JPF Home Page Forums Stop The Bailout

Well, let's be clear: People took out loans they could NOT afford. If people had lived in their means, this would never be an issue. But massive public greed (yes, I am saying public, versus just corporate) meant that everyone thought they deserved something they didn't have the money to buy. You can argue the causes of this (i.e. media, government, aggressive lenders) but if the people don't try to make the expensive purchases they can't afford in the first place, an aggressive lender can't get them into a loan of any kind.

I am not for bailouts for the banks or any other private corporation. I am also not for renegotiating with people who bought something they can't afford. They shouldn't keep that asset or we've simply rewarded them for doing it and nothing is learned and nothing is prevented from happening again. Now I do make an exception for actual banking fraud against a consumer, but I think that should be something more than simply having talked someone into buying what they can't afford. People do that everyday. Should we also bailout the person who bought a car they can't afford? How about a flat screen TV? How about someone who runs up a large restaurant tab? I mean when it comes down to it, what is the difference really?

Now I agree that this has been a merging of everyone's worst tendancies. But the only way to make the guilty pay more than the innocent is to not bail anyone out with other people's money. We've lost 90% of the value of our stock. We've lost 1/3 of our retirement plan. My mom has lost even more than that and she just retired. But I don't think the government should come back in and give us the money that was lost out of someone else's pocket. It's not their fault we invested where we did... why should THEY have to pay? Does it suck? Yes. But at least I can gauge where I made mistakes and learn from them. If I end up having to bail out OTHER people's bad decisions or fraud, then I can never learn from that nor protect myself or my family from others doing it again and again.

Right now they are wanting to bailout more companies and get involved in bank investments to loosen up credit. I don't think we should encourage people to take out MORE credit. Spend what you have. Don't spend what you don't have. And if you've gotten into debt already, don't take out MORE debt to pay off the old debt. It's a losing proposition and mindset that is also a big cause in all this and now we're simply perpetuating it. If a company has a sound financial base and needs short term cash, they can get it. If they are risky, they may not be able to get it. Is it the fault of everyone else in the country to bear that risk? If someone has strong credit and can clearly afford a loan for a house or car, they can get it. If they are risky and shouldn't really have that loan, they may not get it. What's wrong with that exactly? Let's err, as a nation, on NOT taking risk right now going forward. Risk is what greed is based on. It's like gambling in Las Vegas.. take big risks, get big payoff, but you also can lose big. Now we're supposed to pay off the big wins, but remove that risk factor for those that deserve a break the least. It's time to stop the blood flow.

Brian