Are you for or against the bailout?

[Soph the vet]

Personally, I am against any bailout of Wall Street, with or without restrictions. It is a leap down the road of socialism and if I wanted to live in Sweden or North Korea for that matter, I would move there.

I attended a conference this weekend of about 2,000 people and when this was brought up it was obvious that practically everyone there was against the bailout. Congress is receiving calls in ratios of 200:1 against this bailout. Buying bad assets is a bad move, IMO.

What do you all think?

And if you voted "I have an answer to this problem" please share and we can forward it to Congress!!

Edited September 28, 2008 by Soph the vet
added last line

[percytruffle]

I am not for it in theory, but it may be an unfortunate necessity in order to keep our capitalistic economy afloat. It saddens me that those of us who are conservative with our money and do not take risks are now forced to shoulder the burden of those who took the big risks and failed, ie: interest only mortgages. I wish this would pass and that we would all learn a good economic lesson. I would like to hope that for most this will be a hand up rather than a hand out. Time will tell.

[drama_mama]

well poo, I accidentally clicked yes but mean no way....lol

[Soph the vet]

Sorry, I see now how confusing the way I worded the question and poll answers, UGH!:banghead:

[tibbyl]

Personally, I am against any bailout of Wall Street, with or without restrictions. It is a leap down the road of socialism and if I wanted to live in Sweden or North Korea for that matter, I would move there.

I attended a conference this weekend of about 2,000 people and when this was brought up it was obvious that practically everyone there was against the bailout. Congress is receiving calls in ratios of 200:1 against this bailout. Buying bad assets is a bad move, IMO.

What do you all think?

And if you voted "I have an answer to this problem" please share and we can forward it to Congress!!

 

The very few socialists I know do not support the bailout.

[Soph the vet]

The very few socialists I know do not support the bailout.

Great, can you tell me more?

[Linda...inOwasso]

Not a bail-out supporter here.

 

I am a strong supporter of natural consequences. I allow my children to fully experience the consequences of their actions (unless their maturity level prevents them from making safe choices) on a daily basis.

 

The gov't doesn't buy my groceries if I over-spend on entertainment for the month. Nor is a gov't representative standing at the gas pump offering to fuel up my car since gas prices have become increasingly exorbitant. I'm a responsible human being and take full responsibility for myself.

 

These babies on Wall Street should do the same. I'm disgusted with the whole mess!

[MyBlueLobsters]

well poo, I accidentally clicked yes but mean no way....lol

 

Me too, I misread the question! UGH!

[siloam]

In theory I am totally against it, but I have begun to think twice for two reasons.

 

1. this is not a traditional bail out where the $$ goes down a hole. It is investing in the companies where the government will be a stockholder and potentially not only will the government make back the $$ but they could make a profit.

 

2. When you have the likes of Warren Buffet, who's company is doing well and stock is one of the few financial stocks that hasn't done a huge nose dive, saying that this is potentially bigger than the great depression (my paraphrase), which started with banks failing. That gives me great pause and makes me wonder if a bailout wouldn't be better, based on the above where the bailout isn't just sending the $$ down a hole.

 

I didn't vote though. I absolutely don't like it, but I am not seeing a lot of appealing options. For example if AIG had been allowed to just close their doors and crash it would have caused a LOT of panic. They carry the insurance of many businesses, which would have suddenly been unable to do businesses till they got another insurance carrier. Can you imagine, "Sorry your flight has been canceled because we are shopping for insurance." Daunting when you realize just how many companies may have been put into that sort of position. While I am sure it would have worked out the effect on the financial markets during the chaos would have been bad. It might have left people's confidence shattered. Who knows if it really would have been better or not?

 

Heather

 

p.s. Wanted to add that investing in companies is not a socialist idea. They would just take the company over and run it, so it really isn't a socialist bailout.

Edited September 28, 2008 by siloam

[CactusPair]

I am for the bailout.

 

I fear the national and international economic consequences of not going forward with a bail-out plan. My family will suffer more if Wall Street collapses than if my tax dollars help pay for a bail-out. I am also concerned about national security in the wake of an economic collapse.

 

Bail-out is a wise choice, imo. Philosophies about accountability vs. "socialism" are interesting and important in theory. The reality is my family--and families across the nation and world--will pay the consequences of a financial implosion, perhaps for years or decades.

 

Any govt's job is to protect its citizens, and that is what the president and congress is doing via the bail-out plan.

[Parabola]

Not all democrats are for it either, anymore then all socialists. I think its a bandaid, a crutch, and justs prolongs the inevitable. I cannot see the wisdom in giving that kind of money to people who have already proven their inability to handle that kind of money.

Let the chips fall where they may, even if some of them fall on me. Maybe then it will be better for my kids' generation.

[runningirl71]

I voted that I'm not for it, and I agree with the others who expressed their feelings so eloquently. But, I also believe there is no easy answer to this problem.

[bkpan]

I am for the bailout.

 

I fear the national and international economic consequences of not going forward with a bail-out plan. My family will suffer more if Wall Street collapses than if my tax dollars help pay for a bail-out. I am also concerned about national security in the wake of an economic collapse.

 

Bail-out is a wise choice, imo. Philosophies about accountability vs. "socialism" are interesting and important in theory. The reality is my family--and families across the nation and world--will pay the consequences of a financial implosion, perhaps for years or decades.

 

Any govt's job is to protect its citizens, and that is what the president and congress is doing via the bail-out plan.

 

 

I have to agree.

 

I HATE the bailout! But, I fear even more the suffering that could happen if we allow our economy to collapse. Many would hold on and do okay, but SO many may not. The stories about the Great Depression seem very unreal to all of us who for the most part have grown up in relative affluence. Reading about it and living it are very different things.

 

Anyway, I do have fear. So many would lose their livelihoods, and there would be untold victims who did nothing to bring this on themselves. The bailout stinks, but the alternative could be worse.

 

Kim

[Dayle in Guatemala]

I'm not for it, but, I'm so concerned about what will happen to people if something doesn't happen. I don't believe in an absolute bailout at all. I think there should be a lot of restrictions, but, then again, that's maybe not the answer.

 

I heard one pundit say that the government should give the $700 billion to the people. That would pay off debt and get the banks and mortgage companies moving again, as well as energize our economy. He said it jokingly, but, I wonder? How feasible is it that it would be any better spent with the companies that are needing to be bailed out?

[Vida Winter]

At first I was completely against it but the more I read, I am more scared if they don't do it. There are also alternatives (cut corp & cap gains tax, etc) that could help and I wish they would implement some of them as well.

 

As the large banks fail I am very concerned at the ripple effect and how it will affect all of us. Now that I have an idea of what the plan intends to do, I think it has a reasonable chance of succeeding, if we can keep politicians from changing its purpose. The one thing that concerns me, though, is that there should be a provision for government to get out of it once the economy is stable. And let us get back to sensible lending - only to those who can afford it.

 

I'm just not sure that this whole thing will teach the lesson that needs to be learned - don't mess with free markets - no more social engineering policies.

 

So I guess my vote is "Yes, with restrictions".

 

~Dana

[Soph the vet]

 

2. When you have the likes of Warren Buffet, who's company is doing well and stock is one of the few financial stocks that hasn't done a huge nose dive, saying that this is potentially bigger than the great depression (my paraphrase), which started with banks failing. That gives me great pause and makes me wonder if a bailout wouldn't be better, based on the above where the bailout isn't just sending the $$ down a hole.

 

Didn't Warren Buffet recently invest $5Billion in Goldman Sachs? So we are bailing out Warren Buffet, or at least his bad assets, basically.

[Soph the vet]

Not all democrats are for it either, anymore then all socialists. I think its a bandaid, a crutch, and justs prolongs the inevitable. I cannot see the wisdom in giving that kind of money to people who have already proven their inability to handle that kind of money.

Let the chips fall where they may, even if some of them fall on me. Maybe then it will be better for my kids' generation.

I am with you on this one. It just prolongs the inevitable.

[tibbyl]

Didn't Warren Buffet recently invest $5Billion in Goldman Sachs? So we are bailing out Warren Buffet, or at least his bad assets, basically.

 

Goldman Sachs did not invest in mortgage backed securities.

[tibbyl]

For same reason many of those here oppose it. Lack of accountability. Fox guarding chicken coop. Rewarding private sector elite when risky behavior dominoed on them.

[Audrey]

The very few socialists I know do not support the bailout.

 

I'm a pretty hard-core Marxist and I wouldn't support that bail-out either.

 

Moot point for me though. It isn't my country anymore.