Why do we even bother?

Okay - so you are getting no more angry than everyone else - the question is:
Are you doing anything about it? Have you contacted your legislators and told them NO BAILOUTS? Have you signed impeachment petitions or told your legislator to support impeachment? Are you registered and voting 3rd party?

Everyone is angry - but a lot of people are doing nothing other then yelling to each other about being mad --- There are millions now trying to stop this crap - are you one of the former or the later? Get busy, WE NEED SOME HELP FROM EVERYONE ELSE.

Kay -

I love Lou's website. I recently found it and I am going there more and more frequently.

It seems like Americans simply don't want any sort of discomfort whatsoever from the choices we make - both as a country and as individuals.

I know a lot of people are in danger of losing their homes, but (from what I have seen) these are people who could not afford the mortgages in the first place! Now they are upset that they might lose a home they had no business buying in the first place??? :confused: Seems to me that losing the home might be a good lesson in financial responsibility.

We have a decent house. It is not the biggest or fanciest. When Hubby got a new job and a raise last year, we bought a less expensive house - with the idea that we were going to work to be debt-free within 2 years. Hubby's job is under a 2-year contract. It might get picked up again in 2 years, but it might not. We choose to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, rather than go blindly along, blissfully ignorant of the future. :p If it gets picked up again, we will be in great shape! If it doesn't, we will still be fine with the non-job money we have coming in.

It isn't always fun being financially responsible. There are times when we would love to go out and blow money, but we don't. If we sacrifice now, we can be better off in the future.

Unfortunately, most Americans would rather live like there is no tomorrow.

Bad decisions are no longer the main reason many are losing their homes.

A foreclosure drives down the value of neighboring properties - multiply that by dozens in a neighborhood and you have people who see the value of their property drop below the amount they owe on it even though they used to have good equity in that home. In many of these same locations, the need for money by local and state governments has meant an increase in property taxes even though homes values have decreased. Insurance costs in storm prone areas have doubled, tripled and more.

Foreclosures also slow sales - which means some who have lost jobs or income need to sell homes and can't. The asset they held previously is no longer an asset to them and the equity they counted on is gone.

Then go on to the predatory credit card practices that have been allowed in the past few years. Credit card companies are quietly reducing the credit limits on many people - they are raising interest rates without having to give a reason or even to have a reason for doing so.

These companies based themselves in the few states that have weak usury laws limiting interest that can be charged. I know of several friends recently who have not missed a single credit card payment but have seen their interest rates on balances go from 9-12% to over 30% on all their accounts.

This began with sub-prime - often loans "sold" by knowledgable lenders to people who did not have the sense to question those loans. There are people who believe that if a bank says something is OK, they can trust it. Bankers have traditionally had the reputation of "cautious with money" and these borrowers often don't know the difference when dealing with "financials" which are aggressive in pursuing profits.

Predatory lending to consistently increase profits for investors was combined with marketing to the least knowledgable among us. When that is combined with a populace that has been brainwashed for years to "buy now, pay later" - you create a crisis.

When the Iraq war began, we should have had to make some sacrifices - but we didn't. Taxes were lowered even though spending was skyrocketing - what sense does that make? If citizens had to suffer some hardship to support this war, it would have been over by now.

You can't have the economy of a country in trouble and have a citizenry that wants to proceed as usual. Eventually, it will stop working.

I am listening to some of the debate about the "bailout" and am appalled at what I'm hearing. "We can't estimate the worth of the banks"...."we don't know what those securities are worth"...."we hope this bailout will work but there are no guarantees".

Yet even contrarian economic experts agree that doing nothing will totally dry up available credit and lead to a deep depression. What happens when farmers can't put crop seed or stock animals on credit until harvest? No harvest. What happens when small businesses can't get credit to restock or expand? They close.

This is not the end of the crisis - what about auto makers who are asking for a bailout, what about the airlines and railways who so often ask the feds for help?

Meanwhile, some of the pols are still saying we aren't officially in a recession. All that tells me is that the guideposts they use are wrong.

I think Paulson is taking some flak he may not deserve as is Bernanke. They are charged with finding a solution - but they weren't in place when the problems were escalating.

Paulson made a good point today - "this is something all of us have to own". Pointing fingers and talking sound bites won't work.

It's amazing how far we have fallen under Bush. Clinton raised taxes somewhat and balanced the budget. Bush started his "reign" with a great economy - and has driven it into the ground. Congress - both 6 years of Republican control and 2 years of Democratic control - have gladly participated in the spending frenzy.

McCain suggested today that the debates be delayed so candidates can focus on the financial crisis - Obama has not yet responded.

Why not move forward with vice-pres debates - I think the two Senators who are running for President need to get back to DC and do the job they are being paid for now. I think the people should expect that!

kay

I'm in the UK - as I write this the US government has just finished making their announcements about what they are going to do. I find the whole thing incredulous - no one bails out ordinary Joe - but these guys - who are supposed to be financial experts - have screwed up the system for all of us - whilst most of them drive around in their flash cars and live in their swanky houses - if it was you or me - we would be out!!

Yeah. It's a bummer.