Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Dark Skies Ahead

I have very mixed feelings on this bailout thing. While I absolutely don't want a "deep recession", I don't think that this huge bill is necessarily the answer either. What scares me most is how secretive and rushed the whole thing is. There are very few details to the general public (except the price tag) and a huge push to get it done right away. Every time I turn on the news there is another expert telling me why we need this done and why it needs to be done now but no one seems to really explain how it's going to work. I've been reading about the bill and feel like it has good intentions but I don't like that it seems to be a knee-jerk reaction. I did learn that the bill allows for only $250 billion to be paid at first, then the President can wait to see if more money is needed.

There has been a lot of talk about how Wall Street has screwed the folks on Main Street but I think we're missing part of the story. I think blaming the whole kit and caboodle on the financial institutions is like blaming McDonald's for being fat. The general public has to take some responsibility for our own financial mistakes. We borrow way too much! We don't save enough and we leverage things like there will never be a rainy day. Well, I hate to point out the fact that it's raining and now we want the government to provide the umbrella

3 comments:

Colette said...

I'm with you... I feel the exact same way!

Anonymous said...

I agree. I don't think the bailout that is being proposed will work. It may help a little, but it seems like it's a bandaide and not a solution that will heal our economy. And where the heck is this 900 billion dollars coming from? Last I checked we are still paying for a very expensive war, and are trillions in debt. Are we going to borrow more from China? We as Americans need to take responsibility for our poor choices, as do the banks. I don't know the answer, but I don't think this bailout is it.

Lisa R.D. said...

Why can't the public know the details? I would feel better about taking a position on this whole idea if I knew what the bailout really entails (as you so eloquently said...). In addition... why are the CEOs who helped to drive these companies into the ground getting payoffs? They should be handing walking papers (and perhaps an invoice asking for all of their million dollar bonuses to be returned).