Quoted from bumblethru I think that all who voted no to this ridiculous bail out, for whatever reason, should be commended. I am a believer in the free market and capitalism and allowing it to adjust and correct itself. I also believe in accountability and consequences for all the greedy bast**ds that allowed this to happen and get rich from it.
So I do not want this country to lose it's free market, capitalism foundation for the greedy few. WE WILL SURVIVE!!
We lost our free market and capitalism a very long time ago, in part when we sold ourselves out to foreign countries to meet our hoity toity needs. I hate the bailout and I hate even more listening to the witch named Pelosi telling me I'm "buying in" to a better future. We have dug ourselves a hole so freaking deep the only alternative is this bail out. Otherwise, our banks WILL fail, our credit system WILL fail, our personal lives will fail. I for one, can not afford to have that happen. I have been self employed my whole life, my husband does not have a pension where he works. We have saved and saved and saved since 1978 when we got married. First thing, every single month before I paid a bill I put $10 away for retirement, we kept that up every single month since then, increasing it as our incomes went up. We saved and saved so we can retire, you can't count on SSI being there, that has been totally screwed up with freebie freaking handouts all these years. No we didn't just spend and spend and plan on social security we saved as much as we could. Now this happens, I may be selfish but too bad, I need stability back. We need the bailout or ALL will be lost. Neither of us has even looked at our investment portfolio in weeks. I can't and apparently neither can my husband.
The consequences of not passing a bailout grow more serious each day. Think Road Warrior. See my comment on Kevin's most recent blog post.
Thanks for the comments, Michael, although I must say that I disagree. This is a place that government has no place stepping into, but believe me, they will over the next month. I just think there needs to be somewhat of a takeback at this point. There can only be so much credit given.
Those who are really sweating are the boomers closing in on retirement age. Their dreams of a summer home in Florida or enjoying their golden years RVing across the country have been dashed away.
Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump is none too pleased with the markets, but he sees a silver lining.
Oil should be falling, Trump says, and falling fast.
“People aren’t talking about two very big issues, the war and the price of oil,” Trump told Fox Business News.
“If people knew how to speak to OPEC the proper way, the hard way, the tough way, oil would be down to $50 instead of $150,” Trump says.
There’s already far too much oil on the markets, and anybody in the oil business knows it. “They don’t know what to do with it,” Trump told Fox.
“If we got rid of this war, and we got oil down, this country would be unbelievable,” he said.
As for the $700 billion bailout, Trump is resigned that some kind of assistance for the banks will have to be arranged, calling the current market the “worst the country has seen since 1929.”
“It’s sad but it’s probably something that has to get done. The financial system is going to come to a halt. It’s a sad day for the country,” Trump said.
“Maybe things go to hell anyway. Nobody really knows what is going to happen.”
Wall Street meltdown could cost state $3.5 billion in taxes Monday, September 29, 2008 The Associated Press
ALBANY — State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli estimates the turmoil on Wall Street could cost New York up to $3.5 billion in tax revenue over the next year and a half. For more information To read the complete report by the state Comptroller's Office, click here. DiNapoli says preliminary September data show the fallout from New York City’s financial markets “is starting to hit the state hard,” and market volatility and federal intervention could raise or lower his estimates. The state budget is about $120 billion. The comptroller’s office also says earlier projections that the securities industry will lose 25,000 jobs are too low. Its new review estimates the number of jobs lost could reach 40,000.
The House members who voted against the $700 billion bailout package yesterday say they did it because government should not be interfering with free markets and/or bailing out Wall Street. But it was government’s non-interference that was a big part of the problem (last week the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission acknowledged that lax oversight, including a voluntary supervision program for Wall Street’s largest investment houses, helped fuel the financial collapse). And the rescue plan was about much more than bailing out Wall Street — the banks and speculators — for their own irresponsibility and greed. It was really about keeping the U.S. economy going by keeping the credit that it depends on, and which right now is virtually frozen, flowing. Although no one should have liked the rescue plan, everyone should have supported it. A big reason, aside from the stakes involved, is that it was greatly improved from the plan first announced by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson one week ago, which was typical corporate welfare. Under the administration’s plan the government would have bought up the bad debt of banks and other financial institutions, allowing them to get it off their balance sheets and start making loans again, but nothing would have been asked in return. There would have been no increased regulation, no limits on the ability of corporate executives to benefit, no benefits for taxpayers if things improved and government assets appreciated, no consideration given to mortgage help for borrowers. And the Treasury secretary would have had total power to make deals, unreviewable by other federal administrative agencies or the courts. But then congressional leaders got involved. Working long hours for the better part of a week, and in bipartisan fashion (both remarkable and refreshing one month before a big election), they tweaked the legislation to make it more comprehensive and fair. President Bush had the good sense to accept the changes proposed by Democrats trying to clean up the mess he and his ideological allies had created. Others did not, and the legislation failed 228-205, with 60 percent of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats voting against it. And the stock market dropped nearly 800 points, the largest single-day point decline ever. Of course it was down about 400 points early in the morning when it looked as if the bill would pass, an indication of just how deep the crisis is if investors doubt that an infusion of $700 billion, along with another $630 billion the Federal Reserve pumped into the system yesterday, will work. Discouraging as this is, it’s not the end of the world. Congressional leaders are determined to keep working until they get something passed. And if they can’t, another Great Depression isn’t inevitable. As Geoff Colvin, senior editor at large for Fortune magazine, points out, our economy is dynamic, not static. Wall Street executives, entrepreneurs facing a credit crunch, homeowners and investors in a down market don’t just sit there and allow events to beat them up. They anticipate and respond, and they can find opportunities in the current situation we can’t imagine. That may be true, but it still doesn’t let those who created the situation, or failed to do something to ameliorate it when they might have, off the hook.
I talked with my financial advisor and he suggested that if you are young enough and are in for the long haul...than just wait out the storm. However, he said that if you are older, which I assume he ment 'boomers', who are looking at retirement in the next few years, to switch to cash. He said that even if they had passed the bill yesterday or pass one in the coming days...it will be a few years before it bounces back.
He also said that the smaller banks will survive and the newly formed large ones will also. It will be the ones in the middle mainstream that will be forced to compete, resulting in a possible merger with larger banks or just close their doors.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I won't dispense investment advice here because it's not appropriate. I do agree with long term investment approach, however, and that there will be opportunity.
This is more about everyday stuff than what the Dow is doing. Businesses beyond banks will begin to fail because they can't get access to capital. Job losses will be huge.
There appears to be a disconnect on preventing taxpayer suffering in that regard from the politicians against the bailout.
No one should like the bailout. Unfortunately, it's necessary.
As an economist I have been trying to explain this same thing to those that can't seem to get past tax increases or rewarding CEO's for bad investments. As a financial conservative, the bailout package frightens me...but unfortunately not having this package right now frightens me even further. Its not good that our economy is so dependent on credit, but this country can't quit it cold turkey. Some of the companies that you work for may need credit to even cover their own payroll...
I won't dispense investment advice here because it's not appropriate. I do agree with long term investment approach, however, and that there will be opportunity.
This is more about everyday stuff than what the Dow is doing. Businesses beyond banks will begin to fail because they can't get access to capital. Job losses will be huge.
There appears to be a disconnect on preventing taxpayer suffering in that regard from the politicians against the bailout.
No one should like the bailout. Unfortunately, it's necessary.
Yup I would like nothing better than to hand over billions of dollars to the criminals that have caused this so called crisis. Yup let's hand over our hard earned doller to Paulson, the secretary of the treasury, the former Chief of Staff of Goldman Sachs. Secretary Paulson has been consistently wrong for a year and a half. He said for a year and a half this wasn't a dire crisis. That this wasn't going to happen. So the very people who told us for a long time not to worry about it are now panicked. Last year, Goldman Sachs alone had three people, each earning $73 million a year. Now, tell me why should we bail them out? Just the other day the New York Times reported that the head of Goldman Sachs was the only private sector person in a New York Federal Reserve meeting on AIG (in which Goldman Sachs had a $20 billion interest). If this report is true, this is further grounds for demanding Paulson’s resignation.
Having a former chairman of Goldman Sachs preside over disbursing hundreds of billions of dollars to Wall Street is a terrible concept and inevitably could lead to crony capitalism and the appearance of...... if not the actual existence of....corruption.
Yup I want to hand over my money to Chris Dodd, the chairman of the banking committee, who was the largest recipient from Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae. So the guy who got the most money is now going to write a bill to give taxpayers' money to the people who gave him money. Somehow, I am not convinced. I don't think the taxpayers should have to pay $700 billion for welfare for Wall Street. I think it's fundamentally wrong, and I think that it is very likely to create a bureaucratic control of our financial system in a way that may cripple us for 20 years.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I think it's fundamentally wrong, and I think that it is very likely to create a bureaucratic control of our financial system in a way that may cripple us for 20 years.
I agree with you Bum, but the alternative will cripple us worse. We are, as they say up the creek without a paddle.
Logged
