How do you feel about the Government $700 billion bailout plan?
By cbreeze
@cbreeze (1205)
United States
September 23, 2008 2:34pm CST
I am very distrustful of a plan that calls for it to be rushed through without careful consideration of all options. Without detailing how the money will be used and how it will change the current situation, it just seems like a bad idea. Throwing money at a problem does not fix it. Congress and the Bush administration were not and have not been quick to act on behalf of the people losing their homes. Why should those same people turn around and foot the bill for this bailout without careful consideration. The idea that there would be no controls, no oversight, no accountability is insane to me. The idea that there would still be no caps on compensation packages is also insane. Where is the plan? To me this is not a political party issue. It is wreckless on behalf of the entire government that is supposed to be serving our best interest. What do you think?
3 people like this
6 responses
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
23 Sep 08
I believe that several times in the past year, Bush has asked Congress to take measures to address the mortgage failure and they refused to do so. Now that it is a "crisis", and there is risk of a complete collapse, something needs to be done in a hurry. It appears, however, that the Democrats are wanting to tack a lot of additional "stuff" onto this before they'll vote for it.
1 person likes this
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
23 Sep 08
Somebody better tack something in there to prevent this from happening again. If at least some of the Glass Steagal Act is not reinstated there is NOTHING to prevent another huge financial meltdown in the near future and this whole buyout will be a stop gap sham. FDIC was never intended to insure risky investments like subprime mortgages. Buying those mortgages just removes one risk but it does not prevent another one from coming along. Rushing this thing through without thinking it through will bring unmitigated financial disaster.
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Now that a bunch of these companies are being investigated for fraud by the FBI - I don't think we should be bailing anyone out! I think the whole think should be tabled until the investigation is completed.
@cbreeze (1205)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Some republicans are against the buyout all together and others are in agreement with the need to attach additional "stuff" to it. Writing a blank check with no questions asked only sets the stage for additional disaster. I'm not convinced the bailout is the answer. Thank you for commenting.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
23 Sep 08
I feel almost helpless, to be honest with you. I'm certain that this bail out plan carries more danger to it, than doing nothing did.
Without any rules added onto, as well, makes it even worse.
All economic endeavors carry risk...but this is like a shell game. Only, if you hit the wrong shell, you explode. There's only a couple shells, so it's likely even if you fully calculate every fine little bit of math so you can make a decent choice in picking your shell...it's pretty likely that you'll explode.
Ignoring the fact that helping the rich people out from under their own mistakes which helped contribute to this mess for the rest of us...YEAH, that's plain wrong as well.
@evanslf (484)
•
24 Sep 08
I think some form of assistance is inevitable, but I think Congress are performing their role by saying woooa there, hold on, lets look at this closely before we agree to anything. And if we are going to have to bail these people out, congress must ensure that the taxpayer is well protected and that the people who created this mess are held to account and certainly not allowed to leave with another round of golden handshakes!
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Exactamundo. No use creating more problems while trying to help things and the whole country out, after all.
Still, the people pushing to rush this decision...they're giving me alarm bells about the whole thing, which is enough to make me a little paranoid. *sighs*
1 person likes this
@cbreeze (1205)
• United States
24 Sep 08
I agree about the alarm bells. Last night it was reported that this plan was created months ago but that it was only presented to congress now with a demand that it be passed immediately, only giving them days to examine it. The language of the plan gives the treasury the ability to wheel and deal with this money without any accountability to anyone.
I think the urgency of the bill is due to the fact that if it doesn't get passsed immediately, the next president regardless of who he is, will take time to scrutinize the plan and possibly even scrap it. As a result the same greedy people that run these institutions will not get that free money they sought. This is my opinion but I believe it to be true.
With the plan only being 3 pages long, I think it should be publicized in its entirety for the American people to really see.
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
30 Sep 08
There are some smart people who think the bailout is nonsense and irresponsible. How about the opinions of at least 2 bankers and one famous economist? All of them saying this thing is not needed.
http://www.wsmv.com/news/17584894/detail.html
@WhatsHerName (2716)
• United States
25 Sep 08
It's very scary but more and more every day I'm thinking maybe we shouldn't bail them out and let the chips fall where they may.
What's to say some other companies won't follow along soon after and expect to be bailed out?
How long can we go on fitting the bill for these irresponsible people. Now we have all the hurricane damage to pay for in Texas.
I'm counting on seeing some real change from everyone in congress, not just from the next president.
@cbreeze (1205)
• United States
26 Sep 08
You make some excellent points. What about the people devestated by storms and flooding. Where is there help? There are still people who have never received the help they needed after Hurricane Katrina, Dennis and now hurricane Gustav. And this was not something that they did to themselves. No one will hand them a blank check to recover. There is a lot of red-tape involved. Why should we hand over $700 billion no questions asked to bail out an industry riddled with corruption. As a taxpayer and an American, I want to help out those people. These are the type of people I'm concerned about not the wallstreet fat cats that have enjoyed the goodlife at our expense and now want us to bail them out so that they can continue their behavior.
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
23 Sep 08
I think it is probably a necessary evil but like you, I'm very concerned that nothing is being put into the system to prevent another risky melt down. Also, I'm wondering how well the aftermath of the bailout is going to be handled. If it's done well, it might be okay and the government might even turn a profit like it did with Conrail. But if it's handled badly, it could be another unmitigated disaster. Thank God these folks never got around to privatizing Social Security before this happened. Hoprefully, that ship has sailed and it will be a long, long time before anybody even thinks about that privatisation again.
@cbreeze (1205)
• United States
24 Sep 08
I'll have to look into Conrail. I'm not aware of it. Another concern is the experts are saying they don't know if this bailout will work. I had forgotten all about privatizing social security. Thank God they didn't. Thanks for your comments.
1 person likes this
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Actually, I think there were other buyouts that also went well but it all depends on who handles it and how. I'm getting the message between the lines that it might not work also. That is really, really scarry because it is a last ditch effort and if it doesn't work, there's not much else that can be done.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
24 Sep 08
I really agree with you about Congress and Bush. There really needs to be controls and huge oversight on this bail out. I am not for the bail out but I know that if we don't do it, there's going to be big issues with our economy like depression.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
24 Sep 08
That bothers me too. And oil shot back up, and then went back down -- as if they thought the government plan would fix things back to the point where demand wouldn't go back down and we'd buy expensive oil again. As soon as they saw how this plan DOESN'T sooth us and how alot of us don't expect it to help, let alone agree with it...oil went back down.
*shivers* George Carlin believed the game was rigged. Maybe it's just that fat cats take cues from follow fat cats' actions, but it's..blah.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Yeah I know, it's like everything else in life they can't tell the future. My problem with it is once the government started talking about the bailout the stock market shot up, then when the investors figured out the government wasn't handling over a blank check the next day then investors pulled back. It was like investors were fine with the market falling as long as they thought the government was going to bail them out but, now, that there might be strings attached or it may not work then "oh we better be careful".
