The bailout hits close to home.

My husbands boss just told him that his company is in danger. He said that they're having trouble borrowing money at present and if something doesn't change the company will go under almost immediately. They are not a small company and have offices in more than one state. I would guess they employ at least 1000 people.

Before the conversation I had this am I was iffy on the bail out. I thought much of what was being promoted may be "myth." My husband was deeply opposed. I think he's changed his mind?

to have the most positive effect

This is what many of us have been telling people that this would happen

Good luck... even if this goes through the longer it takes the least effective effect to the economy

I did not realize that we needed to do this quickly, but I trust your judgment on this.

*sigh*

a measure is passed! That's probably why things will cave if we don't do something.

lost on me at this point

I know you've done your research. I simply defer to you as I was blissfully ignorant until very recently.

:hi:

:hi:

rescuing the credit market, as opposed to bailing out Wall Street. It truly sucks, but I'm resigned to the fact that it has to happen. Hopefully we can really go after the SOB's who caused this once we get this done.

:(

but....

ProSense made a great compilation of the basic points and WHY the urgency....
\http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7230340

:hi: Off to check it out.

on the other credit card.

All this does is EXTEND the credit problem. WE CANNOT SPEND OUR WAY OUT OF THIS.

The problem is not that credit is drying up. The problem is there is too much credit out there to begin with - and the solution is to BORROW more money?

The only solution is for congress to cut up the banks' credit cards, whether they like it or not. Establish protections for those down the chain who were gulled into taking the mortgages, but let the lenders who gave them the mortgages go under or go to jail.

The last 20 years has seen the largest shift of wealth from the middle to the top 5% in a century - and THAT created this mess. It's time to readjust that wealth downward to those who actually create it, not those who just reap the benefits of it.

but the credit market has totally frozen right now from what we're being told. Something has to be done or businesses large and small will start falling like dominoes.

:shrug:

by taking some of these toxic loans the books get a little cleaned up and trust builds up for the Interbank Lending System.

If the banks start trusting each other, money will start moving

if we aren't already. I really hope this Bill prevents this from happening.

Thanks for the support.

Crazy times...

because of the situation your husband's company finds itself in. If something like this wasn't needed, I don't see so many people supporting it. They all agree they don't like it, but it has to be done.

So be it.


Edit - typo

face the consequences of not passing it, so be it, but personally I want to be able to feed my family next month. I blinked, I want it passed.

Blinking right along with you. ;)

gateley. I am still digesting what I was told moments ago. It's always easy to say "it wont impact me either way" but I now know that's not true.

:hide:

:hug:

eom

I don't.

The bailout will only help temporarily because there is no wayto insure the money will stay in the U.S. and be loaned to companies like your husband's.

We borrowed the money that Wall Street lost from different kinds of lenders and investors including China, Dubai, but also so-called Americans who keep their money in the Cayman Islands and similar places and farm it out to the highest bidder.

If you could choose between lending to someone offering 6% and someone offering 4%, who would you choose?

Interest rates in America are almost nothing now. I will bet you that the people who receive the bail-outs will place the money in high yielding markets, not in loans to American companies at the rates being offered here.

This crisis has destroyed any belief that you can't lose by investing in American markets even if you don't get the highest interest rate. The banks, Wall Street, the president, the Congress -- all have practically admitted that the U.S. is bankrupt. Why should anyone invest here? Why should anyone loan to your husband's boss considering that our economy is fundamentally not sound at all?

Sorry, to crush your illusions, but this bailout does nothing about the fundamental problems.

Good jobs outsourced, wages low, no economic development, energy dependency -- and a question about whether Americans have the understanding or will to make the sacrifices and pull together to get out of this mess. Frankly, I haven't seen any indication that Americans realize what they have to do or are willing to do it.

I do understand, so we're in a mess either way?

What's needed?

:dilemma:

goods imported into the U.S. (not too much but some) and a refocus on investments in peace like alternative energy. We need to take some of the money we spend on war toys and spend it on infrastructure in the U.S. like faster rail lines, better schools, healthcare and alternative energy. We should stop lifting up the economies of China, India and the Middle East and lift up the economy in the U.S.

China and India are strong enough to take care of themselves and compete fairly now. We are the weak country at this point -- much weaker than we realize.

We also need a new philosophy that emphasizes how important it is to have balance between individualism (which encourages us to be creative and to think independently) and working together for common goals.

now.

A deer darts out right in front of your car. Your choice is to hit it or serve off the road into the darkness. Either way your car is gone. Frankly, I would choose to hit the deer. It's the known.

We know we are going to have a credit crunch. We know that the treasury is going to have to bail out somebody. Is it going to be Wall Street and foreign investors or the American people?

This bill will bail out Wall Street and leave them to continue to plunder the American treasury and the American people.

We do not need this plan that focuses only on the crisis in the credit markets. Ther eal problems are much deeper. We need a comprehensive plan that is well thought out.

Don't act rashly. Going for this emergency plan is stupid.

I don't think I have to choose between fast and wrong or slow and right. We did not act without change. Paulson had a three page "no oversight" proposal and Democrats working across the isle drew up a 105 plan including oversight, equity options etc.

I said yesterday that I wanted vigorous debate before congress acted, including hearing from economists on this. But the DOW and foreign bank failings proved me wrong today. It seems we need to do something, quick.

I am not in a position to believe a damn thing about this. So, save your condescending tone for someone else please.

All I can share is what my husbands boss shared with him. His company is having trouble both borrowing and getting paid, and as such, he believes this bill is a necessary evil. I had no firm opinion on this previously. My only opinion now is that America and beyond believes we have a crisis, and as such we do.

Do you have an education in economics that I should be aware of going forward? Thus far, I've been deferring to folks like Paul Krugman and Robert Reich.

So, join the crowd. This bail-out will do nothing for me or you.

Just trust me on this. I have a law degree. I have a close relative who is a professional economist. I asked her about what is going on and this is what she told me:

Economists make their predictions and analysis by applying mathematical formulas to information and facts that they assume to be true.

That's great if the assumptions about the information and facts are true. But the fact is that the assumptions on which the economic predictions have been based are not true.

I, for example, am not counted as unemployed. There are many, many, many people like me. We are ignored.

Further, the GDP and inflation numbers have been falsified for years. It's like with the torture controversy. The government changes the definition, the make-up of the baskets from which they derive their numbers, the numbers the economists assume to be true and on which they base their calculations.

These economists would not recognize or admit the true facts if they stared them in the face. Trust what you see around you. Do you see people working in industry? Do you see people losing their jobs? Are people losing their homes? How have your pension funds been doing?

The economy has been in the tubes for a long time, but the war continues. We continue to spend most of our taxes on war toys and killing. When they start withdrawing American troops from the four corners of the earth where they are now located, I'll believe that there is a crisis that requires this kind of bail out. Until then, the money is there, it just needs to be redirected -- to peaceful uses.

I'm going to go with Paul Krugman on this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/opinion/26krugman.html

Many people on both the right and the left are outraged at the idea of using taxpayer money to bail out America’s financial system. They’re right to be outraged, but doing nothing isn’t a serious option. Right now, players throughout the system are refusing to lend and hoarding cash — and this collapse of credit reminds many economists of the run on the banks that brought on the Great Depression.

It’s true that we don’t know for sure that the parallel is a fair one. Maybe we can let Wall Street implode and Main Street would escape largely unscathed. But that’s not a chance we want to take."

"the money is there, it just needs to be redirected -- to peaceful uses."

thanks for your comments