Bailout Voting

[justbroke]

If only this were true.

They voted nay due to their fear of not being reelected. But, you are right, at least they voted nay which is what the people wanted.

THe people don't know what they want. They do know, that they don't trust Congress and that's why they demanded their Congressmen to vote nay.

Someone in Congress (House or Senate) needs to come forward and say.... maybe standing alongside the President, that years of inaction in Congress and lobbying has got us where we are. Man up, as they say, and say "you're right... we are wrong and we did this. We apologize. We don't deserve your respect or trust. I'm asking you, however, to listen to the Federal Reserve Chairman, SEC, HUD, and Treasury on what really has to be done. Don't listen to us." But, that isn't happening.

Congress does NOT want to fix the housing and foreclosure issue people. Do you know how easy it would have been to re-instate the clause (which modified section 1322(b)(2) also known as the "anti-modification" clause) that was in the original BAPCPA bill which would allow Bankruptcy judges to MODIFY the rights of mortgage holders on Homesteads?

Did they do that... NO. I am glad that they did reject the $700B bill as is. They need to have that anti-modification language removed if they really intend to help homeowners.

That's all... nothing else.

[fltoo]

I didn't say the people knew what they were doing, I simply said that Congress reacted to what people wanted.

Problem is people need to look at this at a macroeconomic level and they can't do this.

I hate the idea of this bill, but we do need it to pass.

This is not about helping people modify their loans, this is about THE FREEZING OF CREDIT and the multiple negative ramifications.

[Overmylimit]

I see both sides on this. I was watching CNN and one of the reporters was saying that credit needs to be in place so business's can operate and this is true but when lots of $$ is swirling around it gives everbody a false sense of security. Everyone has been riding high the last few years because there was an abundance of funds/credit to operate but once you take away all of the fluff how much actual money was there if you take away all of the credit. I too was caught up in easy money to expand and take business to the next level, but really I should have been a lot more conservative...hence this is why I am filing bk soon.

[Flamingo]

THe people don't know what they want. They do know, that they don't trust Congress and that's why they demanded their Congressmen to vote nay.

Someone in Congress (House or Senate) needs to come forward and say.... maybe standing alongside the President, that years of inaction in Congress and lobbying has got us where we are. Man up, as they say, and say "you're right... we are wrong and we did this. We apologize. We don't deserve your respect or trust. I'm asking you, however, to listen to the Federal Reserve Chairman, SEC, HUD, and Treasury on what really has to be done. Don't listen to us." But, that isn't happening.

Congress does NOT want to fix the housing and foreclosure issue people. Do you know how easy it would have been to re-instate the clause (which modified section 1322(b)(2) also known as the "anti-modification" clause) that was in the original BAPCPA bill which would allow Bankruptcy judges to MODIFY the rights of mortgage holders on Homesteads?

Did they do that... NO. I am glad that they did reject the $700B bill as is. They need to have that anti-modification language removed if they really intend to help homeowners.

That's all... nothing else.

Every homeowner in America would be up in arms if Congress allowed BK judges to modify the rights of mortgage holders in BK. Why should those that pay their mortgages and bills, and even those that have already gone through BK and paid to save their homes pay for those that took on more than they could handle through predatory lending. If breaks are allowed for that, why can't everyone get a break. It's bad. This was discussed this evening on CNN and about how Congress is aware of that fact but they avoid bringing it out and you don't see it discuss anywhere that much. I don't think you will see anything like that be passed because of the havoc it would create at this time. On the other hand, all the foreclosures are dragging down the economy and dragging neighborhoods and home values right along with them and with that the surrounding businesses suffer, go out of business and unemployment just gets higher. Also, Right now there are bigger fish on the fryer to worry about and that is company's having the money available to pay their payrolls and keep people employed. Time to ride out the storm and sit tight for a while and let the storm pass. Things will change and recover but it will be a long time and credit and easy borrowing as it was will be a thing of the past.

[justbroke]

I agree.

The modification problem is a particular party's desire, I know this. There's a backlash building and I think the politicians are just choosing which side of it they want to be on. My reason to bring it up, is because certain folks in Congress want it. While you mention the average homeowner, I think that the Banks would be up in arms the most and the credit (lending) would certainly dry up on lending for home ownership.

I think the American People are the loser, today, regardless of what they do.

The problem is, as you state and others, there are multiple issues going on here. This $700B is not a magic bullet. It only addresses set of problems.

[banca rotta]

Whether the bailout would work or not no one really knows. The problem the politicians need to understand is that they can NEVER be trusted with anything.

Even if we really do need the bailout how can anyone trust them anymore? Until they can earn our trust which may never happen most Americans will doubt all their motives, even well intentioned ones.

[justbroke]

You know what. I give up. I don't have a cure for this problem. It's insane that it's an election year, because there is too much grandstanding going on on BOTH sides of the aisle.

[fltoo]

Got that right. I would like to smack Nancy Pelosi in her botoxed forehead.
Someone give her a V8.

[banca rotta]

Got that right. I would like to smack Nancy Pelosi in her botoxed forehead.
Someone give her a V8.

I'll settle for our good friends in the Golden State voting her off the island.

[JRScott]

The bailout would not have prevented a crash. It would have slowed perhaps the crash by a few weeks or perhaps a couple of months, it however would not have stopped it. Had it passed we would be back here in early 2009 at the latest with 700 billion more in federal debt and still no sooner to fixing the problem.

The first step in fixing the problem is that President Bush should veto the current spending bill. If Congress and the Federal government are going to fix the problem, then they first have to show that they are going to take the hard steps necessary to correct the problem long term.

That means deep and heavy cuts in federal spending to bring the budget into reality. No one in Washington wants to do that but it is what is necessary. Not just a spending freeze but actually cuts in all programs and all government spending. To just bring the out column in line with the in column the cuts need to be on the mark of around 30% to allow for a small fund to deal with emergencies.

They also need to review the entitlement programs. It is time to fix Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Social Security itself could be fixed by changing the age at which someone can collect benefits, the other two more drastic changes are needed including change of age but also probably changes to benefits. In order to help they need to limit the amount of money the courts can award for malpractice. This would help malpractice insurance companies to lower their premiums and thus lower overall health care in the United States. Another area that needs more market control is pharmaceutical companies. Everyone blames big oil which made 7.6% profit last year overall, pharmaceutical companies made around 26% profit last year. Only by controlling these two areas can they make health care more affordable for people.

We must move towards Energy Independence. It is time to stick the lobbyist out of Washington and the Congress to belly up to the table and understand that if we are to remain a free nation and a strong nation we must become Energy Independent. To this end drilling must be allowed in the first 50 miles of the shoreline and the proceeds must be shared with the states. This is a short term solution and further steps are needed for long term. The next step is to give incentives for folks to invest in Compressed Natural Gas infrastructure starting along the interstates and also for conversion of gasoline/diesel engines to CNG starting with the big rigs. It is the most abundant resource we have that we can run our motors off of until we can actual perfect another technology.

For power for our homes it it is time to harness the power of the sun, wind, and tides. We have the technology currently to build very efficient wind and tidal power generators. Solar power will become efficient enough within 5 years to invest heavily in it. Estimates put that we could in 5 years time have 20% of our power provided by wind if we are willing, within 10 years we could have an additional 20% from Solar and 20 % from tides. The remaining 40% needs to come from Nuclear. Then we are energy independent. The energy grid of the United States though needs a major overall, as it still has infrastructure from the early 20th century in place. It is inefficient and we can do much better today.

I realize that it is going to be hard economic times in the near term for everyone. Indeed it may get as bad as the 1930s or even worse as the 1870s. However we will persevere. I just hope this time we learn our lesson, and our nation rebuilds itself stronger to prevent another episode in the 2040s to 2050s.

[Bandit]

Got that right. I would like to smack Nancy Pelosi in her botoxed forehead.
Someone give her a V8.

I would like to smear dog poop on her botox face then rub her face all over bushes face... after an hour or so, make them sit in the corner and look at each other all pouting lower lips stuck out, listening to a broken record repeat "you are fired, you are fired, you are fired"....

[Bandit]

I am working from home today and have the bailout vote on - right now it looks like it will not pass and the market is just tanking away. It was down already 600 points...the entire situation is just awful.

well you know...some of them will have to let their third 10 million dollar home go back to the bank and the repo guy take their 4th yacht away.

[fltoo]

I would like to smear dog poop on her botox face then rub her face all over bushes face... after an hour or so, make them sit in the corner and look at each other all pouting lower lips stuck out, listening to a broken record repeat "you are fired, you are fired, you are fired"....

Can we put Dodd, Reed and Barney Frank in the corner with them?

[momof5]

I have been feeling kind of 'dumb' about all this and relying on what I am hearing in the media.

Several banks in my area were on the news this morning and one of the Presidents said something very interesting that is sticking with me.

"There are 7000 banks in America that are doing just fine. We are doing just fine.(local bank) Wall Street is NOT Main Street when it comes to banking. What the people of America need to realize is that this is about the BIG banks"

As we all know, pre,post and during BK is these BIG banks are not very friendly when WE are/were in crisis or needed a break. Makes it kind of hard for me to feel sorry for them. Awww the CEO may need to take a 5 million cut in pay this year. Dont worry he will still be living in his mansion and banking away millions more. Probably in a local bank!!


So for the majority of us... we will be just fine. I prefer my local bank anyways.

While I am sure there will be some trickle effect. I personally think its better to bank local anyways.

[SiftedLikeWheat]

The guy on the street doesn't want the bail out. He sees it very simply. He either loses money through his retirement account or he loses money through higher taxes.

He'll take the risk and wait it out on his retirement account and prefers to keep Uncle Sugar from digging deeper in his pockets.