Bush to speak tonight on bailout

**brennasmom** · 09-24-2008, 03:30 PM

Anyone going to watch? What are you hoping to hear? Or what do you think you will hear?

**Jeanna** · 09-24-2008, 06:27 PM

I will watch. I think it will be more excuses and also scare tactics to get people to think it is OK to bail out all of these companies while the regular folks have to fend for themselves.

**Palooka** · 09-25-2008, 12:34 AM

I watched it and have been trying to follow this whole story. I just don't understand it. If someone could explain it to me in simple terms lol I would greatly appreciate it.

So we hear that if the gov't bails out wall street it would help save the economy because obviously the stock market is a huge deal and if we didn't would really sink into a recession. So are Americans just screwed here either way? Does it mean taxes will go higher no matter what?

Do you think it is really fear or could it be true that their would be less loans,housing market worse, cars sales,college funds? This kind of stuff is over my head.

Either way how does this effect the American people?

TIA

**Palooka** · 09-25-2008, 02:33 AM

I think McCain was wise in taking a leadership stance and heading to Washington. Any action is better than both candidates holding pointless press conferences and issuing statements saying pretty much nothing. McCain is trying to be part of the solution and I think Obama is trying to avoid the problem to save face and keep his image clean.

But McCain and Obama has nothing to do with this whole decision making. My personal opinion is that McCain said he is done with the "campaign thing for now" almost proves to me that he may not know just what to say come Friday night. I think it was a poor excuse and trying to make himself look better with the economy when the polls now are showing him behind in. I still think it is a campaign tactic.

Americans don't want to be put on hold with this. They want to hear it live from these two people that could lead this country soon. One of them will have a tuff job trying to fix all this mess and I feel for them.

It is still a crazy thing and I don't understand it all. I know Obama and McCain did agree that Bushs' plan was flawed. Imagine that. lol I am glad they did agree.

Crazy times for sure.

**Dixie** · 09-25-2008, 07:44 AM

Originally Posted by Palooka

are Americans just screwed here either way? Does it mean taxes will go higher no matter what?

I think you hit the nail on the head!

**Parksfamily5** · 09-25-2008, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Palooka

But McCain and Obama has nothing to do with this whole decision making. My personal opinion is that McCain said he is done with the "campaign thing for now" almost proves to me that he may not know just what to say come Friday night. I think it was a poor excuse and trying to make himself look better with the economy when the polls now are showing him behind in. I still think it is a campaign tactic.

Americans don't want to be put on hold with this. They want to hear it live from these two people that could lead this country soon. One of them will have a tuff job trying to fix all this mess and I feel for them.

Crazy times for sure.

I totally disagree with this. I think McCain can handle Obama in a debate wtihout any problems. ( now if this was the Biden/Palin debate, I might agree with your reasoning). I do think Americans would rather know what they want to do with our economy and actually "doing" something rather than watching them debate on t.v. .

**elphie** · 09-25-2008, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by aimeebee

McCain is trying to be part of the solution and I think Obama is trying to avoid the problem to save face and keep his image clean.

McCain was part of the problem to begin with since he voted for deregulation of these companies. Now he says these companies need more regulation like it is a brand new idea and he has a solution to fix things and prevent this from happening in the future.

Honestly, many Americans made huge mistakes with debt that led to this but individuals have been no more irresponsible than corporations or our own government. McCain should be part of cleaning up the mess he helped create.

**cheles2kids** · 09-25-2008, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by Palooka

So we hear that if the gov't bails out wall street it would help save the economy because obviously the stock market is a huge deal and if we didn't would really sink into a recession. So are Americans just screwed here either way? Does it mean taxes will go higher no matter what?

Do you think it is really fear or could it be true that their would be less loans,housing market worse, cars sales,college funds? This kind of stuff is over my head.

TIA

Palooka, I've been glued to the t.v. any chance I get for the past several days watching the drilling that congress has been giving the financial committee and this is how I see it.

Yes, we, the taxpayers will have to "cover" these bailouts either way they go.
Either they do this "bail-out" as they call it, with all of these plans in place (overseeing committees, taking care of people who are already in dire straights of losing their homes, etc.) to basically cover us a little bit better and with hopes that we don't fall into a recession/depression in the meantime.
OR they just straight up loan/give these companies the money and we're still covering the brunt of the loan, and sit idly by and watch everything turn downhill alot faster on a much more extreme level (unfortunately it can get *much* worse for us).

That's my take on it anyhow.

Bascially if we don't do the bail-out, the financial marketplace will become so unstable that there will be alot more financial institutions closing, therefore leaving alot of the regular folks, small business people, farmers, etc. unable to get any kind of loan, whether it be for a car, keeping inventory supplied, getting a school loan, mortgage loan, etc.

That's how I'm understanding everything so far.
Now, don't even ask me about the stockmarket, I know the basics, but that's as far as my knowledge goes.

I'm kinda like you, I'm just listening, researching and trying to keep up the daily changes as much as possible.

But if you ask me?
We've already been in a recession and it's not going to look any better for at least another 10+ years down the road, if then.

As to the O.P. question?
I don't even listen to Bush anymore. That's all I'm saying about that.

**Jeanna** · 09-25-2008, 09:05 AM

I think Bush's speech was a scare tactic to get the American people to believe that the situation/ financial crisis bailout is in our court. If we don't swallow the junk they are shoving down our throats and agree with them then if the stock market fails it is our fault. i am ready for them to blame who is a fault and make them pay. Not only do I think that these CEO's should not get golden parachutes but they should be fined for what they have done.

**TexasPeanut** · 09-25-2008, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by Jeanna

I think Bush's speech was a scare tactic to get the American people to believe that the situation/ financial crisis bailout is in our court. If we don't swallow the junk they are shoving down our throats and agree with them then if the stock market fails it is our fault. i am ready for them to blame who is a fault and make them pay. Not only do I think that these CEO's should not get golden parachutes but they should be fined for what they have done.

My exact thoughts on all of this. My personal favorite moment in all of this is cnn doing a montage of Pres. Bush saying through the whole year that the government should not bail out any financial institutions or corporations at the expense of the taxpayers. They should be held accountable for their own actions....fast forward through the year to now he's saying a completely different thing and putting the "fear" of an economic recession and panic in everyone's mind. I don't know about everyone else but with me and people in my financial bracket and others living similarly to us, we've been in a recession already thanks to the cost of normal living expenses going up beyond belief. The working class has already hit their panic mode, but they've turned a blind eye to it with the "our economy is still fundamentally strong" bs.

**jamie79** · 09-25-2008, 10:05 AM

The admininstration, Paulson, Bernanke, Barney Frank, and all these people who are in charge of the financial instituations that have failed have NOT done their jobs.
If they were "regular" Americans and did what they have done they would be sitting in prison for a very long time for fraud amoung other things.

It does not matter if McCain or Obama go back to Washington, the governement is going to pass some kind of "bailout" and the people who will be paying for this for a very long time will be us and our kids.
This "recession" that we are in and Bush finally admits to is going to go on for a long time and personally I think its more of a depression because of the banks failing etc. But whatever the government or anyone wants to call it, times are going to be hard for a long, long time

**frugalbabe** · 09-25-2008, 10:08 AM

First of all let me start by saying that I HATE the idea of a bailout. Hmmmm Lets see we practice in fraudulent accounting practices get greedy and make STUPID mortgage loans to people who will never be able to pay them and then when it all falls like the house of cards it is the average Joe Schmoe (you and me) will get to pick up the pieces the way we always do. The problem is this "house of cards" are loans that have been bought by many countries and actually help support main street America so if we let it fall Wal-Mart has to close its doors tomorrow and the other countries start demanding we make good on the notes they bought which of course we cannot do. The FBI is now involved in looking at the books of these companies and instead of arguing about whether these CEOs should get golden parachutes I think we should be expecting them to be brought up on charges of fraud and looking at very long prison sentences. Of course another problem is almost everyone in Washington has had a finger in this pie for a long time and I'm sure this includes McCain and Obama. So yep either way because of the greed, poor policy decisions, and ineptitude of the "experts" we are looking at a debt that we will get to shoulder... and our children will get...and our grandchildren....and on and on and on. Makes me furious.

**caradana** · 09-25-2008, 10:11 AM

I see a lot of "us and them." "Regular people" get smacked while "those greedy wall streeters" get bailed. The reality is nowhere even remotely close to that oversimplified generalization. When the credit market locks - and I mean locks to a screeching halt - every regular person in America will be affected.

The reality is that the first ingredient of this disaster was deregulation, which conservatives screamed about and demanded in Congress. They got it, but hello, the natural consequence of a deregulation process is asymmetric incentives, in this case propogated by securitization, which is exactly what the second ingredient of the disaster became - "regular guy" mortgage brokers, who were paid to produce loans for immediate sale. These were the guys you know who became mortgage brokers when they lost their previous sales jobs. They are your brothers-in-laws, your former high school classmates. Are they Main Street guys to you, or Wall Street guys - I have my personal opinion on that, but I'm curious about yours - because they were the ones who were making up incomes on no-doc loans, thinking all the time about their bonuses.

The story goes on and gets quite long, but the short summation is, Main Street is not in the clear on this, and every single one of us who had security positions in the markets rode this tide from 2003 on. Watch the anti-elitist sentiment that creates the shrill martyr moaning about how the Big Bad Bankers walloped Poor Little Me. It's not true, and it's a dangerous oversimplification, much like red and blue states.

**shoiji** · 09-25-2008, 01:19 PM

Well, I watched the speech. Afterwards I got indigestion and gas. Really!!! It is so hard to believe someone who looks like the guy on Mad Magazine. I also do not appreciate how it always has to involve foreigners when there is a problem in the states. UUHH, the companies were American right that made these really bad decisions. Plus I really don't think that foreign investors are so ignorant that they didn't know what they were getting into. Also, as I see it if the government does the bailout they will most likely see the profit in the long run. Will this help finance more of the war in the long run? There are to many questions that need to be thought out and answered. I also don't like the idea that this needs to be decided so soon, especially since there is an election coming up so close. I really don't think it was a coincidence. Realize I sound very pessimistic but if the experts could not see this coming supposedly why does everything dealing with the economy needs to be dealt with NOW??? Sure something needs to be done but I don't think a quick solution is the answer. Sometimes I feel like I am in the Wizard of Oz and there is all this smoke and mirrors. So will middle America be really ending up paying for the bailout, actually world economy the way it was put, to help the US government make money? That is my question!! I am tired of all this "Pay no attention to the man behind the screen."

**brennasmom** · 09-25-2008, 02:52 PM

I watched his speech last night. It is a scary time. It seems to me as if we are getting into a bigger mess. People who bought homes they couldn't afford need to be responsible for those choices as do the banks that loaned them the money. What do I get for buying a home within my means, driving a paid for car, and being frugal with my money?