How about that DOW?

[redneckgeek]

Why is NOBODY talking about fixing the issue? Instead they lament that the sky is falling and the world is ending because the house didn't pass the bailout plan, but nobody seems to be able to explain how the bailout plan would have helped anyway.

They can't explain how it would've helped because
A) They know it won't
B) They have no idea.

I'm going with B. When 166 leading economists signed a letter and sent it to congress saying it was a bad idea, that's enough to make me very fearful of a government "fix". They should focus on how we got there, but since they are the ones largely responsible, that'll never happen.
They need to keep their nose out otherwise.

What I don't understand is why banks are continuing to let people default on ARM mortgages rather than just offer them a lower, fixed rate. Makes me think they know people won't be able to pay either way.

I know one thing.... If they include credit card and automotive debt - as they've bandied about - I'm going to stop making ALL payments so that I get a bailout too

 

[Alisa]

They can't explain how it would've helped because
A) They know it won't
B) They have no idea.

I'm going with B. When 166 leading economists signed a letter and sent it to congress saying it was a bad idea, that's enough to make me very fearful of a government "fix". They should focus on how we got there, but since they are the ones largely responsible, that'll never happen.
They need to keep their nose out otherwise.

What I don't understand is why banks are continuing to let people default on ARM mortgages rather than just offer them a lower, fixed rate. Makes me think they know people won't be able to pay either way.

I know one thing.... If they include credit card and automotive debt - as they've bandied about - I'm going to stop making ALL payments so that I get a bailout too

I'm going with A. I think they know damn well that this bailout will do nothing to help the economy. I think most people would be able to pay their mortgages if given a regular (i.e., not creative) mortgage. A friend of mine saw her mortgage rise by over $1,000 per month when her ARM reset and got a bit behind on her payments. She luckily was able to refinance into a regular mortgage and now she is back to making her payments on time. I think the banks are just gambling-they don't want to do the responsible thing and refinance people so that they can stay in their homes and keep making payments. They would rather have a complete meltdown so they can get their grubby little hands on the federal piggy bank. There will never be a bailout for *us*, it is socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor as always, so if I were you, I would keep on making those payments.

 

[Banana]

redneckgeek-

So you saw that CNN article, too? (For benefits of others: Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer.

Yes, bailout plan last Monday was going to do squat, and would most likely make it worse. Best thing they can do is to do... *DO NOTHING*.

Market will sort itself out.

And if you're worried that it's the eve of Depression, go and take look what happened 1920-1921. The crash was just as severe as the Black Monday on that fateful October 1929, yet it was quickly forgotten.

The difference? Gov't didn't intervene, despite Hoover's (then a secretary) insistence.

 

[redneckgeek]

It seems that all of the Americans in this forum agree on this issue.

That supports the claims that MOST Americans are against this.
You have to Email or call your congressional rep and TELL them you are against it. They need to hear, and hear it repeatedly.
I'll even help you:
https://forms.house.gov/htbin/wrep_findrep

 

[Banana]

Actually, it should be Senate for today; they're going to vote on their own version of bailout today.

I already contacted my senators. Knowing them, they'd probably dismiss me as a ultraconservative right wing nut. (they probably don't even know what a 'libertarian' is)

 

[redneckgeek]

Banana,
I just saw your sig in this list of quotes:

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."
-Mark Twain


Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress....But then I repeat myself.
-Mark Twain


I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill


A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
-.George Bernard Shaw


Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
-James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)


Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
-Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University


Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
-P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian


Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
-Frederic Bastiat, Economist (1801-1850)


Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
-Ronald Reagan (1986)


I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
-Will Rogers


If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!
-P.J. O'Rourke


In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
-Voltaire (1764)


Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!
-Pericles (430 B.C.)


No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
-Mark Twain (1866)


Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it.
-Unknown


The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
-Ronald Reagan


The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
-Mark Twain


There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress.
-Mark Twain


What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
-Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)


A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson

 

[Alisa]

It seems that all of the Americans in this forum agree on this issue.

This is a shocking and historic event. Let's savor our agreement while it lasts

 

[Alisa]

Well I am relieved to see that our future aspiring dictator knows what should be done:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081001/NEWS09/810010377/1056&theme=CAMPAIGN_2008

 

[redneckgeek]

The US House website's server is crashed this morning. I can't get in to send a hateful email to my congressman The Senate took Monday's ugly bill and made it even uglier! They filled it with pork trying to buy votes.
Bastards and scoundrels all!

 

[Alisa]

The US House website's server is crashed this morning. I can't get in to send a hateful email to my congressman The Senate took Monday's ugly bill and made it even uglier! They filled it with pork trying to buy votes.
Bastards and scoundrels all!

Let's hope the House doesn't back down on their previous position (fingers and toes are crossed).

 

[ajetrumpet]

Lets just hope that we can all feel confident about anything anymore. I myself don't feel confident about one damn thing right now...

 

[Alisa]

Lets just hope that we can all feel confident about anything anymore. I myself don't feel confident about one damn thing right now...

I am pretty confident we will be screwed over in the end.

 

[Fifty2One]

Joseph Stiglitz said It's like giving a massive blood transfusion to a person bleeding from an internal hemorrhage

I am pretty confident we will be screwed over in the end.

 

[statsman]

The US House website's server is crashed this morning. I can't get in to send a hateful email to my congressman The Senate took Monday's ugly bill and made it even uglier! They filled it with pork trying to buy votes.
Bastards and scoundrels all!

Interesting timing.

 

[ajetrumpet]

I am pretty confident we will be screwed over in the end.

As my girlfriend said when I said this same thing to her Alisa, isn't that a little bit bleak?. Try to stay positive. I'm living a pretty terrible life right now, but yet I still look at the sun once in a while.

Interesting timing.

I think you'd be surprised at how much of this crap that goes on is NOT about "coincidental timing". Perhaps most of that crap happens because someone is mad. Wouldn't doubt it.

 

[georgedwilkinson]

yet I still look at the sun once in a while.

Ouch! That must be very painful.

But in keeping with what Adam said, I agree. We all have a great skill set. We all have computers and internet (more than I had growing up). We all have the ability to type (a valuable skill).

And when things are at their lowest, there's only one direction things can go.

 

[Banana]

Lower?

*rimshot*

 

[ajetrumpet]

And When Things Are At Their Lowest, There's Only One Direction Things Can Go.

amen......

 

[statsman]

The hardest thing in the world is to go from bad to good.

The easiest thing in the world is to go from bad to worse.

Anon.

 

[statsman]

It has now been several days since the original stock market crash.

The doom sayers are still in the media trying their best to spread panic and yet

NOTHING HAS HAPPENED

Could it be that we are all worried over nothing. Is it possible it was just another of those self-correcting stock market drops. No banks have failed, nobody (to speak of) has been laid off. Credit is a little tight but that's happened before.

Maybe it we all keep our heads, there won't be a recession/depression.