What do you think? Is it OK to bailout these financial banks? Did government have the right to use your tax money to save these banks? Do you feel you've been robbed because you have to pay for someone's bad decisions? While your tax money is being used to bailout these banks, the CEOs of these banks actually got away with millions of dollars on salaries and bonuses, is it fair? If you are a good, financially responsible, someone that only buy things with money you have, do you feel it is necessary sacrifice to help others who made poor financial decision? After a series of bailout by our government, do you think we are moving away from capitalism and closer to socialism?
A bailout may be necessary to prevent the situation from devolving into another great depression. That said, any bailout should come with lots of strings attached - including at a minimum new regulations and enforcement of old regulations to prevent this from happening again, and limits on executive compensation.
I have problems with it, but something had/has to be done, my understanding is that the taxpayers actually made money when they did something similar for the Savings and Loan bailout (although the linked Wiki Article does not indicate that). By the way if you look at the wiki article the S&L crisis will look eerily familiar to the current crisis (including a familiar Senator who received a rebuke from the Senate Ethics Committee for exercising "poor judgment" for intervening with the federal regulators). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_crisis
There seem to be some important distinctions between this bailout and the S&L bailout. From Paul Krugman's blog:
Bad Idea This bailout should NEVER have happened. These banks were forced to make these loans initially by act of congress, later they kept doing it so they made their own damned beds. What the financial system needs is a good cleansing not a crutch. If you think the bailout was huge, just wait until Medicare & SocSEc go belly up. You ain't heard whining yet.
You dont have to look back far in history to tell that these government bail-outs work. (personally I am against it, but I understand the need.) Look at Harley Davidson, they are HUGE now, but 25 years ago they were on the doors of bankruptcy. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa032.html They asked Reagan for help, got it and came back stronger than ever. Managment changes surely helped them far more than the 700cc tarriff, but it gave them a little time. If I understand, the new bail-outs will require managment changes as well.
Of course I heard the bailout of Chrysler has led to the problems the Not So Big 3 are now experiencing.
Thanks! I had all but forgot about the Chrysler bail out. But I dont think that has anything to to with the most recent problems the big 3 are having. IMHO its the fact that they were "caught with their pants down". Tough to sell SUV's that only get 15mpg when gas is rapidly heading towards $5 a gallon. Nobody was wanting gas guzzlers all of a sudden and the big 3 didnt react fast enough with smaller more fuel efficient cars. We should have been listening to Ron Paul's fiscal plans all along, then we wouldnt be in this mess
Looks like they cut off their nose to spite their face in opposing stricter fuel efficiency standards.
It looks like the administration is asking Congress to just turn over $700 bil with no strings attached, and trust them to do the right thing. I don't want my tax dollars to go toward nationalizing the debt and privatizing the profit for the financial industry. Check out Paul Krugman's column today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbSRJRxV_WU Even if you dont like him, his views, etc, Ron Paul raised an AWFUL lot of money in a very short period of time. I tend to think he has a pretty good fiscal plan. Lets just let AIG, etc go down and see what happens.
We give Wall Street $700 billion and they raise the price of oil by $16 a barrel. Are we nuts?? Let them burn in debtor pain. I don't care if I have to dig wild potatoes to live on if the economy falls, I want to watch these guys wind up in the gutter after they loose everything.
Today Newt Gingrich publicly criticized the Bush Admin. and said this administration is WRONG on this bailout. He said more than anyone the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been wrong for the past year and half on our country financial health. Gingrich went as far as implying this bailout of a "dictatorship". My concern is that it so big a deal that was decided OVER the WEEKEND. Nobody was really know what was going on.
Lot of the Big 3's problems go back to having to provide Cadillac health insurance plans to retirees thanks to union contracts, something the foreign car makers don't have to worry about,especially if there is national health insurance in that country.
FYI - This bailout package including foreign banks. American taxpayers bailing out our European friends.
Makes you wonder with the GOP and Democrats getting on board this bailout....is there a finanancially conservative party left on the American political landscape?? Too bad the Libertarians don't have a sugar daddy behind them that could sink some big money into the election for them.
One thing I know for sure is that this bailout will add to our national debt to 11.3 trillion dollars. And our children will have to pick up this check for us, what a legacy!
George Will, a very conservative columnist, has some interesting things to say about this whole situation here. The first few paragraphs go like this: The article goes on for several more paragraphs. Read it all at the link above.
