I have been glued to the TV and internet over the last few days, watching the Congressional circus attempt to deal with our country's financial crisis. I am not an economist or financial expert, just a middle-class citizen trying to figure out my own financial problems. While I am not going to pretend to fully understand what has happened, or what is going to happen, I did have a few thoughts:
I know everyone is saying that if no action is taken, then we are all in trouble (part of me thinks it is our elected officials being dramatic a few weeks before an election), but aren't there other, better ways to protect the average citizen. For example, my net worth is a negative number right now, and a decent portion of my debt belongs to one of the big banks who appear to be in trouble. Why not send me a portion of the $700 billion, instead of bailing out the big banks. It is my tax money anyway. Do you realize that assuming there are 150 million tax payers (that is a guess), they could send each of us $4,667. I like that plan much better.
Why are politicians using the economy as a political football. How about this idea? Lock them all in a room, and just tell us the results - yes you passed a plan, no you didn't, etc... Don't make speeches. These people make a lot of money, worked all weekend, and got nothing done. If I collected my pay check, and got nothing done, I would probably be fired. Maybe this is why everyone came out today and blamed everyone else.
I bought my house after home prices started to decline, and at the time, I thought I got a good deal. My home is worth about $80,000 less now than a year ago. The companies being bailed out are the ones who caused this mess. So, I am paying for a lot of money for a mortgage that is much more than my home is worth. I didn't do anything wrong. Meanwhile, the banks that are losing money because of their poor judgement and decisions are being rescued. It just doesn't make sense.
This whole "bail out" is just a band aid. There is no such thing as an easy way out. Most of that realize that every day as we work to earn a living, try to stretch our budgets, and are held responsible for our own financial decisions, good or bad. I have a hard time believing throwing money at the problem will fix it, but then again, I am not an expert.
Who's Gonna Bail Us Out?
the hard rocking anthem "Who's Gonna Bail Me Out?"
at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgM1epYtcD0
Posted by: Common Man | October 09, 2008 at 01:52 PM