hard to believe it but sometimes you get a negative number! It’s a negative number, not the end of the world so let it happen and don’t spend my tax dollars to prevent it! It is nothing but an artificial prop up!

Every time I hear the bailout group say that they’re thinking of the American people, I want to throw up! Are you kidding me? When exactly did they start thinking/caring about the American people? When their stupid, greedy, ego-centered house-of-cards fell apart and became front page news? And this same group wants me to be scared when they say the pain of the fall-out would be much worse than the pain of the bailout? I’m not scared! I would much rather deal with the FALL-OUT than support more of the game-playing that we’re ALREADY paying for!

Wall Street needs the bail out not you and me on Main Street ??….I say let the market correct itself and if the big wigs on Wall Street don’t get to walk away with their fat paychecks well too bad…..I don’t here anyone in Washington suggesting an ” Honest American Taxpaying Citizens” bailout….if they were I would be all over it …yeah…help me with my CC debt and college for my kids ! NO BAIL OUT FOR WALL STREET ! Paulson wants to protect the elite crowd with lots of money in Wall Street not you and me….he has a special interest there ….his friends.

This news just in: “The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which controls Fannie and Freddie, suggested Tuesday they could loosen lending standards to help more homebuyers qualify for a loan and stabilize the market.” WHAT??!! Talk about clueless! It’s loose lending standards that got us into this mess to begin with! And we’re supposed to turn $700 BILLION of our money over to financial nitwits who think like this?

I am concerned that everyone is looking at the companies and their bad investments, rather than the actual underlying causes. IF we follow the trail, it starts at the homeowner who takes out a mortgage, secured by the home value. The bank, eager to unlaod the debt and loan more money, works with the investment banks to create these strange securities, now backed by mortgages, rather than tangible assets. Builders, eager to keep their cash flow, and thus profits margins, up and running, helped the banks offer loans. As we now see, the practice was corrupted by mortgagors who looked the other way at the owner’s ability to pay. Apparently sophisticated investors now went stupid and bought securities they didn’t understand. When these badly written mortgages went bad, as an intelligent person should have foreseen, the banks started foreclosing, as banks have done for, well, eons. Ordinarily, foreclosures results in asset sale, minimizing the banks losses, and life goes on. When foreclosures occurred in record numbers, the banks had no chance of recovering any real value. Using the oft-cited “trickle-down” theory, the losses flowed to the securities onwers, and, voila`, instant financial crisis.

This bail out will not succeed, because until the value of the underlying assets, i.e. houses, can be recovered, and recovered with minimal decrease in value, there will be no support for the recovery. The real choice is whether the companies go out holding the bad assets, or the Government ends up owning them all. Of course, now that there is no booming housing market, the values are probably going to stay low, and no responsible bank will offer loans that exceed 75-80% of fair value.

The only winners are the lucky real estate speculators who did their “flips” and got out while the getting was good…and maybe a couple of corporate execs who took their golden parachutes and faded into the sunset.

“No nation is permitted to live in ignorance with impunity.” –Thomas Jefferson

I REFUSE to support the BAILOUT, and am watching how my rep’s are handling the issue on C-SPAN. If they vote for it,
I am voting them out of office.

The bailout may be necessary to avoid a disaster but why does it have to be “sped through the process” so to speak? This is the problem with these bailouts. They should be reviewed carefully with minimal expense to the taxpayers, ie those of us who have chosen to live within ouor means. A lot of people have gotten rich off of this greed and I think that they should be the ones looked at first. A $20 million bonus 1 year and chapter 11 the next? You dont have to be a genius to see that something isnt right. When Lehman Brothers filed chapter 11 my family lost over $60,000 – where is my bailout? Where is that $20 million bonus? The problem with our government is that they view taxpayers dollars as free money and spend frivilously. Part of me says to allow the system to correct itself while going after those who have created another Enron.

The real issue is that “home” prices are settling to where they should be based on the free-market. C’mon folks, only a certain percentage of people are making a wage in this country to outright purchase a home (no debt). The typical American has to go tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars in “debt” to purchase a home. This is crazy. I, for one, hope to see home prices fall to a level that the American economy can support rationally.

Instead, our Government intends to thwart the process. They want to maintain (if not grow) the artificial price that most Americans cannot afford without tremendous amout of debt. Why else do we need government intervention (with all their nifty taxpayer supported programs) except to support low-income individuals getting into unaffordable housing?

The housing market NEEDS to correct, in order to align with what the market can support. That’s the only real solution.

Unfortunately, Wall Street has setup a multi trillion dollar shadow ecomonmy (CDS/derivatives) and made the foundation the USA mortgage. So, of course they need to maintain (if not grow) the artificial cost of housing in order to keep their shadow ecomonmy floating. That’s the real issue.

The shadow economy is what the proposed 700B is intended support.

God help us all…

All these CEO’s and CFO,s should be put in the jail to misled and lied to the people up to the last moment. And now they want a bailout from the tax payer money again. They are the snake who bite the common people from the front and now they want to bite them again from the back thru their tax money. Why? They are still filthy rich. They did not get poor because of this mess. Their salary should have a cap and bonuses should also be not more thean the 20% of their salary. Whatever bonuses and remuineration they have been given they should give that money back to the company. But who is going to do this. the people who can do this they are also the part of the same group.

I’m not convinced that the economy, in the long-run, would be worse off if we let the banks reap what they sowed. These institutions will get off with a slap on the wrist and learn like so many bratty kids that bad behavior is rewarded. Bratty kids cry when they don’t get candy and then the parents cave in. Bankers cry when their poor judgment has led to huge writedowns and toxic debt and then our government is their to bail them and relieve them of their toxic debt. People learn from failure and taking responsibility for bad behavior. When bad behavior is about to rewarded like this, these people will only continue to abuse the system again in the future.

I think it’s time to start quoting revolutionaries. This one by Robert Nesta Marley comes to mind when I see Bernanke and Paulson saying we have to hurry to help these crooks.

“We’re going to chase those crazy bald heads, chase those crazy bald heads, chase those crazy bald heads out of the town!”

I’m sure we all have some good quotes everone let’s hear from your favorite revolutionary!

The Bush Administration is placing a great deal of pressure on Congress to pass the “Bailout Bill.” This is the SAME scenario this Administration used during the 911 Attack, the SCARE tactic, so that Congress would “rush” to give the President the ultimate power of declaring war. Now Bush is in a rush to get $700 billion to give to his cronies! If the average person were to conduct business as these executives have done, the IRS would NOT hesitate to PENALIZE them. Why should we treat the rich differently? I say NO to the bailout and further, all these CEO’s should be penalized by making them pay back all the millions they earned while defrauding the people and not be given any severance pay if dismissed from their current positions. I certainly WILL NOT vote republican this coming election.

So Paulson thinks that firms may not participate if executive pay is capped. Hmm. One would think that if the alternative was bankruptcy and nothing they would participate eagerly, whatever the restrictions. That raises the question of whether this is just one more swindle perpetrated by the generous folks who brought on all of this. To some extent this boils down to trust and this administration certainly does not have a record that encourages blind trust. In fact, I would say they are massively untrustworthy. The arrogance and sense of entitlement on the part of the execs on Wall Street approaches that of the French ancien regime. Maybe what is needed is what the French Revolution did to the ancien regime.

How about we give the people what each of us wants. We all vote on it; and divide into groups. Those who are for the bailout and those who are against it. Then we take the ones that are for it and we divide the cost of the bailout among those who are for it. This way everyone gets what they want.

Those of us that oppose it aren’t stuck paying for what we do not want and those who want it can pay for what they believe in; everyone gets what they want.

Who am I or anyone else to say that they shouldn’t be bailed out? If there are people that want the bailout, they have every right to pay for what they believe in!

I am against the bailout so stay away from my money; spend your own! I believe the bailout will only make the pain last so much longer, but if there are people with different opinions that believe it is needed that are willing to pay for it, more power to them.

Humble Beginning; I was Born September 1929 less than one month before the October 9, 1929 Stock Market Crash. Survival was the mode of living. A man’s word was better than any insurance that could be purchased and In God We Trust was the cornerstone of our future. Using the principals inherited from this arena, I went on to become Branch Manager of a large international company.

Yes I am mad as hell about this Bail Out; as a tax payer living in this new arena of Misrepresentation driven by today’s influence media owned by offshore Self Regulating Organizations who manipulate our Stock Markets using illegal Naked Shorting condoned by our own SEC. And suppresses development of Water Based renewal fuels through a FBI backed Consumer Protection Agency.

They say they need me as one of the common tax payers of our USA to invest in their government. My answer is forget about $700 Billion Bail outs and give me government I can have confidence in and I will buy back into it. I am not stupid enough to buy into this corruption.

Lesson learned – screw up on an epic proportion, get saved and go home happy! Bust your hump and give up simple pleasures to pay your mortgage every month, and it’s “thanks but no soup for you!”

I understand the plight of the developer from Colorado but many people have their dreams die every day – and the society lives on. Markets, in theory work best when they go through growth and death. All that is happening here is change of a major nature. And change frightens everyone, including me.

Why do we feel we have to preserve the status quo? What comes after might make us stronger as another posted commented but giving people a get out of jail free card only encourages them to be more stupid and greedy.

Finally, I am against giving the government, especially this one, any more unfettered power over my life (see Section 8 of the bailout bill – 32 words that should scare the wits out of any American.)

The proposed bailout of wall street is a bad Idea. Many people will loose money as the stock market crashes as they should. The fact is many others are position to gain from a stock market crash. So there will be no net loss only loss for many and gain for many. The only wealth that will be lost is wealth that never really even existed. A bail out will not cure nor prevent a recession or depression, it will only lenghthen and deepen one. This bail out punishes those institutions that acted prudently and rewards those that acted recklessly. Paulson wants to encourage more lending, well reckless lending is what cause the problem. Increased lending doesn’t help homeowners or taxpayers it only unnaturally inflates the cost of assets. This bail out and the inflation it causes is likely to send gas prices to $10.00 a gallon. America needs to stop borrowing and start earning. This is not CHINA this is the USA. Let capitalism and the free market rule. Let the institutions that have failed FAIL. That is only fair and just and that is the American way.

Sorry
Don’t believe a word Paulson is saying.
This administartion has zero credibility!
This is just a fast shakedown of the american taxpayer.

Let the markets correct themselves. Hell, even liberals should let the markets correct themselves because it’s just like the Darwinism theory. No one wants the government to bail out any private entity. Letting the unelected and unaccountable Federal Reserve System control our economy in the first place is a huge problem, let alone Constitutional. They already admitted they caused the Great Depression, now we want to let them fix our current problems?

Less government is the answer, not more.

Jim L, San Diego — You’re absolutely right!!

Paulson just testified that if institutions fail then loans won’t be available to auto dealers, farmers, and the people who need them — consequently his logic is the taxpayer is already on the hook – either way you’re screwed – the taxpayer is on the hook!!! Bailout the system and get the loans or don’t bailout the system and you won’t get any loans!!

What?!?! Are we hostages of Wall Street?!?!

The con in this is the Federal Government can loan directly — Why do we need the Federal Reserve and banks?!?! We don’t!!!

This is simply Congress protecting the fat cat Wall Streeters when they should be indicting them and re-structuring a new system!!

10 years ago we had Long-Term Capital Management almost bring Wall Street to its knees — did they learn — you know the answer!!

Stop this bailout — get Wall Street out of our lives and get a Congress with fortitude!!!

If I am stupid, borrow 30 times my worth and gamble it all away in Vegas, would the government bail me out?
Financial institutions have been stupid not checking or knowing what they were purchasing. Have the banks forgotten to do due dilligence or not understand ‘buyer beware’.
So why should we, tax payers, suffer increased taxes to pay for the gambling of paper by dud banks, etc?
If a number of large institutions fail and a bankers loose their jobs, so what? Other banks will grow and take their place that is the way of a free market.

Richard.

The following quote is from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/quotes

“[General Turgidson advocates a further nuclear attack to prevent a Soviet response to Ripper's attack.]

“General ‘Buck’ Turgidson: Mr. President, we are rapidly approaching a moment of truth both for ourselves as human beings and for the life of our nation. Now, truth is not always a pleasant thing. But it is necessary now to make a choice, to choose between two admittedly regrettable, but nevertheless distinguishable, postwar environments: one where you got twenty million people killed, and the other where you got a hundred and fifty million people killed.

“President Merkin Muffley: You’re talking about mass murder, General, not war!

“General ‘Buck’ Turgidson: Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, TOPS. Uh, depending on the breaks.”

Apologies for the reference to Thermonuclear Annihilation above from the movie Dr. Strangelove. But we are supposed to be in something almost as serious, except now, instead of nuclear war, we are talking about Economic Doomsday.

We are being asked to believe something like the above quote suggests. We either get our “hair mussed” only a LITTLE with the supposed 700 billion-dollar layout, OR we REALLY get mussed with something MUCH WORSE, if we ignore the current situation.

Paul you say “shortsighted”? Are you so sure of your assumptions? Of those of our ‘experts’? Does the template, the model, the worldview, of 1929 really apply?

Your colleague Colin Barr at Fortune doesn’t seem to agree with you. At lease he has serious doubts.

Please see http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/23/news/paulson_blank.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008092311

We all remember the Weapons of Mass Destruction argument used by some in officialdom to promote the military action in Iraq.

Now we are expected to buy the Bernanke argument presented by his front-man Henry Paulsen at Treasury.

Can we really afford to believe a SINGLE expert? Even one as well-versed in the supposed causes of the initiation and prolongation of the Great Depression, as is Dr. Ben Bernanke? This is not good management. Everyone should have their beliefs vetted when it costs society SO MUCH. Let’s not forget that these are merely the OPINIONS of a single, lonely, mortal man.

This APPROACH is insanity. We cannot afford to rush pell-mell into something as serious.

We need to see academic studies that prove the assumptions, or at least STRONGLY SUPPORT the underlying assumption. What if we do it, and it doesn’t work? Or has serious, murderous side-effects?

We need mathematical models. We need TEAMS of EXPERTS who all come to the same conclusion BEFORE we lay out this kind of mass effort, mass resources.

This is a call to arms. If we make this commitment we had better be as sure as is humanly possible that this ’solution’ is warranted. We are told that we are on a wartime footing.

We CANNOT afford to believe ONE PERON on this – we owe to our posterity to KNOW what we are doing. Our descendants will be PAYING for this for generations.

And if you think 700 billion will do it, then what will you think when they come for the next 700 billion, and then the next 700 billion?

Pretty sure we’ll be up to 3 trillion and then we’ll be talking about “some really serious cash”.

If you want to blame the homeowners then make them pay for the bailout. I do not own a house, nor do I have money on Wall Street. People like me are getting screwed the most!!!

News item: “Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned Congress on Tuesday it risks a recession, with higher unemployment and increased home foreclosures, if lawmakers fail to pass the Bush administration’s $700 billion plan to bail out the financial industry.” The man is so out of touch with reality. As far as most Americans are concerned, we are ALREADY IN A RECESSION. He has no understanding of this because his fat-cat friends on Wall Street aren’t feeling any pain. This bailout won’t prevent higher unemployment or more foreclosures, it will make matters worse. There is no way $700 BILLION of additional debt can be sold into the market without interest rates GOING UP CONSIDERABLY. Higher interest rates will INCREASE foreclosures, as ARMs are linked to interest rates. High interest rates cause unemployment, look at the late 70’s, early 80’s — high interest rates, high unemployment. This bailout package is such a con job!

Read this Paul R. La Monica

Nothing anyone says will ever make me accept an incredibly expensive, harmful, and immoral bailout that is guarantied not to work. I will vote against anyone who supports it.

When a child does wrong who is held accountable? Government will not make these greedy moneymakers accountable because those same greedy people help them

Why are the executives that made millions on what is now known to be the cause of our markets and banking crisis not being brought to answer for their greed and mis-management. Can the government not use the RICCO act to freeze these peoples assets and take over their billion dollar nest eggs?

get over it?!?!

Are you Nuts? this will take the country years.

of course the Rich would like us to “get over it” but i think most people WILL NOT GET over it!

After all it the taxpayer that is getting screwed.
Maybe its time for a taxpayer revolt!

Wall Street Bonuses Hit Record $39 Billion for 2007

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aHPBhz66H9eo

And now Congress wants to send them 700 billion+!!!

This is plainly the destruction of America!!!

THIS IS THE NEWEST SCAM TO TAKE OUR EYES OFF THE ELECTION PROCESS. WHY and WHAT is the RUSH!!!? The FED, SEC, and Treasury waited a long time for this to happen. We can wait until after the election people. Trust me, do not let them get way with another one of this administrations CON-JOBs.

Listen to the Senate Hearing!!! This plan is nothing but to BAIL OUT THE RICH HEDGE FUNDS AND VENTURE CAPITALISTS who have money in this worthless stuff and they want us to pay for their bets!!!!’ They stand to lose everything since the unseen grey markets where this unregulated stuff operates is worth around 60 Trillion dollars. That is a $60,000,000,000 gamble the uber-rich made that they will fight to the death not to lose but make us Plebs pay for it until 2050.

Paulson refuses to answer questions directly posed to him. He repeats a mantras to SCARE us. They shed false tears about protecting taxpayers and being mad about CEO/CFO/COO compensation. Paulson says it is not about big financial institutions. He also says that this is an experiment and it may not even work. Please the stuff is getting so deep soon DC will be taller than Mount Everest.

Look at the messanger!! Paulson is worth $500 million and he wants to protect his and his rich elite friends money!!! Who do you think he hangs out with, down the bar drinking a Bud watching the NFL and NASCAR? Where is his 500 million invested? I bet it is in Hedge funds and Venture Capital and not in CDs and Money Market Funds. He wants to buy ANYTHING from ANYONE, even not in this country!!!! Get a clue America!!! THIS IS NOTHING BUT ROBBING FROM PETER TO PAY PAUL!!!!! PETER IS YOU AND ME, THE PLEBS. PAUL is PAULson and the upper 2% of the Uber-wealthy!!!!!

Write your Senate and House and say hell no to this bailout under this administration. Lets wait until after the elections and then we can let true Capitalism and FREE MARKETS fight for survival of the fittest!!!

My cats kitty litter will be worth more money than what is in my wallet if we let this become reality!!!!!

America is going down the drain – thanks to Bush’s and Cheney’s administration in the last 8 years. Can anyone just name ONE (I don’t need two or three), only one, good thing that this administration has done for our country in the last 8 years? I guess when people get hit hard in their pocket books, they are not jumping on the bandwagon of “Spreading democracy around the world” anymore. Terrorism actually starts right here at home with inept leaders and greedy CEOs, and people with negative IQs that would still vote for them.

Hey, Guys. Don’ worry. I don’t think, this bailout is a sign of socialism. According to socialism, we should rob the wealthy and distribute it to the poor. They are going to do just opposite: rob everybody, so rich can stay rich. So, it’s a good old capitalism.
Plus, nobody is asking you anyway, which means it’s still a democracy . GET OVER IT !!! Get back to work, if you still have one …

Paul,
You miss the point with your “chill” comment. The people expressing concern love this country. This “anger” is exactly the reason we may have a decent debate on this problem.

I posted before — that we have fallen back to our final defense an independent media. It is looking that media might only be the blogs and one-on-one discussions.

Frankly, it is good thing we are active. Personally, I am waking up and have come to two conclusions:
1) The core issue is the boom bust cycle caused by FED
2) Polticians need to be watched closely and a different “party” isn’t going to solve the problem

The bailout is probably the only thing to keep the roof from falling. It is probably the only viable solution. That said, it is only step 1. Step 2 is to hold those responsible for this situation fully accountable. Yes, I am calling for rather draconian, punitive measures to both offset the financial burden imposed on the more fiscally responsible citizens of this country, and to let it be known that the citizens will not tolerate being taken advantage of by those that feel they found another loophole. If nothing severe comes of this against the executives responsible (actually, anyone responsible), it will continue to sow the seeds of bitternerss in this “democracy”. Tolerance to this kind of sociatal abuse is a clear indicator of the degradation of the nation and insinsitivity of the government to the governed. Think about this long and hard during the coming election, and do not forget for the one that follows.

Speaking of capping pay, while we’re at it, are we going to cap lawyer’s fees for chasing ambulances and salaries of pro football players as well??? If your answer is “no”, then don’t get too “outraged” at the salaries earned by the financial pros.

Welcome Mr. Wallstreet and Mr. Big Investment Banker. Please take a seat in the lobby. WE WILL BE OUT WITH YOUR COMPLIMENTARY BAILOUT IN JUST A MOMENT.

Whether this “bailout” is good or bad idea will depend on what exactly it is designed to do. It is crucial that poor decisions made by both big Wall Street entities AND individual home-buyers be punished. There must be consequences to bad decisions at all levels or else they are not poor decisions, and the incentive will be to make them again and again.

If it is going to be a true “bailout” in which the government transfers the consequences from those who made poor decisions onto the shoulders of those of us who have made good decisions, then it will be a catastrophe. But, if the government allows the big Wall Street firms and individuals who bought more house than they could afford to fail (as they should), then we may be OK. In that case, maybe the government is trying simply to make sure that the pendulum doesn’t swing too far in the other direction, causing more pain for everyone (including us good decision makers) than is truly warranted by the situation.

Good luck! (And if your luck runs out, ask for a bailout!)

I want to scream when I read that we need to bail out homeowners who are “about to be turned out of their home”. It’s not THEIRS. It’s the bank’s. And they signed up for a loan they knew (or at least should have known) would adjust.

I live in a modest house, with a modest car, and did not “trade up” with cheap money to a big house and big car. I still pay my mortgage. They should, too, or else get out of their big house they couldn’t afford and go live somewhere else.

Some outrage?

I can’t believe where this is going, changing interest rates and principle so those that couldn’t afford mortgages can. People that bought bigger houses that couldn’t afford them are going to be bailed out with my tax dollars? And tell me how is the government going to inspect terms and financial shape of over a million homeowners in trouble – without raising taxes to pay for this.

I see it coming – we are becoming France

First government control of financials

Then Nationalized health care – then,

Our sons will be required to have military service.

The Constitution says “promote the general welfare”, and “provide for common defence” here we are reinterpreting the Constitution to “provide the general welfare” My ancestor that signed it is rolling in his grave, with the other “freemen”.

Socialism here we come.

“Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”
Amschel Mayer Rothschild (1838)

The real question IS NOT whether the US government needs to provide money to the financial markets, but why would the US government force Americans to borrow money from the Fed Reserve Corporation to buy bad assets from the worst banks in America.

The solution is SIMPLE: The Fed can offer 0% interest loans to WELL RUN, SOUND BANKS and give TAX PAYERS REBATE CHECKS and that will create BETTER LIQUIDITY.

I don’t know why everyone is being swindled to believe we have to bailout these banks and that’s the only solution.

If we’ve got $700 billion to spend, then let’s spend it wisely.

Bailouts are like throwing good money after bad. They never work out….unless your the one being bailed out!

I am so angry at this bailout I could spit nails. Does anybody in Washington DC know what the hecj they are doing? I don’t know who to blame first. Drop them all off the nearest cliff and start over. Warmest Regards

As far as I’m concerned, let nature take its course. Greed from the lowest levels of society to the CEO’s that get outrageous salaries for poor performance have caused the problems we are facing today. It’s this greed for maximum money, maximum profits, maximum return on investments, that have caused thousands of jobs to go overseas, excessive refinancing by homeowners to keep up with the Jones’ and shareholders and CEO’s lack of concern for keeping jobs in this country all in the effort of maximizing profits. It’s time for a major readjustment and I personally don’t want to have my taxes go to people who can’t manage money and have no respect for the average worker who actually tries to save money and live within his means. Giving money to these people is like giving a free ride for stupidity. People need to be held accountable for their actions and if it means them standing in the soup line then so be it.

THERE IS NO BAILOUT NEEDED LET IT SINK 6 MONTHS OF PAIN FOR SOME. PEOPLE GOOD WITH MONEY WILL PROSPER THOSE IRRESPONSIBLE WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND PAY. BAIL THEM OUT THE SAME WILL HAPPEN AGAIN REGULATION WILL NOT PREVENT THE CON ARTIST FROM COMING UP WITH A NEW SCHEME TO EXPLOIT THE I HOPE I WIN THE LOTTO SECTOR OF THE SOCIETY FROM BEING SUCKED IN AGAIN. PS THERE IS PLENTY OF MONEY TO BORROW AT YOUR LOCAL BANK FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY PAY IT BACK.

Maybe the financial system is clogged, maybe we face a major crisis of liquidity, but surely there is a better solution than this. This is like using an nuclear bomb. Sure it may solve the short term problem, but it will surely create many others.

There has to be a better way but the Bush administration seems incapable of doing anything that is in the best interest of the people. We have to rely on congress to find a better way. At this point it seems the senate will inevitably pass the bailout in essentially the same form as it has been presented, rather than coming up with a better idea.

Speaking of the Senate’s changes, do we really want the Government to own equity interest in financial institutions? Not just Financial Institutions, but troubled ones. Can a government that owns banks effectively regulate them? This crisis shows how important it is to regulate our financial system.

The idea to limit executive compensation doesn’t go far enough. It is mrally reprehensible that the people actually responsible for this crisis should walk away with anything while the employees and shareholders pay the price.

Homestead Act of 2008

This paper will describe the aspect of the 2008 US financial crisis that relates to individual homes, and condos, backed by the securitized mortgages that are at the center of this crisis. Many, but not all, of these mortgages are in arrears, in foreclosure or have reverted back to the bank that is servicing them. Some of these mortgages are ticking time bombs that will reset to higher, untenable, interest rates in the next year or two. Each of these homes has a human story of distress and desperation. The Homestead Act of 2008 proposes a solution to this problem on a house by house basis.

Each of these houses that are in arrears, in foreclosure or bank owned is a rapidly depreciating asset. The longer these homes are uncared for or vacant the more they will be damaged, some to the point that they have no value and must be torn down. Each of these homes degrades the other well maintained home around them. If there is a vacant home within a block of your home it is not good for you or your neighborhood. If there are two or three or more it is a disaster.

US Treasury Purchase of Mortgage Backed Securities

The US Treasury will be buying a large percentage of the mortgage backed securities that are currently illiquid. This purchase may be up to, or large than, $700 billion dollars. By definition these distressed instruments will be not be purchased at the full face value of their underlying mortgages. They will probably be purchased at 25 cents on the dollar. If so they will represent $2.8 trillion dollars of mortgages. The current true value of the homes that are financed by these mortgages is unknown. It is likely greater than $2 trillion dollars.

Unraveling the Securitization

The Treasury will set up a legion of forensic accountants to unfurl the paper trail back to finding individual mortgages deeds recorded at various county courthouses. For those mortgages where the Treasury has an interest of at least 80%, but not 100%, they will identify the minority holders with an interest in the mortgage. All of these minority interests will be paid at a rate of 25 cents on the dollar and then the Treasury will have a 100% interest.

Issuing New Mortgages

Some of these mortgagors have incomes that can’t support their current mortgage or soon to be adjusted mortgage with its rate set higher. However they do have the ability to make a lower payment. Their outstanding 1st mortgage amount will be reduced by 20%. Any 2nd mortgages or HELOC’s will be added to the new 1st mortgage amount and a new 30 year fixed mortgage at 6% will be issued to them by Fannie Mae. A local bank in their community will service this mortgage.

Foreclosing on the Weak

Some of these mortgagors will be so far underwater with 1st mortgages, 2nd mortgages and HELOCs that they must be foreclosed on. Once foreclosed on they would be offered a five year homestead program. In this program they would pay market rent for the house, now owned by the US Treasury. 30% of their rent would go into an escrow account. After at least 2 years of renting, with a perfect rental history, they would be eligible to apply for a fix rate 30 year mortgage. The money in their escrow account would be available at closing to be part of or all of their down payment. For 4 years after the issuance of the mortgage they would be deed restricted from refinancing, or obtaining a 2nd mortgage or a HELOC against the home.

If they move away or are evicted for non-payment of rent they would lose the money in their escrow account. If, at the end of their 5 year homestead program, they are unable to obtain a fixed mortgage they will be evicted and lose the money in their escrow account.

New Homesteaders

Some of these homes will revert to ownership by the US Treasury. It is imperative to get a family into these homes before they deteriorate further. The new homesteaders would be offered a rental opportunity to build a down payment similar to what is described above. After 2 years of renting they would be eligible for a fixed rate 30 year mortgage and the other rights and responsibilities described above.

Local Administration

The homes and condos represented by the unraveled mortgage backed securities will be divided into contiguous zones of about 40,000 homes. In each zone there will be a US Homestead Office. The manager of each office will have sole discretion to administer this rental and home purchase program.

Termination of Program

At the end of a seven year period this program will wind down, be dismantled and the free market will take over. It is anticipated that the original $700 billion dollars will be repaid and that there will be a profit that will accrue to the Treasury.

I’m not mad or angry at Wall Street or the situation at hand. This is a self-inflicted wound and it is up to us to deal with it. While I have listened to many pundits and correspondents cover all of the angles of ‘to bail’ or ‘not to bail’, I can’t help but thinking that we have no choice but to ‘not bail’. A correction is needed ever so often and this is our time for correction. As several people have commented here, why apply to a band-aid to something that truly needs to be scrapped. I liken this to the tax debate, why keep changing the tax code with all its various loopholes, when you can scrap it and put together a comprehensive, understandable, transparent tax code without any loopholes or breaks.

We need to get away from all of this complicated, lawyeresque, political garbage that the ‘average American’ cannot understand or interpret on their own. Let the markets fail and eventually correct themselves. Instead of reforming Washington, lets rebuild America from the ground up, and Washington will be included in that. I also agree that lobbying and the money spent on it…could be better served by the corporations spending it…give back to the employees, invest in the infrastructure, and stopped worrying about influencing Capitol Hill. The only way for this country to rise and fly like the Phoenix it is…is to first let it ‘burn baby burn’. Wall Street and Washington, the time to burn is now, so that we can get on with the future just like America has in every other century since its existence.

why are we giving yet more money to wallstreet? why is it more important to keep a couple thousand jobs in a four-block radius in New York but not thousands of jobs in car factories and different textile plants and homeless shelters or unemployment agencies?

i think we should all continue to be angry and not calm down, because it only sounds like rich people begging to stay rich and keep their valets and secretaries. the dissappearing middle class (those homeowners and people who are actually depending on bankers) are begging not to starve.

seems to me, the 700B should be handed over to the people who have worked so hard for it. the middle class parents with double the respectable mortgage who have to stay home two days out of the week because they cannot afford their gas tank i think they are the best bet for our future, not rich and uncomfortable people crying to stay rich and comfortable

PEACE

My name is Vicki Sanger and I am currently developing a real estate subdivision in Colorado. I designed this subdivision when I was 18 years old and I am proud to be one of the few women developers out there. Now at 30, I have made my dreams into reality. I am in between phase 1 and phase 2 of the development but I have now been stopped in my tracks by the frozen banks. If I cannot access loans, I am done- it’s as simple as that.
I want to personally thank congress for what they trying to do in order to get the banks moving again. If the banks don’t start moving, the second wave of foreclosures/failures will happen (and the numbers will come in volumes). And that’s a shame because the second wave were strong business people, but were forced into this situation due to simply not being able to do business because of the frozen banks.
The banks must start making loans again.
People like myself, need it ! I am one that has never been late on a payment, will continue to paid my bills-no matter how hard it becomes, contributes to my community and I work hard. But if I can’t get loans, my family will be devastated. Right now, my entire financial future is in the hands of the banks and their decision to come out of the ice.
In the meantime, if you know of anyone willing to do private investor loans please give them my phone number.

Sincerely,

Vicki
608-577-3019
rpsinvestments1@verizon.net

CALL AN APPLE AN APPLE!!! WHY IS THE MEDIA ADVERTISING THIS AS A 700 BILLION DOLLAR BAILOUT???>>> just because the government says it is? IT IS NOTED BELOW SEVERAL TIMES, 700 BILLION OUTSTANDING AT ANY ONE TIME!!!! ARE YOU STUPID??? DID THE GoVERNMENT ASK YOU TO ADVERTISE THAT WAY??? READ THE PROVISIONS AND CALL IT WHAT IT IS. A TRILLION+ DOLLAR BAILOUT.

The Banking Committee is acting as though the bailout is a fait accompli and we taxpayers are permitting it. This is more WMD fear philosophy and this time I don’t buy it. This taxpayer does not agree to buy the ‘toxic assets’ of either the lenders or the borrowers, but then So What?

Short-term fix with long-consequences, all bad. Name ONE program the government took over that worked, Chrysler was a loan, they were not regulated in the deal. Say good-bye to you dollar. Start speaking Mandarin, Arabic, or German as they will be your new bosses. We just lost our country without a shot.

Well the Fed’s created the problem by setting up Fannie & Freedie so that they could receive contributions for thier re-election campaigns. So now Banks will get bailed out with low interest re-financing, and being able to write of these supposdely bad loans. But as a home owner I’m screwed. My home value has dropped from appraisals last year by over 40%. Expectations are that it will take 10 to 15 years to get back to the value that it was at in 2007. We had to move, now the home will be going into forclosure. We can not pay for 2 homes at the same time. Re-write my existing home loan to a 1% rate and make it transferrable to a new owner. Then the place can be sold. If not it’s all lost.

Since when has this administrations minions ever been right on the lies they have told to the public. I refuse to “Get over it”. I think the only reason why they want to ram this down the legislative throats is to prevent careful analysis and see if they are lying once again.

I say give these companies one choice only. Either they go bankrupt and let the “Free Market” come in and take over the good assets and so sorry grasshopper but the bondholders and equity holders get wiped out then let the lawyers come in and sue everyone that was deep in their eyeballs concocting these mess. or The companies hand over the “keys to the kingdom”, reveal everything on their books and I mean full transparency, and to protect the pleb wage slaves working for these companies, bring in a new board of directors, upper management, and run the business the old fashion way. These companies need to “EARN” our business and “ONLY IF THEY MAKE A PROFIT by increasing real revenue and not stealth profits by laying off employees, playing accounting tricks” should the upper management, C-Level, and Board get paid in stock and bonuses. Also all executive comp and their perks should be voted by the common stock shareholders.

I got the ultimate plan… Put Barack Obama and John McCain on the podium and have them tell ALL LOBBYISTS TO FOOT THE BILL TO REVIVE THE COUNTRY! The lobbyists can afford it, then when everything is settled, let them go back to fighting their pork battles. Seriously folks this is just a priority that we cannot prioritize, the money IS OUT THERE!

On a related note to the Banking Industry… I fell short in my checking account a few weeks ago by about $30. Unfortunately this $30 shortage was a ‘mixed bag’ (like the mortgage securities, LOL) of 6 (six) petty debit card transactions… The evening before I made an INTERNAL TRANSFER that still wouldn’t cover the $30 shortage – - Yet I could take the newly transferred funds from an ATM machine 30 seconds after the transfer occurred (WTF?) Soooooo, the bank then charged me $210 for “overdrafting” the 6 petty transactions… That’s damn HIGHWAY ROBBERY to have to pay $37.12 for a single cup of Starbucks coffee!!!!

An OVERNIGHT…. No make that a ‘few-hour-loan’ with a 650% PER DAY APR!!!!

LOL! Had the bank posted debits LOWEST TO HIGHEST… They still would have lent me the $30, but it would have been to cover the shortage of an $1100 check and only a $35 fee!!!

I SAY LET THE BANKS BURN BABY BURN!

Make no mistake about this. This is a constitutional crisis as much as it is a financial crisis. There are serious consequences for the checks and balances/separation of powers, the concept of LIMITED GOVERNMENT, between the Executive Branch and Congress involved here.

The Congress on both sides of the aisle must not allow itself to be stampeded into passing this proposed $700 billion bailout without a good deal more deliberation. For ultimately, this is about who controls this country: its elected representatives or Wall Street. And the Republic hangs in the balance.

Let’s just do it right and cancel ALL debts in the held nation by individuals and start over fresh.

Screw the lenders. What about the PEOPLE?

Debra-Plano, Tx.

I’m conservative, I don’t support excesive welfare, I helll don’t support the misuse of taxpayers money!!
No to HANDOUTS. No to BAILOUTS.

WHY DON’T THEY JUST PAY OFF THE DEBT OF ALL AMERICANS????????

I am not willing to pay my taxes if they pass this “bailout” for the elite wall street crowd…how about it America …just don’t pay your taxes…property, mortgage, income tax you name it don’t pay it ….then we will let these buffoons in Washington and know where their bread is truly buttered

LIAR’S POKER!!!!!!!!!!LET’S FACE IT! OUR GOVERNMENT AND WALL STREET ARE IN PARTNERSHIP TOGETHER TO TAKE EVERY PENNY THAT THEY CAN FROM HARD WORKING AMERICANS. Why don’t they just pay off the mortgages for struggling families that are about to lose their home. Instead they want to just give the money to the banks and leave hard working Americans to fail right and left with no help from government at all. George Bush was put into office as a puppet so that the investment bankers could manipulate Wall Street and regulators.SPEAK NOW TO STOP THEM FROM WRITING ANOTHER 700 BILLION DOLLAR CHECK TO THE GREEDY WALL STREET MONGRELS WHO CAUSED THIS DISASTER. LIAR’S POKER ALL OVER AGAIN.

Don’t know? Search your rep by zip code at
https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Alt. look it up at wikipedia.org under your state

One thing everone seems to be overlooking on this subject. If Paulson and Bush succeed in pulling this wool over our eyes, we all get a new neighbor. One that will pretty much take it’s own sweet time and do as it damn well pleases to the house next door. You want the lawn mowed? Do it yourself, you want the rat infestation taken care of? Good luck. You just want it torn down? Get in line. There was a time when the rest of the nation could look at metropolitan Detroit area and just shake their heads, Now it is coming to your very own neighborhood.

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private

banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around

[the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The

issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)

In case anyone missed it. The CEOs do not want to give up their golden parachutes as part of this settlement. Is that rich?

Initially this “plan” was a little thin on details. Also, how can we trust the same administration that has assured us of “weapons of mass destruction” and a “strong economy” in the past ? If the intent is to free up credit so that businesses and individuals have access to the funds that they need for daily operations and to buy homes, then why don’t they just make these funds available to these parties directly rather then sifting it through these greedy financial institutions and providing golden parachutes to already overpaid executives. Would note that there are also a number of financial institutions (BofA, Wells Fargo, American Express, HSBC, Wachovia, etc.) that have not been whinning to the Feds. Could it be that they exercised better judgement ?

Sometimes its better to let he failures fail and start fresh , we are setting a precedent in that if your a big company and you fail Uncle Sam will come to your rescue.

AIG was a Risk Assessment company and it couldn’t even assess its own risk. Whats does that tell you ? sometimes people and business need to be taught a lesson.

We might as well change the Presidential Swearing-in to read:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the FORTUNES AND STABILITY OF WALL STREET!!

The bill will probably get past and we all know that. Lets pop the pessimism bubble and look at the good things. 1,000,000+ jobs wont get lost .. meaning 1,000,000+ more families wont have to cut back spending meaning another 1,000,000+ jobs wont get lost…. meaning ANOTHER 1,000,000+ families wont have to cut back spending … AND SO ON

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)

Hey dumbass, maybe the reason we’re all upset about the bailout is BECAUSE we are looking at the long term effects. How naive do you think we are? You need to study Austrian Economics before anything in the financial world will make sense to you.

I won’t be getting over this anytime soon. This is exploding our deficit and leaving the future plagued by debt.
http://www.bailoutville.com/forums/f6/trillion-dollar-deficit-7.html

We might as well change the Oath of Office to:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the FORTUNES AND STABILITY WALL STREET!

Don’t give us that end of the day crap.
No, No, and NO.
What part of NO do you not understand?

Bailout nothing. Let capitalism sort it out.

Let these companies die. Hedge fund managers making over a billion dollars a year? Just let them die – this bail-out does nothing for the tax payers.

Are you kidding me,why would anyone in their right mind believe that there is one competent person involved in this process. Go back in time and look at any interviews that Bush, Bernanke, or Paulson were doing and what they were saying. They couldn’t have been any more wrong on what the housing industry was getting ready to go through and the effect it would have on our economy. Greenspan’s comments in his last three years of great service to our country are so laughable, they’ll make you cry. Mark my words–there is one and only one way to get through this mess–let the chips fall where they may. If you bought a house and can’t afford it– tough crap. If the banks got to cute with their shafty financing and too many homeowners take them under — tough crap. Take it on the chin–get beat up–suck it up and get to work. Not one more penny should go to any bank or financial institution. As a people, this country has always borrowed way to much to support it’s massive consuming ways. For 30 or forty years, many well educated financial experts have been warning that some day it will have to be repaid–that day has arrived and no one has the money. The only thing this bailout will do is add another TRILLION DOLLARS to our deficit.

What is the stated purpose of the bailout? Buy up overpriced mortgage backed securities to clean up the balance sheets of the banks so they can start lending again.

Before they spend my taxes on the bailout, I want to be sure the problem will not happen again. Yes, Paulson said to clean up later, but I do not trust the politicos to make that happen.

How did the NINJA and liar loans get into AAA rated bonds? Through conflicts of interest in the bond ratings companies. Because the bond ratings past and current business model calls for bond sellers to pay for ratings, they eventually bought good ratings for junk. Either abolish the government mandated bond ratings oligarchy altogether or at least prohibit bond sellers from paying for ratings.

Investing and finance are all about trust. First put the trust back into the system. Then figure out how to correct the sins of the past.

Let the wealthy bail themselves out. I am tired of cutting back, doing without and patching things up. I am tired of CEO’s walking away with millions and big business getting off the hook while I cringe at the checkout. We earn 50,00 a year what we pay in cumuliative taxes is insane. We do with less and work more hours every year and still they want more.

Bank Holding will insulate from future
abuses in short selling.Why is there no
discussion about all this naked short
selling and credit default swaps.The
everyday taxpayers need to be educated
on these terms.With naked short selling
criminals are selling stock that does not exist because no one never got around to borrowing it.The SEC’s lax
enforcement and large loopholes have
allowed Hedge Funds and other criminals
to play a high stakes game without paying for their chips. Credit Default
swaps allow criminals to use unregulated insurance like contracts
to bet on the likelyhood of a company
defaulting on its loans. These Banks
and criminal minded investors were buying Credit Default Swaps and using
naked short selling at the same time
which is predatory,unfair and illegal.
We cannot release Taxpayer money until
we pass laws and fix these problems.
I know you cannot post all logs but
please post this one for the benefit
of all honest americans. My name is Jim
Martin from Dallas , Texas.

Conservatives have consistently shown little or no support for social programs aimed at footing the bill for the poor and uneducated – namely “Welfare” – so what should we call this bailout of the wealthy and highly educated? I can’t even come up with a good name for this new elitist SOCIAL PROGRAM.

Got It – “WEALTHYFARE”

“Now is not the time to be bitter about the government getting more power.”

Are you kidding me? Well that’s just great. Nuts to the free republic, to heck with free markets. Who needs them? So long as no one gets hurt, the government should do what ever it says is necessary?

So OK, people will lose jobs. OK, money in the market, including 401K, will lose value (as if it hasn’t already and as if it will NEVER EVER come back). But here’s the thing folks, here’s the big secret:

Sometimes in life, bad stuff happens.

That’s right. I said it. Sometimes it just plain bites.

But instead of accepting this, we’re willing to fritter away our future. What about the dollar? What about oil? Why is no one talking about that, as it relates to this huge bailout that will add to the deficit and debt? What about the precedent being set for Federal takeover?

Congratulations, to those who support this, you’ll get to keep more of that paper money that won’t be worth anything.

Well, I guess as long as we’re socialist anyway, it doesn’t matter. Looks like the Soviets got the last laugh after all.

Who is taking care of the small business? We create 90% of the jobs in the country and yet we get no attention. As to the bailout why are we going to let Paulson who has been repeatedly wrong on his information about Freddie and Fannie and Wall Street run with the ball. Lets establish an outside commission to oversee how the money is spent. No Politicians. Outside business mangers, small business mangers and everyday citizens.

We are starting to see the lobbyists line up and spending millions to get their goodies in this bill at YOUR expense. It is going to be a free for all. What a joke. If you think that it is a good idea that the government manage your healthcare in the future then observe what happens to this legislation after all the special interest groups get thier peice of the pie. We are going to end up with something that instead of starting to put an end to this crisis is going to prolong it for years to come. Get ready for interest rates and inflation to skyrocket and the value of our dollar to go down the toilet. What what gold and oil is going to do in the next few weeks. We are going to be in for a really tough tinme in this country at a time when very few are prepaired. Again REFORM GOVERNMENT NOW!! If anyone had any guts they would make that part of this bill. Ban all lobbying from outside interests immediately.

I agree with 99.9% of everybody who has posted a comment here.
What we really need to do is have our voices heard in Congress and on the Senate floor. Call or e-mail your elected representative today! Yes today! As Paulson said, the action taken must be “quick and decisive”. That is code for “rushed through the legislature before the common man finds out what is really going on here”.
Just keep one point in mind here – we CAN see through the smoke and lies. Take a look at your local or regional bank. I’ll bet they are healthy and not in need of a bailout. I’d even go as far as to say they will be making loans to qualified borrowers. Paulson was the CEO of Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investment banking houses in the world. He, and his cronies, know how to manipulate the stock market to make it appear as if the end is near. Remember, while they are engaging in short selling and influencing the market themselves, they are rewarded at the same time. That’s right folks, let’s not forget that they earn a commission on every trade they broker!
All the complaining in the world here will fall on deaf ears. Contact your two senators and you district congressman and tell them the same thing you are saying here.
Oh, and waht ever happened to disclosure? I am sure that the person writing this article has a vested interest in the conituance of Wall Street as we know it – after all, isn’t it his job to report on it? It looks like he is the most likely one to be unemployed if we don’t keep the greedy bankers he reports on in business!

My disclosure:
I do not own any stocks – all cash position now. I do not own any banks, nor do I own CNN or Money Magazine.

You are wrong…the bailout perpetuates the thinking that got us into trouble in the first place….let the markets correct itself and let Wall Street and the bank suffer so they learn from this…otherwise it is a bad aid on a gapping wound. The American people are wiling to work hard but not to pay off bad debt wall street and the banks incurred by making bad and greedy decision. If the US Governmant wants to help then give the $700 billion bailout package to the American people….they will pay down their mortgages and start spending again….and as they say “free up the economy”

…give the likes of Purse Paulson & Bernanke close to a trillion dollars? You’ve got to be kidding. Does the bailout now include the 115 “scratch & dent” washing machines I have in my warehouse? Can I trade in my divorce settlements for cash?

I say lets DO NOTHING. If or when the economy collapses and the stinking carcass is finally picked clean by the vultures in Washington, they’ll at least fly away. Or, lets let the money managers & politicians responsible for this mess be dealt with like they are in Red China – being inflicted with a “sudden illness”. Talk about moral hazard – I quite simply will not put up with it.

Those who are clamoring for tax payers’ money to bail Wall Street out of this mess should be the ones who should pay for their screw ups, NOT US!!!!

Paulson was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for half a year of work as the chief executive of the Goldman Sachs.

Lehman’s New York office were expected to share in a $2.5 billion bonus

Carly Fiorina received a $45 million dollar golden parachute after being fired while 20000 of her employees were laid off.

$24 million in “golden parachute” severance payments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs

Citigroup’s former Chairman and CEO Charles Prince $40 billion: Approximate value of Prince’s retirement package.

Stanley O’Neal — Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.: Stanley O’Neal retired with a solid $161.5 million in 2007.

Lee R. Raymond — Exxon Mobil Corp.: Raymond bailed in 2006 with a golden parachute that totaled more than $351 million.

Edward Whitacre — AT&T: Whitacre walked away in 2007 with $158.5 million

Richard Handler — The Jeffries Group Inc.: Handler launched into retirement with a cool $202 million package in 2007.

Henry A. McKinnell — Pfizer Inc. : When Henry A. McKinnell decided to throw in the towel at Pfizer in 2006, he left with a $213 million parachute with the possibility of more.

Charles Prince — Citigroup Inc.: Charles Prince retired with a $42 million package in 2007

Robert Nardelli — The Home Depot: Robert Nardelli decided to part ways to the tune of $210 million in cash and stocks in 2007.

Dick Cheney — Halliburton: When his vice-presidential ticket was punched in 2000, Cheney stepped on to the White House lawn and quietly gave up his title as CEO of a little government-contracting company named of Halliburton — with a $34 million rip cord on his golden parachute.

Robert Toll — Toll Brothers Inc.: On the other side of the subprime-mortgage coin, some CEOs are receiving bonuses regardless of the industry’s current public image.

In March 2008 that chairman and CEO Robert Toll will receive a scheduled $17.5 million bonus, along with his current 2 percent annual draw from the company’s earnings before taxes.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.: Besting Mack in 2007, Lloyd Blankfein saw a $60.7 million bonus.

John J. Mack — Morgan Stanley: In 2006, John J. Mack received a $40 million bonus, as Morgan Stanley’s stock went up 42 percent. His monetary reward set a Wall Street record as the largest bonus of its time but was promptly topped the following year.

Why don’t you ask THESE guys for the money, instead of us taxpayers????

Don’t give another nickel to the crooks and liars in the Bush administration! Everyone should take a deep breath and sit tight for four more months until we have a new president and congress. Then we can decide on a PRUDENT course of action.

Just say NO to the $700 billion bailout!

Does anyone remember something called the free market? It does this really cool thing called self regulation. Companies, products, ideas that have value make money and survive. Thoose that screw it up die.

Its hard and times might be ruff for a while when a bunch blow it at the same time but it needs to happen for the market to become healthy agian. Throwing up from spoiled milk makes you feel like your going to die when you do it, but after your done its gone and life goes on. If we bail them out all we are doing is drinking more spoiled milk!

LIARS and THIEVES

THIEVES and LIARS

Do not trust them !!!

America face it. These people are INSANE. They are PATHELOGICAL ! ! !

They need impeachment and inprisonment. Not 700 Billion Dollars.

Only FOOLS trust Liars and Thieves.

SOCIALIST SOCIALIST SOCIALIST

SOCIALIST SOCIALIST SOCIALIST

SOCIALIST SOCIALIST SOCIALIST

SOCIALIST SOCIALIST SOCIALIST

BUSH,

You are up there with the worst Presidents ever!

You will go down in history as such.

How sad it is that your party constantly talks of Reagan rather than you or your dad.

To top it off, your own party did not want you at the Republican convention. HOW EMBARASSING!

Your problem is YOU DON’T CARE!

Get over what? LIES from LIARS.

How many times this year alone did Paulson, the so-called “Treasury Chief” describe the system as FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND.

LIAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone else would have been arrested! Remember Enron.

Now the Liar wants $700 Billion Dollars. He has only earned distrust. You are all FOOLS if you trust him and hand him a blank check. He and his ilk are the biggest con-artist ever.

We know they are the biggest LIARS!!!!

There will be a national day of protest against this fiat debt financial system at the Federal Reserve banks on October 22– I don’t have the details, but this will be a good time to ‘demonstrate’ that a significant number of citizens aren’t going to “get over it” or sit back and let this pillaging continue…Info can probably be found by googling “Federal Reserve protest.”

Paulson was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for half a year of work as the chief executive of the Goldman Sachs.

Lehman’s New York office were expected to share in a $2.5 billion bonus

Carly Fiorina received a $45 million dollar golden parachute after being fired while 20000 of her employees were laid off.

$24 million in “golden parachute” severance payments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs

Citigroup’s former Chairman and CEO Charles Prince $40 billion: Approximate value of Prince’s retirement package.

Stanley O’Neal — Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.: Stanley O’Neal retired with a solid $161.5 million in 2007.

Lee R. Raymond — Exxon Mobil Corp.: Raymond bailed in 2006 with a golden parachute that totaled more than $351 million.

Edward Whitacre — AT&T: Whitacre walked away in 2007 with $158.5 million

Richard Handler — The Jeffries Group Inc.: Handler launched into retirement with a cool $202 million package in 2007.

Henry A. McKinnell — Pfizer Inc. : When Henry A. McKinnell decided to throw in the towel at Pfizer in 2006, he left with a $213 million parachute with the possibility of more.

Charles Prince — Citigroup Inc.: Charles Prince retired with a $42 million package in 2007

Robert Nardelli — The Home Depot: Robert Nardelli decided to part ways to the tune of $210 million in cash and stocks in 2007.

Dick Cheney — Halliburton: When his vice-presidential ticket was punched in 2000, Cheney stepped on to the White House lawn and quietly gave up his title as CEO of a little government-contracting company named of Halliburton — with a $34 million rip cord on his golden parachute.

Robert Toll — Toll Brothers Inc.: On the other side of the subprime-mortgage coin, some CEOs are receiving bonuses regardless of the industry’s current public image.

In March 2008 that chairman and CEO Robert Toll will receive a scheduled $17.5 million bonus, along with his current 2 percent annual draw from the company’s earnings before taxes.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.: Besting Mack in 2007, Lloyd Blankfein saw a $60.7 million bonus.

John J. Mack — Morgan Stanley: In 2006, John J. Mack received a $40 million bonus, as Morgan Stanley’s stock went up 42 percent. His monetary reward set a Wall Street record as the largest bonus of its time but was promptly topped the following year.

Why don’t you ask THESE guys for the money, instead of us taxpayers????

No Bail Out! Citizens, bring your powder and musket, and assemble at the town square!

We can not stand for this! Rally and contact your representitive imidately! We will be in a dark place if this passes.

NO. I will NOT “get over it”.

What does the government do in a hostage-taking situation?
(a) Pay the ransom to prevent the risk of a tragic ending,
or
(b) Refuse to deal with the hostage-takers on the grounds that doing so will only encourage more hostage-taking later?

It’s (b) – you take the risk of short term pain for the sake of long term gain. The banks, lenders and fraudsters act recklessly because they know they’re going to be bailed out. Every time. You bail this lot out, you encourage the next wave.

How about the banks bail themselves out with compulsory appropriations of the houses, cars and other private possessions bought by bankers with their bonuses? Our kleptocratic society makes me FURIOUS. We are living in the Enron Generation. EITHER you enforce regulation to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen, OR you grant freedom but punish ruthlessly if people abuse it. Doing neither is NOT an option for a civilized and fair society. America has become a joke, a system set up so that the middle-classes work like battery hens for a feckless, thieving minority.

The only people who are going to lose anything from this debacle, is the very same ones who screwed it up to begin with – the insanely wealthy.

For those of us who have already lost so much because of this GREEDY Republican administration, what else is there for us to lose?

NO, I will NOT get over it. I will fight back and I do NOT want Paulson and his cronies to have control of my money. No, No, No!!!!

Paulson, Rove, Cheney, Bush, PNAC are the REAL terrorist. How on earth can we trust Bush after so many lies?

How about this, how about all those executives, CEOs, etc who received bonuses – if they want their little rich club to survive, then THEY need to pony up their own money that they have socked away in offshore accounts.

Of course the financial services industry wants to save its ass! What else could you call this? Had it been another industry, they’d be the ones demanding that we let the industry fail, so as not to ruin the entire country. They don’t like that the shoe happens to be on the other foot, this time! Vote Libertarian this fall & help end this road to socialisim!!

Give the 700 Billion to the taxpayers. No more handouts to big business! When are the taxpayers going to get a bailout? I am sick of Bushanomics!!!!!

There is no ‘getting over it’. This is for keeps. Americans will not be threatened by vague what-ifs that insult our intelligence. The ‘bailout’ is absolutely not needed for anything other than giving in to a vast extortion scheme by a few Wall Streeters who seem to think they have a god-given right to not lose their wealth. America will do whatever it takes to preserve our free capitalistic society. Bread lines, tent cities, and job losses, all of which exist today, are preferable to being robbed of our way of life.

Congress members would be wise to realize that there is vast popular bipartisan support against any bill (93% of the population by a Rasmussen poll) and the few hundred that might dare vote this in will be remembered until the day they are voted out of office.

I disagree, the bailout will cause a great depression.

We have lost our knowledge of history: 90s Japan and the 30s Great Depression were marked by intervention. And it is a myth Hoover didn’t intervene.

This has become 1984 if we think more of the same will get us out of this problem.

Everyone must seriously look into this question because both paths (bailout/ no bailout) can’t be right.

I believe that our founding fathers knew something that Washington has regrettably forgotten: change that occurs at a rate greater than mankind’s ability to understand that change tends to result in failure.

I feel I don’t need to state the obvious parallels between the rush into Iraq and the rush into this proposed bailout (both pushed by a campaign of fear by this administration) that has ensued this week in Washington. It saddens me greatly that we have let fear dictate these rushed and massive changes that are occurring. The architects of this great nation engineered this government so that change would occur slowly and above all will great prudence, knowing that until the full gravity of the situation was known a correct conclusion could not be made. Yes, I understand the risk to the taxpayer, the economy, the financial world – but what about the risk to our country? Is it so inconceivable that the U.S. would never go bankrupt? Is it so inconceivable that the U.S. would never have triple digit inflation, which would leave us all longing for the good old days of the “credit crisis”?

If we decide to make this change, without fully understanding the problem or the solution, we should all understand that the likelihood of success is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a million to one.

Remember, Federal aid means Federal control of YOU. They are pushing through a self-serving deal without proper examination and explanation. We are told (not asked) to “buy a pig in a poke.” Then they say the Feds can SELL what they grabbed….sell to WHOM? Do we have any guarantee we will not be sold to foreign countries which are happily standing by, waiting to bus this country at a bargain? This nefarious plan is much too powerful, robbing us of our independence, our democracy, and our dignity. Thanks, but NO Thanks! Let’s look for an alternative solution before we let them railroad us into this one. Greed is still one of the seven capital sins–let us not reward the greedy!!!

The federal reserve is partially to blame for this mess , they kept lowering interest rates.
This sellout i.e. bailout is only going to devalue the dollar even more.
The root cause of this whole mess is not mortage failure.
it is all of the manufacturing that has gone overseasplus the oil dollars going to the middle east.
Let the market find its own level.
the correctly managed companies will absorb the poorly managed ones.

This is the biggest election pandering in history. Wall Street needs to go down. It’s the only true way to solve the problem. A 700 billion $ bailout (that won’t bail them out) is a joke. This is only delaying the inevitable and exacerbating the problem.

It appears to me that certain aspects of our government may be intentionally trying to instigate severe distress among the citizens and taxpayers which it is sworn to responsibly represent. This is apparently being done by fomenting a type of class struggle between the haves (high dollar tax payers) and the have-nots (high risk borrows) who supposedly precipitated this financial crisis. Could this be Machiavellian tactics to cloak the true causes of this financial meltdown? Surely power and greed couldn’t be the motivation for this bizarre behavior? Before our congressional representatives could deal with the significant problem of our governments’ executive branch being commandeered by Big Oil, with all of its ramifications it has caused over the last eight years, they have been asked to handle what appears to be a covert plotting by these lamb duck people to spend the US Treasure dry, that is what there is left of it. Enough of this Laissez-faire skullduggery, regulate and hold accountable these people to a higher standard, and remove the excessive temptations from the table, as it is obvious that greed begets greed, and excessive power can and apparently does corrupt. Regulate, Regulate, Regulate, and lets have some good old checks and balances!

Seize the culprits’ millions/billions and use that to help prop the bailout price tag. Why do the rest of us always have to suffer AND pay for their greed.

Hey folks: Send a NO-BAILOUT letter to your congressman at http://www.votenobailout.org/.

SAY NO TO THE BAILOUT!!!

OK now the solution:

We know we need to put an infusion of cash into the credit markets

1. Treat this like any other disaster: They give out low interest emergency loans. Do the same but only to companies that qualify. Don’t just hand the money to the companies that created this problem. Buying the defaulted loans they don’t want and leaving them with the good loans, makes us chumps that were played.

2. The decision to release the funds into the money supply is only for the sole reason of supplying the credit markets to loan money.

3. Only qualified companies can receive the bailout money. The qualified companies are solvent companies with a low defaulted loan rate.

4. These qualified companies can then use the bail out funds to purchase these defaulted loans that the problem companies have overloaded into their portfolios. Then these problem companies that have overloaded their portfolio with bad loans will have new capital to loan and only good loans to maintain and return their investment.

5. This will take away the bad deal problem the government will make with the problem companies. The solvent qualified companies will there to do the due diligence and pay a fair price for these bad loans or maybe just leave them alone. They will do this at their expense and the government will pay a fortune for consultants and others do the same thing the solvent qualified companies wil do at their expense. The government already is being a chump by saying we will buy only defaulted bad loans you don’t want. You watch when the bad companies tell us “buy these loans because we don’t want them”, you watch; they will all of a sudden become more valuable and the US government will overpay and get stuck with a bunch of losing loans and the problem company will be solvent and flourishing. NOT FAIR!

6. This will get the money out to the credit markets and in the hands of the responsible people and companies. The insolvent and irresponsible companies will be at the hands of the liquidators and not the patsy government.

7. Consider this the Bush/Cheney boys have been embezzling this country’s wealth and low they are like bad tenants and taking the washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, sinks and toilets like the bad tenants they have been.

I’m sure the Japanese government sold their bank bailouts with the same doom and gloom tactics. It’s taken their economy nearly 20 years to recover because thier bad debt laden institutions “just couldn’t fail”.

Mr. La Monica does not appear to be very observant, just a media tool for Wall Street Robber Barons.

“The Senate Democrats’ proposal would also require the government to come up with “a systematic approach for preventing foreclosures and ensuring long-term, sustainable homeownership through loan modifications and use of the HOPE for Homeowners Program” on the mortgages it buys in the bailout.

The Dodd proposal calls for curbs on executive compensation and a change to federal law so that judges can modify a bankruptcy filer’s primary residence mortgage. Under current law, judges may only modify loans on second homes.”

Come on! the Congress is smoking the same crack than Paulson, Bernanke or Bush.
So I’ll stop paying my mortgage and then the government or a judge will reduce my principal. Maybe it is worth to fake hardship for some months to save myself thousands of dollars in principal and interest.
Nice!

No bailout!
Banks make bad bets, trying to make big/quick money, and are bailed out by the taxpayers! I don’t think so…
People making bad choices, trying to provide a home and place to raise their children, are losing their credit, home, community well being, fighting to keep the family together, etc is where the country can not afford to fail. As mentioned leaving more money with the taxpayers/homeowners/investors and not trying to “fix” the financial’s is more appropriate.
Mentioned in the article are employee job losses which seems to imply that good companies will implode if the bad financial’s are not bailed out. On the contrary good companies and good decision makers is where the investor money will move into letting the free market do its thing.
Do not let the feds put us into a double down betting decision.

Great idea – give the bailout money to the criminals that caused the problem.

Priceless

First of all this sounds like the build up to the Iraq war: “Do it now or we will all perish” “Do it now or we are all doomed” “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud over Cleveland” With Chicken little (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice) running strong and the rest of the flag waving idiots we went to war with Iraq. These idiots (The Congress) gave away their constitutional authority to the Executive branch.

Why do these idiots in the White House have so many problems. Now we got to give up $1,000,000,000,000 or we all will perish. These people are idiots and they want me to give them a bunch of our money without ant accountability or recourse. I know y’all are the weakest link in DC but when it comes to our money we need to stop them.

The lack of an exchange for financial derivatives, mortgage backed securities credit default swaps etc. is the root cause of the current tumult. I believe that Paulson is right. The government has to make a market for these illiquid securities.

Alan Greenspan could have done this along time ago, if he had not believed that real estate bubble was just “local froth”.

Mr WALL ST. HERE…all you lemmings have no clue about how this bailout really works…we are going to baffle you with bullsh%& about derivatives, arbitrage,swaps, mark to market,hedging, collars,shorting, naked shorting, no uptick and a whole slew of terms and conditions that will only confuse you. You really are not smart enough to understand why we need and will get this bailout since you the general public have and always will be an endless source of capital for US the super-rich and politically connected…YEAH we made another bad bet with your money however please do not fret about it, we are so good at what we do that we will make your kids and grandkids pay for it all!! Mr Paulson is just our puppet that knows the game inside and out, remember he was the top dog at Goldman Sachs for years, so he knows how to make and protect our billions of dollars of profits.His game is basically to scare all of you into the bailout, DAMN HE’S GOOD. We made billions the last 6 years during the bull run after 911…WE EVEN PROFITED FROM THE 911 ATTACKS, THAT WAS PURE GENIUS ON OUR PART Someone has to pay for my new castle in the Carribean, why should I use my own money when I can use yours, AGAIN!!LEMMINGS WILL ALWAYS BE LEMMINGS LOL

Either way the rich get bailed out and the middle class go home tired and over taxed. Too busy trying to make ends meet worring about the future of their children, and for the less fortunate, where the next meal comes from. Who do we look to blame? What do we tell our next generation? That we have all this wonderul technology you see in this world and we have been unable to use it for our own good. But hey, we have a cell phone that can almost tuck you into bed at night! Don’t let this bail out fool anyone, its going to get worse before it gets better. It took time to get where we are and its going to take a lot longer to get out of it. Trying to keep panic under control through the use of throwing money at the problem sounds like lighting a fuse somewhere else and giving time for those who got us here, time to run from what is inevitably going to happen………….

Hi Paul -

I disagree with you on so many fronts in I’m not quite sure where to start. Here’s as good a place as any:

“The alternative that many CNNMoney.com readers seem to be calling for – i.e. let all the banks and Wall Street crash and burn – is not viable. In fact, it’s incredibly short-sighted.”

You’ll recognize those as your words. You’ll also recall a short time ago you wrote in another column that it was “irresponsible” to suggest we’re either in a depression or heading for one. However, were the nightmare scenario you outline in the preceeding paragraph to occur, a depression would not only be possible, it’d be par for the course. Being on the cusp of a depression doesn’t require unemployment rates of 25% or dismal GDP numbers, just as it didn’t in 1929. There’s still plenty of time for that. Then, as now, we had a credit bubble that got pricked.

Now, one need look no further than the pages of the Wall Street Journal to see almost daily references, invocations and comparisons to the events leading up to the Great Depression. And yet, it wasn’t so long ago that you implied any such comparisons were preposterous.

While I’m not suggesting we’re on the verge of a depression, we may well be. What I am suggesting is you’ve been far too dismissive of that possibility, which leads you to say things like you did today – that but for a $700 billion bailout package – an economic catastrophe would occur.

Getting back to that paragraph of yours, succumbing to moral hazard and bailing out “undeserving folks” is incredibly short-sighted, not propping them up, as you imply. The irony is that you’re under the impression that letting them fail is the short-sighted alternative!

You seem to see the failure of poorly operated banks and other businesses as something to be avoided at all costs. In fact, the failure of these entities is part of the cure – otherwise known as a recession or a depression. Only when the economy is able to purge these excesses and non-performers (including folks who took on too much risk) will we find ourselves in a better situation. After the Great Depression, the US emerged after the war years stronger than ever. I’d rather endure 10 or more years of hardship in a depression than risk the fate of the republic on an even bigger calamity down the road by forestalling the inevitable.

Yes, what the big investment banks and others did was stupid, but I’m not angry at them. All I ask is that they bear responsibility for their losses instead of saddling generations of taxpayers with the burden.

I’m sure you’ve heard the now-popular phrase “We’re privatizing the profits and socializing the losses.” I’m equally sure you give lip service to the venality and repugnance of such a policy. However, that’s precisely what today’s column argues we should do.

No, the bailout is not necessary. I would rather lose my house and go hungry in a depression than spend the rest of my life in indentured servitude to wealthy investors and big corporations that are not responsible for their decisions.

LET THEM CRASH AND BURN!

Most Americans are well prepared to weather the outcome. And those that are not will be helped by those who are. This country needs a financial revolution and this is our chance. WE NEED TO CLEAN THE RATS OUT OF THE CLOSET! In closing, if this “Bailout” goes through then we had all better batten down the hatches. the future will be allot less pretty than it would be if we let them fail.

The article clearly outlines the reasons $700 billion bailout is a good choice as follows:

1. First and foremost, a collapse of the banking system would have a huge impact on the job market.
2. The credit crunch would become an outright credit freeze

I would like to add, in addition to above, if the banks are allowed to fail (as demanded by most readers on this blog and elsewhere) and they fail before people had a chance to withdraw their deposits from the bank, FDIC will have to pay for the insured accounts.

Taking the above fact into consideration, US Government is effectively shelling out only about $50 billion or so for this bailout.

I would consider this $50 billion investment a good business sense on part of Sec. Henry Paulson, considering that this investment can bring in hefty returns if managed properly.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT BANKS WILL RESUME LENDING ONCE THE BAD INVESTMENTS ARE OFF THEIR BOOKS. CHANCES ARE IF THEY HAVE TO HOLD NEW MORGAGES , LIKE THEY DID IN THE OLD DAYS, THAT THERE WOULD BE MUCH MORE SCRUNITY, AND A LOT LESS MORGAGES GIVEN OUT. CONGRESS NEEDS TO BE CAREFULL HERE AND NOT RUSH INTO A SITUTATION , THAT HAS NO GUARANTEE OF RETURNING US TO THE LEND AND SPEND ROBUST ECONOMY THAT WE WERE ACCUSTOM TO. THINGS HAVE CHANGED AND CONGRESS MUST BE MINDFUL OF THE LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES THEIR DECISIONS WILL HAVE ON US ALL.

The article that clearly outlines the reason $700 billion bailout is a good choice as follows:

1. First and foremost, a collapse of the banking system would have a huge impact on the job market.
2. The credit crunch would become an outright credit freeze

I would like to add, in addition to above, if the banks are allowed to fail (as demanded by most readers on this blog and elsewhere) and they fail before people had a chance to withdraw their deposits from the bank, FDIC will have to pay for the insured accounts.

Taking the above fact into consideration, US Government is effectively shelling out only about $50 billion or so for this bailout.

I would consider this $50 billion investment a good business sense on part of Sec. Henry Paulson, considering that this investment can bring in hefty returns if managed properly.

I am sorry mommy, I won’t get mad again, I know you”re right. I understand that I will lose all my toys, and you have to start nursing me again. Do I have to tell my friends?

Absolutely No Bailout!

Jail time or worse for Banksters, Politicians, and their complicit enablers in the Media. All are guilty of treason against the US Constitution.

NO BAILOUT!

It’s very easy for someone with a well-paying media job to say to millions of struggling Americans to get over it.

Outside of your media bubble fantasy land, people across the country are struggling to keep food on the table, pay obscene medical bills, and pay for gas.

Get over it? Go to Hell.

Not much to add except that I agree with prior comments. I have written organizational charters and enabling documents and I was considered forward and aggressive. But never in my wildest dreams would I have had been so brazen to demand authority to spend $700B with no oversight and no accountability, with no alternatives or cost/benefit analysis, within 7 days. And to add he wants a “clean” bill! Also I do not see any possible argument not to restrict executive pay. That point is the give-away on this caper.

I am completely disgusted with the entire situation. The people who engineered this financial disaster were compensated with absurd amounts of money. We, the taxpayers, now have to save their asses. I think not. I also cannot believe that they now have the balls to ask the government to cover all manner of bad assets in addition to mortgages. I also feel that this is just a bandaid at $700 billion; there will be many more financial institutions failing in the next year. As my grandfather would say: enough is enough – they made their (bankrupt) beds, now let them sleep in them.

Sieze the CEo assets and force thema nd their families into poverty lifestyles for a while. Thay can take Geoge W. with them.

Please help get the word out – $700 billion is NOT the total cost. Read the exact wording of the proposal and you’ll notice the words “$700 billion outstanding AT ANY ONE TIME!”. So they buy $700 billion worth of trash…sell it for $350 billion. Buy another $700 billion…sell that for $350 billion. Lather. Rinse. Repeat – until the country is tapped out!

Here’s what I just wrote to my congresscritters:

I urge you to vote against the proposed bailout of some of the country’s financial institutions. We didn’t elect our members of Congress to gamble with our tax dollars. Regardless of the scare tactics used by the Federal Reserve or the US Treasury, bailing out these corporations and socializing their losses will only serve to further erode the value of the US dollar. The Dollar has lost 94% of its purchasing power since the inception of the Federal Reserve, so they have failed us as an institution. The interference of government in the free market system that our country was founded on has only delayed the inevitable crash that we’re seeing today. Privatizing profits and socializing losses will only lead to despair to us as taxpayers and make matters much worse for future generations.

The government bailed out Chrysler nearly 30 years ago, and it only acted as a temporary band-aid. Now, all of our auto manufacturers are in trouble. I’d argue that if we hadn’t bailed out Chrysler, the remaining two would have changed their ways and tightened up their ship back then if they’d realized the damage that the failed policies of Chrysler would lead to their ultimate demise as well. The same argument applies here to our financial institutions. Please vote against the majority on this issue and refrain from being scared into submission by going against the best interests of Americans and free market capitalism.

Are you NUTS ??? clean off the slate and start fresh…This mess is only going to get much worse in the near future anyway, so, good money after bad money is just plain ” NUTS “…Us honest hard working and taxpaying Americans can’t stand no more thats right I said No MORE..and by honest, Mr. Goldylocks and Mr. I will find you a bull market somewhere, you two pompus fellows are not included…It was these kinds of bulls–ters that said I would back up Mr. Mozilo the CEO of Countrywide, and we all remember what happened there…I wrote back then to just let them goooooooo under and start over..that band of hoods took billions and some of it came from Fannie and Freddie and we know what happened there also DON’T we ???? Listen up Feds…take the money back from those CEO’s and their soldiers who were all knowing involved in this greed..greed…greed…don’t keep feeding the cancer…cut it out and flush it down the toilet…America needs a FRESH START..so START NOW !!!

I don’t think I will be getting over this one anytime soon. For that matter, with it projected to add another $1 trillion to the deficit, neither will anyone else.
http://www.bailoutville.com/forums/f6/trillion-dollar-deficit-7.html

I’m so angry over this, because CEO’s are entrusted with running the countries’ business, not just their own individual companies. When employees are being laid off, and these bumbs are making millions in pay, and stock options. I can only say one thing. The tax rate for these people should go up to 70%, like it was in the 1970’s. Congress better hold these people accountable, and I mean jail! My vote just went to the tax, and spend guys, in November. I’m voting for Obama! I can see, that’s where my life is headed due to corporate greed!

But why on Earth does everyone live on credit? Even teens are encouraged to get loans and cards. You can get furniture here on 60 month interest free terms – but you pay a premium price for the stuff. This sort of thing is crazy. If you haven’t got the money, you don’t “buy” it. Right. Sure, I once had a home loan, but paid it off ASAP. Stupid? Well, at least we own a very nice house and we sleep nights. Now people are encouraged to take the equity out of their house and …… whatever. This is really stupid. It’s like paying rent forever. My old Dad always said, “Never have more than one thing to pay off at a time”. He grew up in tough times, but always managed. People have to go back to basics and stop all this needless and senseless consuming of rubbish.

AS NECESSARY AS THE IRAQ WAR. Open your eyes, IT’S ANOTHER SCAM!!! There have been worse times in the stock market before without any bailout needed. So credit is tight for a while, big deal. At least it doesn’t cost me any money, and who knows, I might save some.

These lousy politicians want us to bailout their friends after they lost their butts. Why didn’t they come up with this bailout before millions of people lost their money (from stock, pension plans, 401(K)s, mutual funds, etc.)?

These politicians are bought and paid for already. WHAT A CORRUPT SYSTEM!!!
And then they have the audacity to criticize other countries.

Did anyone notice that NO ONE is saying what the COST PER CAPITA will be? Yea, it’s $700 Trillion (don’t want to write all the zeros, too many of them), or more. The question for ALL OF US IDIOTS (that keep voting either Democrat or Republican, same garbage just a different smell) is ARE WE GOING TO BOW OUR HEADS (more like bend over and grab our ankles) and accept it OR WHAT? THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE NEXT TIME YOU STEP UP TO THE VOTING BOOTH!!!

What part of the first AND Second commentary on the Blogs did you miss? Here it is AGAIN.. Read it AGAIN!

http://cnnmoneytalkback.blogs.cnnmoney.cnn.com/2008/09/20/the-bailout/

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/21/news/economy/readers_on_bailout/index.htm?postversion=2008092117

90%+ of ALL of these comments are AGAINST this Hindenburg-Sized Pig-with-Lipstick smeared all over it! And this mess will crash and burn just like the Hindenburg with the American Taxpayer trapped inside to roast in the flames while the Corporate Fat Cats float safely to the ground under their Golden Parachutes! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

And now CNN has a NEW Poll:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/22/news/economy/cnn_bailout_poll/index.htm

I ask, where did you find the 1,000 Americans covered in the poll who voted in the ‘Majority’ for this Bailout? Goldman-Sachs? Wall Street Stock Exchange? The White House? Certainly not me OR my neighbors! How many Polls does CNN need to run? David Goldman needs to re-check the facts, or take a bigger sample. When I read the comments and the blogs, 90% or more are AGAINST this, yet he writes that 55% of the public is FOR IT? So, in effect, the American Taxpayer is all for ponying up 700 BILLION in US currency with NO oversight, except for that of Secretary Henry Paulson, former CEO of one of these companies?

To Quote Mr. Goldman:

“Though 55% said they favor the proposed bailout, 65% said it would probably treat taxpayers *unfairly*.”

Ya THINK??!?

Another quote:

For the average person, $700 billion sounds like a whole heck of a lot of money,” said John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia. “It’s reasonable to look at that number and be scared about it, but in the end, the Treasury may actually make money from the deal.” That’s because the government is proposing to buy up troubled assets that banks don’t want, with the intention of selling them later when the market is better. “There’s a chance they could sell them at a decent price,” Silvia said.

So the Banks don’t want these Toxic Assets… they beg Big GubMn’t to save them from their own soiled diapers.. which Bush and Secretary Henry Paulson do… And they buy up all this Toxic Paper because there is a CHANCE they will be able to sell them later ‘at a profit’?

Lets run that quote by again:

“That’s because the government is proposing to buy up troubled assets that banks don’t want.”

So WHO is going to buy back, at a profit to the government, assets that are more radioactive than Chernobyl?

And while the US Government is waiting for someone to buy back this Toxic Diaper-full of Waste, they shove it off on the Taxpayers, who are handed the bill for the party, a bill that $30-40 million-a-year Coroporate Execs ran up under this same US Government.

NO, NO, NO, again! Not just no, but HELL NO.

Seize the assets of those who brought us this mess. Toss the Executives of these failing companies in jail. Force those who have pushed the financial markets to the brink to give back ALL of the monies they made from ramapant, unrestrained greed. Put some regulations in effect that will HELP the person on the street, the American taxpayer working 2 jobs to pay the bills! Put a freeze on foreclosures for 90 days. Cap Executive pay at 1 million a year or LESS. Do ALL of these before spending a dime of the American Taxpayer’s money to bail out the wealthiest 10% of americans, who have taken their outrageous salaries and stepped aside so the US Government can clean up the mess, using tax dollars taken from the pockets of the common man!

The free market says, Let the financial system crash and burn if that’s where it’s at. Let the chips fall where they may. That’s the only way to “clean” our system up. We all deserve it — but none more so than those Wall Street parasites.

If Congress passes this, you will see the middle class rise up in the streets and radicalize.

700B bailout. 3 page document. No checks & balances. Immunity from courts. Mr. P. can do whatever he wants with 700B… You gotta be kidding me????? This can’t be real. If you can’t see the criminal intent, then just read the 3 page document. If you still can’t see the criminal intent, then you represent the typical American who continues to forfeit the freedoms our forefathers guaranteed with the Constitution. The fact that the House and Senate is even considering this outrageous legistlation proves just how insane the American government has become. God help us all…

I think that we should protest against this. Just responding through the internet is not enough

Paulson’s insane plan, that the US taxpayer stump up trillions of dollars for worthless pieces of paper to “save” a banking system that is blatantly not fit for purpose, must be resisted.
The world will keep turning without these incompetent bankers – ignore the scaremongers and let them fail, and let house prices fall.

I don’t think I’ll be getting over this one anytime soon. For that matter, with it projected to add another $1 trillion to the deficit, neither will anyone else.
http://www.bailoutville.com/forums/f6/trillion-dollar-deficit-7.html

Don’t give my that line of crap that there will be more job losses. Job losses for who the fat cats that sat up on wall street. Just like when Paulson said that the stimulus package we were going to receive was going to generate jobs. You let me know what this government has done for the hard working class of the great county? Well I tell you nothing they sold us out to dry! Now they want to put us in even more debt. When they were asking for us to invest our social security and the American people said no now they will just take it from us. Don’t fall for it they knew this was going to happen because as working mom not the head of treasury I saw this coming down the road 2 years ago. Are you going to fall for it again people? WAKE CALL YOUR CONGRESS TODAY!

Let em go under. No one is giving me cheap money. I am really pissed off, paying for this s**t when the CEOs’ are getting millions

There are hundreds of responses here and a quick read through found none in favor. Get a clue – the American public is tired of being swindled.

Don’t you realize that the bailout has to come from *somewhere* and will have to be paid back *eventually* and with interest? Are we really so damned greedy that we are willing to knowingly saddle our children and grandchildren with this debt?

Why not set up a fund for people that have been affected by foreclosures, unemployment, etc, and create a benefits system that could help them get back on their feet? Surely the millions of american workers affected by this economic climate would be able to put more back into the economy than a failing bank or financial institution?

These banks and financial institutions have raped the american public, and built a false economic climate within many sectors, including the housing market. They’ve made their money, spent it, and screwed up by taking huge risks. Let them suffer for the consequences they’ve created, and focus on helping the country in a recovery.

Surely by giving these people more money, we’re just encouraging them to milk the economy for all it’s worth, and we’ll be doing this again in 20 years on a bigger scale.

Look after the ECONOMY, not the companies that screwed it up in the first place.

To me, it seems the people that are most upset with this “bailout” are the ones that played a roll in it. I don’t see any reason to bail out someone in foreclosure – someone who knowingly took out an adjustable-rate mortgage and/or someone who financed a house they couldn’t afford. I know how much I make a year and I know how much I can spend. Just because some jerk at a bank tells me I’m approved for a $400,000 mortgage doesn’t mean I should take one out. I agree that it’s pathetic that taxpayers have to save the financial industry but let’s not forget that industry didn’t do this on it’s own. Don’t cry foul just because you’re not getting in on the action.

Necessary? Nonsense. These are the people who get large paychecks from fee-added financial contracts (like mortgages) as well as good money they strip out of loans by way of repackaging, securitization, and derivatives.

And of course, if a homeowner gets into trouble, his inability to pay his debts is *his* fault and he should get no help at all. Burn the little guy, burn their families, they should have known better. Too deep in credit card debt? Instead of freezing the cards and then making adjustments to make payback easier, they jack up the rates and force the borrower into bankruptcy. Student loans excessive and hard to pay back? Bankruptcy is no option. You can’t get out of that debt!

To every proposal of consumer relief, the banking industry has given a resounding “NO!” and generously lobbied members of Congress and the administration.

So, now that THEY are in trouble, should they be any different? What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, I say. Let ‘em stew in their own juices.

They have the gall to want the government to take their bad debt at good prices. And the Bush administration is more than willing to accommodate.

So, only “rescue” them in the same way they were willing to rescue their clients. And if they want socialized help, let them be a lot more socially conscious themselves. No more multi-million dollar salaries. No more stock options. No shipping jobs overseas. All work must be done in the US.

They want help? Let ‘em pay for it.

IT COMES DOWN TO THIS ONE QUESTION:

SHOULD MAIN STREET AND WALL STREET SUFFER TOGETHER, OR SHOULD MAIN STREET SUFFER EVEN WORSE WHILE WALL STREET GETS BAILED OUT?

————————————

“So once the blind rage subsides, people will hopefully take a long-hard look at what the government has proposed and come to the realization that doing nothing to rid the nation’s banks of all the poisonous mortgage assets on their balance sheets would be far far worse.”

The “blind rage” has been building for MONTHS and it will NOT subsides. I will vote against any politician who supports this bailout next month.

If They say we may have profits at the end then why 1000 richest Americans can not bail them out using their pocket money? Sounds like popular internet scam.. Why poor-bankrupt American asked to pay the bill?

As we can already see (dollar tanking, oil surging, interest rates going up), not only is the bailout going to cause considerable hardship down the road for our children, but we’ll all get to enjoy an environment of hyper inflation, which by the way will eventually lead to further job losses, profit losses, increased real estate interest rates and a significant reduction in our standard of living. Get over it? Get a clue!

As I understand it the Poulson Plan is not yet a done deal. The markets are speaking, Dow down 372pts. Oil up a record $16. Poulson want sole control of $1trillion of US taxpayers money. He intends to pay top dollar for Wall St’s toxic merdé. He wants to be above and beyond the Law.

Vote Obhama or vote Mcain… get Poulson. Shame on the USA!

“Be ticked off – but get over it”

Rather than “getting over it”, I think I will do everything in my power to see my elected representatives voted out of office if they support this monstrosity. I will make sure my friends and family know that congress is destroying the dollar (5 dollar gas, here we come) to bail out the greedy, reckless bankers who wrecked our economy.

“Talkback: The bailout is infuriating but necessary. Do you agree or disagree?” DISAGREE

ANY BAILOUT THAT DOES NOT WIPE OUT BANK SHAREHOLDERS IS UNACCEPTABLE. THE FREDIE AND FANNIE BAILOUT SHOULD BE THE TEMPLATE.

USING TAXPAYER MONEY TO BUY OVERPRICED DISTRESSED ASSETS SO THAT BANKS CAN KEEP PAYING FAT DIVIDENDS IS SICK.

In response to the comments about turning to socialism, etc.
Actually, it’s worse than that. At least, socialists would tax Wall Street crooks to death up front BEFORE they created that mess.
We can all argue if it’s a smart thing to do and how effective the whole system is, but at least, they would HAVE the money to sign the blank check for bailout.

Give the 700 billion back to the taxpayers and let us decide what to do with it. No more credit worries, no more foreclosures. Don’t give it to companies whose greed got us into this mess in the first place.

It’s irrelevant whether the bailout is “necessary” when it won’t work. We are in for bank failures and a long recession/depression no matter what. The only question now is whether Wall Street will get to loot the American economy first.

“We need this to be clean and quick,” Paulson said on ABC’s “This Week.” Paulson’s timing, as usual, is impeccable. He made the BIG announcement the week before Congress was scheduled to adjourn and the week that September options on stocks and indexes expired. He sent Congress a 3 page bill for $700 billion more of your money. His words and plan say in effect: “The sky is falling…trust me… give me the US treasury’s checkbook with a maximum balance of $700 BILLION…I WILL SAVE YOU. Do it now.” Unbelievably the US Congress seems as though it will do it with only minor tinkering.
Is it any wonder the American people are skeptical? How many lies about crises have been advanced to support what the administration wanted to do? Believing these lies gave an urgency to their actions. Act before it is too late. Don’t take time to analyze, debate and reach a rational conclusion. There were no WMD in Iraq. Saddam Hussein was not the perpetrator of the 9/11 tragedy. The subprime crisis was not contained. All the words minimizing the extent of the financial crisis were untrue. Government statistics have been spun and reassembled to show that all is well, don’t worry. Shop, watch reality shows on your new digital TV and let the experts devise the plans and make the tough decisions. Your children and grandchildren will be better off. Here is an alternative plan devised to deal with the real problems. Send it to your elected representatives if you favor it over Paulson’s plan. http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/fixing-housing.html#more . The American people can do better than the Paulson plan if we all act together.
Tell our Congress to let the smart, rich bankers solve their own problems without further taxpayer assistance. NO MORE CORPORATE BAILOUTS.

I hate the way the Treasury Secretary, the President, the Media and damned near anyone else involved with this “crisis” blackmails us with the threat that if we don’t give the rich even more of our money, we’ll get laid off and be poor. Like we already aren’t poor and at risk of layoff. Good Lord…………..

When will America wake up and realize that this is just another scam. No one has a crystal ball. Not Paulson, not Bernanke, not Bush or anyone else who is acting in this absurd production.

There is just as much chance that the purging of bad debt through bank failures, stock price drops and foreclosing on over extended Rich Dad acolytes will be the healthiest tonic to an economy sadly overburdened with debt on every level. This un-relenting belief in a benevolent market has destroyed the country.

Insisting that you can borrow your way to prosperity doesn’t work on an individual, corporate or national level. Americans have been borrowing their way to prosperity since the Reagan revolution and everyone is broke. So broke in fact that now they’re borrowing against their children’s ability to live a life resembling their own. Go Me Generation Go!!!!!!!!!!

Let it ride, let it crash, time to take the medicine and get back to the business of earning money through good old fashioned effort and innovation.

Unlike the 1929 collapse, those responsible aren’t jumping out of windows on Wall Street. Today they are floating out of the sky on their golden parachutes and landing on their beachfront property in the Bahamas.

It would appear that Russia won the cold war after all. Welcome to the USSA.

Uncle Joe Stalin is chuckling in his grave.

Conservatives have consistently shown little or no support for social programs aimed at footing the bill for the poor and uneducated – namely “Welfare” – so what should we call this bailout of the wealthy and highly educated? I can’t even come up with a good name for this new elitist SOCIAL PROGRAM.

It is unimaginable to me that our government could even propose giving this money and power to one individual – that he can do whatever he wants without supervision or consequences. I don’t want anymore of my money to go bailing out financial institutions in trouble due to amazingly bad fiscal decisions. The thought of it makes me incredibly angry, however, that is nothing compared to how irate I feel about the way they propose to bailout these companies and the fact that our president and his advisers seem to believe that they can do whatever they want to the American people and our assets.

Da, Comrade La Monica. I agree. The bailout is necessary.

The problem is political. FED/no FED, austerity/new bubble, bailout/no bailout — it doesn’t matter the connected still suck the system dry.

The bailout should not happen because the politicians cannot be trusted. Shine a light — let’s see the truth after the manipulation ends.

Not once have I seen an argument that this bailout will actually DO anything to solve the problems it is supposed to be addressing. It won’t actually keep construction people employed if house prices continue to be so high that nobody wants to buy ‘em. It won’t increase liquidity if people don’t want to borrow money to buy houses that are still too expensive. It won’t save bank employees that were added to do the kind of ridiculous credit deals that led to this problem in the first place.

The only real solution to this mess is to let housing continue its collapse, get over it, and rebuild from there. This bailout will do nothing to help the average guy or gay on the street.

FIGHT IT!

Your headline entitled “Americans want bailout – poll” is devious and demonstrates your Wall Street control!

Be truthful — 98%+ of opinion on all these commentary sites are “AGAINST” the bailout!!

People are tired of being played!

Rid us of Wall Street and we’ll have a greater nation!!

That’s the consensus!

Disagree. An enormous bailout is a bad approach for many reasons. First, the case has not been clearly made why a bailout is necessary. In the absence of a bailout many firms will certainly fail. In addition, credit will be more difficult to obtain than it has been in the recent past. However, neither of these outcomes is necessarily bad. Companies that were poorly managed should go out of business. There will be pain, but this is the way the market should react to excess. In addition, the failure of poorly managed firms will provide opportunities for firms that were run prudently to thrive. Not all fortunes need be made by inventing a better mousetrap – some can and should be made by capitalizing on the mistakes of others. Furthermore, it is about time that credit standards get more stringent. This is simply a reversion to the mean. There are still lenders who are willing and able to finance prudent investments that are adequately capitalized.

Finally, it is time to stop feeling sorry for individual borrowers who cannot afford the homes they purchased. Instead, how about we take a ‘glass is half full’ view of the situation? Prior to buying a 2,500 square foot, $250,000 home in a leafy subdivision, Mr. and Mrs. Jones were commuting to their respective call center jobs from their 950 square foot, $1,100 per month apartment. Due to lousy underwriting standards, they were able to qualify for a $0 down, 30 year adjustable rate loan with an introductory teaser rate of 3.5%. For the first two years in their new home, they paid their monthly payment of about $1,122 and all was grand. They then found out that they could not afford the payments when the rate re-set and were forced to give up their dream house. Instead of referring to this as a tragedy, why not call it what it was – a $22 per month vacation.

Revision -

Trillions for America’s latest imperialistic wars, and now the parties of Obomba and McSame – I won’t be bothering to vote – are ready to bail out irresposible businesses and equally irresponsible borrowers. Instead of these obscene bailouts, let’s shore up the FDIC to protect folks who lived within their means and managed to stash some cash.

No Bailout! As painful as it will be let the system crash! Eliminate the Federal Reserve. Eliminate Government protection of Corporations. Eliminate obscene payouts to Corporate officers, and give them what they deserve – jail time. Eliminate lobbiests, and any other type of Corporate funding to politicians. The corruption must stop!

and what happens when this happens again? Another loan? and another? and another? Let the chips fall as they may.

Privatizing Profit, Socializing Loss, Communism For The Rich.

Revision -

Trillions for America’s latest imperialistic wars, and now the parties of Obomba and McSame – I won’t be bothering to vote – are ready to bail out irresponsible businesses and equally irresponsible borrowers. Instead of these obscene bailouts, let’s shore up the FDIC to protect folks who lived within their means and managed to stash some cash.

Who cares if accounts are insured up to 100k. We are printing so much money that that 100k is worth only 85k. Has no one considered what a 12+ trillion national debt will do to all of us. We are becomming a Third World nation. Chavez would be proud!

I’ve come to the conclusion that George Bush, Dick Cheney, and now Sarah Palin are all “cowardly conservatives” because they can’t stand to be questioned. They are public servants first, and should be answering to the public, but they behave as though they are the boss of us.

Why hasn’t Sarah Palin or her husband answered to the legislature in Alaska? Is it because they are “cowardly conservatives” like Dick Cheney who claimed he did not have to answer to Congress? We have military personnel overseas who have to face a faceless enemy who constantly attacks, with lethal consequences, but these “cowardly conservatives” won’t face a room full of faces asking questions.

And now our biggest coward, George W Bush, wants to bail out his buddies in the Financial Sector because they are too cowardly to face failure.

Seems Phil Gramm did the Democratic Party a favor by switching parties several years ago, but the con artists will always migrate to the party in power. Watch and see.

New term for the Reupublican Party – cowardly conservatives.

Disagree…along with numerous other Americans. Please refer to Exhibit A (Below). It’s time for monumental change in this country once and for all.

Exhibit A:

http://cnnmoneytalkback.blogs.cnnmoney.cnn.com/2008/09/20/the-bailout/

It’s time for austerity, and we’re going to have to get it the hard way. Let the entire financial infrastructure collapse. Good bye credit cards, good bye economic parasites, good bye e-MBA Finance programs, good bye 96″ LCD TV, good bye FOX NEWS, good bye 5.7 liter SUV, good bye religious nutcases — where is your god now?, good bye Republican party, good bye strip malls, good bye suburbia, good bye consumer lifestyle.

Hello Reality!

Ditto..no bailout! Let em burn.

Time to pay for the folly. What happens thereafter, I am willing to accept. But please, no upfront bailout money. Let it remain a free market.

Why should we bail them out again? This is capitalism? This is fair? Why not let a private group “bail them out.”

“In 2007, Wall Street’s five biggest firms — Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley — paid a record $39 billion in bonuses to themselves. That’s $10 billion more than the $29 billion loan taxpayers are making to J.P. Morgan to save Bear Stearns. Those 2007 bonuses were paid even though the shareholders in those firms last year collectively lost about $74 billion in stock declines — their worst year since 2002.” (ABC News)

China Investment Corp is going to own most of Wachovia and this morning on CNN a headline stated that Lehman Brothers had set aside 2.5 billion before hand to divide up amongst the New York office staff after the “bailout.”

Everyone out there is buying into the same partisan political nonsense… never realizing that our news media be it CNN or Fox is influenced by advertisers and so are our politicians. Internet search to discover the top political contributors to each candidate in this race then look to see who also contributed to Bush, Clinton, Kerry, etc.

Where to I sign up? I’ll go for the Lehman Bros staff and confess to all the blame for a nice chunk of 2.5 Billion! In fact they could buy me off easy somewhere between 20 to 50 million.

The only thing “transparent” about Wall Street and this U.S. bailout is the thin layer of BS they are trying to hide the thieves behind!

Venting one’s anger will not achieve much of anything at this point.

But rescind the tax cuts of 2001 to offset the cost of the bailout as the price for its passage will… And if it doesn’t pass, let Wall Street burn to the ground. Let the wealthy GET OVER IT!

Why should those who have already benefited handsomely from the tax cuts continue to do at the risk of the nation’s well-being? Moreover, let’s see if we’re really in this all together or if the wealthy are merely “pocket nationalists.”

Taking on more debt – #11 trillion and counting – ensures that Social Security and Medicare will eventually be sacrificed. But the wealthy won’t need either. Call it middle class warfare intended to salvage our retirement and our childrens’ future. But no bailout w/o rescinding the tax cuts…

“Get over it” seems eerily similar to Dick Cheney’s comment about the unpopularity of the Iraq War.

“So?”

Oh come on people – your all a bunch of whiners and the recession is imaginary – Paul you are in a class with Phil Gramm – what a worthless fascist pit you swim in. Are you a traitor along with the rest of the government and financial cronies?

Think of this people–with this bailout, the government has committed to $1.5 trillion in total bailouts (including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).

That’s about $10,000 per taxpayer.

Disagree completely for numerous reasons. First- people are already losing jobs and people will lose jobs anyways, don’t try to scare us with that argument. Secondly- this is not just a financial issue, this is a moral issue. We shouldn’t reward these companies that made huge profits doing something they knew was risky. Wall Street is all about short term profits. They don’t care what happens down the road cause they plan to jump out before a crash. How can the government invoke moral obligations and American integrity to fund some huge international costs and then throw it out the window when it is no longer usefull.
Third- I thought the reason I pay interest on a loan was to compensate for the risk that the lender is taking on me? If the borrowers can’t pay, that’s too bad for the lender. That’s the business they are in and they know it. What did they do with all that interest in the good times?

I disagree. We should not do this operation as a ‘bailout’. I know that’s what the finance companies want (“bailout = taxpayer money giveaway”). This cannot and will not work; it’s too expensive, and it rewards past fraud and encourages it in the future.

I suggest that we set up a new, government-run bank, supervised by Congress (not the White House) and fund it with a reasonable amount of assets. Then, separate the healthy banks from the dying ones. Buy the distressed mortgage-backed securities from the healthy banks at steep discounts (probably pay 10c on the dollar). Have the healthy banks refinance those borrowers into FHA loans, and they’re done.

Proactively shut down the zombie dying banks, and sell their assets to the highest bidder, including the new bank, if necessary. Refinance borrowers into FHA as above. No severance for ANYBODY; we have unemployment insurance.

And we’re done. I think this is how we did this during the last depression, and it worked with the Federal Home Loan Bank.

We the people should MAKE money this way, rather than losing it in a bailout. Then, we start building a lean, new, solid financial system.

Nothing lasts forever.
There was an article CNN published not too long ago that stated 2nd generation companies usually fail, and 3rd generation companies rarely exist.
I’m surprised these companies have lasted as long as they have using the techniques and predatory lending practices they chose. The Government is all over predatory lending and now they’re going to bail out the companies they preach against. What’s A Real United States Citizen supposed to do? It’s called survival of the fittest, and they were not–so it’s their time to expire. Nothing lasts forever. Our government is going to sink us all, if they haven’t already?!!!?????>>?!.

Why not freeze the assets of these predators and greed mongers on Wall St and in the Govt. who allowed and profited from it all, and count all the money we can get back from them and then see what the total is that we’ll be forced to pay? INCLUDING Bush and Cheney’s take from the profits of the Iraq war they started. Most vacationed and most corrupt president ever.
Why is the taxpayer the one left holding the bag AGAIN? We’re a well for dipping into over and over and over and over again, but we’re not bottomless.
As for the bastards who did it all, I’ll be so suprised if any one of them actually goes to a trial, much less get any time. This is all incest at it’s disgusting best. But you know what? How about we begin by thanking the fools who allowed this idiot to become President to begin with. Oh… wait.. he stole the election! I forgot!! But then we had a chance to get him out and look, voted in again. I guess we all are getting just deserts for allowing this to happen. Listen America; there’s a lesson here and we have a chance to change the way it’s all going to go for the next 4 years. Be smart and don’t make the same mistakes a third time.

This bailout is not going to work! Prepare to see Congress extend the period and the funds next year as the markets languish and job losses continue to mount–so your question is irrelevant!

Where was my bailout when I needed it? If the bailout is needed,fine. I am angry that the personal fortunes of the people who created and profited from this mess are being left intact. The next stimulus check we get should be from their assests.

This is 9/11 all over again. This administration ignores a problem, smiles and tells you that everything is OK (contained?) and keeps everything completely under wraps. Finally, they admit that we are on the brink of total ruin and that action must be taken. Now. And that there is no time to read the fine print.
Why can’t Congrees stay in Washington for another month to get this plan right? Where is the false outrage we heard when the Iraqi legislators wanted to go home before passing major initiatives?
Bush: Where you been?
Congress: push back the recess. McCain: aren’t you paying attention to the dangers of credit? What do you think this huge deficit will do to us? How can cutting taxes be the answer when we already live above our means?
Citizens: tune in! Your tax cuts are not going to feel so good when stagflation reduces your spending power by 1/3.

I disagree. So much of what is included in the article are the comments of folks with vested interests in continuing the credit-based, inflationary economy that has become the American economy. It was not always this way and need not be now. Yes it will be painful, but if credit dries up, home prices will return to a more reasonable level. The fed needs to have it’s ability to manipulate the economy through interest rate changes and monetary inflation needs to be curbed. America needs to return to a savings-based economy.

Trillions for America’s latest imperialistic wars, and now the parties of Obomba and McSame are ready to bail out irresponsible businesses and equally irresponsible borrowers. Instead of these obscene bailouts, lets shore up the FDIC to protect folks who lived within their means and managed to stash some cash.

One problem with some of the comments I’ve read is that people are confusing our market with a free market. Our market is not a free market and THAT is the biggest part of the problem. Let us actually have a free market and stop creating these bubbles in the first place.

I say no bail outs, I say no FED, I say no more of this.

Do not bail out these crooks — seize all of their assets and put them in jail where they belong. Also, it’s time to hold our elected servants accountable for their failure to enact legislation 3 years ago that would have averted this entire mess. 109th Congress, S.190. Look it up at thomas.loc.gov

I argue that the bailout, while infuriating, is needed to prevent even more job losses, housing market woes and economic pain. Do you agree or disagree?

I disagree.

We need to accept the consequences now. Bailout will only forestall the inevitable. It is unconscionable to push this off on our children.

Please, please I am begging someone to present some objective evidence that not pledging $700MM of taxpayer money would result in a cataclysmic implosion of the entire banking system. That the bailout is necessary is being overwhelmingly presented as self-evident. What percentage of the national banking system’s aggregate assets is tied up in mortgage backed securities? How has this affected net capital for the system? Show me there exists no lending capacity out there. If banks will not lend to other banks, cannot the Fed provide liquidity? Momentary panic does not warrant the largest taxpayer giveaway in the history of the country.

Henry Paulson has repeatedly stated that these mortgage assets are “illiquid” which is a complete and utter misrepresentation. There is a market for these assets, a market which has been bringing about $0.20 for every dollar of face value. The reason Paulson has to distort this fact is to convince people that there is no other choice. As taxpayers, we will be paying more like $0.50 per dollar, effectively absorbing the losses for creditors and shareholders.

Finally, the initial investment of $700MM will only be the first indignity in the process. The government has repeatedly demonstrated it cannot handle large, complex tasks (please see FEMA, VA, ATF, and Medicare as the most recent examples). This much discretionary spending capability will only result in the most unscrupulous of behavior. Fully expect to be reading of wasted money, sweetheart deals and conflicts of interest as this money is invested. Unfortunately, it is what our country has become.

Herbert Spencer said, “The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.” It has never been more true than it is today.

Most of us don’t REALLY know what the situation is or what the consequences are. Think about that…

That’s becuase all of this is being done quickly and without transparency. History tells us when a governement asks for power and says trust me you know the outcome…

Don’t lose the focus that this crisis management is a money and power grab.

Demand transparency. I don’t buy this emergency talk. With the FED we have always been on the brink. And intervention always leads to socialism

Disagree: Without any economic consequences for those companies that produced this nightmare, the American citizen is doomed to have no laws enacted and thus, a repeat is unavoidable.

—-The Treasury has amended its original request to give it authority to buy up not just troubled mortgage assets, but troubled assets period.

“Removing troubled assets will begin to restore the strength of our financial system so it can again finance economic growth,” according to a statement on the Treasury Web site.—-

So we (taxpayers) are going to bailout also all the assets in bad credit card loans, car loans, consumer loans,…etc. How wonderful!! I am going to stop working, apply for a credit card, max it and hey! the bill will be foot by the taxpayers. Meanwhile I’ll live a nice life with a lot of free time, no stress, only dimishes bad credit for 7 years.

Remember the S&L bailout? It ended up costing 10X what was originally estimated. If the current bailout estimate is $700 billion, you can add a zero after that number. $7 trillion before it’s over! Write it down and check the cost at the end of 5 years.

What I want to know is when do the crooks that caused this mess go to jail?

Again we see legislation developed that is not targeted to directly help the average American homeowner (or small real estate investors) who are critical components to a stable housing market…when will this bias end?

what happened to the word risk in ones investments. it is not the publics fault that the investments went sour. the powers that be knew this was going to happen. So as far as I am concerned, the investment houses took a gamble and lost. Buy a lottery ticket and join the real world and no, I do not think the US should bail them out at a tune of 700 billion. Also, why should we bail out the overseas banks in this mess. enough is enough!

Get over it> Do you agree or diasgree.

Very poorly framed question. It the details of the deal that are unacceptable. To give one man (the Secretary of the Treasury) absolute control over the largest single financial commitment ever made by the US government – with absolutely no oversight – is not a plan – it’s a prescription for corruption and ultimately failure. We will rescue the poor, unsophisticated bankers and leave millions of homeowners out in the cold of the free market because they should be held fully accountable for their financial commitments (per recent comment by Paulson).

Has anyone considered the impact of this bailout on the dollar and inflation?

This bailout will explode the US budget deficit, creating the need to issue more treasury bill auctions. If tax increases are not an option, then this is the only other route for the federal government to take. How many more dollars is the world willing to absorb from a country with a galloping deficit and profound social and structural problems? Don’t be surprised if we see a major round of stagflation or worse.

“Be ticked off – but get over it”

Don’t you DARE tell me to “get over it” when you are talking about selling my childred into debt slavery to bail out Wall Street.

Yes, doing nothing will be the ugliest asset deflation seen since the 1930’s. Guess what – that is coming no matter what. This plan only transfers some wealth to the rich as a way of putting off final reckoning so a few banks can reflate and hedge fund guys can deleverage and bail out with their gains.

“Get over it” – the hell I will. How many times did Paulson tell us this mess was “contained” or Bernanke say everything was under control? And we are supposed to trust these incompetent thieves?

quote from latest news
“– Companies that unloaded their bad assets on the government in the massive rescue would have to limit their executives’ pay packages and agree to revoke any bonuses awarded based on bogus claims.”

Looks like someone else was thinking like my comment earlier. Thank god for that. its still not fair to bail these wall street gamblers, but atleast they will have to cough back their fat bonuses.

I hope they make em all pay back every penny for lying.

The government should NOT bail these companies out. The problem should be left to run its full course. Only after all the “less regulation” smaller government” “true capitalism” “free market” people have lost their 401K and simailar retirement and investemnt accounts will we be done with those senitments. IF we had not bailed out the savings and loans in the 80s then maybe we would not be in the current crisis

No Bailout! Why not bailout homeowners also. House prices have fallen so much throughtout the nation. As with bank bailout why not reduce people’s mortgages by the amount the prices have fallen ? say 50K for everyone.

Get over what — Enron? WorldCom? An assortment of airlines? I’m sorry, I’ve heard this tripe before and I’m unimpressed by the past results even if they don’t indicate future performance.

How about 9/11? Can we get over 9/11 while we’re at it? Or, if not, maybe we could look at some Savings & Loan failures back in the 1980s and realize that “deregulation” is a code-word for “letting swine run rampant across our economy” and if we don’t pay for the oversight and accountability then we’ll pay for the cleanup in the aftermath.

Implement strict mandatory consequences for reckless tactics. CEO/CFO salaries should be reduced to ZERO along with ZERO bonus, ZERO gifts and Zero concessions! Know one should be able to hold the government or nation hostage. That’s domestic terrorism!

Recessions are part and parcel of a free market economy. Quit using fear of a “protracted recession” to promote government bailouts of morons. Let a recession run its course, flushing out the cancerous waste, so we can finally start fresh and look forward to real growth based on a real economy and not on creative financing in the name of protecting us from bogeyman recessions. Some sort of bailout is a given at this point (it is global financial DEFCON 1 thanks to poor regulation by Bush, no comlaints in 2004 by the Democrats and 20 years of an incompetant Federal Reserve), but cut out the “recession is evil” garbage and let’s make sure that this bailout is tranparent and clearly regulated. We cannot give the Bush administration, or any administration, free reign in this matter with no checks and balances.

A number of comments here reflect my own feelings so I won’t rehash what has already been said.

No bailout! No way! Not now! Not ever!

Just want my voice heard.

I bought my house for a half a million. Now it is worth $300000. Please add it to the $700B!!!

First of all, the government caused this crisis due to Fed policy. So why are we letting the Fed get away with socializing the US financial markets? There is a word for this and it is FACISM. Benito Mussolini described his political beliefs as Corporatism meaning the collusion of big business and the government which is what we have now. No bid contracts to Halliburton, bail out plans for the Wall Street executives, and the list goes on. What we need are truly free markets since ANY government action demands government enforcement. The US needs to eliminate the FED not give it dictatorial powers over all of us.

More of the same “get over it” amoral attitude toward the very real,non-mythical little people.

Hurry up and get your angst out of your systems folks. As much as this situation reeks, there is no alternative unless massive wealth/asset/dream destruction is your kind of thing.

What’s on the other side of this would take decades to restore. Ever see “Cinderella Man”? Unless we agree to move on the legislation that is designed to stave off what stunned a roomfull of politicians last Thursday, we’re headed in a direction that would disentegrate the standard of living of 90% of Americans for a very long time. Yeah, we deserve it – I get it, but not like this.

Yeah it stinks, they did this to us and we did it to ourselves, it’s too expensive, it sounds like the Patriot Act and the build-up to Iraq – I get all that too. But Paulson & Bernanke have no vested interest in Hoovervilles. Let’s fix it now and debate it later. The fix will be a work in progress – we don’t need to get it perfect right away – but we have to free up the credit markets. NOW.

I’m tired of being told “to get over it.” Sounds like the mantra of the government all these years. I agree something needs to be done. But, oversight and transparency needs to be part of the package as well as some sort of ownership or collateral of the companies that participate. WE ARE NOT JUST GOING TO HAND OVER $700 BILLION DOLLARS and not expect anything in return.

How can anyone vote Republican and be able to look into the eyes of their children when they’ve stolen their futures is beyond me.

If either of the presidential candidates votes for this bailout, he will have forfeited the right to claim that he will bring “the change we need” to Washington. The proposal puts unprecedented power to spend our money in the hands of a few. If you think we have something to be afraid of now….just wait and see what happens if this piece of insanity actually passes the Congress.

Without question – we are bailing out the rich and the poor remain the same. A big NO

Finance banking and the mortgage industry have become SO complex that Average Joe must rely on specialists. Unfortunately, these specialist can then hang their clients out to dry while they take the juiciest cut of the market for themselves. It’s ALL a sham. NO bailout. Let it all BURN from the top to the bottom. Congress should cut a check, but it should be for unemployment and retraining support for non-executive level ex-banking employees. Meanwhile, I would LOVE to hear strike and/or boycott ideas to answer our casino-esque financial industry. Why wait for the U.S. government to act? They are themselves just another band of unethical, wealthy takers.

I’d feel a lot better about this if some of the bigwigs at the “rescued” firms were brought up on charges (fraud, misappropriation, whatever sticks), and did real jail time. Even if they are fired without a golden parachute, these guys have raked in millions during their careers. They are still living large on a beach somewhere. Hit them where it hurts: big fines and jailtime.

On Congress: Of course this is a bipartisan effort. That’s because the majority of politicians on both sides of the aisle are independantly wealthy and *they* are the ones who are watching their millions go up in smoke at the investment banks. So they’ll get together and prop up the banks and we’ll get stuck with the bill. If this passes I will be voting against every incumbent come November.

Do the math: Who lost money when Lehman and Bear went under? Not me. I don’t have big investment accounts. I work for a living. The rich were hurt and now they are looking to bail each other out.

Great. I’d like to sign up for a bailout as well. I owe $xxx,000 to various creditors and $xxx,000 to my mortgage company. Can you just write all that “leverage” off for me too? Or how about this – Why doesn’t everyone in the country who owes money just file for bankruptcy? That way EVERYone can just start over fresh. What a joke of a solution.

congress could be heard saying, its not our money, we can slide this one (the bank bailout) past them, disguise it as thier friend

get over it? In this country, “get over it”, “suck it up” “deal with it” “it’s necessary” all mean one thing: the poor middle-class schmuck who THOUGHT all this time he was doing the right thing thinking he couldn’t afford to buy a house or over-extend himself any other way, is the one who has to shut up and pay off everyone else’s mistake- AND I want to see how many people involved with this bail out, financial execs AND the dummies on a $55,000/yr income who thought they could afford an $800,000 home, or that that 5yr balloon payment was never really gonna happen REALLY do get hurt- I’m getting hurt, and I didn’t do ANYTHING!!! Well, I won’t suck it up, I will definitely do SOMETHING this time- not only vote, but speak out!!!!

Get over it? This is going to ruin
the lives of many innocent people. And
that’s an optimistic viewpoint, which
assumes that this tactic actually
does the trick. Get over it? You
only get one life. To have it destroyed
by the crooked “Masters of the
Universe”… Get over it?

Either you believe in the free market or you don’t. If the government steps in to “right” some bad decisions of a few bankers why not do the same for all industries? I am sure there are some automobile manufacturers of old that would love a $700 BILLION do over. But this is worse than a do over because our elected officials are paying $700 Billion of our money (well really China’s) for assets that are agreeably worth much less. The Federal Reserve needs to go find some other country to mess up. I think this mess is directly traceable back to Sir Alan Greenspan. Have we forgotten the S&L Bailout of a few years ago? People need to wake up; turn off the football game, latest reality show or soap opera and tune into the actions of their government on their behalf.
It would suit me and I believe the Founders of this at one time republic to let the banking system implode. MAYBE, the voters of this nation will wake up and smell the coffee and begin comparing and voting on their elected officials base solely on how closely their politicians behavior and voting record follow the document they have sworn to uphold.

“Dick from Wall Street”, Bravo ! What a wonderful translation of Paul’s article to common English.

No Bailout ! No free ride for the executives who commited this crime. What we need is investigation, we know the law was broken, certainly loans were sold for people who could not afford them. But how? Was the loan applications listing incomes of people higher than what was true, or was loans given for products at a value above what was true? If so? That is not in need of new regulation, that is already against the law, it is called fraud! We the people want to see some arrests, we want see some assets seized, we want to see some of these criminals sent to prison.
Why should the taxpayer be left holding the bag of bad debt? This depression is not coming, it has been here for years going back to Jimmy Carter, all our government is doing is covering it up seting debt off on several differant sets of books, we the perople can not even get a true amount of what debt we have? Hey Remember Ross Perot? Seems like he was right about a lot of things as they have unfolded, now he is leading the alarm about our national debt, this bailout is only adding to the problem, it will only buy some time, but offers no solutions, other then letting the people who commited this fraud to get away with it free. And don’t forget they get to keep all of those millions of bonuses….

Anyone who thinks that this $700,000,000,000.00 bailout is not going to adversely affect us in one way or another is just plain nuts. We are toast either way. Life, nay the World, operates as such: reap what you sow.

I hope people very soon wise up to our “debt” based society and how we are stealing day-after-day from our children and their children. Just to we live comfortably in a McMansion.

If we don’t change, the World will change us…

LaMonica is an idiot, unable to tell between a fiat debt currency economy and real commodity-backed currency economy. All fiat economies are destined to collapse; this is proven by history and validates the Austrian economic system.

Let the mess collapse and burn, lose the Fed, get back to real money, and get back to a production-based economy of real goods and services instead of this fake-money debt-trading.

RON PAUL WAS RIGHT AND YOU DIDN’T LISTEN!

Those of you in favor of the bailout, have you seen the DOW today? How about the price of gold and oil? The next American revolution is going to have more in common w the French revolution than the 1st American revolution. Know what I mean?

A bailout is needed but not this bailout. Those who profited from the bloated financial sectors, executives and shareholders, need to pay the price. Take insolvent banks into receivership, cut executives pay, shrink the entiry industry that has become a mill stone around America’s productivity. We need financial services, and they might be provided for a while by government owned institutions. They can hardly screw up worse than the current “elite”.

The real problem i have with this bail out is to be found below in the proposal to congress. It basically states that the decisions of the Sec. Treas. cannot be reviewed by ANY court or ANY admin agency!!!!! It’s a blank check essentially and i do not wnat these proven incompetents, both republican and democrat having this authority

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

I disagree, the turmoil we have seen the financial sector and wall street go through over the last few weeks has been widely attributed to the elevated GREED of these financial institutions and our FAILED leadership in the white house and congress.

How is it now, after all these years, some Americans have lost almost everything, their jobs, their homes, 401 k accounts, retirement accounts, and now our government responds with a proposal to keep the rich, rich! This is crazy, not to mention, we are rushed to make a decision as Congress is supposed to go on vacation this week?….this whole fiasco makes no sense and to me, it is not at ALL a means to fix the far reaching damages that this proposal and others have had on the Average American tax-payer.

I totally disagree and feel that these institutions should be responsible for fixing the mess they created. Even if it is to the extent that they have to loose their own jobs, they should be responsible for ensuring these loans are saved and take on any additional cost due to their careless and unrelenting tactics to make a PROFIT!!!! Even if it includes the company taking a loss to refinance these mortgages and other loans at a reasonable rate, it should be done!

They can take the $700 billion dollars and re-invest it back into the hands of the American tax-payers!

Vote no bailout:

VoteNoBailout.org

Note to Chris from Billerica, MA, who is in favor of the bailout: Wikipedia says that according to the 2000 census (data 8 years old) that “The median income for a household in the town was $67,799″. Well Chris, I’m not surprised you’re for the bailout, you’re a wealthy person living in a wealthy town, and you want the rest of the taxpayers to make sure you keep your wealth. And I’ll bet that’s the norm, the only people who favor this bailout are ones whose assets will take a huge hit if we don’t pony up $700 billion of our money. It’s reverse Robin Hood, take from the poor and middle class and give to the rich.

FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY:

Don’t get over it. Call your congressmen, and yell at them.

Such shortsighted comments from you and the people quoted in your article. This problem is so big, that even a $700,000,000,000 bailout is just a band-aid. The economy IS going to fail. There WILL BE major unemployment. This won’t fix that. But it WILL help professional investors and CEOs. This is the unraveling of the United States of America. The biggest robbery (so far) of all time.

NO BAILOUT.

And on another topic… at least communist and socialist countries are smart enough to nationalize the corporations that MAKE money. Why are we nationalizing corporations that are going to cost us a fortune.

The sad part, is that we bought the lies about “saving” people from foreclosure.

The two party system does not work, we need to abolish the Federal Reserve, and we need to go back to using the document that made this country what it was… The Constitution.

No Bailouts
No Handouts
No socialistic legislation
No rebuilding hurricane areas

It’s time we learned a little personal responsibility.

OK. Then put ALL the criminals in jail! This includes the President, Dick Cheney, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the regulators, the EPA, the executives, the lobbyists, the bribe payers, the bribe payees, the Bankers , the investment bankers, the oil executives and all the other weasels. Why should the average American follow the rules when ALL the people on top break ALL the rules?

You sir are the short sighted one. The consequences of nationalization of bad decisions is the long term bad decision. Let me count the ways:
1) Moral hazard: bail out the extremely risky people and you encourage that behavior.
2) Dollar destruction: we do not have the money for this, so it will end up being new money, driving down the dollar. Markets are responding correctly to this news (commodities up, stocks down, dollar down).
3) Theft is immoral: whether you tax or inflate, you’re socializing these problems on everyone in a direct way.

There are problems in the system right now that we can solve with real legislation. Let me point you to them:
1) Federal Reserve system
2) Fractional reserve banking
3) Excess government intervention

The soviet union had BRILLIANT central planners. A small group of human beings cannot act on behalf of the entire system and expect things to work out. We need worthless assets to be properly valued (0 dollars) and make their way out of the system. There will be short term (5-15 years) pain, but in the long haul we’ll be stronger because of it. This Paulson proposal will give us a short term high (1-5 years) but long term collapse.

Here’s the deal. They’re going to try and save us by bankrupting us. The Oil industry and their buddies in Cheney and Bush need to be put on trail for their crimes against our government. Their arrogance and ignorance is beyond belief. The CEO’s of these companies and anyone complicit in the act of bankrupting our country should be put on trial. And sentence should fit the crime.

Fellow Americans…

We, the People, are screwed. Our country is losing it’s morales. Our government is corrupt. Our economy is based upon pure greed. We, the People, the everyday workers, sit and watch.

Can we stop this? No. Why? Because WE like our flat-screen tv’s and our nice cushy life-style. WE don’t want to suffer to see change.

On top of that, America is now involved in too many global aspects. We cannot just shut this off, the results would be very bad.

So what can WE do? Elect an honest politician? How long can you remain honest in Washington? What could you achieve?

How about for starters a little common sense. How about true accoutability. How about an end to lobbyists and special interests. How about reducing excessive salaries to high-up government employees?

How about a government that is run BY the People, FOR the People?

Alas, unless WE choose to put our ‘cushy’ lifestyles away, WE will never see this come to pass. Indeed, with the power that is already in place in the upper crust, I find it unlikely to ever happen.

As a bumper sticker reads “Enjoy the Last Days of these Late Great United States”.

Freedom has never came without a price. The freedom WE need today in our country also requires a price. How many of us are really willing to pay such a price?

Are YOU?

Borrow, borrow, borrow, borrow, borrow… From Wall Street to Main Street… Does Washington really believe this will work??

I thought we had laws about this from our Keating experiences in Arizona, and our Enron experience in Texas…

Let the Banks fail, someone will be there to pick up the slack…

Don’t got to the TOP to help go to the bottom and readjust the little guys payments on his loan — a little less interest and NO DEFAULTS…

GET RID OF THE FAT CATS ON WALL STREET!!!

There is an old saying that keeps coming to mind, “Banking is too important to leave to Bankers.” I’m not saying that the government should control banking, but bankers shouldn’t control it either. We had the S&L debacle 20 years ago and now this. Even the Enron, MCI, et. al. frauds from the 90s were abetted by bankers. The only way to even half-way justify this bail-out is to come out of it with strong regulation that prevents short-term oriented bankers from getting us all in trouble 10 years from now. Yes, we will likely be paying a higher percentage rate for loans, but cheap money followed by economic disaster is not worth it.

I vote NO on the handout– oops I mean bailout. Bernanke and Paulson have been a major cause of this whole problem. Now we are to believe that they know the right way to solve the problem– PUHLEASE.

I am also very worried about the rush to get this done. Why don’t we actually look at the issue, understand its causes, and then take well planned steps to address the issues. Instead, we are having this jammed down our throats.

I also disagree that the financial system will collapse. Bad banks will fail (as they should). If there is an opportunity for profit, other banks will be created or rise to address the need, that is how markets work.

Finally, this is not a liquidity crisis. It is a confidence crisis. Money is available for solvent businesses. The problem is every Wall Street bank knows what its book looks like and figures the other banks look the same so they won’t (and shouldn’t) lend to them.

DON’T DO IT. DON’T BAIL THEM OUT AT OUR EXPENSE.
If nothing else, consder the alternatives: LEND them the money, don’t GIVE it to them.
If the problem is that people can’t pay their mortgages, and there has to be a bailout, how about hailing out PEOPLE, not BANKS? Buying the mortgages from banks and charging people the same payments every month seems like a terrible idea.

these bailouts are nothing more than destruction of the dollar and funneling of what is left to the hands of the execs in power. no. no. no. not that anyone is listening. if free markets have artificial safety nets, then no lessons will be learned.

All of you people who think it’s “necessary” are morons! You obviously have more money invested than the rest of us and therefore have more to lose. I don’t have any money in Wall Street and I don’t have a damn thing to lose! Let Wall Street choke on their own vomit because we should NOT be cleaning it up for them!

I disagree. The bailout is only “necessary” in order to prevent voters from seeing before election day how horribly this administration has mismanaged the economy over the past 8 years.

“However, if you look forward, by letting those responsible pay the price, there will be a spillover effect and the economy could go into sharp and protracted recession.”

What are you trying to imply? That the government can avert a recession?

It can’t.

Government’s only hability is to transfer pain and this bailout bill is gonna put said pain the US dollar.

Oil back to 140$ a barrel, food prices up, purchasing power destroyed.

That’s your bailout bill.

Does that help your 401k?

This will only help Wall Street and “Main Street”, us working stiffs will pay the bill.

Clogged up loans?? Bull… I say let the “Fat Cats” pay for the bad loans they bought. What about all of the people who had their money at Lehman Bros… They didn’t get bailed out. Noone bails the little guy out when he goes Bankrupt…

This is all Bull….

To anyone interested in understanding how this crisis is the natural result of how the Federal Reserve works I highly recommend the book

The Creature from Jekyll Island – A Second Look At The
Federal Reserve
(a quick video introduction to the book at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6507136891691870450)

Other links to start asking yourself questions and do your own research about how things work in today’s world of politics:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1070329053600562261
http://www.infowars.com/
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

Start asking yourself questions, don’t take someone else’s word for it, do your own research and don’t wait for someone else to feed you with information. Tell your friends to do the same.

Contact your Senators and Representative NOW to stop this bailout!

The bottom line is that I am very concerned with the direction that this “crisis” is taking our country. The most recent version of the Treasury Department’s “bailout” plan is pretty scary to any liberty minded individual. Section 8 is an especially worrisome aspect of the plan. No one person should be given that much money and power without oversight and governance.

I am very much against the thought of letting these people off of the hook for this financial disaster. This is a crisis of the government’s making and not one of our leaders should try to deflect responsibility. Our President, Congress and the Federal Reserve all bear equal blame. Through the Federal Reserve’s manipulation and at our President’s urging, American’s were signaled to overextend themselves. IF, we The People are going to be on the hook for generations of taxation, then our leaders need to bear the accountability.

I am calling on our national leaders to stop this legislation and try to think through the “unintended” consequences of it. If I apply some logic to this, I come to a very terrible conclusion. Our liberty and ideals are at stake.

I am curious to know how it will be disastrous if the 700-billion dollars “loan” is not passed by congress. I don’t believe it will be disastrous for the already hurting-hard-working American. It will be disastrous for the rich, won’t it. That is the real deal here. The rich investors stand to lose millions, if not billions.

Reality is, we are already in a recession/depression-state. Jobless claims are at an all-time high. Inflation on consumer goods is alive and well. What makes these insolent fools in office think that 700-billion dollars will prevent a financial disaster? Truth is, it will not. Those responsible for this current situation (lenders, creditors, appraisers, investors, etc…) should be held 100% accountable and should be reprimanded swiftly, and harshly.

Something needs to be done..not by us but the companies who worked up this junk..definitely not us..the taxpayer.. Why, because OUR Congress of lawyers who can’t agree on anything except when to give themselves a pay raise…put us in this mess..
they passed the laws (loopholes)that allowed for citizens of the U.S. to be treated like this from the big companies… Congress already knows how to waste OUR money..
Do something…throw out ALL of Congress…cut the perks, cut the retirements, cut the porky pig spending, then pay for this bill with their salary cut..
But do not pass on anymore crap for future generations to pay…enough already.. By the way my fellow citizen…OUR government has put us here…so do you want them to be the ones to fix it…Not me…RIGHT!

I think I will tell my electric company that I can’t pay my bill. Sure they will be angry but hey I will tell them to “just get over it”. I am sure that will work

Here’s a plan, since the problem is being blamed on all those poort first time buyers with bad mortgages that are failing to pay their bill, lets bail them out, pay of their mortgage. This will remove the “toxic paper” from the system by paying it off.

It would never work because apparently trickle up economics isnt taught in DC.

Paul R. La Monica – you are a tool of the system.

Truth be known, no matter if this bailout scheme passes or not the end result is a complete U.S. financial meltdown with extreme pain being felt by the economy for YEARS to come.

The difference if it passes or not in the final outcome of things is actually fairly small. If the bill passes then the very people that got us into this mess will be made primarily whole and the debt passed on to the ordinary taxpayer while the congress, the Fed, and the companies that did this to us are free to just run it up again. Compare that with not passing the bill and what you have is a financial collapse of the most grand scale but the people that caused the problem are done, over, thru.

I say don’t bail out a single person, not a company, not homeowner, nobody. I lost my home to foreclosure last year after having filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy. The final insult was that even though I had already lost everything I had, Uncle Sam took my income tax refund and limited my stimulus package rebate. I couldn’t even get the break of letting me have teh money I was already entitled to…a lousy $3,000 dollars or so. Fast forward to now and they expect me to save them!

If this bill passes, if this event cost me one more dime I will only need two things from my government. I will need the names of every incumbent currently in a political office that I am able to cast a vote on so that I can vote them out of office at EVERY level of government and the address of which prison they want me to report to for income tax evasion because it will be the last moment I ever pay another dime in taxes. Instead I will go to prison where at least I can have my existence subsidized by these fools instead of my subsidizing thiers.

Please Paul, saying doing nothing would be a disaster, I hate to rain on your parade but it already is a disaster. Just look at what’s going on today, the market is down 250 points, oil goes up $20.00 a barrel and the value of the dollar drops and we all get screwed. This is supposed to be helping things? The only thing its helping is the folks who created this mess in the first place, they go on there merry way and we pay for it.
WOW GREAT PLAN PAUL!!!
What happened to the market economy? companies that were managed well did well, the others went down as they should.

The more I read about the bailout, the more I think it is an unconscionable and irresponsible response to an unconscionable and irresponsible path of decisions by Wall Street and the government (and consumers who got in over there head with home purchases). Why is it we can act overnight on $700 billion to pull the rear ends of bank executives and other irresponsible parties out of the fire but we can’t or won’t act at all to save or properly fund Social Security or Medicare when the failure of those programs would have a much more substantial impact on Main Street in the long run? This is ridiculous; Congress should hold a month of hearings and subpoena every banking executive and mortgage-based security or derivatives marketer and get to the bottom of what got us into this mess before it starts doling out public money to fix it.

Hi suckers,
I was getting really worried about my multi million dollar X-mas bonus. My buddies Hank & Ben came through once again. They weren’t stingy either, $700 billion. That’s a sizeable sum, even here on Wall Street. Aren’t free markets wonderful? You can makes the craziest bets and then you get a bunch of free money no matter if those bets go in your favor or not. As far as you suckers/taxpayers are concerned, here’s some good advice. Get over it and start saving now for the next bailout ‘cos you ain’t seen nothing yet. Either you bail us out or we take the entire economy down with us. We own you, got it? Now get back to work, pay your taxes and quit your crying.
Sincerely,
Dick from Wall Street

Strongly disagree. The government should intervene, but not by giving 700 billions to wall street firms. Instead, the government should pump the money more directly into the economy and individual home owners.

People make mistakes. Sometimes big, costly mistakes. But that’s often how we learn.

My husband and I are currently paying off lots of debt–student loans, car payment, and credit card debts, many of which have been medical expenses. But it’s our responsibility to pay them, not “opt out” by declaring bankruptcy. And no one is coming and offering us a bailout, which is as it should be.

These companies made their own decisions and now they need to face the consequences. And yes, while those consequences are far-reaching, unnatural intervention like this only puts off ’til a later date the inevitable crash.

The market needs to correct. The American people know it, and lawmakers know it, too. They just don’t want this happening on their watch, hence the desire to be “saviors of the day” with this plan.

We’ve all lost jobs. When that happens, you go look for another one. When you can’t afford your house, you move to something you can afford. It’s not what we want to hear, but it’s what we need to do as responsible adults. Until we take responsibility for our own actions, we can’t begin to move forward.

This is why bailouts don’t work. When their is no accountability for the underlying problems, the only thing people learn is that as long as their mistakes are “big enough” the feds will rush in.

Let’s take our licks now, instead of adding an additional $700 billion dollar price tag to taking our licks later…

COMPLETELY DISAGREE!! It is complete crap! Let Wall Street rot in hell and take the economy with it. Maybe if it completely self-destructs then we can build something that actually works! Something that doesn’t benefit white-collar crooks! Rich people are arrogant and think the world revolves around you, well it doesn’t! Wall Street does NOT deserve our help! Why don’t some of the CEO’s give back some of their ridiculous bonuses to help themselves? Why don’t they just file bankruptcy? I never received a bailout from the government when I was at this point! NO SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR THESE LOSERS!!!

While I am neither a lawyer nor a politician, I am someone that has the utmost love and respect for our country and for our Constitution. As I read the Constitution, I can find absolutely no reference in any of the articles stipulating that the US Government is allowed to bailout (or any other similar concept) any business or person for any reason. This government funded charity is, in my opinion, completely unconstitutional and illegal. To lend some credence to my argument, I found that James Madison (the father of our Constitution) said, in a January 1794 speech in the House of Representatives, “The government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” Since the US Constitution doesn’t say that the US Government can, and the father of our Constitution says that the US Government shouldn’t be bailing people out for any reason, then I believe that it’s very obvious that the bailouts should NOT be happening. (In my research, I found several other examples of legislators understanding this principle and not allowing benevolent sentiment, no matter how well meaning, to subvert the letter and the spirit of the US Constitution.)

Please understand that I am not against charity – I have donated a lot of money and time and expertise to different charities ever since I was a child and will continue to do so for the rest of my life, but this is a personal decision that does NOT FORCE other taxpayers into illegally supporting charity. Our republic was built on the citizens being responsible for themselves and if someone fails, then there are real life consequences. Now, if the companies have done anything illegal, then the appropriate people in the judicial system should investigate them to determine guilt/innocence.

When I served in the military, I took an oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States…” and I believe that each member of the US Congress also takes a similar oath. Each person in Congress, and the President, should take a look into this issue from a US Constitutional perspective and act accordinly, and hold off the socialist agenda who want to destroy our constitutional principles by bailing out failed companies.

A little about myself – money where my mouth is so to speak. Several years ago, when my wife and I started looking to buy our very first house, we prequalified for a loan – three times what our budget called for. My wife and I took responsibility for our own future and purchased a home that was within our means and not what some mortgage company said we could afford. With the current economy problems, not only has the value of our home declined and we’ve lost money in the stock market, but I was also laid off a few months ago and have yet to find a job. While I continue to look for new employment, I understand that it is my responsibility, not the Government’s, to “bail” me out of my situation.

As you can tell, I’m not a lawyer or a politician, but I care deeply about our country and where it’s heading. While “we the people,” are entitled to the freedoms described in the US Constitution, we are not entitled to taxpayer funded bailouts.

This is a completely manufactured crisis created by the administration to justify a financial coup in America. Paulson created this mess, he was clearly aware of it before he came into office and has done nothing to correct during his tenure. Why is that? Because now that it has reached epidemic proportions he can claim that its a “crisis” – end of the world kind of stuff.

Lets the criminals suffer their own failures.

I for one will choose to live through a great depression as opposed to live under the fascist rule of Bush and COmpany.

Why does everyone insist on believing that somehow, these economic gurus and financial wizards did not see this coming?? This was orchestrated, as was the Great Depression. You cant divy out loans, print more money to cover increasing debt, and bail fraudulent CEO’s out and expect your money to worth anything! The collapse of the dollar is being orchestrated so we have no choice but to accept their proposed alternative, the American Union, and with it the Amero. It will be presented to us as the only choice if we are to compete with the European Union and the Euro. There is a war on for your mind. NO BAILOUTS! In fact, send these CEO’s to prison for fraud, along with anyone who approves this sort of theft!

As an educator, there is an attempt to teach students to be good citizens, be responsible for your actions, and spend within your means. This should be a lesson for everyone. However, the average citizen will be held responsible to financially making up for the irresponsible choices made by financial executives. How will these people be held responsible for their reckless decision-making? As a citizen, I expect our government to hold these executives accountable for their putting our economic system at risk to line their pockets. Anything less than removing these executives from their positions without a “Golden Parachute”, health care, retirement, an d take away their savings much like they have done to many Americans.

Thanks for telling us how to think! How about arresting some of these crooks! The biggest rip-off since the S&L crisis, and who was president then? Money out of nothing, and who pays the tab, the ones who invented the system? The ones who made the bad loans? No! The people who have real jobs making real products, and off the crooks go to make more bubbles!

I hope their $700,000,000,000 check bounces and they all go to jail for writing a bad check.

Seriously, who the hell is running this country? It’s time for a change.

First off, is Paulson even being honest? From a Fox interview:
PAULSON: The markets are fragile. We have a serious situation. Last week the credit markets were frozen and clogged up. And for a while there, American companies, industrial companies, weren’t able to raise financing normally.”
We are predicating the need for this bailout on Treasury Secretary Paulson’s claim that financial markets are “clogged up”.
That’s an interesting term, I don’t believe that term even came up when I took economics in college….anyone here have an economics text that defines “clogged up”?
But let’s move on to his claim that “for a while there, American companies, industrial companies, weren’t able to raise financing normally.” Hmmm, I reserve the right to be skeptical here. After all, the Bush administration pushed this country into a war based on claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, a claim that later turned out to be without merit. Paulson’s case is that “American companies, industrial companies, weren’t able to raise financing normally.” A vague claim….does he have any hard evidence to back that up? And note that he didn’t say that financing was unobtainable, just that it financing was unable to be raised normally. Well, hey, these are difficult times. During the late 1970’s the Federal Reserve raised interest rates drastically, and companies had trouble getting financing, but there was no bailout then. Heck, the Fed has given the economy a huge gift with interest rates lower than the inflation rate, which means effectively that the Fed is PAYING banks to take our money. But still, the banks can’t make a go if it. And somehow, the financial system is “clogged up”. Well, when I have a clogged up problem, I use a drain opening chemical or a plunger, I don’t call a plumber in to replace all the pipes in my home at a huge price, and I think that analogy has some merit to what Paulson is proposing here. More seriously, I, and many of you who have posted out here, remain extremely cynical about this bailout. The actual need for it has not been demonstrated.

I, like about 99 percent of reasonable Americans, say NO!

Let the responsible banks rise from the ashes of Wall street and take their place as symbols of economic responsibility. There will be plenty of money to loan and plenty of upstarts to fill those empty offices. Ever hear of a scrappy little airline called “Southwest’?.

There will be pain for some, but it’s for the best. Any idiot who stayed awake in a community college economics class knows this.

The crooks attempting to exploit this situation and foist this on the American public are liars, thieves and traitors. The banks and mortgage companies knew these loans were slop when they sold them as investment grade instruments. The deserve any misery they get.

All of the scumbag traitors trying foist this load of fetid nonsense on our country deserve to die in prison.

It took them forever to give us 600 bucks, and oil ate through that in llike 2 months.
Now oils back up again, our dollar is crushed…
Most of the poeple I know will probably be out of a job(can’t sustain them if oil is so high that the job needs to fire people to make money)
No on a bail out. Let the banks fall where they may.
And by the way, happy to see the Prime Minister is Kuwait is happy about all this. As long as he’s doing ok, i’ll be willing to pay for 20 gas…

Once again you prove your lack of understanding of economics.

This deal, if it goes through, will not prevent any further decline of our economy. In fact it will make it worse over time becasue of the huge incresae in Treasury borrowing that will force rates to increase and crowd out other borrowers. Also after all these banks layoff and cut back further every aspect of our economy will decline from computers to autos, from airlines to construction, and on and on.

After Japan did this same thing 25 years or so ago thay had a ten year recession.

This deal may be a good deal but only if it includes a huge dose of foreclosure help for homeowners,not lenders. If not more homes will come on the market and on and on we go.

Either way we are in big trouble. The entire banking system of the United States of America, the largest democracy in history, has just collapsed. The worst is yet to come. We are incredibly vulnerable to the kill shot that could come from any direction and in any form.

God help us.

When was the last time BushCo asked us to do something and trust their judgment? Iraq. Not again. It is time to say no to this inept and corrupt administration.

Paul, I must respectfully disagree with the notion that we ought to shallow this bitter pill. The situation at hand causes me to reach for the journalistic equivalent of Paulson and indeed, the entire Bush administration. In the words of “Ed Anger” from the World Weekly News…”I’m pig-biting mad” about this. Bailing out Wall Street will only perpetuate cronyism, artificially high housing and smoke-and-mirror finance. We must, must, must go through the pain and let the phony stuff crumble. Period!

Mr. Paulson has shown us his bazooka and now he has pulled out a much larger weapon intended to threaten off danger. This pattern of escalating response will end with a cataclysmic over-reaction to our continued problems because THE PROBLEM still exists with or without the bailout.

I do not agree. Let them fail and the forign banks will fill the void. They want open free markets let get on with it. THE PLAN WILL NOT WORK ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!! We need to start living within our means.

I agree that the initial reaction of anyone who’s been responsible during the craze is, “Let them burn!” I definitely felt this way. However, I don’t think that’s driving the opposition to this bailout bill.

The bailout, as currently proposed, does absolutely nothing to solve the root of the problem, which is the homeowner who’s not able to pay the mortgage bill because of a bad economy. It is a $1 trillion giveaway to Wall Street.

I wish someone would come into my Las Vegas home and let me write down *my* underwater mortgage; I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon.

I’m not a crazed California investor, using shady loans and buying homes without physically seeing them; I live and work in Las Vegas because this is about the only place where I could find a job and it is a reasonably nice and inexpensive (in most years) place to live. There are a lot of people in this town in the same situation.

Wall Street created this situation. They should be the ones who foot most of the bill. My feeling from this bailout is that my 401k is being held hostage, with a gun to its head, and Wall Street is saying, “Give me a bailout, or else.”

If we need a bailout, let’s focus on the occupant homeowners who need help. This will increase the value of the currently worthless securities that Wall Street want us to take off their hands.

Wall Street needs to work for a living instead of surviving off quick profits. Making these bad loans work requires work and forsight, which is something Wall Street isn’t used to doing.

You don’t cure a compulsive gambler by forgiving their casino marks (A mark, by the way, is a loan a casino gives to a gambler for play within the casino.) You cure a compulsive gambler by sending Frankie over to collect the marks.

Yes it is necessary only because of the scale of this mess. Doing nothing will deeply hurt the financial markets and will essentially shatter the faith of the rest of the world. However, the boards and senior executives of all the companies that are being bailed out should be held accountable – they should be investigated and forced to repay most of their inflated salaries and bonuses of the past 5 years.

If you really are concerned about the taxpayer, forbid the financial business
from any and all lobbying and political
funding until this mess is over.

Wow, I don’t remember ever seeing so many comments on a subject. I am adamantly opposed to this “bail out”.
Those of you opposed to this idea, don’t just leave your comment here, please, please, please e-mail your Senators and Members of the House. And get your friends and family to. You could just cut and paste the best of what is written here.

The article would seem to insinutate that eally bad legislation passed RIGHT NOW is our only option, in this dichotomy.

How about well thought out, publically discussed legislation that doesn’t use the taxpayer as obligee of first resort; isn’t UnConstitutional in granting one person kingly oversight, doesn’t provide open ended financing (instead of $700B chunks at a time)provides better protection for taxpayers, and perhaps removes some of the moral hazards that brought us to this place (i.e. revoking the 2004 SEC exemptions on asset capitalization ratios for the big 5 IBs)

It seems guys that they are not saying us the real truth to save our nervous system. In reality we are facing space alien invasion and the only way to save humanity is to give them $700 billion. And they will go away for a while until the next time.

“logic” in Seattle:

The government didn’t stop the depression. Markets are cyclical. They go up and they come down. You can’t make it so that markets always go up! The ban of short selling, the ridiculously low interest rates to inflate the housing bubble, they’re all tools to try and make us believe that the party can still continue. You can’t use debt to keep the larket going. The correction is inevitable, and this measure only attempts to save the masters’ wealth at the expense of the taxpayers.

The money has to come from somewhere, it’s not that complicated. Taxes or Inflation, one must go up…

I agree with the government’s plan, and think they should get moving on it quickly. Don’t get bogged down in the usual partisan wrangling in Congress. It is infuriating, but better then the alternatives of a collapse of the whole financial system. Two points:
(1) while there is plenty of blame to go around, its not just ‘greedy CEO’s and bankers’; there were plenty of individuals who were quite happy to over-leverage their houses, sign up to all the free credit card offers in the mail, and live way beyond their means
(2) the press should stop saying that this will cost $700 billion. Reality is that the govt. is using this money to buy up illiquid assets from the banks, that have allready been marked down substantially. The ultimate cost will be the difference between the govt. purchase price, and what the govt. can recover over time through asset sales, or by collecting the cash flow from the assets. No one knows what this cost will be; the cost will only be $700 billion if these assets turn out to be worthless – which suggests the underlying real estate is valued at nothing. Even with all the recent turmoil, that seems like quite an extreme scenario.

The way this $700 billion package is being proposed currently is unconscionable. It’s a stop-gap measure at best…and worsens the core problem in the US: the huge overhang of national debt (now substantially increased through the Fannie and Freddy actions).

There needs to be more oversight on the financial industry, without having public ownership.

Like many others who have commented, I am angry, frustrated, and feel powerless.

We need to take our medicine, however bad it tastes, and fix the core issues before a total meltdown is the only “fix”.

When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny.
– Thomas Jefferson

Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.
– Thomas Jefferson

Absolutely, the bail out is neccessary. But it should not be paid for by the taxpayers. It should be paid for by all the big wigs who caused it. Some of these guys are getting millions upon millions for driving their companies into the ground. How does this make sense? And the cost is passed to the taxpayers. Not only should these exec’s not be compensated for collapsing they’re respective companies, but they should be handed the bill. Who cares if it causes them to go broke. Join the club brats.

If you can afford $10 gas, then go ahead with the $700B bail out.

I agree with the premise that without a bailout the economy will go into a recession. However, are we going to avoid a recession at all costs? It is a natural part of the business cycle.
Even if Mr. La Monica is right in that financial companies will go under and we use his estimate that 10% of the population is employed in either the financial sector or sectors directly affected, that is a far cry from the 30% unemployment in the Great Depression which was the catalyst for the last program on this scale…even if we use the impossible assumption that the full 10% employed will all be looking for work.

A bill is being debated in Congress right now which if passed, will bail out numerous financial institutions. These institutions, over the past 10 years, have chosen to ignore the risks associated with imprudent lending, and frankly have all be complicit in a FRAUD: originating mortgages to unqualified borrowers. The banks knew full well that the borrowers were in over their heads, so the applicants were encouraged to lie about, or not disclose their incomes through no-doc or other risky loan products, at low teaser rates. To offload the risks, the banks then repackaged the mortgages into MBS and CDOs and other derivatives, and sold them off around the world as highly leveraged vehicles.

If this bill passes, the US taxpayer will be burdened with the expense of paying for all this. This is particularly infuriating to me (and others like me). I chose to take a modest mortgage, not over-borrow on credit, and live well within my means. We are now being asked to pay for the risk that was taken by those who chose to speculate and lost. Future generations should not be saddled with the bill for Wall Street greed. THIS BILL MUST BE REJECTED!

NO BAILOUT.

DO NOT VOTE ON NOV. 5TH IF THEY PASS THE BAILOUT.

THEY’LL HEAR THAT.

I absolutely do not agree with the bailout. It should not be done.
1) This will cost me over $10,000 minimum. The reason, my tax dollars will have to pay for it and with interest I think that $10,000 is actually a generous calculation.
2) If they want to give away 700 bil they should give it to the tax payers. I’m sure another stimulus package at $10,000 would do more for the economy than bailing out those greedy jerks on wall street
3) When we ask those same people who are all making over $250,000 to pay an extra % in taxes to help all of us and they throw their arms up in disgust. Why should not we help them.
4) Its the governments lack of regulation that led to this in the first place. Talk about doing a terrible job. What you couldn’t see giving loans to people who couldn’t afford it as being a problem? Idiots!
5) You will spend that money and won’t fix the problem. Remember the oil problems in the 70s? What has the government done over the last 30-40 years to change that… NOTHING, we are in the same situation. Our government is broken and useless!

Here are some points in the bill that are particularly alarming:

“Sec. 8. Review:
“Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

Take a moment to re-read that. This new LAW would place the Secretary of the Treasury ABOVE THE LAW.

This bill is being sold to us, the taxpayer, as a design to protect the American public. Ask yourself, if this new law is so helpful to the American taxpayer, why are we not allowed to review the decisions he is making with OUR tax-money? Why aren’t courts or oversight committees allowed to see what exactly it is he will be doing?

“Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.”
“The Secretarys authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time”
This is clever and nobody in the mainstream media has figured it out yet. If you think the cost of this bill is $700 billion, you’re wrong. The cost is actually infinite and the entire bill sounds like a giant money-laundering scheme.
Paulson can (and presumably will) buy up to $700 billion of these “assets”, then sell them. Let’s say he decides to buy them at 60 cents on the dollar and sell them for 10. You, the taxpayer, will eat the fifty cents, for an immediate cost of $350 billion dollars. Having done so, he is then authorized to do so again, since the $700 billion is no longer on the government’s balance sheet.
If Paulson and his successor decide to, they could literally cycle all $5.3 trillion of Fannie and Freddie’s debt through this scheme, potentially sticking the taxpayer for 20% or more of the total, plus as much private debt on various bank balance sheets as they can.

I do not agree with Paul R. La Monica’s assessment that the financial markets would collapse. There are more banks out there that have relatively clean books that bad books. Just like any other point in history the strong survive and the weak get crushed. That has always been the moto of the US market. The banks who made the right decisions will buy the wall street fat cat institutions out and things will continue as they always have been. This is just another way to reward people who knowingly made bad decisions to make a quick profit. As I said when I called both my senator and representative.

NO TO THE 700 Billion Bailout (They forgot the Mediam moto for lending money on homes, does not matter if interest is low and the price of the home is high the median price a person can afford never changes, it just adjusts with inflation)

NO TO THE 50 Billion Auto Bailout (they had their chance to be a contenter in 2001 they made bad decisions)

SO NO LET THE MARKET SORT ITSELF OUT!

So what is the solution? We require transparency in the marketplace so confidence can return. Leverage must be taken down and assets appropriately valued so everyone can know the true financial positions of these companies. The following actions should be taken to solve this problem:

1. Over the next six months, broker-dealer, insurance company and bank leverage ratios must be reduced to no more than 12:1. This will eliminate excessive leverage in the system and restore confidence that firms are not excessively geared.
2. “Level 3” must either be barred or all firms utilizing such a “bucket” for assets must disclose, to the individual CUSIP level (or equivalent) each instrument in that bucket and the full formulaic method, variables and assumptions that resulted in the derivation of its claimed value. This data must be included in each 10Q and 10K filing by these entities. This will immediately expose the “reasonableness” or lack thereof that pertains to these “marks” and remove the uncertainty – and lack of confidence – surrounding these valuations.
3. All OTC derivatives must be moved to an exchange or repudiated. The easiest way to do this is to mimic the OCC structure used for listed options. In the listed option world your “counterparty” is always the OCC that guarantees clearance of your trades. The OCC, being “on the hook” for the value of your position, is very interested in proper margin supervision with the person on the other side, and any brokers that are in the middle. Even during the 1987 panic option contracts did not “fail” for this reason.

I’m ticked! De-regulation proved to be the wrong path. We need more regulation. This mess was a long time coming. I look back at the S&L bailout – similar. Unchecked corporate greed for many years led to this mess. The Bush administration had 7+ years “to deal with this growing problem” and didn’t. I think of all of the big bonuses that the executives of these bailout firms took with them – obscene. I get to help pay for their lavish life style. My only hope is that we do learn something from all of this. Time for a big “Change”

I’m not going to comment on the ‘get over it’ comment since it’s so moronic it doesn’t warrant a response. I will say it’s time for a tax payer revolt. Time to challenge government’s right to unilaterally rob us of our hard-earned wages while the CEOs and Wall Street elite walk away with millions.

What’s worse, if McCain is elected, we have more of the same to look forward to. Then again, we’ll have the same idiots who elected Bush to 2 terms voting again, so I am not very hopeful. WAKE UP PEOPLE!

Agree–

HOWEVER, The Bill needs MAJOR CHANGES NOW

FIRST, The Bill Proposal, as worded, will give Paulson UNLIMITED AMOUNTS of money to spend – not just $700 billion.

Read Section 6 of the proposal.
It says “$700,000,00,000 debt outsanding at any given time” — meaning after he sells back the assets he purchases at a HUGE loss to the taxpayers, his balance sheet is clear and he can do it again, indefinitely.

He could easily put tens of trillions of dollars of debt on us in as little as a few days.

SECONDLY, This Bill gives King Henry complete JUDICIAL IMMUNITY from ANYTHING he does under the pretense of this bill. He will be ABOVE THE LAW.

Read Section 8:

“Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

WE HAVE TO STOP THIS BILL FROM GOING THROUGH AS IS. PAULSON WILL BE THE DE FACTO DICTATOR OF THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM AFTER THIS FOLKS.

BUSH & PAULSON: PLEASE WITHDRAW YOUR PROPOSAL!

IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND IS INDEED, AN ACT OF TREASON!

“This is my money the government is spending on private businesses”, that’s a stretch since the top 1% of income earners pay over 30% of the nation’s income tax. The top 5% of high earners pays over 50%, and the bottom 50% of wage earners pay less than 4% of the total income tax. You want to split 700 billion up between all of us? Best case scenario says we each get $2000 — that might pay the bills for a month or two? The last time I checked that paid for less than one semester of college. Even though in all fairness and reality, 150 million of us only deserve to split 4%…so now you get the $190 that you deserve. So because 150 million pay 4%, they think they deserve a 1000% return on what they’ve contributed? Get real. If a bail out is such a bad idea, how come the democrat controlled house and senate will have no problem passing it? Cry about republicans all you want, but the democrats have to give it their blessing, and I guarantee Pelosi is right in the thick of it.

The last time this happened and the Gov’t didn’t step in we had this fun little period called “The Depression”. Do you remember your history lesson about how hard this time was for THE ENTIRE COUNTRY? The only difference now is the depression would be disastrous on a global level. You’re right, it’s ridiculous that we have to bail out the private sector, but if nothing happens, the first people to start losing their jobs aren’t the top 5% income earners. It’s people like you and I. So bail them out, cut their bonuses, make them accountable for every penny and charge them interest. We as a country can easily turn a major profit on this mess…..maybe even enough to fund 1% of Obama’s proposed programs.

Look what Warren Buffet has been up to in the last week…..

I’m not OKAY with the bailout, but since we’ve been put in this position. Every single CEO/CIO/CFO of these companies should be fired, and not allowed a golden parachute. For that matter, they don’t even get the real hole ridden parachute that doesn’t open. To pay these greedy, short term focused people just adds insult to injury.

They are the ones that should BURN!

The current climate of urgency, fear and anger is a poor one for wise decision-making. Do we really think that $700 billion will be enough ? With rampant inflation that creating more money will doubtless cause, Wall St will soon be back….with their hands out….for more. When will it end ? Not until our leaders grow a backbone.

The idea that people should “get over it” because it’s necessary is preposterous. It’s no more necessary than converting the government to full socialism, because that’s the only way to have the social safety net that everyone tells us we want.

The “underlying problem” is not that the mortgage backed securities are not worth enough money; they were never worth as much as their inflated valuation in the first place. The real problem is that government keeps trying to intervene, with disastrous results. It strains credibility for even the most dense observer that more massive government intervention with no oversight is being pitched as the “solution”, when what’s really needed is the political will to actually just let the economy function without knee-jerk interventions every time prices of anything go down!

No, I don’t think people should get over it. The “representatives” of our government are clearly acting against the interests of the people. Telling people to get over it is tantamount to advocating the abolishment of our representative form of government in favor of tyranny. I would expect better from CNN.

Finance capital has been running the economy and reaping the profits. Now that they crashed the train, they want working families that they’ve been fleecing to pay for the clean up.

The govt. says there is no money for healthcare or education, but there is taxpayer money for wall street and war?

Sen. Chris Dodd is on the right path demanding a stake in the companies we buy bad debt from. The only thing they need to do besides partially nationalizing the banks, is to pay for it all by taxing the rich and the same speculators that put us in this mess.

If Capitalism is in crisis. The rescue or transition to a more just social system will take a lot of funds. Finance must pay for the mess they caused– both to save the banking system, and to provide relief for working families.

paul,
quantum physics in the mainstream has taught us that you cannot write without bias (the scientist is not independent and autonomous from the experiment)—you write relative to where you are in your life. so, as an employee with CNN/TimeWarner you probably make a decent salary. not only that, the industry you work in is relatively immune to economic fluctuations. so with good pay and stability you may have no problem “getting over it.” tell that to the unheard in East New York, NY or the suburbss of Detroit or any other blue collar district.

the advocates of this 700 billion dollar escapade have something to lose if this plan does not go through. i can only speak for myself when i say that i prefer to suffer if it means that the richest percentiles suffer too.

The biggest blunder in the world is the idea that we can sustain an infinitely expanding economy.

we are all screwed in the long run.

As soon as I read the title of this I knew who the author was. Paul, just because you’ve breathed a long sigh and decided to feel content that this had to happen, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be mad about it. You sound like a grandparent talking down to a teenager, “go ahead and have your fit… there, now do you see what a waste of time that was?” Unfortunately, unlike most wise grandparents, you will not be able to say “I told you so,” because people will not calm down about this and figure out that it was a good thing.

While I agree that there are many “conspiracy theories” out there and those people should be quiet and go sit in a corner, I don’t agree that the bailout, in it’s current form, is going to do any good at all for the common taxpayer (you know, the one’s who should quit crying?)

Greg,
To your point about 20-30% causing these institutions to fail, that is because they are all leveraged-up, some by as much as 30:1 or more. This means that they only carry enough capital to cover losses on 3-5% of their total balance. Thus, taking a hit on even 5% could force them into bankrupcy, and it already has for many companies.

Unfortunately there does not appear to be an alternative to the bailout. While reform on Wall Street is coming, the bailout is only a symptom of a much larger problem. The leaders of our government have been playing “kick the can” down the street.
Our leaders take gifts from lobbyists, and then not coincidentally arrange for “pork filled” prescriptions to whatever problem the lobbyists want fixed. Lenders had bad loans they wanted to get rid of, lobbyists pounced. FNMA and FHLMC stepped in and bought them all up – until FNMA and FHLMC were bankrupt. Both sides of the aisle play the game, and we pay the bill. If we are going to have reform of Wall Street, lets have reform of our political operations as well.
To not reform the political operations of this country is to condemn us to further economic and societal meltdowns. Our political leaders often cite the need to help the poor, the children, etc. If we keep expecting our “servants’ to fix the problems, we may be facing more of these bailouts

Any government bail out should come only if the corporate beneficiary signs on to new investment & executive compensation rules. I have heard nothing specified as to what these new rules are or will be. There should be no more debt swaps without fiscally conservative regulations and tight enforcement of how those debt instruments or securities are declared and valued. And don’t talk to me about trickle down economis until we see executive compensation also keyed into head count size; not head count axed. Number of company employees being steered is a valid measure of true management effort and an indicator of a company’s financial health in their ability to afford that payroll while providing a better quality product, is it not?

Free market? Capitalism? Do we really want a socialistic government? Business should succeed or fail based on their performance. The government has no place in private business.

I guess doing nothing is cutting off your nose to spite your face, but I’m almost willing to do it. I think if there is a bailout there needs to be some very sharp costs to the leadership of the banks. If the SOB’s could be thrown in jail and we throw away the key, I might be mollified.

NO bailout. NO 700 billion for Wall Street. NO McCain.

We have to bail these institutions out, but at the same time, I think that some of these CEO’s and CFO’s should be doing either some significant jail time, or better still have to pay out a high percentage of their net worth to compensate us for their actions. And, for gods sake, lets regulate these markets so that the greedy can’t take advantage of us again.

JWB said a Wallstreet has a “hangover”, and if that is true we shouldn’t give them more vodka. Let’s put them in REHAB instead.

Why is a bailout neccessary? the world at risk of a financial meltdown? The stocks, mutual funds, bonds, retirement portfolios losing anything from 50 to 75% overall? Many rich people would be hurt, and many middle class too. we would recover – probably not learn any lesson from it.

CEOs should be running for their lives. Instead, you granted them immunity. With immunity, why bother running a company in any sensible way? what is the incentive. And the bailout may not change the rules substantially for the elite. May be not even a bit. In the meanwhile, the bulk of americans do not even realize that the elite continues to suck the blood from them. I wonder why people struggling to make a decent living keep suporting feverishly the current administration and the cronies that are likely to follow. is it religion? ignorance? in another time, the people would just hang the elite right on main st – taking another step on the society evolution. But not today in the US. We keep tunning on the TV, after all, it is OK that ‘the administration’ and the ‘elite’ are running us afoul in every possible way.

This author is another well meaning fool. The government has no idea what to do with these debts, how to handle them, how to price them or anything else. If the investors fail, they lose. companies will fail, which means they fille bankruptcy and restructure, only selling loans that should be sold in the first place. the only people who will be unemployed by this need new jobs anyway. Just because a bank fails, does not mean all the people working there are unemployed, this author is a nitwit.

While learning to fly small aircraft, an instructor told my father that the best thing to do if his aircraft stalled was to put both hands in his mouth. This meant he took them off of the controls and allowed the plane to tip forward and gain airspeed, and kept him from screaming until it was time to take the controls again and pull up.

This is what our government needs to do now.

Agree with Rachel from Denver, CO.
Paul, don’t explain to me what I may lose if we don’t hand them $700 billions. If I lose something, those are MY mistakes, and I AM READY to deal with them. I rather see the value of my 401K or the house go down than pay $20 a gallon for gas and spend every penny I make for food and necessities because of 100%-200% rate of inflation. Let them burn ! There won’t end of the world. While we are alive and willing to work, there will be new jobs, new services, etc. and new banks …

I could not disagree more!

Why are we covering 100% of Fanny & Freddy assets? They are NOT banks backed by the full resources of the US. An 85% backing is more reasonable. Why not allow the note holders to write down 15%? It beats the alternative.

Buying mortgages is NOT the answer. It’s better to force the note holders to write down their notes and losses. The “poison” mentioned is only poison until the financial institutions disclose the risk and write down the losses. The US government lacks the resources to back up trillions of dollars in mortgages.

The article fails to distinguish between banks, S&L’s and financial service companies. Banks & S&L’s are backed by the government & subject to greater oversight. Financial service firms offered greater return with greater risk. Well, that risk is coming home to roost. The bailout actually weakens our banking system by reducing the value of the reduced risk they offer investors.

Over the past 20+ years, we have seen unprecedented concentration of wealth. The top 1% owns more than the bottom 90% combined. More than 3/4 of at-risk assets are held by the top 10% of Americans. Why are the bottom 90% expected to “bail out” the top 10% who can most afford the losses? See http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html for some informative graphs about income and asset distribution.

If we are talking about mortgage debt NONE of it should be a 100% loss. Over time much should be recoverable. This bailout, if properly managed ( a BIG if) should also provide a vehicle to save many individual homeowners who have problem loans by renegotiation of the terms; something most lenders have been slow to do.
This is critical to stopping the downward spiral of real estate values, which becomes self-perpetuating as more and more properties go into foreclosure. This doesn’t fix all that is wrong, but it is still a significant and necessary move.

The common theme of most people here seems to be typical of the American voter unfortunately; can’t possibly see past their own personal situation at the 50k foot view of the world.

All you see is that a few people will get to walk away relatively unscathed and keep a significant portion of their money, which ticks you off. Rightly so.

The big picture though is that the number of people that would be screwed that are not rich and are barely making it as is would be enormous if the bailout did not occur. People who had nothing to do with creating the problem. Doing nothing would affect so many different markets and job segments, hell half of you saying “let it fail” would most likely lose your job as a result.

I agree 100% with the title, get pissed (about the .0008% of the poeple involved that get a free pass), but realize that there is a big picture that extends to a large number of job markets that would be negatively impacted, and get over it. It’s a necessary evil.

I read several times a day how this is the biggest intervention by government “since the great depression”. Funny though, my history books suggest that the huge government intervention DID NOT SAVE AMERICA from the depression.

And this will not either.

As bad as the results of not acting are going to be, there is no getting out of it. We can let it happen in a fair way (allow the stupid system to crash and burn) or we can make it happen in an unfair way (excessive government debt topples our basic economic system).

No matter what the consequences of our government not doing this, they still can not afford to do it. Personally, I think rather then “saving” us they are only going to make the hard time harder and longer AND soften the blow for the people who deserve the boot to boot.

Let ‘em crash and burn. I’ll take my chances with the ability of the rank and file American (and world) citizens to create a small scale workable mostly barter economy.

Hey, where are the folks who kept saying “this may be hard, but we aren’t talking a real depression here”?

The bailout is not needed.

Your problem is that you see the end of finance as we know it as a bad thing. You want to keep the same old crooks doing the same old thing – or else you consider it failure. Do we really need a big derivatives market? Didn’t need it for a few thousand years – why do we need it now?

There are strong companies that would grow to fill the void. There are new firms that would be formed. There are bankruptcy courts to “unwind” the failed companies.

This plan smells of either a complete lack of faith in the American people and free markets, or of good ol’ boys in Treasury taking care of their buddies. Or, more likely, Treasury officials with minds so small that they only know what they have been taught and can’t imagine anything different.

I’m ticked off. But before I can get over it, I need to know the bailout will be punitive. These crooks knew, or should have known, what they were doing would lead to this mess. Now they want a blank check??? I don’t think so.

Fiscally sound companies and institutions will weather an economic downturn and will likely be stronger on the other side. It’s those that have had questionable business practices that will suffer most. If people need to walk away from a home they can longer afford so be it. It’s time to “throw the tea into the harbor” and tell Washington NO MORE BAILOUTS! We’ll all be better for it in the end.

this is a mistake in the long term. those who believe this will work are the ones who are short-sighted. the market would have eliminated the weak banks and their stronger assets would have been acquired (e.g. barclay). instead america now has a larger debt (yeah right we’ll make money LOL) that will make our dollar weaker. lets hope countries dont start switching their reserve currencies. remember when the sh*t hits the fan, dont blame anyone but yourself (if you support the bailout)

I hate this bailout just as much as most people but what really gets me is that the idiots that led us into this mess still get to keep their millions in salaries and pensions. If you’re gunna bail them out, make an example and use their money to help fund this thing and throw the crooks into jail!

What’s broken!? ARMs are causing people to default on their loans.

Then that is what should be fixed. So the correct fix is to make ARMs illegal and any existing ARMs must by law return to their introductory rates perminently. In addition, the government could help those currently in trouble (behind or in foreclosure) because of the rate increase with a no interest loan to get them caught up. The loan would be due when the mortgage is payed off.

Plus side:
The majority of the home owners could afford their payments and stay in their homes.

The rate of defaults will return to normal (banks know how to access that default risk).

The housing market would stabilize as the foreclosed homes dried up.

Those who hold these mortgages will lose some of their profits but not their liquidity.

The government could save a whole lot of our money.

Minus side:
???

Strongly disagree, it was the free market that got us to this point, let the free market fix it. This bailout just transfers the burden from the private sector to the tax payers with no attempt at fixing the root problem. In effect it sets us up for another bigger financial meltdown down the line – remember the S&L scandal that was supposed to be the last big bailout?

Mr. Olson’s description of the bail out is interesting, but if it works like he describes it the holders of the notes will still take huges losses and the Federal Government will be straddled with a huge administrative nightmare. One that they are not nearly equipped to handle. Imagine the beaurocracy that will have to be created to “to try to work through each of the mortgages to attempt to maximize the value of the securities purchased.” The costs of this effort would almost certainly be born by the taxpayers. I doubt if the $700 billion number takes this into account.

Critics of the government, which certainly includes a great many of the people who hold these securities, routinely say that government should not do the kinds of things that are better done by the private sector. Certainly the private sector is better equipped to work through these mortgages than the government is, or ever will be.

If the the government were to buy these securities at a price that relects the market value of the underlying properties, then the holders wil take the same loss that they would if they were simply to write the mortgages down to market value. If they did this, the distressed property owners would realize financial relief and likely would have more confidence in their financial future which in turn would help boost the economy.

Under such a scenario the tax payer would not be burdened with the cost of administering millions of mortgages and it would keep people in their homes. Keeping people in their homes should be a major objective of anything the government does. As it stands, many of these properties that are going into foreclosure are bought at bargain basement prices by wealthy investors, many of them from overseas. As a result we are seeing a massive transfer of wealth from the middle classes to people who are already wealthy.

Finally, lets remember that a major cause of this whole crisis was the huge “bubble” in property values. Anything the federal government does should be carefully designed not to re-inflate that bubble.

Mr. Paulson, as chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, was a major culprit in creating this mess. He now gets to cherry pick who lives and dies in the banking world. His own net worth is estimated at over $700 million.

He obviously is a financial genius, but only a few short months ago could not see where our financial system is headed.

Now we are to trust him to fix it as he sees fit, with little or no oversight.

Sounds like a plan to me.

I like the fact that so many champion the free market until things go wrong for the big guys. Then it’s bailout time. Unlike most Americans (yes, I’m generalizing, someone prove me wrong) I take care of my money. I didn’t buy a house a couldn’t afford. I didn’t buy any house at all.

The companies who sold houses to those who can’t afford them should suffer just as those who bought the houses are.

NO BAILOUT. Republicans are supposed to be for less government, not more.

The bailout does not address the real problem and will not work. The real problem is that we have allowed our economy to become based more and more on building luxury homes for one another and less and less on delivering other valuable goods and services in the global economy.

The housing markets have become a huge Ponzi scheme with little or no underlying value. When the same house that sells for $150,000 in Texas or Kansas sells for $1.5 Million in NY or LA or Chicago, one has to ask if the location is really worth 10 times as much. Residents of these areas must be more productive enough to pay the cost difference based on just being there instead of somewhere else. Clearly, the market is saying they are not. This really shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The only way, near the end of such a situation, that one can afford to participate in one of these premium markets is to find others more gullible than oneself to sell a piece of the dream to and lenders crooked or foolish enough to finance them. We have run out of such suckers and the scheme is collapsing around us. No amount of government funding can stop it. Too bad.

Bailing them out may feel good temporarily, but the bailouts are a short-sighted solution. We know there is pain associated with the banks collapsing. However, creating money so that they can survive will strongly devalue our currency.

“doing nothing to rid the nation’s banks of all the poisonous mortgage assets on their balance sheets would be far far worse.”

Doing nothing is exactly what will rid the banks of their poisonous mortgage assets. The houses will be foreclosed, resold at a lower price, and millions of people will become homeowners who never were before.

Wow…. this whole situation has proved the viability of “Reaganomics.” You know, that wonderful idea at the cornerstone of the Republican agenda, of giving more money to the wealthy and allowing it to “trickle down.”

In case you didn’t know, the reason for the financial meltdown is the lobbying of Congress by the large financial instutions that used their power and money to prevent them from being regualated. Senator Dodd who is drafting this bailout bill is the biggest hypocrite of them all. How can he maintain a straight face when Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial was lining his and other key members of Congress pockets to look the other way. Give me a break. Those that live in glass houses should not throw stones. You want to know why Countrywide, Fannie Mae and others went unregulated?

“In June 2008 Conde Nast Portfolio reported that several influential lawmakers and politicians, including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, and Fannie Mae former-CEO Jim Johnson, received favorable mortgage financing from Countrywide by virtue of being “Friends of Angelo.”[9][10] Senator Dodd received a $75,000 reduction in mortgage payments from Countrywide at allegedly below-market rates on his Washington, D.C. and Connecticut homes.”

The whole story is at the Conde Nast Portfolio website. By the way there is not one Republican in the bunch.

don’t have time to read all the comments (I have to work!) but i betcha many of them agree with me: don’t bail them out. Sad to say, America probably needs a financial and economic meltdown to shake out old structures and habits. politicos should quit claiming to hate/love free markets–and then interfering constantly. we haven’t seen a free market in this country since, well, since forever.

No bailout! It is time to let the market correct itself, we are only delaying the inevitable.

Capitalism is a failure, and this crisis is the inevitable outcome of that system, not of “excesses” or “bad Apples” or an imbalance of regulations. The markets were glutted by the late 60s, and then began the process of wages, benefits, and the “social wage” embodied in unemployment insurance, welfare, and social security being cut or allowed to whither by inflation. Debt became a means of extending claims on workers income into the future, increasing exploitation through debt at every level of society from the individual to the state. Inevitably in the trail of that process came speculation, bubbles of speculation, and the crash. That is capitalism—boom (for some) and bust (for many).

The responsibility and the consequences of this process should be put exactly where it belongs—on the shoulders of the capitalist class. Nationalize the banks, double income tax rates for those above $250,000 and eliminate them totally for those below, a public works budget to alleviate unemployment, get the US military out of the rest of the world.

I agree with you that the bailout idea is “infuriating”.

I disagree that it is “needed to prevent even more job losses, housing market woes and economic pain.”

Firstly, the economic pain is only going to be spread around, not reduced. People who were prudent and did not succumb to temptations of the easy gains from the sub-prime scam will feel economic pain; even people who are not yet born will feel this economic pain. But it will be no less painful than what might have occurred if the bailout didn’t take place.

Secondly, neither you Paul LaMonica nor any other pro-bailout pundit has offered the slightest shred of proof or support that the bailout will make any difference in the problems we now face. The only thing we have proof or support it will do is to keep these poorly run businesses going, enabling them to continue to be poorly run. The next time the opporutinty to get big gains from risky ventures comes along, why would they do anything any differently? Answer: no reason in the world.

Thirdly, as put forward by the Bushies, the bailout proposal offers no relief to anyone who is in over their head on their mortgage. It just changes the responsibility for foreclosure or whatever future actions will be taken from the current bondholders to Mr. Paulson, with no legal recourse. Now, the Dems are trying to put such provisions into it, but the Bushies want to ram this through like a domestic economy version of the USAPatriot act.

I say, no way. Let them fail and let the chips fall where they may. That is the only way we’re going to get rid of the human vermin running these firms and the only way our econmy will ever become viable again.

First, I don’t know where you went to school Mr. LaMonica, but you need to check your definition of Capitalism. You said, “What makes capitalism work is borrowing and lending.” Here is the definition of capitalism from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “Capitalism – an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.” I don’t see anything in there which says capitalism has anything to do with borrowing and lending. Secondly, I don’t see the word “Government” in relation to “private” or “corporate investors”.

Either way is going to be terrible. I choose the lesser of 2 evils – let the irresponsible companies fail and do what it takes to insure and shore up all of our retirement money – 401k, money markets, and social security. Implement a flat tax and if the rich don’t like it they can go live in another country. Or even better, go buy some island and start their own democracy. Oh wait, they already did! I guess I need to move, free healthcare and college educations are sounding very attractive.

We’re paying the indirect text due to the devaluation of our dollar. I want to know exactly where this 700 Billion is coming from. Are they just making it up? This bailout is NOT necessary. If we ever want to fix this economy, it will take the government getting itself out of the way of the free market. Barney Frank said today, “the private sector caused this, now the government has to fix it.” I say the Government caused this by long time market interference and it’s up to the FREE MARKET to fix it. If the government would only let it… This plan is appalling. And what’s even more disgusting is that your endorsing it. Shame on you!

I can’t believe our country has come to this. How much more OBVIOUS will the Administration make it that they only care about the rich?? How much more of a burden can the middle class handle, before IT collapses? Everyone I know is feeling the pinch, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to maintain the same quality of life… ESPECIALLY in New York. Something as trivial as a parking ticket can send me over my budget for the month. There is no such thing as a savings “cushion” anymore. It’s hand to mouth. I don’t know how I can pay higher taxes at this point. I am sure I’m not alone in this boat. The middle class is suffering while people like Mc Cain have 13 cars, and CEO’s are leaving wit mulit-million dollar bonuses. The gap between the classes is widening to the point where a revolution will be inevidable.

There is no such thing as a bailout. As taxpayers we are simply being asked to soften the blow of the inevitable crash to which the weaker companies will succumb to anyway. We are still looking at the tip of the problem, no where near a solution. Wait until unsecured debts, i.e., credit cards, revolving charges, student loans, etc., begin to mount. There is no solution to this problem other than default which means it is inevitable that default rates will eventually skyrocket and these companies will go under anyway… having already spent our $700 billion plus. Let them fail now and get it over with. This is going to be extremely painful no matter what we do. I really would prefer not to throw my hard earned money at an unsolveable problem.

We probably need to advance the 700B. It would make sense to buy up the assets to improve “liquidity” but only those that have some hope of ever being collected on. My fear is that the USA and its taxpayers will end up holding a warehouse of very complicated paper with little or no ability to collect on the vast majority of it. Henry Poulson is either a.) a traitor to his country bailing out his rich Buds or b.) One of the few heroes left in D.C. He is definately going BIG. I suspect he is a hero and we are lucky to have him at the controls – one day we will know.

A few points:

* 8.x million financial sector jobs will be lost. Not likely. As long as the thousands of (more responsible) smaller banks and credit unions (where the bulk of these jobs exist) can still borrow money from the Fed, necessary and prudent loans will still be available.

* Where’s the outrage over the millions of blue collar jobs that have been lost over the past several decades to offshoring? Nobody seemed to mind that. I say let the big banks crash and burn. Let the more responsible smaller institutions fill the gaps and buy chunks of the bigger banks. Let’s wipe the slate clean.

* Recessions are a necessary part of the standard economic cycle. The longer we keep propping the system up, the uglier the (inevitable) day of reckoning will be.

* This bailout (when the only thing standing between an institution and insolvency is the government, it IS a bailout) will only promote more risk-taking in the future. If financial institution leadership knows the government will be their backstop, there’s no incentive to be more careful in the future.

* The younger generation and its children will pay for this for decades. We need to be cutting our public debt, not increasing it exponentially.

* Let’s invest this $700 billion dollars in U.S. energy research to rid ourselves of oil. If you think this crisis is bad, wait until peak oil hits when we’re not even close to prepared for it.

The bottom line? Let these institutions fail. If we’re true capitalists, corporations must be responsible for the upside and downside of operations. If we want to be socialists, then I want socialized medicine and a real safety net for displaced employees. Otherwise, let ‘em burn.

These guys wanted a “free market” economy with no government intervention or oversight and they crashed and burned. They should pay the consequences just like any other mom and pop business on Main Street. The taxpayers money, our money, is being used to bail out these business so that the administration can “appear decisive” and try and avoid the ire of the American People. If this was do to over-regulation and was government induced I might feel differently. But these guys took humongous risks in an unprecedented money grab that went awry. They should pay the consequences and drag down all those who put their trust in them. We didn’t have a problem doing that with Enron, and it sends a clear message that YOU are responsible for your actions as both an individual and a corporation, NOT the US taxpayers.

The weird thing about this crisis is that a lot of this “poisonous” debt is actually making payments and is not all in default. A good portion of the debt (20 – 30%%) may be a complete write-off – but not 100%.

So, many of these losses and the capital provisions required to back them – are paper losses and not real losses. However, the banks and insurance companies etc. have to come up with 100% of the assets to offset this debt.

I think that a better solution would be to change the accounting rules (temporarily) to recognize some portion of these assets and not completely write them off for existing debt with provisions for ongoing or future debt to return to the current rules plus more to prevent this from occuring again.

Each institution would be responsible for its own debt and the terribly innefficient U.S. government, that does not do this sort of thing, will not try to hold all this paper and collect on it. What will the U.S. government pay for this paper – 80% its value or 20%. Then who will they turn around and sell this bad paper to in order to collect on it? The layers of transaction costs and the additional paperwork required with ths move will be significant.

Is the 700 Billion dollar bailout costs incurred after the revenue of the collectable debt is subtracted from the defaults? I don’t think so.

I just wish that I was smart enough to make money on this mess.

It has been said eloquently by several before, but the basic point should be driven home again: capitalism should reward wisdom and punish stupidity. In this case, the banks should be punished along with those who invested in their toxic mortgages because they ignored the laws of supply and demand. When the demand got too low and they couldn’t raise it just by dropping the price (interest rates), they changed the rules of the game. Artificially manipulating the cost of an amortized asset after the fact such that someone who bought it can no longer afford it will always be a lose-lose for both the buyer and the seller, and goes against the entire nature of the capitalist philosophy. This is NOT credit financing–no reasonable effort was ever put forth to determine whether the ultimate cost of the purchase was viable for the buyer. That none of the countless economics PhDs on Wall Street or in Washington saw this–or cared if they did–is unfathomable.

Of course it has to be done – now that they are holding us and our children hostage.

Make no mistake – the people who ran this circus knew exactly what they were doing, and what the result would be, and that the government would have to step in and rescue them with taxpayer money. It is nothing less than a raid on the future earnings of Americans by the people who need it the least.

This is nothing less than treason, a vicious betrayal of the country that leaves us in a weakened state far worse than 9/11 ever did. If the Russians or Saudis did this to us, we’d consider it an act of war.

The bankers and politicians who are responsible are criminals and traitors, and should all do hard time with no golden parachutes.

Why should we “get over it”? The people who made money on the back of hardworking Americans have long since ridden off into the sunset with their millions. Why are these investment banks so essential to our wellbeing? I certainly haven’t seen any benefit from them, and I’m not sure anyone will even notice if Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan goes under.

Or is it that they are run by very wealthy individuals who have good friends in central government looking after “our” interests whilst feathering their own beds?

Get over it? Why don’t the investment banks quit asking us for money and just “get over” their current problems on their own?

Don’t fall for this giant bailout, Democrats. The Republicans mismanaged this economy and now, in their last desperate four months, they want the key to the Treasury with no oversight. They must think we’re stupid. Instead of bailing out Wall Street, how about making the banks refinance all those bad mortgages so people can afford them again. While we’re at it, the government should outlaw variable rate mortgages.

As far as I am concerned ‘get over it’ is proposterous! Privatising debt and socialising loss is verging on criminality.

Whilst I can appreciate that the Govenments of this world feel that they have to do something; presumably to save face and win votes the best thing that any Govenment can do is to put their hands up and say ‘we got it wrong’.

Yes there will be pain and yes there will be hardship but perpetuating this problem with injections of yours and my taxes in the form of bailouts is fundamentally flawed.

I believe we are facing a choice. Suffer the pain now or drag it out and suffer for much longer.

It’s an election year and nobody is going to promise pain. Maybe this country needs a little pain to get back on track. I for one don’t want to keep pushing things off on our children to fix. Bailouts never bring lasting change.

I honestly don’t know what the right answer is. I do know that it’s hard to trust the same group of folks that got us into this mess. What assurance do we have that their motivations have changed?
As for how to prevent this in the future? Eliminate the greed and lack of accountability at both ends. Force any executive that leaves a company w/in 1 year of it’s bankruptcy to pay back any severance. Eliminate or change regulations on personal bankruptcy.

The bailout of these companies while upsetting is needed in order to bring some sort of stability to the markets. But if the government does not bailout the American people none of this will matter. It is not a matter of giving out $600 stimulus checks that will get us little more than gas for the month. It has to relieve the debt & foreclosures of those of us effected by this gross mismanagement of our economy.People on this blog and many others talk about those who over extended themselves in the housing market. Well a little note from somebody who was in the mortgage industry @ the time, builders appraisers, realtors, brokers, and most of all banks are @ the root of the problem. As well as the government. The miseducation of the consumer is as much to blame. The banks where turning their backs while the rest of the mortgage industry made a huge comeup on homebuyers. The foreclosures for the most part are a direct result of people not being informed, not being escrowed propely,& large number of foreclosures are from investment scams, so called investors who @ closing were given the majority if not all of the equity by the builder in the form of kick backs as means to sell off properties that probably never should have been built in the first place. The so called investors got these payments anywhere from 15-25% of the sales price in their pockets and in a lot of cases never paid note 1!!!! Banks were implicite in their knowledge of what was going on. So if banks and brokerage firms who were taking the bad loans & saturating the market with them are forgiven, with our money no less. Why would the consumer also not be forgiven of it’s debt> After all if we the people do not have the buying or borrowing power what does it matter if the banks suvive or not. There has to be a bailout of the people or this is all for not. Suggestion Forgiveness Act or something to that magnitude where the consumer is also forgiven of foreclosures in order to buy again make it where they would have to take a homebuyers class and recieve a certificate. Something has to be done in favor of the American people because right now we are the one on the losing end.

The French had a inexpensive and simple solution to this problem at the end of the 18th century. Efficient, if a bit messy.

Please forward all the comments I’ve been reading here to Hank Paulson and Lloyd Blankenfein directly. They should read it together as they conspire to save their personal wealth at the whole country’s expense.

Very suspicious that Hank draws a line in the sand against bailouts until it his own savings at risk. What’s that old saying??? (I’ll paraphrase) When your former competitors fail its a lesson against moral hazard. When your personal nest egg is evaporating its a national emergency.

No disagreement that something should be done. We are facing a real crisis. As far as a bailout goes, I can only agree to something modest for the neediest to help them save their communities/homes. As for the corporations, rather than a TARP to bailout bad bets these institutions made it should be structured as a distressed debt SWF with a goal to provide its investors (the US taxpayer) a minimum 30% IRR, payable upon dissolution within 10 years.

As for the Wall Street execs that cashed out with tens of millions, I want a refund or prosecutions for running the world’s largest Ponzi Scheme ever.

Indeed we are being called on to foot the bill of $700 Billion. What dodes this mean? How much are my taxes going to go up? What will I have to forego because some CEO and CFO got greedy? Am I bailing them out too? I think we are asking the wrong quetions – because when they say “Payout” – they are asking you to open your wallet and bailout of US and Interntationl companies.

Is the bailout necessary? Yes.

Will the bailout actually hold those who are accountable for this mess, well…accountable? No.

Will banks begin loaning money to the general public and small businesses as a result of this bailout? Absolutely not – if they have so much ill will towards consumers and their clients that they would pay their CEOs $48 million a year; why would we think for a moment that they would use this government goodwill to do nothing but improve their own profit margins? And that means avoiding the letting of loans in the market….

Steal $13 from a convenience store, go to jail for 7 years. Steal trillions of dollars from the American people – get a golden parachute. Go figure.

DEMOCRATS- I do not want my tax dollars spent to keep homeowners in their homes. I am not their keepers. No Bailout. I rent so can they.

REPUBLICANS- I do not want my tax dollars going to financial institutions. I am not their keepers. No Bailout. Let capitalism work.

No, I will NOT get over it. These companies have created their own problems through greed and mismanagement, they do not deserve bailouts at all. Doing so sends the wrong message, are we gonna bail out every company that comes asking for a handout now? Why are some given more rights than others?

Death is a natural part of the business cycle just like everything else, we need to let these companies fail and be liquidated, anything else is unacceptable.

IF THEY BAIL THEM OUT – WE WILL NOT VOTE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION (Both McCain & Obama will be useless).

JOIN THE MOVEMENT.

I find the title of this article ‘get over it’ insulting to the american people. Let’s remember that many citizens did not participate in irrational fiscal exuberance and in fact pay their bills, play by the rules, and will be unduly hurt by the price tag of these bailouts. The purchasing power of the dollar will decline, the deficit will go way up preventing us from using the money for a better purpose or just not to inflate the debt, and taxes are pretty much a given to pay this off. The economy could still experience a deep recession as well. All of this will hurt those who are low and fixed income the hardest – most who don’t even know nor should know what a credit default swap is. I don’t think we need arm chair psychology in article headlines by cnn at this point – I would bet the author is young enough not to remember the Great Depression – but my mother does. We should not ‘get over it’, – those who betrayed the american people should be brought to justice if possible, and regulated immediately and we know who they are – from mortgage brokers, banks, credit default swaps, to wall street risk taking. This is just beginning, to get over it, would be the biggest blunder of all. I suggest we ‘get it right’ this time instead.

It’s history repeating itself, people. Or didn’t you take an econ class in school. It a 20 year cycle that has been with us for some time. In the late 50’s, there was a big S&L bailout, in the 70’s/80’s another bailout (remember Lincoln Savings), is it any wonder that we in for it again. They just don’t want to learn from their mistake, so our destiny is to repeat them.
Though the ante has increased with each successive bailout, if you do the math with these highly inflated $$’s it works out to be all the same scenerio.
What’s the reason, GREED. People tend to forget and that’s all these criminals need. I say round them up and throw away the key. And where were the shareholders in all of this? Sure they’re crying now but why weren’t they asking questions when those great big checks were being deposited in the bank. No simpathy here, folks.

The only way paying this may be worth it is if we can now, once and for all, put an end to the fairy tale of “trickle down” economics. Who is saving whom, here, folks?! The middle class, which has been “trickled” on for decades, is now expected to bail out the rich. That, indeed, IS rich. So, yes. let’s all “get over” the idea that an unfettered free market will result in prosperity for all.

I disagree that this is a necessary action.
All the banks would not “crash and burn”. Look at banks like Wells Fargo (that just recently hit a 52 week high).

Banks that have managed their money properly as thriving as their competition goes away. New companies will start up (or rise up) to fill the void others have left behind.

Bailing out these companies means that no lesson will be learned. As long as we keep bailing out companies that risk everything, they have this “no lose” mindset. They either make a ton of dough, or they get bailed out.
This must stop. If other companies, or even the public want to give/loan money, then so be it…but forcing the public to redistribute their wealth to save others is immoral, and should be illegal.

CEO pay does not need to be capped, companies should do that themselves. If they want to run their company in the ground, let them do it. I know, just from first hand experience, that companies like NVIDIA (NVDA stock ticker), their executives have cut pay and bonuses during this crisis…they did not do that because some government official mandated it..but because it is best for their company.
We force CEO pays to be capped by not bailing them out.

I strongly disagree. Printing almost 1 TRILLION DOLLARS will cause inflation and the national debt to skyrocket. That means higher gas, food, and energy prices for everyone, even, those that had nothing to do with problem… like me! Soon the American dollar will be worthless!!! See what inflation did to Zimbabwe, or Germany post WWI! Losses have been socialized, welcome to the U.S.S.A. (United Soviet States of America)

This proposed bailout is inexcusable!! And the beneficiaries have the audacity to suggest that it should be expanded to include troubled assets other than mortgages; ABSOLUTELY NOT!! The very parties whom engaged in irresponsible lending practices and standards now expect John Q Taxpayer to provide the financial means for their continued existance. FORGET IT! They were not responsible to begin with, so how can we even consider that this bailout will do anything other than maintain the status quo. What they are attempting to sell is nothing more than manure!

It would be better for the government to establish a national financial institution, capitalized with $700 billion and define, implement and adhere to strict standards to lend money to the financial institutions that require additional capital, or purchase assets from them. And run it like a real business whereby the underlying collateral is examined and considered to determine its’ lending or acquisition value. Those institutions submitting loan applications will have their officers and board members subjected to the same scrutiny as a small business owner seeking a $20-$50k loan. If they don’t meet the criteria, they don’t get the loan. If this causes the failure of their institution, so be it. If they do qualify for the loan, the management and board members should be required to provide irrevocable, non-dischargable, personal guarantees, thereby establishing some very real financial responsibility and accountability. If they fail, they suffer the same pain as all the other stakeholders. NO MORE FREE RIDES!!

I think that is a naive observation. Yes, without doing anything, we are looking at may be a total collapse. But that anything doesn’t HAVE to be the TRILLION dollar taxpayer funded bailout for these bad bets by the wall st. This solution is bad/wrong/immoral at so many levels and well stated by most critics by now. There ARE alternatives and I don’t know why people are not willing to consider them… As always Bush administration puts us into a crisis mode and then presents its “the one” solution and puts a gun of patriotism and says “are you with me or against me?”. Same happening here. Alternate solution: One of them is well articulated by Mike Swanson at: http://www.wallstreetwindow.com/content/node/7969

Basically its a problem of confidence and confidence is lost due to lack of transparency on the books of these financials. With jumbo-mumbo like “Level 3 assets”, CDS, off-balance-sheet, these financial entities, just like Enron did, created opaque books. No one knows whats in these books and hence the rumors and lack of confidence and assumption of the worst case. We need a declared “bank holiday” like Roosevelt did, for a week. Shutdown the banks for a week, have a transparent audit of everyone’s books and don’t let the insolvent ones open again. After the holiday, people should have increased confidence in the ones that do open and that should get the credit flowing again… it also punishes the ones who are the most to blame… the ones who leveraged too much on bad stuff while siphoning millions in fees and stock options. For once, let us at least consider the alternate solutions and find the one that makes more sense!

This is HUGE Wallstreet Tax on everyone which serves only rich CEOs golden parashutes. I think instead we need to start criminal investigation on everyone who put us in such risk.

This whole situation makes congress look like a bunch of badly trained monkeys. Why would anyone even listen to someone like Dodd after what has gone down. And why do we listen to McCain when he obviously learned nothing from the S&L crisis. Obviously the only thing McCain learned after all these years is how to shirk responsiblity.

So my retirement savings may fail? So be it. I have children and grandchildren to think about, and to burden them with this debt because I was concerned about my own security in retirement is irresponsible, reckless, and SELFISH. I will start over and save what I can, independent of the stock market. Hell, the only reason I went the 401(k) route in the first place is because my savings are tax-deferred, not because I was particularily fond of the idea of placing a bet on the stock market. I refuse to accept this lying down. I’ll vote for friggin Ron Paul for President, if he’s the only one who votes against this shameful and disgusting bailout. INFURIATING!

“This plan isn’t socialist. Socialists would pay for the bailout by reinstating the wartime top tax rate of 91% (for the million-a-year crowd) and leaving it there for the duration of the War on Terror.”

Forrest, please do not give them any ideas. :>)

This reporter, John La Monica, is typical. He presents a false choice, either we fix it or we don’t, and then basically implies we are a bunch of crybabies “but get over it.” But he provides no arguement to support the idea that Bush knows how to solve this problem. Bush and his buddies got us into this mess with deregulation and they haven’t apologized or shown any understanding of their failures.

If this administrations past performance is any indication of future performance then its likely the $700 billion will be wasted. Its just as likely they will give the money to their buddies and the taxpayer will be left with a meltdown *AND* $700 billion more in debt. Right now we just have a meltdown. I prefer a meltdown and no additional debt thank you very much. Or at least wait til after the election and hope that either a Palin or Obama presidency is smarter about things. Eeesh.

I agree, but only if the loans are issued along with an enforceable ban against the recipients ever lecturing the rest of us about “personal responsibility”, “the nanny state”, “government interference” and so forth. That would easily be worth $700B and more!

Assuming the need for this is real (admittedly a BIG assumption), there are a few things that really bother me.

The first one is that this is being pitched as an “all or nothing” deal. The proposition is basically “Fork over $700 billion in a few days or The Game is over”. How can anyone know how much this will really wind up costing? Why not $200 billion? Or $2 trillion? Why not handle it in measured periodic installments only committing as many installments as actually prove to be necessary (subject to a cumulative limit of $700 billion)?

Second, this really comes across as a shakedown. Congressional leaders (Pelosi, Shumer, Dodd, et al) are being browbeaten in secret meetings to sign the deal immediately or face the utter destruction of capitalism as we know it. Why are these meetings being held in secret if we *all* have to pony up $2300 of additional national debt each? ($700 billion divided by 301 million Americans) Signing away an amount almost twice the amount of the annual deficit in a heated rush seems ill-advised at best.

Third, on the one hand these officials chastise financial institutions for their lack of transparency and yet these same officials try to present their case to spend a HUGE chunk of our money to congress in secret meetings… is there something wrong with this picture?

Fourth, people are comparing this to the RTC, but this is nothing at all like the RTC. The RTC bought mortgages from *insolvent* institutions, yet this proposal buys securities from solvent institutions. Why not wait until individual institutions to go insolvent (or are on the very verge of doing so) before bailing them out?

Fifth, the RTC bought actual mortgages that had real properties behind them. In stark contrast this deal purchases phony-baloney mortgage *derivatives* like CDO’s. Buying a CDO’s ‘first loss piece’ or mezzanine tranche is much like buying a worthless option since these take the first losses on the portfolio of underlying mortgages. Why not dissolve these CDOs into their constituent mortgages and buy those instead?

Sixth, the idea that Paulson wants to deny the American people any form of recourse (or checks and balances) is appalling. No one person should have absolute unchecked power to spend $700 billion of our money at his sole discretion, especially given the very real possibility that he won’t have this job after Obama is elected! Lord only knows who would wind up getting that money.

Seventh, isn’t it amazing how this whole thing came down on the eve of a presidential election?

I could go on and on, but you get the general idea. This whole deal, and the way it’s being rammed down our collective throats, really stinks.

I have sent a letter to both the senators from my state and to most of the representatives as well. If one penny of this bail out goes to foriegn banks they have lost my vote regardless of which way they vote personally. If it passes they lose. Every person in Congress should be damn afraid of the backlash from the “people” when they find out 350 billion plus dollars are going to buy up investements for the richest people in Europe.

We are proving the world that we don’t practice what we preach about a capitalistic economy. This is what they do in Russia and the like and we wouldn’t be happy living under those rules. It once took a crash and a depression to right the ways of this country and perhaps we need another traumatic event like that to reawake this country. Let the markets work. Someone will buy that debt at a reduced price and the universe will take care of itself.

You mention that by not providing the bailout, the credit market would be further pinched… Perhaps in the short-run, but in the long run, I have to ask where is the money coming from? The obvious answer is from MORE BORROWING, except that it is being done by the government. Sounds the same, right? How will this affect the credit market in the long run? In other words, my kids once again are paying for the mistakes of the last decade!

We all knew Golden Parachutes were ridiculous. But, we accepted them because we were told the “Best” deserved it for all the money they earn the companies and there for us.

NOT AGAIN! THEY FAILED. THEY DO NOT DESERVE YOUR TRUST OR YOUR MONEY. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. TAKE CONTROL AND DEMAND EVERYTHING.

Send them and their golden parachutes back to the stone ages.

I am more than ticked off…Yes, it is possible that letting them go under might cause some very big problems for all of us… but continuing to reward bad corporate behavior will cause problem’s like these to continue to reoccur…they all knew, including the government, that what they were doing was wrong… but they continued b/c they knew that they would be saved (bailed out)… Who is next to be bailed out with my money???, the auto industry because they didn’t have enough leadership to foresee the difficulties with fossil fuels…the energy companies because they didn’t have enough leadership to invest in viable alternatives??? who saves us, tax paying Americans, when we act irresponsible with our money… nobody!…we don’t have big government to bail us out of our stupid mistakes… we just have the opportunity to lose it all and start over from scratch

These fat cats made terrible business decisions and got paid big bucks to do it..I am sure that they will be allowed to keep all that they have ?earned? while destroying my countries’ future… the airplanes, their children’s education funds, the fines houses and cars… and so on… what do we American’s get to keep…THE BILL…reduced funds for education, higher unemployment, health care, infrastructure updates and so on…Is this fair???

As we live in a punitive society, as is evidenced by the growth in the criminal justice system, these people who broke the law and caused great harm to US citizens, need to go to jail (not Club Fed, but the big house – to give them the opportunity to spend some quality time with the people they helped to create with their greed!) and lose all that they have just like the people who got the shaky loans from them have!

If a bailout is necessary we should take a look at all of the players. The proposed bailout will be administered by the Federal Reserve Corporation. Correct! The Federal Reserve is a legally owned private corporation, owned by the privet member banks. ie: Citi BofA and so on. How can anyone in Congress with a sound mind appoint Chairman Paulson as the sole person to be in charge of distributing funds the American Citizens will sign promissory notes for, if his employer just happens to be the banks receiving the funds?

I refer you to Paul Krugman’s op-ed in the New York Times this morning entitled “Cash for Trash”

This bailout reminds me of the old conservative strategy of, if you can’t win the election, then at least bankrupt the country on your way out so that your predecessor won’t be able to accomplish anything.

The bailout is another example of ‘elected’ criminals helping their corporate buddies.

When the average Joe/Jane mismanages their finances, does the government come running to their rescue? No.

All the fear mongering in the world won’t cover up the fact that this is nothing more than another rip off of the American tax payer for the benefit of the white collar criminal class.

Taxpayers should not bailout businesses that have made bad decisions.

Also executives should get nothing at these firms that are ruined. A box to put ther stuff in.

banks need to fail, what the government is doing is rewarding greed, risk and stupidity, where is my bailout I fancy a new porsche and a big house, I cant afford it but let the taxpayer foot the bill

I don’t see this more that a stopgap measure to keep the
WallStreet “fatcats” from diving off the 30th floor. We should
in fact be more concerned on what additional damage it will do to the dollar and it’s value against the Euro.

“You would have us believe that protecting banks is really protecting us. I call you a liar.”

I’ll second that, Paul you are a liar.

Or you could be drunk and stupid.

This bailout reminds me a of recent story in my family.

Two months ago, my 17-year old stepson drove his 2008 Corolla into a tree and totally detroyed it. So my
wife decided to get him a brand new Camry 2009. Her argument
is the Camry is bigger and will provide my stepson better
protection in accidents.

I know all of of you tax payers are MAD like hell now but using the
same line of argument from my beloved wife, I propose the following.

Instead of gving the Fed 800B, let’s double it to 1.6 trillion.
The reason is just in case the 800B is NOT enough, they don’t have
to come back to beg for more. I just hate to see grownups cry and
beg for money.

This “bailout” will accomplish nothing. Banks will still not make loans, because there is far more uncertainty than subprime mortgages at this point – like the Alt-A mortgages and credit cards to name a few. The American public is incredibly over-leveraged (yes, leverage is not just for investment banks) and the added inflationary pressure that the increased liquidity in the system will bring to commodities/oil will just compound the problem for the average consumer that is already tapped out.

If an infusion of liquidity was primed with an increase in the interest rate (to both keep commodities prices down and encourage banks to lend) it might help, but the fact is that housing prices will continue to deteriorate due to oversupply and people still will not be approved for loans for major purchases in the short-term.

The “bail-out” seems most likely to push the ultimate resolution of this collapse furthar out and make it worse. The idea of the government buying up bad loans and nationalizing them didn’t work for Japan, I’m not sure why we think it will work now.

It is not at all obvious that it is better than the alternative, because it undermines confidence in the basic fairness of our system. Instead, our system becomes one of “might makes right”. If you’re powerful enough, you can threaten “Armageddon” and extort the government into giving you money. But if I go bankrupt, I can’t force the government to change the rules to bail me out.

If the credit market is frozen then why are long term rates for a mortgage under 7%? Why do I currently get one offer per week for a mortgage in the mail and 2 per week for a new credit card?

Something is disconnected here.

This plan isn’t socialist. Socialists would pay for the bailout by reinstating the wartime top tax rate of 91% (for the million-a-year crowd) and leaving it there for the duration of the War on Terror.

nowhere have I seen anything about jail time for the people responsible for this mess. And there are plenty. dems in congress for starters, insisting that every one own a home whether they can afford one or not. certainly the management of these banks and insurance companies do not deserve obscene severance packages.

“Why are the financial scammers who caused this whole mess not being dragged out in the street and shot?”

You mean the Federal Reserve? Good question..

So to solve a problem created by banks who used money they didn’t have to make risky investments that failed, the Reserve is going to use money it doesn’t have to buy even higher risk investments that noone even knows the value of? If that isn’t fool-proof plan I don’t know what is.

The middle class will be destroyed by dollar devaluation, massive inflation, and an increased tax burden, but at least all those poor financial services employees won’t have to sell their BMWs..

McCain wants to let people invest their Social Security in the stock market–essentially privatizing Social Security. What a great idea! Then when all those people are ready to retire if the stock market is down and their Social Security is gone, they can ask, no demand, that the government to bail them out.

Let our leaders work out a “loan” and stop using bailout…the only bailout is that more people will be keeping their jobs [hopefully]..trust your leaders to have our best interest at heart and loan the money because the US is the only place that has that kind of money in the world except for the Arab countries. Do you want them owning Wall Street?
Stop fretting about the amount. Do you know how much money the US Government collects every year on April 15th…Trillions…every year. Look it up and then SHUT UP, especially the media…who loves to stir up trouble and get everyone in an uproar. Stop the panic…if you knew what to do YOU would be Secretary of the Treasury or President of the US. Your not. Let them handle it.

I can’t stop posting, I am so upset.

The money given to AIG was more than we spend on public education in a year. We always hear about how National Health Care is a bad idea, but socializing the losses from Corporations are apparently a better one.

Bankruptcy laws are passed to make it harder for the average American to get a second chance. Student loans and medical loans (thanks for that non-existent Health care guys) follow you to the grave. Credit card companies are allowed to rob us blind.

But now the same corporations are allowed “forgiveness” for their debts and bad decisions. The corporations are protected more than the voting American citizen. If we don’t deserve help, neither do they.

How transparent and blatant can these politicians be?

Bailout WITH OVERSIGHT!
Why does the plan on the table from the SEC and Bush Administration specifically call out for secrecy and exemption from future legal accountability? NO WAY! Bush wants $700 BILLION for his cronies to handle behind closed doors and exemption from current or future litigation if what they do is later shown to be illegal. OVERSIGHT by CONGRESS REQUIRED!

The present bailout simply replicates and reinforces the situation which led to the crisis it is supposed to relieve, just as the bailouts of the past led to the present crisis.

Capitalism has a constructive and a destructive side. If you are going to stick with capitalism, it is time to let the destructive side do its work. Otherwise far worse will happen in the future, and not the distant future, either.

Part of the problem is that almost all of us are stuck in the “Borrow” and “Credit” mode. We are taught by advertising, the banks, money managers, etc. that borrowing money is the way to go…Not according to my 85 year old father who saw the Great Depression first hand. I say let the financial system crash and burn, so that we can reconstruct it from scratch! No more BandAids!

Our bailout of Lehman includes a couple of billion for the management team’s retirement packages. Get it? They are playin’ us. I say LET THEM BURN!

NO WAY.

There will be a crash one way or another … we can have a crash with $2 or 3 trillion dollars more debt or without all that added debt.

Giving Bush, Inc. all this money with all this power is unAmerican and destructive of free enterprise.

I repeat: NO WAY!

Even in the best case scenario, it’s like taking a house terminally infested with termites, and giving it a shiny new paint job with gold leaf. The house needs to be condemned. It’ll be cheaper to burn it to the ground and start over. Sure, the residents will have to find someplace else to live for a while, but doing anything else just delays the inevitable and makes it more expensive in the long run.

History has proven that the communist system was ultimately unworkable and doomed to failure. I think we are now seeing the historical failure to properly execute a capitalist system. While each system may have been great in theory, the practical implementation of each has continually diverged from the ideal. ‘Communism’ has already failed; witness the downfall of ‘capitalism’.

I’m not getting over this until I start seeing people busting up rocks in prison for perpetrating a massive fraud on the American and ultimately the World economy.

You sir are WRONG. It’s not necessary. Bad banks should fail. Our economy should suffer. It’s how we learn. Sure it hurts, but its called growing up as a nation.

Overspend on things you can’t afford and recessions happen.

Deregulate and people try to get away with things.

You will not use a single dime of my tax dollars to bail out the rich. let them pay for it by reinstating the estate tax, upping capital gains and income taxes on the richest 1% of Americans, and making corporations actually pay their taxes.

My tax dollars can go to rebuilding American (as opposed to Iraqi) infrastructure.

No. NO. NO!

First, this article is FRAUDULENT. It is NOT a $700 billion plan – that’s just the max limit of the proposed Treasury hedge fund. Read that proposed bill again – Treasury can cycle as much money as it wants through that fund, it’s just limited to $700B at any one time.

Second, the bailout won’t solve ANYTHING. The bubble has to burst eventually – we’ve long since passed the time when we could engineer a soft landing – and saddling the American taxpayers with trillions of dollars of bad debt is only going to make the recovery that much harder.

Say again – we’re headed for a tumble NO MATTER WHAT. This bill isn’t a bailout, it’s one last moneygrab before the ship goes down.

I have written all of my Congressmen and Senators to urge them against this plan and I hope everyone else will as well. The public is overwhelmingly against this plan – it is being shoved on us by a corrupt administration, a scared Congress, and a compliant media.

the problems of corporate greed and loopholes in regulation are endemic to humans – so why is the mainstream media/government always focused on issues that can’t be resolved? people are greedy. every regulation can be navigated around. why does no one focus on the true causes of these issues; e.g., the systemic problem of a central banking system.

the framers of the constitution were very much aware of how dangerous a central banking system was. remember, the federal reserve act was not written by lawmakers — it was written by bankers.

moreover, the bush family has become very adroit at these scams over the years: http://memes.org/911-blogger-mafia-cia-and-george-bush-1992.

wake up people.

I like my idea, have a 700 billion dollar plan, dont give it to the banks, let the ones who will fail, fail. There will then be some banks left, like B of A, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, US Bank, who all are profitable. We then take the 700 billion disburse it to the roughly 10 million who would be affected by the banks failing, giving them 50-60k as a severenc package which should be more than enough to hold over the average american and it would give them time to find new employment. That way we dont bail out the fat cats, dont bail out the greedy homeowners who reached on more and only help the people losing their jobs in the industry, and we still have the stronger banks left over. Not to mention those banks would be hiring since all the accunts/assests ect would probably be bought by the stronger banks left over.

NO MORE BIG BONUS TO THE MANAGEMENT OR EMPLOYEES OF THESE COMPANIES.

I am not a greedy banker, a careless lender or an idiot that bought more than I could pay for. Shouldn’t that mean something?

I strictly oppose a bailout. I do not need to get over anything. For all I care, our financial institutions can all melt down. As a matter of fact I am pulling for it to do just that.

Our governement is not competent at any level. ANY.

I do understand the situation we are in and understand the 700 billion is needed to put us in the best position to recover. It just should have never came to this. Trust me, we did a lot to miss this trainwreck coming.

Read the underlying article. It is from 1999 when the Clinton White House and the Repubican Congress had a swell idea of deregulating financials.

The author, who I am sure is in no way as smart as our esteemed politicians, predicted everything that is happening now.

Interesting.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/nov1999/bank-n01.shtml

Paul — you see the pitchforks are out among your readership. I also really like the idea (mentioned a few dozen comments down) of holding a nationwide referendum on this topic. If it’s truly a matter of national life and death, why not take a bit of time and discuss it and vote like members of a constitutional republic? Think of how much buzz you’d get if you and CNN spearheaded this take on the issue.

I personally was taught that whenever Wall Street puts high-pressure sales pressure on you (“AMERICANS! AGREE NOW OR DISASTER BECKONS!”), it’s a bad deal and you should just leave the table. If it’s a good deal, there’ll still be alpha in it in the morning.

WHY???

It doesn’t address the root of the problem that caused the housing mess. It doesn’t address supply & demand, which is being caused by the enormity of the baby boom trying to make housing moves (trade up, build or downsize) vs. the severe shortage of first-time buyers due to very low births in the 1970’s (first time buyers average 31 years of age). As long as there is an oversupply of inventory, there will be more foreclosures. And as long as it takes the baby boom to retire and liquidate, there will continue to be an oversupply of inventory. So they can wipe the balance sheets clean, but they’ll fill right back up. And unless the shortage of 30-somethings in the economy is addressed, we will next see the effects of too few 40-somethings and then a shortage of 50-somethings. We are missing a segment of the economy and it isn’t being plugged into the formula. When this group was in their teens and early 20’s, we had record low unemployment. But instead of recognizing the drop in numbers in this age group, we gave (and still give) Bill Clinton the credit. The only time this factor is addressed is concerning Social Security and the lack of younger workers to support the Baby Boom in their retirement. Likewise, the lack of younger consumers cannot absorb the Baby Boom housing inventory. Why isn’t the press questioning the experts on the impact on other segments of the economy preceding the Social Security crisis? There are severely fewer 30-somethings to buy homes, buy cars, invest in 401K’s, go school shopping, holiday shopping, etc. It’s not that hard.

Strongly disagree. I’ve written to every representative I have to register my anger over them throwing away free-market and capitalism for socialism to save Wall Street and themselves. Send them all to Iraq to fight for their own oil.

the ONLY thing the gov’t should be buying right now are personal home mortgages, plain and simple. no CDOs, no MBSs, none of this other CRAP that banks did to spread the costs around and hide the true nature of things.

with the mortgages, the government should immediately turn around and offer the people (you know, the homeowners that they’re trying to help?) fixed, 40y loans at something below market rate. 30y loan at 10% (think balloon payment) is 2600+ per month. 40y loan at 4% is 1200/month.

Otherwise, this is nothing more than using taxpayer money to prop up failing institutions…

TO TOM IN BALTIMORE:

Good point, you’re right. BTW, I had a boss who was a big time Wall Street guy, very bright. He rented his big house outside of NYC for the last 4 years… he knew home prices were too high! Go figure… ha.

Good luck all…

I disagree. There are many other options. Just to name two: equity infusions (subject to proper agreements), and capitalizing new banks (and letting the existing ones die the death they so richly deserve). Both approaches would be much cheaper and less abusive to the taxpayer and which actually might have a chance of being profitable for the taxpayer.

In terms of bailouts, this is the WORST way to go! Buying the assets? The government wants to become a landlord now? And why pay for the whole asset instead of just capitalizing the banks? Who is going to buy the $700 billion in Treasuries needed to do this? THIS IS INSANE!

The Bail out is clearly an example of helping out Greedy persons who are disgrace to financial world. How we can say we are a capitalistic society.?? Not only govt is betraying poor people. If Govt. can open his Arms with is much money, How many people can have bread on their Table and have houses to live

It will be a cold day in hell before we see a $700 billion package for education or renewable energy.

In addition to the many other facets of this plan that stink to high heaven, the complete lack of accountability by the current administration ranks near the top. How about this – we deduct $10B from the bailout fund every time this mess is blamed on Bill Clinton…

Why hold conferences behind the doors.

Since when did we, US citizens, started becoming afraid of fear? The forefathers of this country were not fearful of English control. Why are we fearing now? Can’t Paulson and company hold meetings in public and layout all the facts that they know? The fear got us in mess in Iraq, I feel we are about to get in bigger economic mess. This bailout definitely seem like an orchestrated event.

Why should we “get over it”? The banks & financial institutions need us as much as we need them. We’re already in debt for the next three generations to pay for a huge deficit & two wars. And now according to Reuters, Paulson is advising foreign banks who do business in the US to add their toxic debt to this relief package? Will they reimburse us when their own governments cut their losses?
If it’s a choice between giving bloated, dishonest, greedy, rich old white guys MORE welfare, or watching the system crash & eating surplus cheese, I’ll go buy a fondue pot while I still have the credit. They can’t run banks & investment firms without the serfs cash.

I disagree!

The financial system should be allowed to melt down completely and all those responsible, both people and companies, should be forced to pay every cent they have reducing the magnitude of the debt, and end up broke.

The people involved should be prevented from ever again having a large role in any financial company.

“It’s the free-market, stupid!” Banks fail, companies fail, marriages fail – but there’s ALWAYS another bank, business & spouse waiting in the wings.
Doing “nothing” will hurt the current players on Wall Street. Doing “something” will hurt the current & future players on Main Street.

THIS IS A BAILOUT FOR POORLY MANAGED, HIGHLY CORRUPTED BANKS & COMPANIES. Printing trillions of new treasuries – yes, this will ultimately cost TRILLIONS – will eventually destroy what value remains of the US dollar via INFLATION.

Don’t quit your day job, dude. Unless, of course, you’re just another shill for corporate Amerika.

Yea it does seem like we’re better off to bail them out. HOWEVER, cap the hell out of the executives. [Assuming they're not snuggled up w/ Congress] they should not only get their salaries capped but also any existing compensation they are enjoying should be drastically cut to the level of a compatible Federal employee salary!!!

HELL NO to Fascist Bailout of billionaires with tax dollars!
1) spend that money to help beluaguered homeowners and unemployeed! the wall street thieves will ahve to wait for the wealth to trickle up! 2) why believe the thieves who created and benefited from the scheme and stand to gain from this new scheme called bail out? what do they think of us, stupid? 3) people should absolutely walk away from their upside down mortgages asap, unless govt help make it “real” immediately.

We need to “get over it”?
Has the nation adopted the New Yorker mindset?

The sickening part of this bailout is that the Congress is proposing to pay for this with money we DO NOT HAVE, without obtaining the approval of the American people.
We elected them to work for us yet they ignore us and do whatever the corporations tell them to do, regardless of the effect on the citizens.
They plan to have the Federal Reserve Bank print the money from thin air.
They have not stolen the money from our paychecks yet…
They just do not have the money.

So the effect will be a reduction in the value of the dollar as they inject more dollars into the system. Initially the recipients of the cash will have a favorable outcome, but as those dollars trickle down, the dollar value declines; thus, prices will increase for us (the people funding this criminal behavior) because the dollar has less power.
Next, WE get to pay the Federal Reserve Bank interest on that fiat money for YEARS.
Yes the Fed is a PRIVATE BANK.

I need to get over that?

I need to just roll over and let the government tell me what’s good for me, because they have such a great track record of management thus far, I should simply trust them on this?

This is the beginning of turmoil that has not been seen for generations.

Does the government intend to absorb the debt of the next company that surfaces as mismanaged and crying poverty?

Socialism is being introduced through our system at an alarming rate and nobody seems to care. At what point will the people wake up and hold these people responsible for their own actions? Congress and Corporate America alike.

I disagree. This bailout of the private sector by government interests is the sort of thing so many Republicans should be opposed to, but who is it that is so strongly advocating it? Who’s idiotic idea was it in the first place? This is good government?

We have so many other places to spend that kind of money, and I think it is time that Wall Street and short-sighted investors the world over took the tumble on this one. No bailout. It is time for change in our financial markets as well as in Washington.

Goodbye Republican rule! And good riddance!

The writers at these rags don’t seem to get the idea. Or maybe they do, and think that we are stupid enough to swallow this drivel.

Housing is TOO expensive. Houses are tarditionally 3 times the household income. No matter how you try to spin it, house prices must fall or incomes must rise.

The speculative investments that were based on these mortgages are almost worthless. If a house is foreclosed on, there is no income stream backing the paper. It is that simple.

These companies speculated, made some money, now that the market is correcting, they want us to pay for it.

The banks will NEVER be regulated, because once the money starts flowing again, it will be the “regulation is bad” song that all the Republicans sing. How many banks were bailed out in the Savings and Loan Crisis in the 80’s? And here we are back again…

The Republican/Bush Administartion pushed through the Patriot Act because it was “too urgent” for debate. Now we have the administration spying on American citizens. Now we have another set of bills that will be rammed through Congress and it will only benefit the monied masters who control Wall Street. No matter who gets in office, these powers will most likely NEVER be revoked.

I’m tired of this. There’s a saying that “we deserve the government we have.” We’ll see what happens on election day, but I intend to mark the name of every Congressman and Senator who lets this through.

I find it interesting how the media says, “That doing nothing would be even more disastorous” in terms of the $700 billion bailout. Like that act is the only course of action that could have been taken. I don’t here peers saying we should do nothing, so why does the media insist that people opposing the bailout support inaction in terms of other fixes???

I’ll get over it when I see everyone in Government take a 50% pay cut.
Then maybe they’ll all get over themselves.

Let’s not loose sight of the fact that the bailout is a disaster in and of itself. We can’t afford it, it’s not fair, and it’s not necessary.

The private banking system has failed. Unless and until it gets its act together we must form a public corporation to make RESPONSIBLE loans to people to ensure that there is an adequate supply of credit. This can be done at a lower cost and can actually turn a profit for the taxpayer.

Shame on Obama and McCain for supporting this monstrous example of corporate welfare. I’m voting for Nader.

Wow, I was about to write and give my opinion about the insanity of the bailout, but I think everyone else’s comments have summed up how I feel. Just looking through all of these, you can see that about 99% of people disagree with it. It’s time to treat our country like a democracy : a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people

I strongly disagree.

Remember that the market is already inflated to a point where it needed to correct and pumping in more money would only keep the market artificially inflated and delay the crash to a future date.

If you do not understand that statement, then try these numbers: the median family income in Los Angeles is about $56,500 (yr:2007) and the median price of a house $528,000 (yr:2007-Q4). This is after some correction has happened and rents are not cheap either. Now if you are earning that much or less, calculate for yourself if it is affordable. The whole idea behind correction of a market is to make sure that a majority can pay the price.

The government has to take equity in these firms being bailed out plus severely limit compensation packages of the management that created this mess and liability on taxpayers.

This is a page out of a book written by Joseph Goebbels. The bigger the lie, the more likely us sheep will believe it right?

You would have us believe that protecting banks is really protecting us. I call you a liar. You see, if you were actually protecting us, you would wait until we were actually harmed or going to be harmed. Then, deal with the consequences WE may face.

Rather, you see the consequence BANK will face and you act to protect them, not us. Those banks need to go out of business. Your going to take our money and reward an industry full of thieves by giving them 10million+ salaries all on our dime.

This country has gone FASCIST. You are taking money from the public to support private business. You don’t even try to hide it anymore, you just throw it in our face. At least have the intellect to think up a good lie (try to blame the boogeyman of “Global Islamic Extremist” or whatever it currently is).

Socialize the losses, and privatize the profits.

Really, if you look at history, none of this has anything at all to do with “saving” the economy. These firms count on government largess and bailouts as revenue streams. It’s built into their business model. There are other industries that work this way, like the airlines. They know they can count on a big bucket of cash from John Q. Public about once a decade or so, whenever the piper comes to collect.

They take on irresponsible amounts of downside risk because they know they can count on the government to bail them out in the end. The only way to put an end to this kind of immoral business model is to put an end to the endless bail-outs. If these crooks are allowed to fail, maybe they won’t make such stupid decisions in the future.

I am angry and belive this is bad. A BIG mistake. Now anytime there is trouble like this the government will be exoected to bail everyone out. Stop giving BIG BUSINESS money, give the normal people the money to help save their homes instead.

I’m fine with the bailout as long as the people paying the price are the ones who made the poor decisions. People who took out boneheaded mortgages, CEO’s, advisors etc etc

This should not hit the average tax payer. Pull the income from someplace else, or figure out someplace to “give back” (hint: 7% of your income goes into social security, maybe its time we got some of that back).

Wow…. this whole situation has proved the viability of “Reaganomics.” You know, that wonderful idea at the cornerstone of the Republican agenda, of giving more money to the wealthy and allowing it to “trickle down.” While American workers suffer as the value of their dollars decline, we just prove to the fat cats that we won’t allow them to pay for their mistakes. When their unadulterated greed got out of control, in steps the government to bail them out. Now you have John McCain attacking the SEC for allowing this situation to get out of control, when legislation over the past several years aimed at “deregulating” the industry is what led to this mess in the first place. And who was it that sat on the Commerce Committee in the Senate pushing for all this deregulation? Why no other then John McCain…. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The whole response to this situation is just another example of the Republican belief that all it takes it throwing money at a problem to make it go away. Then you have the Republicans accusing the Democrats of irresponsible spending. Absolutely unbelievable.
Don’t get me wrong… I do believe some kind of intervention is required to get us out of this situation, and I will not presume to know what the answer to this problem is… but I don’t expect the $700 Billion “throw money at it” solution is going to solve it by itself. Maybe putting back all that legislation that the Republicans took away might help. Not that that will ever happen. All they are doing is reaffirming their already broken economic model.

Let the troubled banks fail. The Fed can route money through the surviving banks to make sure that the companies that need capital get it. Those banks, and their shareholders, that took huge gambles on risky investments should be allowed to reap the consequences of their actions. I’m sure that they had no intention of sharing their profits with the rest of us if they made money, so why should we (and four generations of our descendents) shoulder the burden of their losses? Caveat Emptor!

To Andrew in N.Y.: While I agree with you wholeheartedly that irresponsible borrowers are as responsible for this debacle as Wall Street and government are, I think we need to call them something other than “ourselves”. I rented housing for years, saving to buy my house in a responsible way. That puts me outside the group of “ourselves”. Those that gambled don’t “need” to be put back in their houses. What they need is to rent and save, like the majority of us do, until they are worthy of a mortgage. They may think of it as beneath them to rent for a while instead of owning, but I think of it as them earning their dues for a change.

Fine. The bailout is necessary so that I can keep my job. But the question is, how do I insure that the greedy people, making irresponsible decisions and dragged us into this mess (which includes everyone from home buyers, appraiers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, investors, CEOs, etc) … how I insure these people burn in hell?

The time to learn to swim is not when you are dumped into a raging river. This is yet another example of our “leaders” abdicating their responsibilities of oversight and than acting outraged when business pushes the line of ethics in the name of profit. Sink or swim, we need to avoid getting in the water this way from now on…

I disagree. When the ‘ltlle guy’ goes ‘belly-up’, no one comes to his rescue. As a matter of fact when the small businessman goes bankrupt, credit is almost impossible to get and life gets tougher. With these big firms, the syory is just the opposite-billions in taxpayer relief! I thought we lived in a capitalistic society where only the fittest survive.

You know what would help me get over it? Seeing some of the people responsible for the mess taking some of the consequences. I don’t need them to be in the street, just lose their jobs, no golden parachute, and have to live on their savings for a few months. Starting with some people named Paulson, LaMonica, Bush, McCain, Feinstein, Cox, Greenspan… it’s a long list.

NO WAY! BAIL ME OUT FIRST! SEND EVERYONE TO JAIL THAT CAUSED THIS FLIPPEN MESS!!

I strongly disagree as well.

Use the 700 billion or 1 trillion to directly help the American People. By buyouts to distressed properties and shoring up those banks that did the right thing.

Let those that didn’t act responsibly fail.

The taxpayers should get a “CEO Bonus” tax cut. The taxpayer money that is used to bail out these crooks should be immediately seized from the CEO’s who collected multi-million dollar parachutes and sent back to the everyday person.

Capitalism and Free markets are fine ideas but as the past week has proven, they are as flawed, and more dangerous than Communism.

With the Information Age upon us and in full gear, shame on ANY American that falls for the same old political trickery that has place us in this spot.

I will never understand why so many poor and uneducated Americans vote for Big Business over and over again.

“I suggest that the Congress is backing this bailout because its members have a vested interest. You can bet that the executives of many of these failing institutions were good buddies with our Congressional representatives and they bought a lot of influence. So the specified intent of the bailout is “questionable.”

I don’t know much about economics, but I do know a bit about politics and this is very likely the reason for all of the panic. They want an immediate answer, when a long term solution would be a lot more rewarding to the entire nation. Imagine pumping $700 billion into education. Hah.

Don’t mean to sound selfish, but… I’m upset about this bailout because, possibly, it has interfered with just how long the major indices will remain in bear territory. I moved my 401K from common stocks (S&P index fund) to government securities last year. I have been waiting for a good time to switch back. (Yeah, I know… don’t try to time the market, blah, blah, blah). I was anticipating that the S&P would go below 1000 before the next bull run. Time will tell, but I think this bailout will keep that from happening. The low may have already been reached (last week) and I probably need to switch now. Anyway, in the end, I think my future 401K balance at retirement age will be significantly less because the feds didn’t just let nature takes it’s course.

Is Paulson Protecting Goldman Sachs”? were they coming up in the next wave of Bank Failures???
His stock shares in Goldman Sachs reached a “LOW” of $85.88 Sep: 18th:: Then reached a “HIGH” of $144.91 Sep 19th: :
“GOOD Move HANK” Paulson, I bet you are a “HERO” at Goldman Sachs and the other “GOOD OLE BOY” Finanicial instutions:
YEP THAT’S ME A SHAFTED TAXPAYER”
Keep the “RICH” in “POWER”:
‘SHAFT THE MIDDLE CLASS TAXPAYERS”.
THIS IS RIP-OFF TO BAIL OUT PAULSON AND BUSH’S RICH FRIENDS;”

I have heard only one comment that makes sense out of and that is that the US taxpayers might make money off this.Our leaders aren’t stupid and I believe they have our best interests in their hearts…they will make the best deal they can with this.There is no other way…the US Government is the only one with any money.Everyone is to blame with the US population using credit for everything;overpurchasing, overextending themselves; we all have more than we need. We need to start living within our means and the press has to STOP putting people in a panic, this is a good move and can be extremely profitable.

Of course this is necessary but infuriating. But what makes it more so is the audacity of Bush to ask for the limitless authority he’s asked for. Lax oversight is what got us into this mess. Bush has earned zero trust from the American people, and he should get none. Let’s not be taken for yet another ride by a regime that is either (take your pick) the most incompetent or the most corrupt ever to hold the White House.

Yes bail them out, but attach reasonable, responsible strings.

Sounds fine by me. The underlying model of the US is “it’s not my fault”, so it’s morally wrong to punish bankers for simply giving in to natural human emotions, like greed and stupidity. Otherwise, what next? Cutting welfare for able bodied adults just because they want to enjoy some time to themselves? Punishing those with unexpected pregnancies with the burden of children? Firing cops just because they succumbed to a taste for alcohol and a little taser fun with the kid? Holding journalists legally responsible for what they print?
Aren’t we in doing so forgetting the creed of “Community, Identity, Stability” based on the idea that everyone belongs to everyone else? Seesh, I’m going to drop a couple of tabs of soma, err, go play on the internet, maybe hack an e-mail account or two, to calm my nerves. Hopefully those bitter folks posting here will move back to Wasilla.

What an ill thought out response to the consequences of failure. I would think the vast majority of the people employed in banking are not at all affected by this. We STILL have well capitalized banks. What we are losing is the Big 5 Invetment Firms.
In fact, the REAL biggest fallout will be IT spending, since these Big 5 spent a ton on IT.

I still suggest we wait until the entities destined to fail, failm THEN we buy their assets and THEN we dispose of them.

If we have to, we can abbrogate all CDS.

YOU MISSSED THE POINT!

We may need A bailout. But the Paulson “bailout” gives him unreviewable dictatorial powers to spend the money on whatever the hell he wants. That’s not a bailout, that’s a giveaway.

DO SOME REASEARCH before you write a “story”.

You can’t champion Free Market Economics and demand that the Government deregulate the economy and keep its nose out of big business when things are booming, and then demand that the government save the economy when unfettered greed has so corrupted the system it collapses. You can’t have it both ways. Either you’re 100% Free Market – which means that you’ve got to bite the bullet during tough times and get competitive and innovative during those tough times so that the market “self-corrects,” or your abandon that model and look to a new one. You can’t have it both ways.

Personally, my opinion is that if you want to do business in America, you need to be accountable to Americans. That means paying taxes, creating jobs in America instead of shipping them overseas, and investing in local communities and economies. And if you accept government bail-out moneys, you also accept government oversight and accountability to the American people – your consumers, and the constituents and tax payers who support your bail-out.

I believe the bail out should be much earlier and should addrees the root of the problem “Housing”. Bail out banks may not be the best way to do this.

Also STOP deleting my post!!!

The alternative is not worse than Socalism? Our nation is so paralized by loss that we are blinded as to what the results are really going to be. We are not willing to loose what we have gained and are willing instead to give more ground, unprecended ground, more ground since the Great Depression, to Socalism.

The biggest outrage here is that this bonehead wrighter can make wild, unchecked claims like:

“We should all be disgusted that the government was forced into this situation.” — who forced the gov’t into this situation?

“Of course, we should cap executive pay, which was obscene at many financial firms, immediately” — who is to define obsene? When its boiled down, any number will be nothing more than an arbitrary number plucked out of the air that is larger than enough other people’s salary as to make it sound obsene to the masses.

“This was done not to prop up shareholders and executives but to ensure the solvency of the financial system,” –because only the gov’t can come up with solutions to problems, right?…business owners only cause problems, right?. Gov’t are the true innovators…wait…I cant remember the last invention that was invented by the gov’t or the last successful company started by the gov’t (Fannie and Freddie USED to be examples).

“I don’t think the government had a choice but to take these bad debts of the banks’ books…What makes capitalism work is borrowing and lending. The problem, without this bailout, would have been you would have condemned the economy to a period of halting growth at best,” — other necessities to capitalism are free exchange, property rights, protection from force and coercion…so lets trade all these other necessary components to ensure one – borrowing and lending.

“Nobody wanted this to happen. It ticks me off as a taxpayer but what were the options? Let the entire banking system go under? Then you might not have a job…Clearly, not all of them are Wall Street fat cats making big bucks – we’re talking about bank tellers, accountants, loan officers, executive assistants and many other types of jobs that would be at risk if the financial industry is not saved.” — again fear of loss…my job or my freedom…geeeee…let me think, um my job.

“But he and Probyn both maintained that once people get past feeling bitter, hurt and angry about the bailout, they will hopefully realize that this is the right solution. The risk of doing nothing was an even worse financial calamity.” — what he meant to say what that he hopes they all go back to sleep and forget just how much deeper the gov’t got into their pockets, jobs, and freedoms.

1. It is unfair to bail out those who lent or borrowed thoughtlessly
2. It is even more unfair that those at the top of these firms minted money with high risk investments and are escaping unscathed. bring them to justice. I dont want their yatch but it could sell and help someone close to their retirement do simple things like fix their roof or pay the hospital bills.
3. These people “gamble” on others money base everything on speculation. Truth is there is no science or math in the wall street techniques and the wall street is a casino, or so said the presidential candidates. True science is the plumber who fixes that block, the mechanic who fixes your car or the engineer who builds it or the doctor who is so scared of being sued by the patient and answering the patients insurance on why he recommended an expensive test. These people are good and are barely paid their work’s worth. Our “democratic” world is but controlled by lobbyists, rich people who bend law or influence new laws being written, the lawyers who cost so much they can only benefit the rich; lawyers cant be for poor, these people lock you into cellphone contracts n what not… your whole life is a contract and these people have you by your b***s. tell me when your service provider last allowed you to switch a service without coughing up a huge sum …
all in all democracy and the taxpaying VOTER was sold off by the government to the lobbyists and the other rich.

do something for the common man for a change. this system has failed and is not working, because it is not a good system.

You’re setting up a false dichotomy by saying we must either have this crappy bailout plan or nothing. Sure, doing nothing may be disastrous but there’s nothing wrong with taking a reasonable amount of time to fashion a measured, careful response that addresses all the risks without leaving the taxpayers holding the bag.

“I suggest that the Congress is backing this bailout because it’s members have a vested interest. You can bet that the executives of many of these failing institutions were good buddies with our Congressional representatives and they bought a lot of influence. So the specified intent of the bailout is questionable”

I don’t know much about economics, but I do understand a bit about politics and this seems to be a likely answer to the panic that we are seeing. They want an immediate answer, while a long term solution would prove far more rewarding. Imgaine pumping $700 billion into education. Hah.

Issue is that they cannot be trusted. Hey lets give ‘em 700B to do whatever they think is best. We have no idea how this money will be spent. The scary thing is they don’t either. I see this as just another form of leverage, but now it is tax payers money. Let them fail is the only true way to get out of this and then use the 700B to help out tax payers (small/med business loans)

When Paul Krugman and William Kristol both speak against the proposal on the op ed of the NY Times, there is something to be said that there is a problem with this Paulson proposal. Krugman had a great idea to have the government use the funds and increase the banks’ capital and then share in the benefit of that investment.

I see writing and hear people talking of this as a tax burden. While it will certainly result in more taxes, thatway of thinking distracts from the reality. This bailout is twenty-six hundred dollars stolen from each man, woman and child in this country, and let’s not put lipstick on these pigs, the thieves are no better than common street criminals, and the government that is trying to protect them is the largest, most organized criminal organization in the world. The whole lot of them should be convicted under RICO statutes, and the keys should be thrown away. As for whatever fraction of the 8 million or so who are employed in the finacial sector, who can honestly walk away with their hands clean, welcome to the world of lay offs, frozen minumum wage, no health insurance, unemployemnt lines, foreclosures, etc– the world they helped create. Let’s welcome them with open arms to the real world. Doesn’t it suck? I’d say give all of them a severence of of $50000 or so, which would cut the 785,000,000,000 by more than half, but why are any of them any more special than all the other people, who some might say worked a lot harder, for a lot less, before they lost their jobs. I truly do feel bad for all of them, but not bad enough to not only let their bosses continue to walk the streets, but to also futher reward their crimes, by giving them the money to start again right where they left off. Not even close. Not bailing them out may cost us dollars and cents in the short term, but we in the long term we will save in dollars and sense.

Paulson and his Wall Street cronies
tried in vain to entice the Chinese
to float their currency and to open
up more freely their banking and
borrowing! Whose laughing now?
The Chinese!

Every ten years or so, the U.S. tax
payers get royally screwed by bankers
and financiers! Indeed, the bankers
privatize profits and socialize the
losses by forcing the government to
borrow from the Federal Reserve at
the expense of U.S. tax payers. The
Fed controls the issuance of money
and loves a debt burden global society that it charges exorbitant
interest rates on loans from money
printed out of thin air!

Hmmmmmmm! Who really controls the
wealth transfer from the less sophisticated financial investors to
the Money Masters!

I disagree with your assessment. De-leveraging needs to occur. We were in a bubble, pure and simple. While painful, it must deflate. Have we lost sight of this? Will good, hard working Americans lose their jobs? Yes. Could this lead to a depression? Possibly. Can the taxpayer, and this country afford to bail these crooks out? NO. Has capitalism died? Sadly, yes it has.

Besides, the plan, as outlined, does not address the recapitalizing of banks. They still would be left with no money to loan. They would in effect, be solvent, but zombie organizations moving forward. Unless, the Treasury buys MBS’s at higher than market rates, thereby putting the cost to the taxpayer much higher. In no way shape or form does this protect the taxpayer in any sense. We all will be paying higher prices for everything as the value of the dollar drops due to this.

To me, capitalism is a system of winners and losers. But when you try to make sure that everyone on Wall Street wins then every customer loses.
This bailout will only create more moral hazard. These greedy bankers will be replaced by a new wave of greedy bankers with new loopholes. But the new ones will know the government will step in and bail them out on the taxpayer’s tab.

NO BAILOUT!
Let new players arise from the ashes of those who took bad risks.

What amazes me is that people are not up in arms demanding blood!
The American revolution happened because people were imposed with an unjust tax.

To keep things in perspective 700B translates into 2000 dollars per person.

-Ron

I’m not getting over anything, this is complete BS, why the heck should I continue to be penalized for saving money, and living within my means?

It’s over folks, if the 700 billion-2 trillion dollar bailout goes through, the backlash will be something DC has nightmares over.

The bailout is necessary, however, the government should put in place a tax specific to at least the financial sector that will eventually recoup any losses Americans taxpayers would otherwise have to pay. Obviously, the tax would be significant but not crippling. We will certainly have to foot the bill today, but the financials should pay it back. They will rebound one day and reap their profits and the government has to be there to take a bigger cut to pay us back. Otherwise, it’s just a free ride.

I love point made by R. Springer. If you let it all burn, $700 billion is way more than enough to provide temporary employment for those put out of work by the imploding financial markets. Put everyone to work building bridges, doing paperwork for bureaucrats, whatever, until the economy recovers and people can get back to work in the private sector. Completely avoid the moral hazard and you provide the best economic stimulus possible – jobs.

I strongly disagree. Any consequences from going with “crash and burn” should remain squarely on the shoulders of those that are dragging us into this mess. If we have 10% unemployment, well then, if the fat cats are the ones paying for the unemployment checks, maybe they would think twice about whether it was worth it or not. My point is let them crash, and let congress put their heads together to figure out how they are going to stick the fat cats with the bill of recovering from the crash.

Everything gets paid for one way or the other. This is happening because you bought a house you couldn’t afford and now are paying for it.

SOME BLAME GOES TO THE HOMEOWNERS.

While poor oversight, greed and bad lending practices caused this mess, it takes two to tango. If a tire company recalls a tire that will blow up if you drive too fast explodes when you’re doing 130 mph on a public highway, part of the blame should be the driver’s.

Nobody is pointing their finger (surprise, surprise) at any of the total losers defaulting on their mortgages. While some folks should have never been homeowners in the first place (and arguably that is the bank’s fault, clearly), how about the millions of deadbeats who are simply walking out on their homes since the property’s value has decresead, and therefore have DECIDED not to uphold their end of their OBLIGATION to pay back the bank for buying a home? Much of the national pain is attributable to overbuilding in Miami and California. Wall Street didn’t hold guns to any developers’ heads to overbuild by many hundreds of thousands of extra homes.

People assumed home prices go up forever. They were wrong. But that doesn’t excuse walking out on a mortgage deal with a bank. Data shows that a most of the problem lies in the sub-prime area. 2.5% of mortgages were sub-prime in 1998. 13% were sub-prime in 2007. This is the fault of CEO’s and government officials.

However, a significant number of defaults which have greatly exacerbated the problems for Wall Street and the economy are those who simply decided not to pay their mortgage. That’s the fault of the American public.

Furthermore, people should realize that the S&L bailout of the ’80s ended up costing tax payers less than 1/4 of the $500 bn number after the assets were sold by the RTC. With the government buying assets from banks at something like 20 cents on the Dollar, the government and the tax payer could ultimately profit from this situation down the road – but either way, this “program” is neccessary to avoid furhter pain. And for those who thing executives are being bailed out, which I partially agree with, consider the thousands who innocently worked at Bear or Lehman and are now jobless… many on Wall Street receive stock options as compensation and have thus been WIPED OUT. I DARE YOU to tell one of them that they were “bailed out”.

Lastly, it is horribly irresponsible to say that everyone who works on Wall Street are economic terrorists. That’s absurd. Finance makes the world go-round, and the problems that caused this mess were confined to a very small, isolated segment of the industry. Wall Street is a global symbol of capitalism and success, and while we make mistakes and learn from those mistakes, is vital to the economic future of our country.

A few bad apples always ruin it for the rest of us. But this is not a widespread Wall Street greed problem. Have some perspective, people. And don’t forget to point the finger at oursleves, sometimes.

How the hell do I know if it is justified or not!!!??!!!

They have lied to us in the past. How do I know if they are on the up and up? I have to have faith that Ben Bernanke and Paulson and George Bush are honest and honorable men AND that their solution is real and viable. I don’t know ANY of those things. This could be the second biggest scam (after the selling of the Iraq War) and I would have no idea.

I can only hope that someone in a position of power is smart enough to know and has the power to act accordingly. I am totally blind and vulnerable. I think most Americans feel this way.

Rick Olsen has said it best — this is similar to the the debacle of the S&L crisis the same principals that worked then and will work now if people will just think about the concept. A bailout assumes for free this worked then and it will work now.

While I am tempted to agree with the “let them fail” crowd, I do think it is necessary to bail out the financial system as a whole, or it will cease to function with disasterous consequences.

However, there must be conditions and oversight. Paulson says he doesn’t want the program to be “punitive.” I say screw that, the executives who caused this should be punished heavily. Furthermore, provisions must be included to protect homeowners.

There should be a freeze on foreclosures while this is sorted out, and some sort of assistance program to help people get out of these bad loans and into a home they can afford.

Kill it!

Let the banks who failed accounting, fall on their swords. All the economists say we can’t live without banks. I agree. But no one seems to be talking about the fact that smaller, more agile banks, internet lending, foreign banks, etc. will GLADLY step in to lend American’s money.

This is a chance for the banks that “did the right thing” to rise to the top. To grow their market share. To be rewarded for their dilligence.

There will be short-term pain in the population. Put that $700 billion towards helping citizens who are adversely affected by the fall of these banks and need help in the short term.

I think economists would be surprised how quickly other banks will step in to fill the void… if only the US government would give them the chance.

p.s. I don’t work in a small bank. I don’t invest in small banks. But I DID take economics in college. Maybe some of these so-called experts can retake that course.

Anyone remember how the Patriot Act was passed? This is a familiar Bush administration modus operandi…use a crisis to push hurried passage of sweeping governmental powers without the kind of vetting such sweeping changes or massive dollar amounts DEMANDS.

Sec 8 of this act says Paulson can act without judicial or executive review of his actions. What happened to balance of powers in our gov’t?

NO FRIGGIN WAY. Call your Congressman and BOTH Senators now.

Lea Costa Mesa – If we use the 700 billion to bail out the 301 million americans, that will give each American $2,500. Now what mortgage/college/insurance will that pay for.

News flash for everyone: In order to pay for this stuff you need a job. A lot of you who work for companies, big or small, are at risk of losing yours if the credit markets completely freeze up which they will if they don’t get rid of these assets. Also, your savings will take a terrible hit since your stocks, mutual funds, corporate bonds and money market funds will lose value.

But at least we won’t be giving the gov’t more power. C’mon folks, wake up.

Democrat and Republican insiders agree that a bailout is necessary. Republican’s claim that unless they get the exact plan they want – free money for THEIR appointee to give no-strings to THEIR CEOs – then they will call Democrats obstructionist. If history is a guide, Democrats will give them their pony as long as they cross their heart and hope to die that they’ll feed it every day, unlike last week’s kitten, and puppy, and 3-trillion-dollar war. And you want me to get OVER it????????

When I see some indication that we have at least two parties in Washington actually doing some tough negotiating, I’ll consider it. I’m not even asking for any representation for non-insiders, just two kinds of insiders with spines. But this is bull$#!%. Don’t you tell me what to get over, you overpaid son of a …

No, No, No, No, NO! Let those who made thier mistakes, pay for thier mistakes!

His name was Ron Paul, and you all laughed at him. This is not an I told you so. This is an invitation to take a second look.

Let ‘em all burn. Let the chips fall where they may. What do you say to many average people who don’t any stocks and have nothing in their 401k. They share downside with very little upside.

Go down in flames and send egregious violaters to jail

Get over the bailout? Sure…when it is funded completely by a one time wealth tax on the financiers that got us into this mess!

Bush to handlers: Well done, now if we can only get this reward package passed all my friends will be well rewarded.

I have watched some documentaries on the US economy and all the players over time and it sickens me to see how a small group of people can have so much control and so much power. Sure you have the president of the United States, but in the end, he or she is only a puppet.

US taxpayers have no choice but to follow along as this particular group orchestrates the biggest bailout for friends in world history.

The tech crises, Enron Savings and Loans, and now all of this. The US will never learn.

LET THEM FAIL!

“Get over it”? You’re kidding, right? Do the math and you will see that the 2 trillion dollars all the bailouts total, are equal to about 20% of THE ENTIRE NATIONAL DEBT of $9.6 trillion. Not just the deficit, but the debt itself. While we now have to sit back and accept that we have no choice on the bailout itself to keep the economy out of utter ruin, we do have the choice of removing every incumbent politician available to be removed, at the next voting opportunity. We may have no recourse to stick it to the irresponsible borrowers, but the government can be changed in its entirety starting November 4th so that we can get back to rewarding people like us that play by the rules.

TAKE ACTION to STOP THE BAILOUT!

CALL CONGRESS NOW!

Let it crash and burn; both banks an over mortgaged homeowners. True capitalism requires a heavy cost to those this stupid. That includes those who borrowed beyond their means, not saving up for an equity stake that would protect them from devaluation of their property. Most of the subprime lenders already showed a lack of fiscal responsibility; that’s why they were subprime.

The long-term situation will be far better if the price is paid now rather than by putting more crushing debt on our grand-children. The next generations should not be forced to pay for our stupidity

Oh yes. It is always best to passively accept, even embrace, a rescue plan developed by the very same foxes that already ate the chickens. I’m sure the media coverage of the crisis this time is accurate. This is so unlike the propaganda delivered by the media when the gov’t wanted to panic the public in 2001 about WMD in Iraq. Paul, thank’s for not worrying our pretty American heads with good, investigative journalism and detailed analysis of the bailout proposals as being lobbied by the financial industry (and the auto industry, and the other industries). We much prefer your peppy, pollyannish, propagandized poison pill!

Creating another $700 billion in debt is exactly the same as a junkie getting in with a new dealer. The little guys will still lose their jobs, health care, etc., and upper management will still be unaccountable as they socialize at the country club. The only people who get a pass are those who created the mess, not those victimized by it. Another triumph of the American free market.

What is up – in the 1990’s I lost everything due to the recession .. the one Bush SR. did not know existed.—-I know I am no-one – and no-one sent a dime in my times of trouble…………Why am I helping the cause of the problem….?

Now you want to bailout the rich…….who will then buy up distressed real estate and add to a fortune that the unfortunate gave up due to the captains creation…….

Do any of you believe the little man is close to joining the revolution to over throw this total injustice……..
Why would they get a severance any different that I got in the early 90’s.. I am to old to carry the
ba_ _ _ _ _ _ anywhere………

NO. It’s a shame to bailout this reckless behavior of the Fat Cats. Let them die first and after that it’s time to rescue the small people by giving them a stedfast hand for their living and thir lives.

Below is my comment to my congressman.
Either way we lose folks. If the legislation is not approved, we can face an imminent financial disaster with an “I told you so” by these sharks. If it is approved then what they did was to bail out the bankers that caused this mess AND we will be bled to death by those that are Americans by birthright only. There are very few patriots in that crowd. Once they have this power,700 billion will only be the start. Greed and Power has always been their game plan.

Honorable Ric Keller,

With respect to the Treasury secretary Paulson’s proposal seeking asset buying power that will be unchecked by ANY agency, person or court, I respectfully request that you vote, ‘NO’ to said proposal. The idea that any one person can ‘reign’ unopposed and with supreme authority over all the phases that he request power to rule over, is fundamentally flawed with respect to human nature and is not in keeping with our American values and safeguards. I believe that you and the other representatives know very well in your heart that all power always corrupts and the passing of the proposed legislation would be no exception. I am trusting that both you and your constituents have the discernment to see through the ploy that will ultimately totally destroy America as we know it.

Respectfully submitted,
A friend from Florida

I was taught that our form of government, a republic with grounded capitalism rewards risk and punishes errors.

This is part of our accepted package.
This is our time-proven elected form of government.

I believe under the current proposal we are bailing out excessive risk non-stakeholders and weakening our structure as a whole.

This seems akin to socialism. This is “not” like the 60-70’s when the Treasury backed NYC.

So what if they go under. Others will step up over time. The interim vacum, e.g. lending, guarantees, security, subsidizing rates, etc, can again be backed / provided by the US government rather than make them whole.

Some safety nets make sense, like unemployment, medicare. This proposal is not a moral or mandated safety net.

It corrupts our society.

So after 18 months of upheavel and trouble in the world financial markets, our esteemed administration and Congress decided Friday we need to panic and let them pass whatever they think will help hold the economy upright. I think these elected folks have finally run into an American taxpayer revolt. Based on their recent ability to reason, tell the truth, and protect the American public, why would anyone on this planet even consider rushing into another quick fix they are screaming we must have? This may be the drop(from trickle down economics) that broke the taxpayers back. We are drowining already!

As part of the bail out, we should do couple of things…
1. ASK ALL THE CEOS, CHAIRMAIN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO RETURN THE BONUS AND PAY PACKAGE THEY GOT FROM LAST 5 YEARS.
2. BAN THEM FOR LIFELONG in getting them involved in any of the companies.
3. Get a equity stake from the companies so that government can recover some of the money when the company stock price raises.

The white collar gangsters and foreign players did expect this to happen, they made it happen, and they want us to concede our treasure out of fear.

Read a synopsis of “The Black Swan” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Read about behavioral economics. Acting in the way Wall Street expects not only sells us out for years to come, but invites more abuse of behavioral exploitation tactics.

If we invested all of that “bail out” money into improving our infrastructure, creating new industries and possibly helping some of the deserving people refinance their loans, it would have a much greater benefit than bailing out the banks. If we bail them out they will probably do the same thing all over again. Its their risk not ours.

I believe that the federal government was very negligent in allowing the situation to become this severe. We knew a long time ago that subprime mortgages were a bad idea. The government should have intervened much earlier. But, they did nothing.

I suggest that the Congress is backing this bailout because it’s members have a vested interest. You can bet that the executives of many of these failing institutions were good buddies with our Congressional representatives and they bought a lot of influence. So the specified intent of the bailout is questionable.

I say no to the bailout and I think the responsible people need to held financially accountable. Squeeze the money out of them.

It would be naive to simply bail out any financial institution merely because “they are two big to fail.” The writer appears to assume that every bailout was necessary and that is false. Bear Stearns was not necessary. It is only in hindsight that we realize the Bear Stearns bailout was not enough. The talking heads refused to acknowledge that every single investment bank was on the precipice, perhaps to prevent a panic, even though it was true.

There will be little contrition without a sincere effort to regulate and change the executive compensation that rewards extreme risk taking behavior. Board members are not properly looking after investors and the good of companies. Pumping more dollars into these companies will not improve the value of the overpriced assets or the economic situations of the homeowners that joined in on the speculation without appreciating the risks.

It is necessary for the Fed to improve confidence but that confidence should not be infused into companies that wantonly disregarded sound decision making to reap annual bonuses and drive up the cost of living across the nation with inflated housing prices. There is severe lack of risk appreciation by leaders in the finance industry. Why presume that an influx of dollars will save jobs when they could arguably be used to minimize losses while layoffs continue to further cost savings?

what if YOUR loan gets dumped on the government? what if you’re one of the people facing repossession of a vehicle or foreclosure of a home? see, this is what people don’t understand (re: paying back the money you owe), or they don’t WANT to understand.

by nationalizing all this toxic crap, by becoming the servicing entity for trillions in mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, student loans, and you name it…the game changes DRASTICALLY.

as it stands now, if you are a deadbeat and don’t pay the bank for an item that is secured by collateral (car or house), the bank will repossess or foreclose, you will lose the item, and you may be required to take a tax hit due to the difference between what you owe and what they can sell it for (taxed as income). that is the WORST that can happen to you.

if you have an unsecured debt (credit cards, student loans, etc), and you don’t pay back the owner of that debt, they can do…just about nothing. they can call you, write you, complain about you to the credit reporting agency, they can sell your debt to a collection agency who will more vigorously hound you about the debt and maybe threaten to sue you for repayment (which often is more trouble than it’s worth, so the threat is hollow), and after several years of you blowing them off, the debt falls off your credit report (despite that it is still collectable, they usually just give up), and you go on with your life as if nothing happened.

that’s the picture TODAY.

under the bailout, the potential exists that the government becomes the enforecement arm for collecting the debt you owe that was dumped on them. you WILL pay that debt, in full, with interest, because otherwise it will be the same as if you didn’t pay your taxes. they’ll call it ‘debt evasion’ or some such garbage, and essentially the same remedies available to the IRS will be available to the RTC. failure to pay your debt will result in imprisonment. bottom line. this is not exaggeration. this is not alarmist fantasy. that is what happens when you don’t pay a bill to uncle sugar.

they will issue you a debt letter notifying you of the existence of a debt. they will give you a deadline to make arrangements to pay this debt. if you ignore them, they will garnish your wages (assuming anyone still has a job). and failing all that, they will arrest and incarcerate you, and you will STILL be required to pay something back.

they’ll never use the term debtors prison, but that is essentially what you will have.

think it won’t happen? anyone here can probably cite 2 or 3 high profile cases where people who didn’t pay their taxes lost EVERYTHING, had to watch it all being auctioned off, and still faced criminal/civil penalties.

when joe 6-pack figures THAT out…IF he figures that out…that’s when the things will really and truly get interesting

This is the worst idea ever. The government is endorsing and protecting the speculators that brought the crisis upon us. It was loose lending and financial trickery that made all the profits in the past 8-10 years. Now that the truth is exposed, the Fed rushes to bail out all the people who should be taking a loss.

What happened to “the marker” and capitalism being the most efficient arbiter? Rather than letting these assets tumble to what they’re worth, the government pays over the net worth to protect the speculators’ money, and sticks us with the bill. There is no easy way out.

The average American will be crushed. Either our taxes will HAVE to increase to pay for these, or the printing presses start up, and inflation will continue to climb.

No-one bails out the average American when we make bad investments. They made the billions when the going was good, now they should pay when the losses start.

At first glance, I am very bitter about the buyout.If I was in financial distress, I quite sure no bank would come and bail me out. However, given the near term problems without a bailout, the bailout by the government, is the only/best course of action possible. All CEO, CFO associated with the companies being bailed out should be fired with no compensation and sued/prosecuted to recover all od their personal funds because of their greed. Selling shorts and naked shorts should be barred forever. How can you sell something that you dont own??? SEC regulations need to be fixed ASAP>

We don’t need jobs created by companies that would fail without a bail out. Let em fail, so prices come down and successful companies can progress more and create jobs.

I’d like to know the total executive payroll in all the companies that have failed.

The argument I hear constantly against allowing these companies to fail is that it will ruin the entire financial system. That seems to me to be pure speculation to bolster that a particular position. No one really knows what will happen. It seems to me that when there are the initial failures of some financial companies the others will get serious about figuring out how not to fail especially when they realize no one is going to come to the rescue. The failure of some companies also provides growth opportunities for those that remain. Whenever this process takes place where there is consolidation or companies fail we generally conclude that this is a healthy process. Why not in this case?

We should not help any of these companies. Even if they had not made bad decisions and were about to fail, that happens every day in small business. People make the right decisions and still fail, people lose their investments, inocent people lose their jobs and someone learns a lesson about how to better run a business. No one is learning anything here except how to scam the taxpayers and that their really are no consequences to their actions.

There should be absolutely NO BAILOUT.

The system is broken. If it takes major government intervention to save us all, then the system has failed. It needs to collapse to make way for a new system, or an old system brought back… Can you say GOLD STANDARD!!! There are some very key factors that lead to this situation. 1st interests rates were too low, still too low, and for far too long. Cheap credit created a massive credit bubble, credit lifts all boats, so we have the first global credit and economic bubble. 2nd our monetary system is unstable and controlled by an entity that is unconstitutional, “The Fed”. The government and the Fed created this situation. If I didn’t know better I would say they did it on purpose. More BIG GOV and MORE BIG BIZ. The banking industry will consolidates into an oligopoly. This is the most dangerous threat to our already dwindling liberty!!! I am embarassed to call myself an American. They are idiots blinded by greed. Ultimately facious and nanny states collapse under their own wheight. It is only a matter of time.

I HAVE NO FAITH IN THE SYSTEM!! I AM PULLING ALL MY FUNDS FROM THE BANK. I WILL KEEP EQUITIES, GOLD, AND LAND TO STORE MY WEALTH. I DON’T CARE IF THE SITUATION IS RESOLVED. UNTIL MY LIQUID WEALTH IS BACKED UP BY SOME SORT OF TANGIBLE ASSET I WILL NOT PAR-TAKE IN THE SYSTEM.

TOTALLY DISGUSTED!

I agree with all of you. Let’s say one of us started a small business, or even without a business, went through a financial situation like this. Would WE get a bailout? No. But instead, since big CEO’s run their businesses into the ground, ME AND MY CHILDREN will end up paying for THEIR mistakes. Bull pie.

I would be for this if is was a universal problem. Not all of the banks seem to have a problem, those that stuck to conservative lending practices and didn’t let people borrow as much as they wanted are sitting pretty right now. In fact, they are buying the banks that made bad bets for pennies on the dollar. Why shouldn’t we let the weak banks fail and the strong banks survive?

Paul, would you PLEASE read through our comments and write an article that includes all the really great ideas that are in these comments.

You quote Norris who asks “what are the options? Let the entire banking system go under?” This is NOT the only option to the bailout and he should know it.

The rest of the banking community across this great nation is huge and in good shape and just waiting to get at the “toxic assets” that the huge Wall Street investment banks are unwilling to sell in the competitive marketplace at a price the market will bear. The U.S. Treasury will pay too much for these toxic assets in a noncompetitive “bailout marketplace.”

U.S. corporation balance sheets are in good shape; they are sitting on $13 Trillion in cash. They are using some of it to buy back their own stock. If the U.S. Treasury wants to help, let it facilitate the sale of these toxic assets to U.S. Corps. at competitive market prices. The money is readily available without asking taxpayers to foot the bill at noncompetitive HIGH prices.

A major recession is coming with or without this poorly planned bailout. We don’t need to add to our troubles with a poorly conceived plan.

Hell no ,I do not agree with the bailout in anyway. Call your senator, your congressman, your governor. Tell your friends, don’t let this theft of taxpayers money pass.

Nobody is even thinking of alternatives! Not all banks are in trouble, primarily these huge investment banks. Instead of putting these billions into buying their junk, why not channel this money into well-run commercial banks to get liquidity going again. This will serve the needs of most people: home, auto, small business and collateralized personal loans. This is what used to be the bread and butter business of most commercial banks! Why buy the junk of the richest of the rich when you can help people much more directly?

A trillion dollars to stop the bleeding and keep status quo for the next 20 years??? No way. Paulson is just protecting his buddies @ Goldman Sachs.

Either blow it up, or do a complete takeover of financial industry and carve out stock market from banking institutions.
-Force all execs in financial industry to go bankrupt.
-Rollback individual bankruptcy laws.
-Take over goldman/morgan and spin off smaller companies.
-Remove stock market from banks.

This bailout is insanity and a giant step towards destroying middle class Americans.
These financial institutions should be forced to mark to market ALL level III assets, and let free market capitalism do what it does best – swallow the weak and grow the strong.

Paulson has no right to shove this enormous paycheck down the taxpayer’s throats. Not to mention, .gov estimated the S&L bailout at 20Billion; in reality 160Billion had to be swallowed by the taxpayers. What are the chances they’re off by a factor of again, putting the real price tag at nearly 4 trillion dollars.

I highly urge anyone that works and pays taxes in this country to call your senators and reps immediately and to let them know they will forever lose your vote if they decide to support this bill. I already have.

I AM FURIOUS AND STILL FEEL THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE BAILING OUT THESE FIRMS. IT’S NOT CLEAR TO ME THAT THE
CEO’S, FUND MANAGERS, ETC. WILL GET THE BOOT – WILL THAT BE ENSURED?
THIS IS A NATURAL SELF-CORRECTION, THAT IF NOT ALLOWED TO HAPPEN, WILL JUST KEEP EVERYTHING INFLATED, WHICH IS JUST AS BAD.
OUR KIDS WILL INHERIT THIS DEBT!

GLOBAL WARMING IS NATURE SELF-CORRECTING DUE TO MAN’S OVERUSE OF RESOURCES, AND THIS MESS IS OUR ECONOMY SELF-CORRECTING – I SAY LET IT HAPPEN!

Who can say that this particular bailout is all it will take? What hidden, threatening investments are still out there? Don’t think the question is yet whether to bail out or not. Rather, will a bailout be the magic bullet, or a drop in the bucket?

The one fact that I haven’t heard the media address and Secretary Paulson doesn’t acknowledge is that the
regulatory agencies that Secretary Paulson wants to reform and modernize, have provided affordable mortgages a stable banking system and financial markets for 80 years. These safeguards served both democrat and republican administrations until the current administration. I don’t think it’s just greedy CEO’s that should be held accountable the Bush administration should carry some responsibility as well.

As disastrous as it may seem to be to let the Crash and Burn occur, it’s not the end of the world. It’s actually long view.
In economics, death precedes growth. It wouldn’t hurt to imprison (perhaps execute?) some of the corporate morons who destroyed these companies.
Otherwise, this will only happen again later on.

A bailout would be the biggest financial swindle in history. Enough is enough.

CNN, if you are not intelligent enough to recognize and understand this disaster, let me concisely clarify it for you. There is a huge tsunami of public rage, a most terrifying wave, that will engulf the politicians who support this bailout. They may well find themselves unemployed shortly. LET WALL STREET FAIL and let the blood flow as it will.

I’ll get over it when the Fed bails me out of my mortgage – fat chance of that, eh? Until then, let’em sink! ‘Cause I’ll be damned if I’m gonna pay for some renegade CEO’s MacMansion as well as my own humble farm…

Get over it?! Get over it? Ask how this got started, prosecute those responsible, and have them serve time and make restitution! Democrats and Republicans ignored the warnings so that they could continue to feed at the ginie mae and fannie mae troughs. Look at which of the two presidentail candidates benefitted the most from this, look at who in the Congesss refused to heed the warnings, and voted NOT to have ovesight for these two institutions and look at which past president got the deregulation started, and you’ll get an idea of the scope of this greed. If those whom we elect do not represent our nation’s interrests, then it’s time to get them out of office; or else, if we are content with the status quo and refuse to act, then we are no better than those we elect.

How naive is this question? Do you really expect us think there are only two options, namely either “do nothing” or use “this” bailout? The problem is the word “the” as in “the bailout” as if there is only one possible. This one, even some Republican senators have cried out foul about stating is contains everything for the banks and nothing for home-ownser struggling to avoid foreclosure and for tax-payers. If they believe in the “ownership society” why has it taken the Democrats to suggest taxpayers own a part of the institutions their money is supposed to bail out? Not that the Democrats have been perfect, they’ve done too little to resist this “anything goes” Wall street for the last 8 years, but this particular bailout, is just class war by Washington for the investment banks against citizens. A different bail out that would have protections against bankrupcy for homeowners who were given highly misleading (sometimes downright lied to in) mortgages, and for taxpayers, then that’s something to consider.

A bailout is probably necessary to prevent a collapse of our financial system and, consequently, our economy. However, why do the taxpayers have to foot the bill. Why not raise corporate income taxes to pay for the bailout over time?

I’m outraged that it’s come to this. In my opinion it’s too little (if you can call $700 Billion little) too late.

The American taxpayers are the ones taking it in the shorts (to the tune of over $2000 per citizen). The same tax payers that have seen their property values plummet. The same tax payers that in many cases were “wooed” into purchasing properties they shouldn’t have been able to purchase and who are now losing their homes. Where’s the bailout for the little guy – the average citizen? This bailout is basically stealing from the poor and giving to the rich so the poor (and the rich) don’t suffer even more.

OK – having said all that… Yes – I agree that the bailout is needed in order to prevent a total meltdown in which everyone in America would lose. But I also argue that preventative measures should have been taken long before we got to this point.

What I am most angry about is that it was the last Democratic president that started this whole mess with the change in mortage qualification rules. People forget and the media is certainly not helping us to remember from our past mistakes.

The real tragedy is that we have forgotten everything so painfully learned in the 20th century. The bailout is not a bailout, it is the government serving a role better served by the market and it creates two major problems:

Moral Hazard – this has been pretty well addressed, so I won’t go into it too much. But the primary way to limit the moral hazard problem is to make sure the proper people get spanked. For all the talk here about CEO’s a golden parachutes, they aren’t the people that caused the problem. They are a symptom, not the cause. People want their money to grow, but they want to be free from having to know about what makes it grow. The right outcome here would be exactly the loss of confidence and the increased aversion to risk the “bailout” is intended to avoid. The important moral hazard problem happens when people are allocating their retirement funds, not when CEO and directors are trying to take advantage of ignorance. Investors need to be spanked. Whether or not CEO’s go to jail won’t make a difference in anything.

To avoid bubbles (to the extent that’s possible) and to invest rationally, what we require is a robust, competitive, clean and clear financial system. Paulson said, and it’s not implausible, the government might even make money on the “bailout.” What they are proposing to do is to serve the market role that hedge funds, etc, serve. Our “problem” is not that our current finance sector got too out-of-hand, but rather that it couldn’t step up to the plate. Contagion happens when everyone is weak enough to catch diseases from each other. We need a robust set of long-term investors to make a heck of a lot of money on this “crisis,” not another example of the government coming in and muddying the waters.

The business cycle is dampened by sophisticated investors buying when things are cheap and selling when bubbles start to form. They don’t do so to be good corporate citizens, but to make a buck. The only thing needed to save capitalism from its excesses are a simple set of well-enforced laws to avoid fraud. The efficient level of law is a separate question, but a side-stepping of market forces by government fiat doesn’t help. If the system has gotten so complex (risk spreading, derivates, etc) such that the mass of people with money to invest cannot understand the risk they are placed at, then people need to be spanked hard enough that they remember understanding is important and investing without out it is risky. Risk should be risky, its important.

I agree that Paulson’s plan must be adopted, and quickly.

First, this must not be called a “bailout”, as while it does seek to take the illiquid securities off the banks’ (and other financial institutions) balance sheets, the banks will sell them to the Treasury at deep discounts, to reflect the value of those securities. In other words, the banks and other institutions holding these securities will still take a loss. Thus, there is no worry about whether we are encouraging a “moral risk” of encouraging reckless behavior in the future.

The use of the term “bailout” implies that the common taxpayer is somehow conferring a benefit to the banks and other financial institutions (i.e., “Wall Street”) to benefit only those entities. What is being lost here is that the program is intended to protect the entire economy, which includes everyday people’s jobs, homes, retirement savings, etc. This will protect “Main Street” from far more severe consequences than the probable eventual cost to the taxpayers.

The key to this whole plan is “at what price will these securities be purchased”? Clearly, the sellers must be paid enough to encourage them to sell. On the other hand, if the government pays too much, then the taxpayers will suffer a loss. The hope is that the ultimate result is a minimal or no loss to the government, similar to the Resolution Trust Corp experience with the “Savings and Loan Bailout”.

To fully understand this issue, the fundamental problem is that many homeowners are in trouble paying off their mortgages, either because of severely increasing interest rates from adjustable rate mortgages, or other financial hardship, such as loss of a job. This is made worse with declining housing prices, such that the bank is not protected in foreclosure by the value of the homes. Seeing the loss of value, some borrowers are simply walking away from their homes, rather than try to pay off what they agreed to pay. The securities are illiquid because of the uncertainty of the value of the underlying bundle of mortgages. And therein lies the issue – what are they worth? How will the Treasury value them to make wise investments of the taxpayers’ dollars?

What I have heard so far is the idea of a “reverse” auction, with sellers bidding down to lower and lower prices, and the government buying the lowest priced securities bid. This does not ensure a fair price, however, as different bundles of mortgages with a collective face value of $10 million will have far different fair market values due to the differences in the status of the mortgages in the packages. Only a detailed evaluation of each of the mortgage securities will allow the government to intelligently buy the securities at prices which will not only achieve the objectives of the program, but also protect the taxpayers. This will take a fair amount of manpower, and cannot be done overnight (unless there already is some evaluation matrix or methodology in place that can be used). Perhaps there needs to be some type of disclosure by the sellers about the package of loans that would suffice, with recourse to the sellers if the disclosures are fraudulent.

What the Treasury will do with the mortgages (packaged with a bundle of other mortgages into marketable securities) will be to try to work through each of the mortgages to attempt to maximize the value of the securities purchased. If the program is modified from the initial version to include foreclosure protections for the borrowers, then the government will realize less from the packages of mortgages purchased. That is, the taxpayers will be further on the hook, to the extent that the program includes borrower protections. Now, I am not arguing against some such protections, but the provisions of such borrower protections are not something that can and should be included in the bill, as time is of the essence. If the bill is not passed this week, the loss of confidence in the financial markets will be severe.

The underlying problem was caused by “easy credit”, i.e., loans being made to borrowers who were not sufficiently creditworthy. As long as housing prices kept going up, no problem. But as soon as housing prices leveled off or declined, the underlying mortgages were doomed to fail. This was the fault of the lenders earning fees for the mortgages created, but also the fault of the borrowers who also were being driven by greed to earn a quick buck with someone else’s money on the line. Many “liar loans” were made without any proof of income by the borrowers. With the ability to sell the mortgage, the mortgage initiating banks and mortgage brokers had no incentive to be prudent, as the risk was shifted off to the buyer of the mortgage. The only way to make the mortgage initiator accountable for the credit worthiness of the borrowers is to permit the mortgage purchasers to have “recourse” back to the initiating institution if a mortgage turns bad. Buyers of mortgages would then also look to the financial soundness of the mortgage seller, as recourse to a financially unsound seller would be cold comfort.

Bottom line: The $700 billion program needs to be passed quickly and cleanly, but there needs to be some better explanation on how the purchases will be made, other than “Trust me”.

This bailout is disaterous because the Power-elite, in the name of the people of the United States is writing checks that it can’t cash. If you think this one is bad, just wait until the bell tolls for Medicare.

The article is incredibly short-sighted. It portrays only two options:

1. Let the banks crash and burn” and
2. Support Paulsons bailout.

This is NOT TRUE.

There are other options that ensure the taxpayers get their money’s worth.

For exanmple:
Let the banks become bankrupt, and then let the govt take them over.

Employees won’t lose their jobs, and the banks will be able to carry on business, so that the rest of the economy is not affected.

Sure the shareholders will lose their money, but what were they doing when the banks were directly or indirectly indulging in shady practices such as NINJA loans (loans to people with No Income, No Job, no Asset) loans. They were happy to take the short terms benefits, now they deserve the long term losses.

Why are the financial scammers who caused this whole mess not being dragged out in the street and shot?

get over it? such a bull!
they knew this was hapenning long time ago. Did they do anything? Were shareholders “adviced” of these issues” beforehand?
The typical “job losses”, “consumer confidence” arguments mentioned AGAIN to let the public know they are working hard to solve the issues.
Culture of corruption- from Mae/Mac all the way to AIG- companies with really close ties to the Republican Party. The government has to interfere because these companies were major donors for the political campaigns of the Bush family.
Will they do anything about the millions of $ that company “executives” are taking for such a crappy job? of course not!
Who pays for all those mistakes? YOU!

Let’s see if voters open their eyes for a little while this time.

This is the same Corporatism that the world witnessed in the 30s with Italy and Germany. This is what the Founding Fathers warned us against. This is why the founding fathers wanted a limited federal government. We are on the verge of the federal government owning your debt, owning foreclosed property and dictating how banks operate. This is the beginning of the new world order people. It’s OVER unless citizens act NOW. Presidential Directives signed into law give the President the right to call into effect martial law due to an economic crisis. Learn to grow veggies, learn to be a nomad, learn how to survive without your little comforts because it’s hitting the fan and this is just the beginning.

The magnitude of this problem is staggering and the amount of people who are uninformed and who do not even care is equally staggering.

No one has spelled out what this potential disaster is so that we can weigh the need for the bailout. I don’t know whether the refusal to bail out theese companies will make a difference to me. I do know that the bailout will hurt us for decades to come.

Americans have a poor sense of history. Every major financial crisis has been caused by a banking crisis. Some of the banking crises were caused by broken currency pegs like in Asia 11 years ago, but the truth is that a banking crisis will paralyze the economy.

So, in one sentence “I don’t think we have any other options.”

So ask yourself, is it worth sacrificing the entire economy to punish the banks? I’d say that it’s not. However, their days of having no oversight needs to end and needs to end fast. I also hope this bailout has necessary oversight to ensures that taxpayers won’t get screwed over more than we already will.

DISAGREE!!! Let us have a referendum on this bailout! It is OUR money!

My letter to the article’s author:

Paul,

Don’t do your big corporation propaganda spin on me. YOU DON’T KNOW that doing nothing wouldn’t be better.

You, and cnn/fn have been offering “advice” for the last decade and it’s ALL BEEN WRONG.

So don’t tell me to get over it.

Look in the mirror, be a man, and admit how many times you’ve been wrong. Quit pretending you’re Advice Central.

Sincerely,

Scott

Agree

It is disheartening to see the market not work, but lets face it: our economy would be in ruin if this didn’t happen. The buck was broken on Monday. Money market funds were at risk at going under, which would have meant many many taxpayers would have lost money.

I wouldn’t even necessarily call this a bailout. The gov’t (taxpayers) are buying these mortgages at a steep discount. Many of these securites are still cash flowing, and the market is undervaluing them because they are backed by residential mortgages. There’s a good chance the government will actually profit from this.

We must have the courage to act and act quickly. The comments in one of the interviews on CNN “I would use the money for something else” What else? If there is no money to lend or borrow? Everyone should take basics finance and economics. Apparently there are a lot of people that don’t understand the basic principles. My anaology, when the Captain of the ship is telling you we are sinking and needs everyone to help bail out — you don’t argue then about what he should have done, what the builder of the boat did, whether you should have bougt a ticket on another Boat. You bail.

Paul — you clarify below that your argument really hinges on the bailout being necessary to “prevent massive job losses in the banking sector.” This is part of the moral hazard I am talking about. The American textiles industry has lost about a million jobs from its postwar peak. By your logic, Paulson should be banging the drum for the Treasury to spend about $100 billion to bail out domestic apparel makers — after all, jobs are on the line, right?

So far, nobody seems to have a convincing argument that this proposal as it currently stands is NOT a way to socialize the risk inherent in these instruments while letting the firms keep the profits they enjoyed during the good times. And that’s outrageous.

No bailout. This is another example of the non-stop “be afraid, be very afraid” mentality that’s pervaded since 2001. The administration claims taxpayers purchased 80% ownership in AIG with our bailout. Where is my stock certificate? Will I see dividends, and can I sell my stock. The notion that taxpayers own any of AIG is a lie. We don’t.

In the same way, the notion that letting the big banks fail will do worse damage than forcing each man, woman, and child to pay $3000 to bail them out is another lie. We haven’t had a depression since 1929. However ugly it was, we survived it, and some intelligent regulation was put into place that prevented another. It is the dismantling of most regulation that has allowed banks to come once again to this point.

Perhaps enough generations have passed so that we’ve forgotten what the 1929 depression was like. If so, we need a reminder. Let these irresponsible banks fail. Let us suffer the consequences of electing feel-good administrations that have allowed our banking system to stray so far from responsibility. Then, perhaps we won’t allow this to happen again in the near future.

Get over it you say?

With all due respect, I can’t get over it. The banks have spent a great part of the last 20 years creating a bubble in credit. Charge cards, Mortgages, Car Loans, etd. They lent out money to anyone who could fog a mirror. They created mortgage products that trapped people in mortgages with terrible terms–the worst of which are NegAm loans. These are currently starting to go bad.

So the perpetrators of the problem are going to solve it by turning the US taxpayers into a worldwide bad debt dumpster. Not only for bad mortgages, but for bad CC receivables, bad car loans, Bad LBO financing, etc.

I would much rather they take the 700 billion and bulldoze the excess capacity in the RE market.

Adding multiple trillions to the national debt is irresponsible and will create a country where my children and granchildren are debt slaves to the bankers. This is not acceptable.

But, if they have to take over the banks bad debt, the banks should be nationalized and any future bank profits should go into the general fund of the US government.

Privatizing profits and socializing losses will ruin this country.

True capitalism would let the banks that screwed up go under, and the better run banks would take over.

I will not get over it as you say. In fact I spent the weekend calling almost everyone I know and urging them to call their US Congressperson and US Senators.

Look at gold today. This is a good clue on what will happen to the $US dollar should this massive print job be allowed to occur. The dollar will be toast. A loaf of bread will cost $20 in 2 years. Inflation will roar.

Sorry but I do NOT want to bail out a bunch of greedy thieves on Wall Street. They made ALL the money and now they take no financial pain when their gamble falls on its face. This is total insanity and someone needs to pay, but NOT the American taxpayer. If you want to bailout someone, then bail out the poor folks who are losing their homes.

Wall Street is a poorly run casino, but hopefully they will now be driven out of the casino business.

I agree. Its infuriating, but there is really no other choice. If those companies are allowed to fail, they would take alot of innocent people down with them. Just think of the reitrement income that is tied up in those companies!! Alot of retired people would not be able to pay their mortgages and bills if their retirement income goes away.

Severance packages for CEO, CFO and comptrollers, are you kidding me. The only way for them to get the government bailout should be their arrest and release before trial on multi million dollars bond from their personal money. They perpetrated fraud on unprecedented scale and must pay for this. Instead of demanding personal responsibility our spineless congress will give all the money they want to this criminal extortion scheme. I can only say – poor Ken Lay from Enron – the guy paid with his life for smaller sins.

They could have given the money to troubled homeowners, so families could stay in their homes, and the banks would have been paid and made solvent. But no, they chose NOT to rescue homeowners, only banks. This deal should be defeated.

Do I agree or disagree?

I fundamentally disagree.

I am an economist with both academic and industry credentials, as opposed to a business columnist with neither. The arguments presented in this article are specious and generally without merit. The fact that the author refers to the cost of the bailout as adding to the “deficit” as opposed to the “debt” should be a red flag that we are being preached to by someone with only a cursory understanding of what is going on.

The fact of the matter is that this economy is already sick, and this may be our last chance to fix for the long term it before the house of cards comes crashing down. Yes, allowing the situation to continue will be painful for a lot of people, but the crash that *will* happen when the US government either defaults on this debt or inflates its way out of it will be orders of magnitude worse.

The idea that this nation can’t afford to repair infrastructure, can’t afford to provide health care, can’t afford to police the streets, can’t afford to educate our children, can’t afford to clean up the environment, can’t afford to even pay off its own debts, but CAN afford to bail out bankers who simply made bad investments is silly.

The chips need to fall so we can get back on solid ground.

We were told if fannie and freddie weren’t bail out, world would end. we bailed them out and look what happened. This bailout is not the end for sure.

All we are doing is borrowing from tomorrow in order to save today.

The investigative reporting article that I have not seen or is still to be written is the one that identifies which senate and house Banking commitee chairman and members put forward and voted for the critical legislation that put the mess in motion. If it was Barney Frank then at least MA would have to acknowledge their culpability after having voted him into office. The same holds true for other states and their representatives. Everyone knows that many executives are pressured by thier greed and their shareholders (us) greed to do things that are unethical. Its when we elect people to office that do not make unethical=illegal that we voters and investors are culpable on both ends of the problem.

I disagree that a bailout is needed. The press is simply repeating the talking points that the administration and Congress gives them, much like its reporting in 2003 on whether we should wage war in Iraq.

I think we need a much more careful explanation of what risks we face, and what trade-offs we are accepting by going along with this bailout.

This Paul La Monica who is telling us to be ticked off but “get over it” appears to be a person of no distinction whatsoever. His entire career appears to have been as a toady for questionable publications like “Red Herring.” Why anyone would think that this man’s thoughts are worth reading, much less worth debating, is beyond me. Nobody needs to “get over” anything. We need to get justice. This will probably not even make it to the board or will be pulled soon. don’t waste your time reading bozos like this.

Disagree. The reason is, we are no longer the rich country we used to be, today, we are the poorest country in the world. Can you tell me another country with 11T (That is 12 zeros) in debt? We just don’t have the money, it is plain and simple.

*DISAGREE*

Screw them. I’d rather pick cotton for a living then let this BS take place.

STAND UP PEOPLE and TAKE ACTION

Let them crash and burn, and keep our markets free. we do not want this bail out on the backs of our children, and grand children to pay. WE THE PEOPLE, can’t afford to pay for a few private companies that made bad choices. let them crash.
We must not allow the gov. to control these private companies, then we move from free markets, into socialism.
We are giving up a great deal here, for a few.
NO MORE BAIL OUTS, STOP THIS ONE.
KEEP US A FREE MARKET.

Let’s see $700 Billion (may be low) divided by 11 million unemployed (maximum and mostly low paid) equals $63,636/laid off person. Enough to fund unemployment for one or two years until things shake out.

My vote is let them fail.
As additional incentive for executives and other “smart” people to do better in the future, the C-suite executives and all members of the boards of directors should be prohibited from holding similar positions in any publically traded company. This might weaken the good old boy network and get some HONEST and COMPETENT management into future companies.
It’s all about consequences and accountability

I 100% agree w/ this guy.

This is “disaster capitalism”.

NO, NO, a thousand times NO!
———-

“Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

Not only do they want 700 Billion Dollars, they want absolute control and ZERO OVERSIGHT to how it is used.

This CANNOT be allowed to happen.

Laissez-faire is Laissez-faire. Let them tank. The average American has put up with this sort of “Privatize Profits/Socialize Loss” crap long enough. Is the Fed going to pay my rent this month because I took insane and nearly criminal risks with my funds? No. Be ticked off but get over it? YOU get over it.

dissociatedpress.com

Why a bailout and not a secured loan? In order to reduce the amount of the loan the officers and board of directors of each of the failed institutions forfeit 90% of their individual assets to offset the failures in judgment. Then each institution who wishes to gain a government loan will sign a repayment document similar to the existing Student Loan Packages offered normal americans.

The folks who brought us this crisis despise government handout of any kind. I is unkind to force them to receive such. So let them be treated like all the rest of the people. Make a bad decision, catch a bad break or have a natural disaster the result is… empty your bank accounts, sell your assets and then take out a loan that you have to pay back.

Why are they any different from an individual or a small business?

Grey Deacon

I do not believe in the argument that not bailing out would be worse.
Not all 8.2 million people would be unemployed right way. Companies like Goldman,Morgan stanley,Citi dont deserve to exist. Also those who helped these companies become monster i.e Christopher Cox of SEC should be fired and brought to justice. Taxpayers should not elect any of the incumbent lawmakers as they are all aligned with the Wall Street. They should have understood whats going in the economic scene before being blackmailed by Paulson to give $700 billion.

Nice straw man argument. Blank check for the rich, or total destruction of the country. If a company needs to be bailed out, the top executives should go to prison. The logic here is that the only reason a company would need a bailout, rather than letting it die, is that its death would damage the country. If these people’s actions damaged the country, they should go to prison.

Bush is big on undermining the constitution and international law. Well let’s do it again. Declare these destroyed companies victims of Financial Terrorism. Declare the executives to be Enemy Combatants. Put them in Guantanamo without trials, forever. Let’s come up with a goal – 1000 executives in prison in the next 3 months. I want them hunted with dogs. I want international flights turned around so they can be dragged off kicking and screaming. I want their families’ assets frozen and their families kicked into the streets. I want anyone who gives them shelter treated in the same way. If they buy coffee, the barista should be dragged away for accepting stolen money.

Of course it must be done, however, as always the losers will be the “responsible borrowers” mentioned in the article. Those who didn’t overstep their capabilities. They will pay through the nose to bail out the cheaters and gamblers who will not only get a second chance but in the long run will reap greater profits on properties the really couldn’t afford.
Paid for by those who didn’t cheat or misrepresent.
How about some long term tax breaks for the payers and staggered payback for the benefactors.

There are better alternatives than this bailout. We could fund this with a combination of public and private money, so that the bankers have some skin in the game, and the public gets a return on its investment.

These securities will eventually be sold at auction to the *lowest* bidder, who could be the same bank that sold it to the government in the first place. As proposed now, the public will simply eat the difference between what the banks ask for the asset, and what they’re willing to offer for it to buy it back.

“Our banking system is a safe and sound one”
“The problem is contained to subprime”
Those were Paulson and Bernanke when they were testifying to congress.
That leads me to conclude that they are either incompetent and don’t have a clue what they are talking about or that they are blatant liars. Either way I wouldn’t give those guys $700 billion dollars. No matter how scary their “big bad wolf story” sounds. We have way too many financial institutions that produce absolutely nothing, except toxic debt of course. A thinning of the herd is much needed.

Baloney. Double baloney. What changed between this week and last that suddenly requires the better part trillion dollars to fix? And why is the onus on taxpayers — the very people losing their homes over this nonsense?

This is a huge scam. The only things missing are dire warnings about aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds.

It’s almost $2500 for every man, woman and child in the country. For your typical family of five, that’s ten times bigger than the stimulus checks we got earlier this year which many called “generous.” For a fraction of the cost of this “bailout”, we could bail out every homeowner who’s delinquent on their mortgage.

Hell, just cutting everyone a check for $2500 dollars would be a better ROI for the fed. The great bulk of workers living paycheck-to-paycheck would run out and spend it on luxuries like food and shelter, thereby stimulating the economy, and those who are a little better off would sock it in the bank, neatly solving the whole liquidity problem.

Congress’s answer to this “plan” should be a resounding “Hell no.” The financial terrorists who caused this mess shouldn’t be dictating terms, demanding free money. They should arrive in supplication, hats in hand, begging not to be lined up and shot.

I disagree. The consequencses of no “bailout” may be severe, but that’s the price to be paid. If the ratings companies had properly classified all this worthless commercial paper as junk, we probably could have avoided this entire fiasco. It all boils to to the greed and arrogance of overpaid people in overpriced suits. I want them held responsible!!

I am a single mom of twins, PhD (paid for myself), and work very hard for what I have. No – I 100% disagree with this bailout. Just like I disagree with using my tax money to rebuild coastal tidal floodzones around the Gulf that people and businesses insist are “vital.” WHERE DID PEOPLE LOSE THEIR COMMON SENSE? Paying a person mega $ for mistakes = paying a pro football player? WHY? What have we devolved into?

Ticked off?
no, FURIOUS!
There should be some way to offer re-writes of mortgages to people who need to do so. Bringing monthly payments down to an affordable level accomplishes every goal. People keep thier homes, and the fed doesn’t have to outlay capital. Why this enormous block of money going to the wrong place?
By the way… How do they come up with the total? It must be very imprecise if they are give-or-taking billions…
Thanks

Maybe the government should be throwing $700 billion at the banks. But it shouldn’t be a blank check, giving Paulson complete authority and with meaningful review specifically forbidden. We’ve seen what happens when we trust the Bush administration. I wouldn’t trust a good administration with this much power.

There should be an oversight committee to make sure that the money is spent in a manner which encourages liquidity, not just buying up worthless assets to prevent banks from taking losses. This will likely cost a substantial amount of money, but it will make sure the money is well spent.

The plan, as written, it flushing $700 billion down a toilet. More if you include the resulting inflation.

I think this twisted financial system ought to be allowed to crash and burn and we ought to suffer so we learn the lesson and don’t repeat it. The times the populace of this country has come together and acted with compassion, pride and dignity are the times of great national hardship. The Great Depression led to amazing changes in this country – the government started to give a damn about its citizens and their welfare. I think a period of hard recession will teach consumption-crazy, debt-ridden Americans a lesson in priorities and humility. Furthermore, it will teach everyone the consequences of allowing Republicans to run the government and coddle big business – they are after all the party whose philosophy used to tell us “the market will sort it out.” I think part of the reason the government is stepping in with a bailout (that will cost each of us $2000 and will cost more than the entire Iraw war thus far) is so that voters will be appeased enough not to vote for Democrat. Democrats were always the one party that gave a damn about the populace – and didn’t coddle big business.

I agree with FDR completely.

1. Full and Complete disclosure of everything.
2. No Financial Industry Lobbyist allowed!
3. All bonuses paid to CEO’s and other top management personnel for the last three years should be returned to shareholders before any bad debt is purchased by the taxpayers.
4. Pay for all CEO’s should be capped
5. A massive GOP Tax increase for all taxpayers earning over $250,000
6. A massive Estate Tax increase to re-capture the wealth stolen from the Middle-Class
7. Full regulation of all Financial Institutions by the Federal Government with no Republicans allowed for 10 years
8. Expand Medicare to cover all Americans
9. Allow Medicare to negotiate with Drug Companies to lower cost
10. Fix Social Security

Everyone talks about accountability
unless it is the big dogs. Then it becomes “bad economic policy.” I am mad as hell. My 401(K) has dropped 30% in the past 12 months. I now have to work until I am 70 before I can retire!! Every single one of the management teams involved in these companies should have their personal wealth taken over and they should be thrown in jail for economic terrorism! (Everyone else seems to be able to use the “T” word – why not now!)

But just you wait. No one will be he;d accountable. AL of the CEOs and thei teams will come through this without any impact – I mean REAL impact – losing THEIR homes and having their families torn apart. The politicians who allows this to happen (especially that scum bag Phil Gramm!) will all puff up and harrumph around indignantly and posture (All the while looking at the polls to make sure they can stay in power.) I trust not one of these jerks who got us in this mess can get us out of it yet here we are relying upon the same group of lying weasels!

In my opinion, $1 trillion seems sufficient to restructure our economy by officially going green and restoring our roads and bridges right here right now. This includes creating necassary jobs to build factories, electric cars, and an enitrely new energy infrastrucuture across the country. This could be done while backing existing at risk retirement funds rather than the elite fools who created this mess in the first place. World War II was the emergency that restored the economy after the great depression. Our festering infrastructure is a new emergency that can serve the same purpose. We will be facing this infrastructure emergency very soon whether we like it or not… We might as well use it to our advantage now while we still can. We need to create jobs that matter!

-Just the opinion of an angry Civil Engineer

Crops grow the best when the fields are burned. Wall Street needs to burn so the economy can recover. I don’t have a mortgage, have no debt and own my car and house. I make $45,000 a year. Why should I bail out Wall Street for living frugally?

Get over it? Necessary? IT IS LUNACY to make the assumption that this bogus plan with ZERO accountability is the only way to correct the absurd market failures we face. To imply this is apologetic propaganda at best, and sheer journalistic stupidity at it’s worst. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND. THIS IS A TAKEOVER AND EXPANSION OF INTRUSIVE GOVERNMENT NOT A BAILOUT.

I wish I understood economics better to know what was really happening. Since that won’t happen easily, I’d just like to ask two things. One, since it seems I’m basically assuming the burden of risk that brought down financial giants who are supposedly much better educated than I, that I get some kind of guaranteed protection against getting screwed? Supposedly the bailout averages out to $2,000 per individual. I want to be sure that in the end, that I don’t pay that out of my already empty pocket. Two, that any CEO, CFO, CO that asks for or receives or is involved in any of the bailout cash not only be denied any severance package, but they’re barred from being a CO or board member from another institution a week later. If the bailout is to prop up the industry, fine, but it will NOT pad any of these dishonest, greedy so-and-so’s bank accounts.

“Get over it”, what? this the biggest heist in American history.
Where was Paulson before he becomes Treasury Secretary(GS CEO), where do you think he’s going to go after Januaer (GS), so here is the answer to those who questioned why would he leave High paying Job to work for the government, ,,, Well you have here the reason.

These bailouts only manage to reinforce and reward risky behavior with other people’s money.

They do not adequately address the root causes of the sub-prime loan debacle or point directly at the government missteps that resulted in the sub-prime lending market under both Clinton and Bush.

Government tinkering got us into this mess and now do we truly expect government to solve it.

Stop the bailouts now. Both parties have long ago abandoned fiscal conservatism and integrity. I hope this reintroduces the concepts.

When Sovereign Funds Made Cash “infusions”… They Got A % Share of Busines PLUS Interest via Preferred Convertible Shares!

When American Taxpayers Give Cash Infusion?

WAKE UP! IT IS *NOT* “JUST MORTGAGES”!

NOW U. S. TAXPAYERS “On Hook for Goldman and Morgan Toxic Paper AND SWAPS”! ALL BAD INVESTMENTS!

Thru Paulson Side Door FDIC Entry?
No Legal Notice.
No U.S. Congressional Approval.
No Federal Banking Agencies Audits of Books?
No Process… Just A Future Taxpayer Liability Coup D’etat?
No Vote by Americans?

Paulson’s “MAGIC PIGGY BANK FOR WALL STREET FRIENDS”!

NO NO NO BAIL OUT

Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Amen.

Do not agree. Not as the plan is currently being discussed. Not without safeguards in place, and a much more careful consideration of exactly what we’re doing.

This is little different than Iraq, where we were again urged to move quickly, without consideration, because we were supposedly in danger. What happened?

If there was no crises a month ago, why now? Why now just before adjournment? Why now just before election? When the anger at this move will form a backlash against the Democratically controlled congress, and impact on the election?

We’re told to trust the government, but we have no reason to trust the government.

I can support some form of a plan, but not one rushed through with such desperate haste. If companies are going to fail in the meantime, well I guess we will have to accept the consequences. But at some point we have to make a stand, and stop being frightened by our government into taking actions that only hurt us in the end.

Disagree. I was raised under the flag of mistakes carried consequences. Allowing these egregious economic and financial practices to go unpunished is wrong. Those of us that have allowed our government and financial institutions to get us into this situation are ready to take our medicine. And if you have voted for the status quo of partisan politics, you are one of us. Off with their heads and bring the hard times on. We can take it. We are Americans.

Agree. However, Congress should mandate that any bank using this money is limited to keeping only 2% of their profit for the next 5 years. Any remaining profit should be paid into a fund that reimburses the taxpayers. And the salaries of the top level management which were responsible for these high-risk transactions, should be limited to $100,000 a year for 5 years.

I disagree, this bail out is a cop out to the real truth. Make the CEO’s, Managers and government offical that were to be the gate keepers responsible. Their greed has led to this problem, not mine.

Reading these responses, I am proud of the common sense and morality that they show. No, we will not “get over it”. Oh, what the country could achieve with $700,000,000,000, if the proven predators could be kept from touching it!

No you, CNN spokesperson, and mouthpiece for the largest, most well coordinated, most evil scam in the world, YOU GET OVER IT.

I’m not going to pay for this. As a matter of fact I am not going to pay for any of the now 11 TRILLION dollars of debt that my SELECTED officials have borrowed WITHOUT my permission from a banking cartel.

Enough. I will cost you three dollars in value for every one you extract from me. I will tangle your systems and confound your way. I will do everything in my power to bring your to your knees and ruin you.

I could not disagree more – and not only because I think it repugnant that our tax money and our children’s will be used to bail out a corrupt “system” and the greedy players in that have profited from that system. I deeply resent the fact that control is so far removed from individual citizens and that this “quick fix” is a lien on our future.

NO BAIL OUT!!! Say no to privatized profits, and tapayer left with %@!%

Here is an accurate description of the problem, taken for an anonymous blog comment:
“This is not a liquidity crisis, it is an insolvency crisis. People made bad loads, and other people made hugely leveraged bets on those loans, and still more people insured those bets.”
Now, here is Henry Paulson’s rescue proposal: let’s have the taxpayer absolve all the people mentioned above — the lenders, the margin traders, and the insurers — by buying their unmarketable assets while leaving these same people in place to repeat this charade.

Jared Diamond describes government as an organized system of kleptocracy, where the group in power works to steal the assets of the powerless. Tax cut schemes are an example of such thievery. The treasury (Mr. Paulson’s preserve) is raided to provide benefits to one group while incurring debts for the other taxpayers. Unfortunately for everybody, deficits and the resultant devaluation of our currency has spoiled the spoils of the current tax cuts. Now, a final brazen raid on the treasury is required to compensate the venal elites, but not the average taxpayers, before the elites lose their turn in power.

How about the powerless? When 250,000 auto workers, half the U.S. auto labor force, are thrown out of work, who retrains them? When 46 million people go without health insurance, who speaks for them? When women receive less than 80% of the pay men get, who gives them equity? When pot-smoking white men go to Yale and then the White House, and crack-smoking black men go to prison, who corrects this injustice? Why should small businesses be snubbed by the SBA and banks, while investment firms receive bailouts? When the government runs a 400 billiion dollar deficit, and taxpayers fund 400 billion in interest payments on government debt, who bails out the taxpayers?

Henry Paulson wants to bail out white men in suits, because they look like him. Small businessmen are beneath his concern, but they are the constituency of congress. Here is what we want:

1. A serious bipartisan universal health care program which does not penalize workers, small business, or the self-insured.
2. Guaranteed wage equity for women.
3. Restructured government revenues to provide a balanced budget.
4. A reformed SBA which actually provides credit to develop small businesses.
5. Requirements that all government spending, even wars, have revenue-neutral offsets.

If there’s no help for the taxpayer and small business from congress, why should we approve a bailout for Wall Street? Reasonable programs which have been bottled up in congress for 16 years should be put on the table with bipartisan support, and some of them passed, BEFORE a bailout which no one has even seen will considered. Now, here are conditions for any bailout to be considered:

1. No bailout before the election.
2. No personal rewards for lenders, traders, and insurers in any bailout.
3. Repurchase interest-bearing government debt in at-risk institutions.
4. Use (solvent but not liquid) long-term non-interest treasury warrants, not dollars, as bailout instruments.
5. Purchase non-marketable asset instruments at discount.

Be ticked off – but get over it{?) – That’s the kind of headline I expected to come out of this. After all, this website is all in support of … money. I understand that opposing a bailout would be futile or even naive, but letting CEO’s walk away with millions while thousands of people might lose their jobs and thousands are already losing their homes, that is obscene.

Unlike the socialists on this page who write about their ten points, over regulation will hurt our economy. Who are you/we to tell a private company how much they can pay an at will employee? You think a tax increase for those making more than $250k is the answer? Enough! How about making every American above the poverty line pitch in. Right now nearly half of the country is not paying anything leaving the burden on the rest of us who have invested in our future and are now, finally earning more money. Take your socialist views and move to China.

Get over it? GET OVER IT? I have a great idea for you, let those crooked firms DIE, then Wall Street can “get over it”! 700 BILLION DOLLARS to bail out those conniving and cheating cretins? I think not.

I do not agree with the bailout plan. It is plan crafted by the same fools and theives that got us into the mess in the first place. The plan assumes (hopes) that the story has a happy ending with credit becomming looser and people and economic trends acting as before (1950’s?).

I think it foolhardy to put all my powder in one musket.

Say the start of this economic mess was formed by foolish and crooked lenders. It could just be todays economic system is a totally flawed model that only needed a small catalyst to push it over the edge.

Now, the plan is typical Washington philosophy… throw $$$ at it.

How about letting the market work and let the blood run in the streets? It will be bad but $1.7 TRILLION could backstop vital health & welfare, police, food distribution, banking, transportation and other such services needed in a disaster like scenario.

LET THEM FAIL.

The business machine will regain its drive eventually and growth will resume.

Why on earth reward these disgusting people with such a parachute? They built the slimy unsafe airplane and expected you and me to fly it.

Of course, if you believe in a ‘trickle down’ form of economics brought to us by a former brain dead president, take seat 1A.

Disagree. We cannot bailout these companies. its a blank check for the futrure to screw over the regular amnerican. this will have long term implications on the dollar making everything here much more expensive (oil, food etc )

I disagree it is needed. This only stops the problem right now. It doesn’t take care of the next batch of bad loans. The housing crisis is not over. It is really just started. The people are making less. How can it end if the people have to pay higher prices and no raise in pay? They don’t magically get their debt wiped away like the banks.

The only real solution is let the bad companies burn and go back to the gold standard that we never should have left instead of making monopoly money. It will hurt in the short term but will save us in the long run.

NO BAIL OUTS!!! END THE FED!!! RETURN TO HARD MONEY!!!

DISAGREE – WHO ARE YOU TO TELL US WE SHOULD GET OVER IT. DO YOU HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL.

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.”
Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US

July 4, 1776 – Independence claimed, America born.
September 19, 2008 – Dependence complete, America dies.

Simply awful.

“Get over it”, what? The writer of this piece is about as smart as the average american. Paulson wants to protect the financial system? Well then protect it and make money available to small business, regional banks, and other institutions needing capital in this economy. Don’t bailout the Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley’s of the world. We should make money available to those who did not participate in this scam. Let those banks that did and are in troube figure it out for themselves since they were all so smart to begin with.

1) We should not be talking about “the government” as if it is a third party. It is US – the people who pay the price in a literal and figurative sense.
2) A goverment is amoral. It is PEOPLE who have morals and clearly there are more than a few who felt is was OK to run a mortgage scam on susceptible groups of other people.
3) R or D is completely irrelevant.
4) Crash and burn will NEVER be forgotten. Bail-outs will ALWAYS be remembered… and expected (aka “entitlement”).

LET THEM BURN.

The bailout is all about bailing out the companies that made bad decisions of investing/backing/insuring the mortgages that were very risky. The new homeowners since the bubble started also took wrong decisions of buying homes that were sold on inflated prices. But the companies had tools to verify and options not to lend, while the unfortunate homeowners were too small.

The financial sector is in crisis because so many properties are being foreclosed. Why don’t the government apply the correct at the cause of problem rather than it’s symptoms. Why are they so much willing to help the failing companies rather than failed or failing or could be failing homeowners. And the homeowners are required not to use that money for any purpose other than to pay their mortgages. If this bailout is applied to the cause, the homeowners would not default and crisis will be over.

On the other hand what if, after this bailout, there are fresh foreclosure and yet another round/s of bailouts? By helping the homeowners and ensuring mortgage payments supply is the only effective way out of this mess created in the first place.

If the government still decides to bailout the companies, the government should own stake in them and each taxpayer must be rewarded with returns from those ownerships.

This bailout is a disaster as written. No oversight? No accountability? No legal recourse? It’s AN ENGRAVED INVITATION to malfeasance.

Even if you trust Paulson, how can you issue blind trust and a blank check to all the financial (read Wall Street) guys he’s going to enlist to get this done? Naive.

Let them fail! More Lehman’s, less bailout.

Scale it waaaay down and write in some serious oversight and penalties.

Otherwise, we’re just slowing down the financial armageddon they’re trying to prevent.

Paul

So what makes you think that this bailout is going to make everything alright? And do you realize that we aren’t even talking about a single event – the want $700B AT ANY GIVEN TIME – the end cost will likely be in the TRILLIONS. They are trying to expand the bailout to include non-mortgage debt sucha as car loans and credit cards. They want to let foreign interests offload bad paper under this legislation as well. How is this all neccessary? This is a bank bailout pure and simple and if you can’t see that you shouldn’t be writing a financial column

A bailout is not necessary. Here is why, the main reason for it is to maintain liquidity in the market. To insure that there is money for companies to borrow. Ok then do this: Let the weak and greedy companies fall into bankruptcy. That will leave the companies that behaved prudently, like adult business people. Use that same 700 billion as a pool of money that the strong companies can borrow from. Each institution who want to borrow would have to disclose the full extent of their bad debts. Those with poor credit would not be allowed to borrow. This method insures liquidity, strenghtens those companies that should be, and lets the greedy ones fall by the wayside. It accomplishes the same thing Paulson wants to accomplish without propping up the greedy ones.

Rushing to Judgement again?
This whole thing smells to me. Am I the only one? Call me paranoid, but do we really know that a Trillion Dollar bail-out of companies that fell victim to their own greed is really necessary? I personally don’t know – but this “rush to judgement” feels awfully similar to the invasion of Iraq. I’m uncomfortable with the idea that the White House has hastily put together a bail-out package in 24 hours and scared congress into accepting it before the end of the week. Who are we really saving – the global economy or the big power brokers who manipulate it? I’m just asking the question. Where is the media on this? I have not hear a single dissenting opinion, or even a challenge.

Government bailouts create an investing environment without accountablity. These decistion makers only learn they can take high-risk course of action and rely on a government bailout if things go wrong.

They’re making the problem worse, not better. Without consequence, this will only happen again and again.

All the financial geniuses, whiz kids, “smartest guys in the room,” etc. who 1) did not / could not see ths coming, 2) made out handsomely over the past 5 years or so, and 3) still have a very vested interest / stand to benefit from this bailout, now are telling us (like this writer), “trust us, the alternative is worse.” I call BS on all of this! The financial community, including journalists and academia (with a few notable exceptions) have all been drinking the Koolaid for a long time, but now have “seen the light,” and this time, trust us, we’re acting in YOUR (main street) best interest. Been there, done that, sick of it. Take your free-market medicine and quit trying to make the man/woman on the street pay for your bad decisions and greed!

Paul, you’re wrong. All of the experts you mention, who are in favor of the bailout, stand directly to benefit from it.

What your article fails to address is that if financial institutions are not allowed to fail, they will become increasingly fearless in making bad investments.

It would cause a recession, and unemployment would rise, but the $700m could more than pay for long-term unemployment for those affected. And then the remaining banks, the responsible ones, would be able to lead a more stable, more fair economy.

I say vote down the bailout and force the banks to fail. They invested poorly, they’re out of money, they SHOULD be out of business. If these banks are not allowed to fail, we are living in a purely socialist country that doesn’t deserve to call itself a free market.

That’s not my opinion, those are the facts.

-Ken

I see your point. However, be reminded that the easy lending practice has led to this mess. And because of it – home prices has sky rocketed and left any hopes of home ownership out of reach for those who are responsible.
While I agree leaving the financial and banking system is unquestionably irresponsible, I believe our society needs to be thrown some cold water in the face. I believe we are resilient enough to survive this without the government being involved to save “us”.
By letting lending practices being tight once more, it will encourage borrowers to be more realistic and will drive down prices to the normal level. With this bail out, it gives wall street grounds to become more irresponsible because “they are too big to fail”.
I rather see the banks and fancy financial institutions fail then see our country fail.

We are the point when a bailout must implemented because the alternative would be a probable slide into another Great Depression. The issue is how the bailout would be implemented and the current proposal from the Bush administration contains the prohibition of any oversight by congress or the judiciary. It continues the Bush idea of expanding presidential powers and suppressing or reducing the checks and balances that are a critical principle of our constitution. We can never allow the financial system again to become a floating crap game as was done through the deregulation of the banking and financial system over the past several decades. Most people do not know the degree to which our’s and the world’s financial system has become an absurdly irrational speculative system, which is why we are now in the throes of this terrible crisis. the individuals that ran the banks and investment houses etc. that oversaw this speculative binge should pay some price for their incredible stupidity and greed, least ways they should walk away from this as bankrupt as the institutions they have bankrupted.

Paul, in my eyes and in the eyes of many viewers you lost all your credibility during the last 6 months while you marched on your self proclaimed crusade to battle the bears.

Time and time again you got it wrong and said everything is fine. And now you have the audacity to act as in a high moral ground and dictate what should responsible citizens who did not engage in fraudulent activity should do.

I suggest that instead of commenting on what citizens should feel or say you should spend sometime to contemplate why you got it all wrong for the last 6 months and why you are still getting it wrong.

Thanks.

Cap CEO pay? Should we place a cap on your pay as well? This is a free market economy for a reason. Why is it that no one in the general American public is taking any blame?!?! Flipping houses, home equity loans to pay for the big screen, ARM’s, etc. The taxpayer is on the hook because we’re the ones at fault. And we’re mad because someone on Wall Street profitted from our stupidity? Get real people. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

I agree with the help of banking system for the main reason I need banks. I don’t live in a bunker in the wilderness where I can be self sufficient and if the banks fail it could get crowded in the outback.

People: the bailout itself will cause the market collapse that is being so breathlessly discussed. Paulson has requested an unauditable capability to repurchase garbage paper and “service it” in any way he sees fit! All the text of the proposal does is limit the balance sheet of the Treasury to 700 billion at any one time — so all he has to do is (for example) 1) buy 100 billion in garbage paper (from his buddy’s bank, no doubt) at 60 cents on the dollar, 2) sell it for 10 cents on the dollar, 3) repeat! Guess who foots the bill for the difference? Us and our kids.

Look at the reaction of the market today — as more and more of Wall Street gets its head around the implications of the actual text of the proposal, they’re scared to death. And the markets are reacting accordingly.

Deflation, here we come — if you have ANY debt, get rid of it as fast as you possibly can. Suddenly all those survivalist “kooks” don’t seem so “kooky” after all…

Learn to like it, eh?

They are to give secret, dictatorial powers to a cabinet secretary and $700 billion with no accounting or review?

Sorry – find some folks who just fell off the turnip truck.

Read this ! TWICE!

“Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

Not only do they want 700 Billion Dollars, they want absolute control and ZERO OVERSIGHT to how it is used.

This CANNOT be allowed to happen.

Why is not in anyone’s plan to punish and jail the politicians and all responsible for this? Why is it not in anyone’s plan to find the root cause of this? Why is the media not working diligently to find the ones responsible for this and publish thier names? I want to see all the people in charge to be prosecuted for this. I demend this since I’m forced to pay for this!

Debt is slavery. The bail out was necessary but CEO pay caps and restrictions on short-selling is utter stupidity. Let’s move on. The markets need transparency the SEC was asleep at the switch. Let’s get up and move on.

A much bigger boost to our confidence would be the Feds not pooping their pants over this. I wrote a 5 page paper in my 11th year in High school, 8 years ago, on the Great Depression and I wrapped it up with what turned out to be a psychic prediction of our present dilemma. If a 16 year old could see this coming, why couldn’t they? I was feeling pretty calm about it all until I heard about the bail out. Hell no.

What you don’t seem to understand is that the socialization of the financial industry IS the disaster. It is the worst thing that could possibly happen.

You say that doing nothing would be disastrous. Disastrous for whom? In what specific way? By what standard do you claim the results of doing nothing to be inferior to that of the bailout? Evidence?

Someone’s say-so does not constitute evidence. I want facts and valid projection models of all alternatives. I want a formal, sober decision-making process with three alternatives under consideration. Further, I want a rational standard, including naming the values involved, used to evaluate the alternatives. And I want the results made public.

There are alternate ways of handling this crisis that do not involve bailouts and socialization. These include temporarily altering the mark-to-market requirements, changing the fractional reserve ratio yet again until things recover, and even mandating suspending dividends for a time.

But no, you want us to blindly accept this burden on YOUR panicked, irrational say-so without looking at any of the alternatives. When we don’t go along, we become the enemy and are told to “get over it.”

Here is a better idea: We say no, and YOU get over it.

I strongly oppose a bailout! How are we going to afford this bailout? Our government is already dropping 100 of billions of dollars on Lehman and AIG. Are going to be pay this off in taxes when this debt will be 1/3 of our GDP?

They failed. Let them. Stop turning US worker productivity into fodder for speculation. Bring back honest work and honest results. We send our means of production overseas, sell of our valuable natural resources and manufacturing to others and, now, we save the day for those who own our labor through stocks. Just let it die and maybe, just maybe, we can start over.

disagree
The government response should be very measured and balanced between main st and wall st., the primary goal of any response should intimidate and restrain any bank from setting similar conditions in the future as well as penalize those who profited from the mortgage glory years.

Quit blaming the “big guys.” It’s all the “little guys” that are ignorant idiots that signed on the dotted line right after “I have read and understand this agreement.” If you didn’t understand the conditions of the loan you were signing, then DUH, why did you sign?!? We all make mistakes and ALL OF US MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR OWN DECISIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PERIOD!!!!!!!
The government of this country is self-destructing our financial stability by encouraging the idiots to make more bad decisions and adding the cost of their mistakes to the tabs of the dwindling few responsible individuals. STOP THE INSANITY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Necessary, but who bails out middle class and poor american families from foreclosure and bankruptcy. I mean, our tax dollars are diverted to help these money making mammoths yet many americans can’t use that same tax money taken from our pockets to help ourselves. That is just plain wrong, outrageous, disgusting and un-american!

To the person who goes by the name of No Trust…you wrote the following:

“I bet you do not have a problem with Golden Parachutes. Which proves your rambling is meaningless.”

Please feel free to disagree with me if you like. Debate is healthy and I encourage it. But did you read the whole column? I don’t know how I could have been any clearer about what I think of golden parachutes. This is the third paragraph of my column.

“Of course, we should cap executive pay, which was obscene at many financial firms, immediately. And we should make sure that the CEOs, CFOs and other big wigs that drove their companies into near ruin with overleveraged bets on risky mortgages should not get big severance packages.”

All I’m suggesting is that the bailout could prevent massive job losses in the banking sector. There are more than 8 million people working for the financial services sector. And many of these jobs are the types that average readers of this site have, not the Wall Street CEOs making millions of dollars.

So once again, please disagree with me if you like. But you have to read the column carefully. At no point do I EVER suggest that big CEOs be rewarded.

PRL

I would agree IF someone could tell me what would really happen if we did not pass it.

Everyone keeps saying the world will end, but I only see that banks will take their rightful position in bankruptcy.

I agree that we should be mad about this bailout. Is it necessary? Unfortunately yes! It’s not like there are hundreds of firns waiting in the wings to fill theo void. The global economy that has driven corporations and yes banks (commercial and investment) to get bigger and bigger leave few players to fill the void. But the real concern is what gets added. At the outset the proposal was just mortgaged backed securities, but now they want to pass off any illiquid debt. Keep the scope limited to the original plan the banks can not be allowed to just dump it all. That would defeat the purpose and then these finacial institutions would really be off the hook. They need to pay a price in terms of new regulation and limits on hwo they conduct business now and in the future and that includes executive compensation. Aos regardless of hwo holds what as the primary owner of all this paper the gov should be allowed to reset terms of loans even if some minor owners of the secutities take a loss. They choose to play with fire so they can afford to be burned just like the tax payers who are bailing it all out. If they are unwilling to share the wealth at least they can share the pain. Sum it no free ride for anyone.

Without pain, there will be more of the same. Guaranteed. Such is the nature of greed. Let the failures fail, go through the harshest pain, and things will eventually get better, and people will learn. Bailouts only make the inevitable failures more intense.

Be ticked off, but bend over(again).

This is the same rhetoric from the same administration that said if we didn’t attack Iraq that they would attack us with their huge stockpiles of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the same administration that said Fannie May & Freddie Mac would not fall and our economy is not in a recession but fundamentally strong. Now they are saying just give us your money and trust us, after all we’re the government and we know what we’re doing.

Be ticked off – but get over it

It is easy to say that especially if you don not have any children or grandchildren. Most of the posters will no longer be around when the fat lady sings in 20 or 30 years for what our government and representatives are doing today to our country’s future. That is the problem with most people who do not understand the dangers of giving the bankers complete control of our economy and finances and ultimately our country. Read your history about the depression and what the Federal Reserve Bank and Wall Street did during those difficult times. If we as citizens of this great country “Get Over It Now” there will be no second chance in the future. Our constitution is in jeopardy when our government and elected officials no longer use it as the law of the land. If there was any time that the couch potatoes and the silent majority of this country get up and make their voices heard it is “NOW by not getting over it!!!!

Bail out? Yes. Who pays? the stockholders of these companies – not taxpayers. Guess who the biggest stockholders are? The CEOs and Boards of Directors of these corporations.

How to force these stockholder to pay up? Consider alternative legislation to the proposed $700 billion bailout of some of the biggest names in finance. The proposed legislation absolves the biggest shareholders from financial responsibility for the errors they have made. Simply wiping out their mistakes is not consistent with the American way of accountability.

The goal here, we can agree, is to inject capital back into the banks. One alternative to the proposed bailout is for the Treasury to take an equity position in financial firms who need the capital. Forcing the firms to issue additional stock would dilute the values of these financial stocks thereby addressing the accountability issue by the shareholders, the biggest being the Boards of Directors of these firms (the proposed legislation lets these biggest shareholders off the hook). Secondly, the burden of sorting out the mortgage backed securities would remain the responsibility of the individual firms. And, as these financial stocks eventually rise, the US Treasury can sell the stocks back to the firms thereby increasing their value and reducing the massive Federal debt this bailout is sure to cause for the taxpayer.

We need to pause to consider this alternative. The initial cost might be the same but the mechanics of a payback to the People, the taxpayers is worthy of consideration.

Why does anybody think that it is wise to give more power to the idiots who got us into this mess?

We should give control of any bailout to somebody like Nouriel Robini wha actually saw this coming and was consistently ignored by the media, the regulators and the politicians.

To everyone opposed to the bailout…

We are in unchartered waters. We are not just trying to avoid a recession, but an outright depression. This has nothing to do with keeping rich, old, white men from having to sell their mansions. This has everything to do with preventing the economy from collapsing.

Unless you believe in absolute free market capitalism, you should be for this.

If that last statement made no sense, then you should probably just be quiet.

Disagree. Not necessary and the moral hazard is unacceptable.

This is not just a bailout of private companies using taxpayer dollars. It is a bailout of the financial responsibility of the Government of their duties to have prevented this in the first place by enforcing the regulations they had on the books at the time. If we, Taxpayers, allow this to happen there will be no incentive for Wall Street to change their ways and more importantly, no incentive for the Government to do their job of guarding the henhouse.
Just like you have to sometimes do with your children, let them fall down once in awhile so they learn that it hurts and they learn how to avoid it in the future.

I bet you do not have a problem with Golden Parachutes. Which proves your rambling is meaningless. I am 100% against the bailout. I could care less if fat cats, scam artist, flippers, no regulation, ninja loans, Irac has WMD, and tax me to oblivian gov’t suffers.

The bail might be necessary but it should not be a blank check to Wall Street. The financial industry must be re-regulated, and there must be a windfall profits tax on the board members, executives, and fund managers that profited from this debacle.

LET THE BAD DEBT CRASH. People don’t listen to people that say ‘this is necessary.’ IT ISN’T. What is worse is propping up a failed system. Yes there will be pain if we let it crash. But it will be worse – FAR WORSE down the road if we continue to prop up this failed fractional reserve banking system.

This plan is going to happen but first Hank and Ben should resign. Then, we need written into the law the following:

1. Full and Complete disclosure of everything.
2. No Financial Industry Lobbyist allowed!
3. All bonuses paid to CEO’s and other top management personnel for the last three years should be returned to shareholders before any bad debt is purchased by the taxpayers.
4. Pay for all CEO’s should be capped
5. A massive GOP Tax increase for all taxpayers earning over $250,000
6. A massive Estate Tax increase to re-capture the wealth stolen from the Middle-Class
7. Full regulation of all Financial Institutions by the Federal Government with no Republicans allowed for 10 years
8. Expand Medicare to cover all Americans
9. Allow Medicare to negotiate with Drug Companies to lower cost
10. Fix Social Security

the loyalists told our founders, ‘it’s just a tea tax, get over it’. fortunately, they didn’t ‘get over it’ and stood up to tyrrany, just as we should now. this bailout empowers the elite and politically connected. the propaganda that the author of this article spews first and foremost serves the interests of the wealthy bankers on wall st. Bernanke, Paulson, Dodd, Schumer, and all of the other corrupt criminals need to be brought to justice.

I disagree. The results will not be disastrous.

Irresponsible companies will fail and the entire financial system will start over on a sound footing. This sets the stage for the next great financial mess.

NO BAIL OUT!

Unfortunately we have no other choice. It is very shortsighted and nearly idiotic to become angry at the bail out. I think most people forgot what the Great Depression was all about. If most people spent the time to research how the Great Depression started you soon realize we have been following down an eerily similar path. Then to did people squawk at government intervention and the government decided to do very little. Look at the consequences that created in the 1930’s. Imagine a life we you are already in thousands of dollars of debt with no savings and no job. To think this could not happen is short sighted.

Taxpayers need to know this: for every $1 trillion of taxpayer money the Fed hands over to their criminal friends of the family costs each taxpayer $8,000. So far, just this year, said Fed has given said criminal friends over $3 trillion, which means each of us taxpayers is on the hook for $24,000.

Now, the average taxpayer income is $32K/year. Minus the medium 25% in taxes for a net of $25K, then minus the $24,000 gift to Wall Street thieves… and you wind up with $1,000 this year, or about $80 per month to cover rent, gas, food, phone, etc.

Please, stop telling us that it we had no choice but to sacrifice an entire year’s income because the Wall Street robbers cleaned us out.

Rewarding incompetence with a get out of jail free card is both short sighted and ignorant. If we do nothing and there is a world financial crisis then so be it. A shock to the system every now and then is a good thing.

Remember no one put a gun to the heads of americans and said you have to take a home equity loan out to pay off the credit cards you maxed out. This was a personal choice and people should take a personal responsibility for their actions. Why should I (who is not into debt to my eyeballs with zero credit card debt and no second mortgage) pay for others bad choices. AlI of my life savings and retirement funds are in money market accounts and mutual funds and if it all goes to hell then I loose my personal life savings, but that’s all I loose. I don’t take on the payments of anyone else in the fund.

If the bank made a bad loan or billions in bad loans then those responsible should be fired and their trading licenses should be revoked for life. If the bank goes belly up then it is their own fault and they alone should take personal responsibility of their actions.

If we are going to live in a socialist society then I want free health care.

Rescuing the failing economic system now (ie: using YOUR money to give huge bonuses to CEOs of failing companies) will mean more hardship for Americans later, when it’s discovered that this WAS A STUPID IDEA. But for now, absolutely, let’s make sure the rich get richer. Greed wins again — anything else would be un-American.

the real question isnt whether they need to bail it out. but i wont all those responsible, regulators who wrote the rules and the executives who took advantage of them out of the industry permanantly. Jail does little good when they get the same job they had before as soon as they are out at a different firm.

Paul,
I vehemently disagree with the bailout. I am not for sure whether you have children or not, but I am not going to “just get over this”. We need to correct the market not try to control prices. With this bailout, we are merely putting the eventual crash and putting a tremendous strain on the prosperity of our children. This bailout is reactionist thinking at it’s worst. With our freedom and liberty at stake, we can’t “just get over it”.

Disagree. Many folks like me sat on the sidelines whil others were making money hand over fist. I knew the certain segments of the market were unsound and butressed with reckless consumer spending, and it couldnt last. Now who get punished? Me, Joe taxpayer, thats who.

Yes, bail the financial system out to avoid the total collapse of the economy. Fine. But if I’m going to pay the price when you make stupid decisions, I have the right to regulate you to prevent this from happening again. Bail them out, and regulate them in the future.

I disagree. If this presents such an existential threat to to the nation, then why haven’t we heard any concrete evidence to that effect? So far, we have only heard that doing nothing will irreparably harm our country as justification for squandering all of its wealth. Why does the proposed legislation bailout foreign banks, not cap executive pay, and exempt those who would spend the money from the court system? If the government wants to help the middle class with credit, it can do it more effectively without taking on bad debt. This is clearly a wealth transfer.

Let the banks fail….the regular citizen will make it through. It’s only Wall Street and their friends in the financial media that claim the sky will begin falling. The fear tactics used to defend the bailout are becoming as disgusting as the bailout itself!

Sure be ticked off but make will just do what they have done for the last 20 years — sit in front of the TV or in their SUV and complain while buying more consumer crap.

And many will just eat up the scare tactics like with the ‘war on terror’ post 9/11 where in NYC you were forced to live in a virtual police state. The consequences would have been disasterous for whom?? the ones making $650,000 a year in base salary alone who ’summer’ in the hamptons & wear $4,000 suits to work

bailout will give us $10 a gallon gas

If the $700 Billion dollars could be used as a stimulous package to the 301 million US citizens. People would pay their mortgages, pay for college, insurance and other items thus creating more jobs, the banks would not go under and the only folks who would suffer would be those who created this mess.

I disagree. The job losses are going to continue anyway, the housing woes are going to continue anyway and the economic woes are going to continue anyway. This will not end until the financials are stable, and they will not be stable until housing recovers. Since the largest amount of resets on loans is not occurring till now, the worst of the foreclosures will not occur till next summer. Housing cannot recover for probably another year or two (or longer0. We’re not stupid. This is not the last bailout. This is not the end of the damage to the dollar. This is not the end of inflation, in fact, this just ends the 2nd inning of this game and is going to cause things to be much more painful for everyone but the ultra-rich. We are angry because we are well aware that this bailout is not the end, but just the beginning.

For the last 8 years Bush has told us time and time again that the sky is falling, and if congress doesn’t act fast, we are all doomed. And time after time we have rushed into a mess and made a poor decision. How about this time, we learn from our mistakes and either 1) Assume Bush is full of B.S. and monitor things closely without jumping to conclusions. or 2) take into consideration what Paulson and Bernacke are saying, but also bring in some outside Economists to advise on a policy, maybe some that have actually been successful in the past. I am so tired of the Apocalyptic speeches from Bush. Shut this guy up already!

I disagree, the root problem is not mortgages, housing, CEO’s, CFO’s, Fed, Treasury, SEC, Wall Street etc. The real problem is too much debt relative to incomes. Since this debt cannot be repaid, it has to be liquidated. Bailouts (more debt) just delays the inevitable liquidation of this debt while also moving the Federal Government closer to insolvency with each succesive bailout. The only solution is a liquidation of debt and a lower standard of living and we will get there despite all efforts by the FED, Treasury, Congress, Wall Street, Main Street. There are no real culprits as this Debt Bubble has been growing for more than 30 years and everybody had a hand in keeping this growing, but there will be lots of victims. Eventually we will pick up the pieces and move on just as our grandparents did after the great depression.

HOW DO YOU KNOW PAUL!!?? HOW DO YOU KNOW IT WOULD BE WORSE!?? WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO BAIL OUT THESE STUPID, ARROGANT PEOPLE WHO CONTINUE TO STEAL FROM THE COMMON MAN? WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO SUBSIDIZE OUR CORRUPT POLITICANS!!?? THEY SAY IT WOULD BE WORSE BUT NO ONE EXPLAINS WHAT OUR TAX MONEY IS PAYING FOR!!

I AM MAD-MAD AS H@##! I’M NOT GETTING OVER IT! THIS IDEA IS BEYOND INSANE AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL! WHO DO I PUNISH?? THE CORRUPT DEMOCRATS WHO STEAL AND PUNISH THE SUCCESSFUL? WHAT’S THE POINT OF AN MBA IF THE SALARIES ARE GOING TO BE RESTRICTED ON THE C-SUITE? DO I PUNISH THE EVEN DUMBER, CORRUPT REPUBLICANS WHO DECIDE THAT INJECTING INFORMATION INTO THE MARKETS BY SELLING A STOCK IS ILLEGAL?? THE SAME REPUBLICANS WHO PREACHED FOR YEARS OF FREE MARKETS, INNOVATING SOCIETY BY OFFSHORING BLUE COLLAR JOBS, THAT THOSE NICE PEOPLE AT BLUE COLLAR JOBS WOULD RETOOL AND WE WOULD ALL BECOME ACCOUNTANTS AND LAWYERS!!!??

I AM MAD PAUL!! THERE IS EVERYONE TO PUNISH BUT NO RAMICATIONS. THE ELITE CLASS HAS SAVED THEMSELVES AT OUR EXPENSE!!! THIS IS SOCIALISM. WE ARE THE NEW SOVIET UNION. USSA.

Disagree. My life has been hard for six straight years. Divorce after 25 years. Job elimination 5 times. (I teach music in the public school) Financial problems, from the unemployment and every subsequent job pays less. No buddy is bailing me out. No one will wave my credit report so I can start over, no body is going to say good job for not getting into a house you can’t afford.
I say split that 700 billion between every man, woman and child and then we will see a good economy. Everyone I know is hurting badly and we have to save those who live like we only dream of. I think not.

Well many people took the bait, buying homes 4 or more times there income, maxing out credit cards (the avg person in their 20’s spends 111% of what they earn), and going tens in thousands in credit card debt.

Now that the economy has slowed, it can’t all be paid back. Didn’t we all know this was going to happen or did we assume home prices would increase by 20% every year forever, salaries would increase by 10% or more forever, and credit card debt wouldn’t matter because you could just refi the house to pay it off.

I live in the NYC metro area with the highest tax burden in the country. You need to make at least $100,000 per person to make ends meet here. But it seems like no one cares, just running around from mall to mall in their BMW 5 series buying $500 jeans & Iphones.
This whole scene is truely pathetic if you ask me.

This bailout is so typical of the “me” generation. Don’t think anything of your children and grandchildren’s having to pay on the debt. Just live for today and let them take care of it tomorrow. Previous generations were willing to go to war for the benefit of the future of the country- we’re not even willing to go into recession.

Leting the Banks crash and burn is not as you say “short sighted” but is the only long term solution. Would it lead to great hardship? YES, but in the long term it would wash the system clean and we could start to rebuild the system again the right way. This solution is not only wrong it will be teh undoning of this country in the long term!!!

I am also infuriated by the bailout, but agree it was necessary. I just hope the tax payer gets something for the risk. I don’t want a system where we nationalize the banks, but I hope that the government will get some sort of clawback of future profits to guarantee a good rate of return, before the bailed out banks can make a profit again.

“Be ticked off – but get over it”

Let me say clearly: don’t you dare tell me its something I need to get over. This is my money the government is spending on private businesses.

I have called my congressmen. Any one of them that votes for bailing out these idiot banks I will never vote for again.

This is just more pyramid schemes masquerading as an economy. Let it burn.