If my half of the boat ain’t sinking, why whould I have to pitch in to bail out your half?

Jack, if the government bails out the economy, it should be so that the citizens can keep their jobs, their savings, and their homes. It should not be directed at saving those individuals and those companiies whose questionable methods brought on the crisis.

I think the bigwigs should give back some of the millions they’ve made from this fiasco and bail themselves out.

Honestly,

Let the markets correct themselves. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you learn your lesson and those greedy folks on Wall Street and in Washington, need to learn a few lessons. If anyone should be bailed out it is us American, not the corupt folks on the hill.

Rachel, Atlanta

let them free fall like they do the american people. let them eat cake as the peasants in france during the revolution did and like most of us americans are already doing

Jack,
I want to say no to a government bailout, but I’m terrified for my loved ones who have so much invested in the stock market. If the government doesn’t help solve this mess, I’m afraid it going to get worse.

The government didn’t bail us out when a company we invested in lost $30,000 of our money the year we were due to retire so why would we not let them “make the correction” as we had to do?? Sounds like a REAL plan to me!!

Kathy in
Virginia

Jack,

This is bad the government is bailing out wall street , but when I ask the bank to bail me out of my hard times I get nothing ! I’m going to lose my house in 1 month and have no where to go and the governmant doesn’t seem to think I need to be bailed out.

Govt should bail out the economy- the survival of our way of life and national security are at risk here; would you ike National Security to be handled by “the market”? The same market that caused this huge mess?? Remember, Govt= People (us- you and me!).

Let the markets correct themselves. If we keep bailing out these companies, what’s the incentive down the line for other companies to do the right thing and manage themselves correctly if they know they’ll be bailed out as well? Enough is enough now.

Jack, our government has allowed the markets to police themselves for sometime now, and we’ve seen how much “correcting” that has brought about. As bad as it is to have to spend this much of our money to fix the problem, we have to do something before the whole economy collapses. I think the compromise plan announced by congress before McCain mucked things up is much better than any of the alternatives that have been offered, though it is still far from perfect. I way pass it and try to head this thing off before it gets any uglier. Once that’s done, re-regulate the industry to the point that this sort of thing can’t happen again.

Doesn’t matter, either way the taxpayers will foot the bill but a free market correction insures that the wealthy on Wall Street will suffer too.

There are 2 points of view . One is free markets are best to clean up wrontendancies of investors. The problem is when the government fail to see the treds or worse esaperated those thend it can have a spill over effect and hurt innocent people.
the second view is the government should act as a care taker and watch for negative tendancies. The government also should have a plan as what to encourage and discourage. This has the effect if dont right to insulate small investors and indivduals from the worst of this finincail storm.

Clearwater, FL
Since the market obviously cannot correct themselves, there is no choice except to fall into a deep recession and maybe a depression. Those younger than me may not remember the last depression. Their grandparents may not even be alive to tell them about it. If only someone would write about it or do a TV special so they could understand the consequences. Back in the 30’s and 40’s I doubt it would have had the international effect it would have today.

Seems the only thing the markets can correct is how much the CEO’S are getting. Unfortunately Jack, the Bush administration has bankrupt our country, if the banks keep collapsing and stocks keep going down it doesn’t only affect the investors and people with 401 K’s it also affects employees, that means more unemployment, more people without healthcare, you name it. Bush created a swamp, for the wealthy they have pleanty of money to survive, for the rest of us it’s swim or drown, plain and simple.

I trust Ali Velshi and he says we must act and act quick. I think most of us belive there needs to be drastic measures, we just don’t want to hand over a blank check to the same idiots that got us in this position. There is a chance that taxpayers could make money on this deal…we just don’t know. We can thank John McCain for politicizing the whole event and slowing up the process. He obviously did not help move the processes forward.

it’s hard to make a call on that the way the president has everyone so scared..what will really happen if we don’t???
arlene in iowa

Normally I would say let the markets correct themselves. But this is not normal market action. This problem developed because of the removal of Oversight Regulations. The same type that the House Republicans want to remove and allow the private sector to solve the problem with less oversite and regulations. Isn’t that what got us into this situation to begin with?

All I know is that when the Democrats were in the White House back in the good ole days of the 1990s the economy and everything else was fine…. Since the Republicans have been in for the past eight years….Americans have lost value in their homes as Wall Street literally plays five-stud poker with everyone’s 401Ks…. Foreclosures are threatening the very fabric of our economic structure… Americans pay checks have shrunk and are not going very far….Banks, investment firms and companies have gone belly up…. American jobs have gone overseas…. Unemployment has increased at an alarming rate…. Airlines can’t fly without merging and charging you for everything…. Food prices and energy prices are going through the roof….We still have not caught Osama Bin Ladin….We are fighting two wars and have soldiers completely around the world….We are facing a Trillion Dollar deficit of which we don’t know how it will get paid….College!! Who said anything about College!! Has the sky fallen yet? Man wake me up from this bad dream and get the Dems back in the White House!! Before its too late!

Usually I would prefer free market corrections. But the last time we left a situation like this to free market corrections we got The Great Depression.

Joe in Missouri

The government should bail out the economy but not the Wall Street executives. We should also rewrite the bad loans to keep cash flowing consistently into the lending institutions. For those who say otherwise, please ask your employers if they ever need loans to meet the payroll or to pay the bills. And ask yourselves why all of those credit card and personal loan applications abruptly stopped coming in the mail to you five months ago. If there is no money to loan to your employer one day soon, how will you pay your mortgage?

The markets should be FORCED to correct the situation themselves. If they were, I’ll bet that 700 billion figure would suddenly become more like 1 or 2 billion. The difference being that they wouldn’t get their outrageous golden parachutes or bonuses.

Those markets don’t correct themselves! Not, that is, without taking all the rest of us down with them in the process. And while the fatcats have a lot of lifeboats and can survive that sinking ship, we can’t. We don’t have lifeboats and nobody is going to bail us out during the flood.
So we have to have a bailout for Wall Street, even if it’s unfair because we’re all in this together now.

Haven’t we waited long enough for the markets to correct themselves? Government correction vs Market self-correction? Either way the rich will become richer and the average American will struggle to keep a roof over their heads, gas in their vehicles and hope for their children.

NO NO NO BAIL OUT!!! Let the markets correct themselves.

The executives who made disastrous financial decisions need to learn from them and you can only learn from your mistakes if you suffer the consequences of them.

It’s tough love but congress has got to become more frugal with the people’s hard earned tax dollars. Listen to the people. Read the blogs, Emails, polls and listen to the phone messages - WE DON’T WANT THIS BAIL OUT. NO NO NO.

I’m not an economist so this is from the gut. If we want to fix the problem, which appears to be the mortgage ripoff, why not fix the mortgages. Step in and renegotiate them down to affordable payments. Bailing out the fat cats and stuffing their pockets some more doesn’t seem sound. But what do I know.

I don’t think the taxpayers should bail out Wall Street, financial institutions, or whatever. I am sick of all the corrupt CEO’s getting millions of $$$ for leading a company into bankrupcy. Last year when things began to look scarry, we moved a lot of assets to fixed accounts. You don’t make much money, but you sure don’t lose it either. They have made their beds so let them lie in them!

I think the government should have figured out a way to bail out people losing their homes a year ago and then we wouldn’t even be discussing a wall street bailout.

The government has to bail out the economy at this point because the alternative would make a bad situation even worse. The sad thing about all of this is that no matter which candidate is elected, their plans for our futures will have to be dramatically different than they have proposed.

Crown Point, Indiana

The Republicans are surely worried. They were already in a bad positron with voters, and now it appears that about 1/2 of the voters would not like to see a bail out of Wall Street. If and when they approve the proposition from the Treasury department they will have to face all of those angry voters.

The Great Depression proved that markets cannot correct themselves without great pain and suffering by the people and I thought we should have learned that if the taxpayer has to pay for the train wreck, then the taxpayer has paid for the right to monitor and regulate the railroad.

Ed Reed
Port Aransas, TX

Its a question should we bail all of us out or let everybody sink together? CEOs will not sink down, only we keep sinking last 8 years and now there is a good chance we will hit bottom if its to believe Bush again. Can somebody reign in those 3 corporate risk rating agencies that start every Wall Street company crash? Should company’s stock portfolio be considered as leveraging asset?

Bail ‘em out…or else we all go down together. Perhaps most people aren’t hurting enough yet to understand the problem. Trust me, the majority of us have yet to feel the effects of this market and if the bail out fails, it won’t be too much longer.

I.m not an economist , and just plain don’t know like most Americans if this is a true issue, or just a political manuever to make the Democrats look weak. Anyways if so, it backfired from the very beginning. When the Democrats looked at the plan, and said that in no way would it pass in its present form, then went to work, but insteadf of putting WallStreet first, it put the American people first to assure them that they would not lose in this bailout. Now the republicans don’t want this, they wanted the Democrats to give the Fed Chairman, and Treasury Secretary a blank check, and that didn’t happen.

Jack
The markets should be allowed to correct themselves.
I think we should treat everyone the same big, small and in between. Sink or swim. Let the chips fall where they may. The American people will be forced to live within their means. Maybe this will be a lesson well learned. Maybe we will learn to be responsible for our actions. Or will we let the powers that be enable us to keep spending more than we have? Time will tell.
Judie
St. Augustine, Fl

Jack,

The “front door” republican plan…Paulsons, or the “back door” House Conservative Republican plan…..We, the tax payers, will be paying either way. This I do know..we DO NOT need more deregularation and more tax loopholes ( McCain) for the very rich.

Sue
Emporium, PA

I don’t have a clue. Unfortunately, no one else seems to either, although I do hear a multitude of opinions. No one has been able to cogently walk-through either scenario.

We allegedly live in a free market republic. The government has no business bailing out the crooks who mis-managed these companies. Let them fail so only the strong will survive. If we support the weak,this will only happen again. The savings and loan debacle should have taught us something.

Jack, I don’t think it is an either/or solution. I think you let it out a bit at a time, and then see if it is helping. It is quite abundant that no one understands the problem fully and no one really understands how much money is really needed (the amount seems quite arbitrary). The market seems stable when it seems like we are doing something.

Should they? NO!! Is it necessary? Probably, due to the potential loss that may occur to the general economy/ retirement accounts, etc. They should not give the money, it should be in the form of a massive series of loans with collateral (at todays market prices) to be taken by the gov’t for security, and to be resold as the economy improves, with the profit to be used to pay off bush/McCains massive war debt!

We can make it easier on everyone by using George W. Bush and his family personal finances to take the Bill. The bushes are quite loaded with oil money from the Iraq war.

Foreclosed or delinquent homes are sitting empty and rotting all over Florida. The government or the banks needs to get people into those homes FAST before they all need to be condemned.

Bailing out the banks is great for the banks, but the value of these mortgaged properties is sinking fast then the mold is growing on them, not just from falling property values, but from neglect.

If they government buys up these mortgages, they will save the banks, and invest taxpayer money in a buch of almost valueless real estate.

What would happen if we were to scrap the bailout and put the $700 billion toward an economic stimulus package for small business and low and middle-income citizens? Sounds just as good as the other plan to me!

Jack,

From where I sit , we’re screwed either way! Atleast with the bailout, the taxpayers have a miniscule chance of recovering some losses. For all those who aren;t the decision makers and work in this industry - my prayers go out to you and your families - I hope you’ll be able to find employment soon.

I think this government assisted bailout is a step closer towards Socialism.

Hell NO! I bet any American a shiny nickel. These fat cat executives still have pockets lined with Gold. Dry out their pockets before the backbone of our citizens.

Where is the consequence of accountability so many of us are to abide by?

No bailout. George W. Bush said during his speech Wednesday that once this matter is taken care of the US will once again show the world that free market capitalism is the best system. This reminds me of Soviet leaders coming to us for loans, saying all the while that their system is better and eventually would replace ours. If the free market is better than a regulated market then if’s Wall Street’s problem to solve, if we step in with taxpayer dollars then Wall Street should be nationalized. The world is watching this scratching their heads in amazement. The German Finance Minister said yesterday that we are watching the beginning of the end of American economic dominance. I am more concerned every day that the American voters will choose Geriatric Ken and Caribou Barbie come Nov 4.

If we approve a bailout, we only keep the very wealth people’s shirt out of the fire. At Middle America’s level, it won’t change much if anything. They made the mess. Let them take the bankruptcy.

It’s going to take a bit of both and I hope that is being negotiated.
I’m afraid however that just as they always do, Washington is playing politics with yet another major issue facing America.

I don’t think we can survive free market corrections. No one knows what may happen, but I would side on the worst possible scenario . . . bail them out this time and then place extra regulation on the situation.

this is pitiful over a million americans have lost their home and they didnt get bailed out,give me a they need to loose it all like we did. “JERKS”

To speed up the recovery of the economic crisis, it is important that the government bail out the economy. However the bail out should include the conditions that Obama or the democrats have put forward - for example protecting the tax payers and recouping the $700B as soon as the economy recovers. If the government leaves the economy as is, while uncertain, we may face a great depression.

Pullman Washington State

I don’t know the details for either but
Come On! Why do the regular/majority of the Americans have to pay/bail out anyone. Where was the bayout for the people who were Encouraged and Given the permission for a home mortgage?
If Washington and our elected officials were thinking beyond this election, why don’t they go after the crooks that did this in the first place. I am sure they could get back all the money that was lost and more. Oh, and put these same crooks in jail. People get jailed for much less of a crime every 5 minutes in this country.
Betsy Minneapolis

JACK;
Yes government should bail out the economy but not without some laid down strigent conditions.Government the world over is the last hope of the citizens.Allowing the market to coreect itself may turn out to be an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

They should be allowed to correct themselves. It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve got until we lose it, but it’s also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.

Come on Jack, no one really cares what the Ameican people think, they are going to do what they want anyway, but thanks for asking the question!!!

The goverment should bail out the economy, and any individual who has been hurt by the coroporate mismanagement and greed.

The government should not bail out any individual or company who tried to benefit from the mismanagement and greed.

Let the economy live, and the greedmongers die.

I know that if something isn’t done, we will all pay a price. I can’t help feeling that failing banks are a symptom of the problem, not the cause. The cause is over valued homes, under qualified borrowers, higher unemployment, and low wage jobs.

Appying the solution to wall street is like trickle down economics, give the top of the pyramid more money and we will all reap the benefits…its not working so well so far.

I’d rather see a 700 billion dollar solution appled to the root causes, a healthy economy may not make wall street as rich in free money, but it will make it healthier.

The government should provide assistance to the home owners who will lose their primary residences because of the actions of a few on wall street. If that helps the markets great.

If I knew Jack, I would be running for office.

All this talk about allowing the market to correct itself is just posturing. So what if they relax tax polcies, does that mean investors will actually put up their cash when they could get someones else to? Wall Street has learned that you are safest if you get so big that you can hold the economy hostage. Government oversight or regulation could have prevented individual banks from getting so powerful. Regulations might have slowed down growth and profits, but since that growth and profit was based on hot-air and fudged numbers, we probably would have been better off without.

Let the free market correct itself. If this administration gets its hands on more taxpayers money to distribute to wallstreet it will be like giving a wine-o the keys to a distillery. Happy days are here again! but only to the cannibals of Wall Street.

Free market correction has ALWAYS worked before, Jack. Why not now? ‘Specially in 1929. Did you see that correction work? Wow! And again and again and again when thousands of people lost their shirts to the richest few - TRUST ME.

Absolutely not! Senator Richard Shelby has a list of 100 economists that urge caution before approving such a Bailout. We should listen to the “Economists”, not the Bureaucrats or Congressman who brought us this mess. I think we all remember what happened the last time this Country rushed to action based on faulty intelligence. I would suggest that what we are getting from Paulson and Bernanke is the equivalent of “Faulty Intelligence”. The scare tactics that we are hearing today are eerily familiar to our build up to war. And why the rush? The Greatest Mind on Wall Street (Secretary Paulson), has not even admitted we are in a recession. Let’s have the recession first.

Doesn’t matter, one’s as bad as the other…corportate America wins on both counts! …and we sad sacks in between get screwed again!

Jack, doesn’t the present monetary debacle resonate with that of the “gold rush” of a few years back, when it was going for around $800/oz? The end result being to humble Russia. My take on all of this presently unsecured mortgage debt, and oil price orchestration, is that the “big money boys” are manipulating the markets to bring China to its knees, re: the U.S. $3+ trillion debt load. And it is an indirect warning to India and Russia, not to get their hopes up. In a post-apocolyptic world, big money will win. In the commercial world, it’s called bait and switch. No rocket science here! Point being, get China, specifically, and the Middle Eastern oil producers, to “believe” that they have the U.S. by the short and curlies, and then pull the rug out from under them! Classic big business behaviour.

They ought to skip over the wealthy people and divide the 700 billion among the rest of us. That’ll give the economy the boost it needs! Why - I might be able to afford a few months of health insurance!

As a senior citizen recently retired, I have watched my funds decimated and fear I may need to go back to work. Today my mortgage company has been taken over by Chase. I hate to see these idiots and money grabbers bailed out, but frankly I can’t afford to lose any more money.

The market should correct itself.

The government should look for ways to keep the flow of credit.

Keeping the flow of credit and the criminal bailout of wall street are two different things. Right?

I believe in free markets! Government causes the uncertainty in our markets.

Bail them out. At first I did not have an opinion about whether we should bail the companies out or if we should leave them to be bought out by a few rich folk and other countries who would try to control the Government and Americans. But now I believe the bail out is very necessary to protect our Democracy. The bailout that includes the condition of tax payers receiving their share when the companies recover basically allows the tax payer to become shareholders. The reason why certain Republicans are opposing it is not because they care about the tax payer, it’s because they don’t want the tax payer to benefit from the profits that will eventually come back to them when these companies become profitable again. Bail them out so we the people can control the big companies and make them accountable to the Government and the American People.

A government bailout sets an uncomfortable precedent. A commentator on another network suggested it was unconstitutional. I don’t know enough to predict what would happen if the markets were allowed to correct themselves. Chances are we would all pay a price. If the correction would get our citizens and our government to live within their means, the price, in the long run, might be worth it. There is just something about a government bailout that doesn’t smell right. Why should I save those living in a bigger, nicer house than I do, a house they cannot afford, be allowed to keep that house? Why should those who got us into this mess get off with no consequences? I’d go for the bailout if those responsible for this meltdown were going to jail.

I say, Let the chips fall where it may and let the market correct itself.

Jack: If banks had nothing to do with Wall Street I would say no bailout, but banks and Wall Street perform a function of capital. The flow of money either by liquid assets, or setting up credit for goods and services to be used and purchased. It is very important function of this nation, but government needs to oversee these markets and banks. The people who scream for free markets and deregulate all things are very rich, and do not own mom and pop businesses. Its these free market types like Phil Gramm who have caused this mess.

John
Blue Pond, Alabama

We had a free market correction in 1929, it was called the Great Depression. As a reult of that, we enacated regulations & oversight for Banking & Finance which worked very well until we started deregulation with Regan anmd most Adminitrations since. When will they ever learn?

The free market option is always best, but we haven’t had a free market economy since 1913.

I’m not sure which program is best in total, but I do know that something must be done. Although, I rarely agree with John McCain, I too believe that no organization requesting bailout assistance should have anyone within that organization earning more than the U.S. President, until they again become solvent.

I don’t think we should bail out wall street at all period. What the Democratic congress should do is get 400 billion for mainstreet for healthcare, education, and the poor/homeless. Once they have that agreed on by the republicans then and only then should we throw them a 300 billion $$$ bone to save them.
Its the people’s money lets put the people first. Its give and take. They took, took, and took so now its time for them to give something, if they want something from us that we are going to flip the bill for!

Jack - History shows us (and tells us) that the markets have always corrected themselves, and there were always times of uncertainty /
with the ups & downs with the markets,& so on. If we allow the Government to Bail out the economy, then we will no longer live in a free society, as we have in the past. That is why people from other countries would give their right arm to come to live and be a citizen of the United States of America.

Respectfully Submitted -
Larry Coury, Houston Texas

Rock and a hard place…that’s where we are. If the economy is permitted to fail, it will again be the poor and middleclass who will suffer the most. The bigger issue is …Republicans do not know how to govern in a way that does not bankrupt the country every time.

Let the markets find their own level. The people that loose money should take legal action against the board. No matter what they do credit will go back to the old standard where what you are buying and who is doing the buying determines the amount of credit extended.

Jack,
I really don’t think of it as a Bailout of the economy as much as a Bailout of a pack of White Collar thieves and their ignorant and sometimes stupid victims.

This was criminal from the highest lender to the lowest borrower.

Let the market correct itself.
We always have the option of jumping in w/ taxpayer dollars sometime in the future.

This smells like a last gimme by GW Bush for the only corporate entities he didn’t send some sugar to during his tenure.

The phones in Washington have been ablaze with concerned voters who DO NOT want to proceed with this bail out. I’m glad at least some of the representatives are at least giving the appearance of listening to the voters.

Well Jack
I would go for free market corrections. I think government bailouts will put the economy in a far worse quagmire than it is now. The latter in your question is far more feasible than the former.

Thanks Jack

Markets should correct themselves, by all means! If companies aren’t held accountable for their actions, why should they care at all about the consequences now and in the future? If I made the right decision and went with a company I could trust to handle my money, why should I eventually have to dish out big bucks just to slap the wrists of the guys in charge? What ever happened to reprimanding people for not doing their jobs?

Maybe what this country needs is a good old depression! Tough, yes, but a bail out gets us deeper in this whole mess. I just pray that my grandchildren aren’t still paying for it in 20 years!!

Like many Americans I’m not knowlegeable enough to know the correct answer. For a while all the so-called “experts” seemed to be saying, they didn’t like the idea of a bailout but still felt it was needed…however, now all of a sudden many of those same people are saying they don’t think we should use tax payers money for this. I can’t believe we don’t have qualified economists (not politicians) who can’t give us a better insight on how to handle this.
In addition, just a few days ago John McCain talked how he was going to suspend his campaigning to go work with BOTH PARTIES to help solve this problem…then out of the blue he comes up (along with some house republicans) a completely new solution. One he never discussed with any democrats,or in fact, even with some of his fellow republicans. He completely blindsided the committee and I feel only to gain a “poltical edge”..so much for working together. He is worried about one thing and one thing only John McCain!!!

Goodness NO NO NO NO NO!!!
There is an old saying in the South about “opening your mouth and letting the world see how big of a fool you really are.” I think that Palin has passed the test on that at least. with an A+.

The seizure and auction of WaMu is a perfect example of how government can intervene and make sure the markets continue to work. They (the Wall Street ding dongs) made some seriously bad mistakes. Just like the rest of us, they need to learn from them and start over. If anything, we should start looking at ways to protect the American consumer from this debacle instead of corporate big-wigs.

hi jack
the Republicans always beleived the market should let it run its course,now they call themselves the GOP and now their money is on the line now they want the tax payers to help wall street when they dont want to help main street. we need a new President now,the country needs a bellout from Bush and Chenny.

Honestly Jack without the numbers in front of us out here in the real world we just can’t make that decision. All I know is we;re in a pinch. The free market cause the last depression. Congress had better come up with a plan, and spell it out to the American people complete with charts, graphs, actual numbers.

Let’s see…

The roots of terrorism are in Afghanistan/Pakistan, yet the US invaded Iraq.

The roots of the financial crisis are based upon greed allowed to spiral without proper regulation, yet the original 3 page Bush Administration’s initiative for a bailout did not include any new policies that included regulation (it was the Dems who have been insisting on oversight, regulation, and addressing the home mortgage crisis for average Americans).

Why not address the root cause of the problem instead of the symptoms?

As much as I am opposed to the Gov’t bailout, it’s going to be passed due to the fact that we’re so close to elections. This unfortunately is going to set the stage for the next President to be a 1-term President because the Government will be digging itself into such a deep hole !

JNO, we should not “bailout” anyone. This country has spent billions on bailing out everyone, to include foreign countries, welfare people, auto companies, banks, savings & loans, & on & on!!!! If the money is not there, do not spend it or lend it!!!

Take a look at Ireland, they are a model for economic recovery. They invested in the people & paid down the debt. Anyone with a high school education knows you have to have a budget & “live” within it.

THank you

At first I thought that if President Bush was for it, it must be a hoax. I can’t make up my mind if he’s a sociopath or just a serial liar. I was concerned too about the not-so-subtle attempt to grap more executive power as outlined in their first 3 page plan. (memo?) I also understand how lots of folks are hung up on the fairness issue. This will not be fair, and neither would a sever recession or depression. There are no good options here. So lets learn our lesson. Next time someone like Mitt Romney starts blathering on about cutting corporate tax rates and getting rid of that pesky regulation thing, lets just say no.

No bail out, no way. Let them fall. So what if it makes it more difficult to qualify for a loan, if that had been the case it the first place we wouldn’t have gotten in this mess to begin with. There should be criminal charges brought against these CEO’s and exec’s for predatory lending. If anyone should be bailed out it should be the homeowners that have lost or are losing everything they worked thier whole life for. Any politician that votes for this should not return for another term.

No, the government should bail out Main St. and not Wall St. for once. How many times will we watch the trickle-down theory fail to reach those who are actually suffering? I say we shore up the housing market by issuing direct mortgage assistance in the form of increased tax deductions and credits to every homeowner in America, and let the market fend for itself. Prepostorous? How about the current plan on the table- handing $700 billion to the very crooks that got us into this mess. From down here on Main St. that notion is not only prepostorous, but a crime of unparalleled proportion.

My thought is that they should revert the interest rate back to initial promotional level, since these high risk loanees could afford it then, and then fix it to that point with all accrued intrest nullified. We need to stop blaming the victims for this. Come on, a person offers you the chance at a home and you’re NOT going to take it? If you say that you’re lying. Hell, if McCain “I own 7 houses” said that he’d be lying, and he already has 6 too many.

The institutions got themselves into this, they can live up to their end of the bargain.

The wealthy bailing out the wealthy using the average income earners money!

America the beautiful! Every American should be proud today!

You have just learned a very good lesson SOME types of so called democracy ARE FOR THE WEALTHY run by the wealthy for the wealthy!!!

It took the massive wealth of Oprah Winfrey to get a half black American put on the Democratic ticket!!!

Oxford, MS

To answer your question, the markets should be allowed to correct themselves. Ron Paul told us this would happen all of last year when he was running for president and no one listened to him. In the long run it is the best thing for us. There will be some hard times while the markets correct themselves but we’ll be better off for it. This is just one of those times when we need to act like americans. We’ll help each other get through this mess just like we’ve helped each other get through other messes.

A recent email fixed everything by taking the 85B for AIG bailout and parceling it out to 200M legal citizens over the age of 18 ($425,000) who then paid taxes of 30% (25.5B back into the treasury) leaving every citizen with $276,000 in their pockets. What do you think that would do for the economy, housing, jobs, start up business,etc. Why, oh why, should any of our money be used to bail out financial businesses that are poorly managed when no one in this world will bail out me or my husband and our businesses if we get into trouble. I’m tired of the political posturing and the lack of creative ideas and solutions that are out there and not being recognized. Throw everyone of them out, the bums!!!

After eight years of this country being run by a party that fundamentally opposes more government and supports deregulation, we can’t afford to continue the same old stuff and expect a different result. The greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street cannot be trusted to turn itself around. It is evermore apparent that Washington must act to curtail the financial crisis, whether or not the GOP hardliners agree.

Chris from NC

Jack, who is this scary man that stands before the American public and ask for 700 Billion dollars? No strings attached we need YOUR $700B now. Let’s take our money and help middle and poor American’s who need the help, not the FAT Cats ON WALL STREET. Trickle down economics dosen;t work, the only thing that is trickling down for me is the sweat on my forehead when I’m trying to pay my bills. Oh yeah, I tried PULLING MYSELF UP BY MY BOOT-STRAPS AND LANDED ON MY A–!!!

No Taxpayer money should be spent on Wall Street greed unless it is all paid back in interest.

That’s a miserable bastardization of what the free market system should be. The government is there to intervene when markets have failed; clearly, this one has. Failed markets don’t self-correct, period.

Let’s listen to the uniformed though and not bailout these financial institutions. We’ll see how great the middle class is doing then…

a bailout’s fine for now! when barack is president, he can launch full investigations and jail the crooks and confiscate their assets! then the bush administration needs to be investigated ,thoroughly! THIS ENTIRE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO BE REORGANIZED, BASED ON OUR CONSTITUTION! we want our rights back,and justice to be done.

I think companies who’s behavior was above reproach should receive help (not sure it should be a bailout). However companies who ripped off consumers and provided excessive payouts to CEOs should yield to market pressures.

Geez JAck,

Its no wonder why Obama appeals to you, you both censor the opinions of the public to serve your own good.

Any comments contrary to Obama or Biden are promtly removed, but no worries im sure those people have posted their comments on other national venues so they don’t go unheard despite the Democrat method of free speech controls.

The economy is the Flagship of what it means to be American. The pursuit of happiness rides on the back of the economy. That ends when we bail it out. America will have morphed into something else. Same Constitution, same people, but a new way of doing business. We should treat Wall Street the same way Republicans treat welfare mothers. Just enough to stay alive, no dignity, and no hope.

Hell, let them correct themselves. The A**es that got us here said no government bailouts, The Republican Mantra.

Don’t do it. We can handle the bursting or the bubble, let the air out. Lets stop Riding in a patched up Hot Air Balloon that is still going to burst if not now, it will be just a matter of time.

Let me get this straight, Jack:

The Repubs want the same free market correction that got us into this mess, to fix it?

I have a better idea… Let’s give all alcoholics a case of Jack Daniels to help cure their illness.

I am wondering If Neil Bush shared his thoughts of the Silverado incident with his brother, George W. Bush, because this bailout looks an awful lot like the savings and loan disaster. Let the taxpayers pick up the fallout of the banks and subprime loan fiasco. Let teh fleecing of the middle class continue!

Wall Street should NOT be bailed out. Greed got us where we are…..and a bail-out would be a mistake,because it will just happen again. There should be accountability here also,throw em all in jail, and dont bail em out of there either! They should have to pay for what they’ve done.

There is a good argument for the bailout to prevent huge losses for investors and maintain a modified structure for fiscal accountability so this will not happen again. Obama is impressive for his cool-headed response and is wisely utilizing the opportunity to set boundaries for what huge corporations can and cannot do.

First reaction is that we should not bail out any of these Wall Street criminals- First put them in jail, recover all they have looted. That would probably cut about a couple of billion from what may be needed. Then have a plan that protects “Main Street”, Then let “market forces”, whatever they are, take up most of the ones failing. Noticed that WaMu is going down but, is being bought up by another company without using tax payers money.

No bailout. The Feds could do ten times as much good by spending only a tenth of that obscene amount on the everyday people that are in desperate situations by this whole mess. People first, banks somewhere after last.

Part of me is scared to see what will happen if we do nothing and the other half of me is Mad as hell over having to bite this one. I know my husband and I are responsible for our bills, morgages, etc etc. and if we ever got into financial trouble they would just say “too bad for you” So why in hell should we give them a free pass, work our tails to the bone to bail these incompatent people out and let them go about there mary way. They got greedy took peoples hard earned money and then did nothing to help when they struggled. Maybe they should just be left to fail and we ALL take the brunt! Economist have been warning us of this for years and no one has listened, so maybe its just time to let it play its course.

The market should take care of itself. Let those corperations that are “too big to fail”, fail. They need to be restructured to a managable size. I would like to know who in gov’t decides which companies can be allowed to fail and which companies need to be saved. How is WaMu different from those that have already been bailed out?

If 57%% want to bail them out it surely must be the wrong thing to do…
I would rather struggle in a recession than live through a depression.
The 57% nead to study a bit of history.

Where did this failing economy start? Thats as plain and clear as lies the Republican Party can make it. They need their Homeland security to hide them. When their Hero and crooked Ronald Reagan took controls off of oil and allowed banks to make uncrolled loans that almost took us where we are now. The Keating Gang took us for over $6,000,000,000. Neil Bush even borrowed $3,000,000 from the Small Business association, and left us the people pay for it. These Big Oil Pigs are robbing us right under our ignorant noses. Looi at Enron and Halliburton for a couple of them.The Bushes and their Dick Cheney.Clinton had to give us an outstanding economy under an attack from Cheney, Starr, linda Tripp and the rest of the Republican Crime Party. They fooled you twice now and you put Buss back in office with lies. If you do it a 3rd time we really are fools and deserve what we get.. Their animal the elephant should be turned in for one of a Greedy Fat PIG,,,,,,, jt

Jack,

Our so-called Free-market is designed to socialise all the risk and privatize all the profit, without a public say. It’s “risk-reward”: we take all the risks, they take all the rewards.

If we bail these morons out today, I want it in writing that we get a share of any future profits.

Dave
Ottawa

Jack,

We should go ahead with the Administration’s Plan with Barack Obama’s modifications - what Congress seems to be working toward. This will just be the first step on a very long road.

The real story is going to be the New President and New Congress. The voters need to get serious and elect smart people who are interested in governing, Voter imposed Term Limits is not a bad idea either.

Carl from Pahrump, Nv

I think we should bail them out, but only because the companies are ruining innocent people’s lives. These companies were handing out bad loans and making terrible financial and business decisions, and now the regular “Joe” has to pay for it. Punish these companies like you would punish a teenager who steals the parents credit card. Take their money and privileges away, and make them pay for cooking the books and making themselves more money at the “Joe’s” expense. The one’s in charge should be ousted with no golden parachute, and possibly a nice room at the Federal Prison.

Bailout them! Impeach Bush! Arrest all crooks! Have them pay back with interest! Regulate the Wall Street like they did about 6 years ago and before!

No, our government should not do a bailout and whoever suggested it should be thoroughly investigated. If investigations are done we might uncover stolen and/or untaxed revenue hidden in Washington.

This economic mess is the result of years of republican control. Unfortunatly, too many Americans did not get out and vote the last two elections. America is now having to pay the price for allowing ignorance to fester in the White House the last eight years.

I say NO BAIL OUT, but if all the problems arise that are talked about, we had better do something.

If the market is allowed to correct itself, the economy could collapse while we are waiting. It’s too much of a chance to take.

Remember, markets will almost always find some equilibrium, but it won’t necessarily be an efficient equilibrium. What that means in English, is that things will eventually work out, but that outcome might be a very undesirable one and one that is basically unfair to many of those persons and companies involved. If government can help to shape a better outcome, then most economists will go with that, even if it’s with great reluctance.

Bush rushed to Iraq, and now this! Sounds familiar! This administration has given us nothing but lies, corruptions and are on the wrong track.

I think some kind of bailout plan is necessary if the economy is going to get moving again. However, unless the program changes the way business has worked for the last 10 years, it won’t be enough. All the financial incentives for the senior executives of these firms are to continue doing exactly what they have been doing up to now.

And it’s the tax payers who will continue to pay the price.

Oh my God, thank you for being able to expose Sarah Palin. Tell Mr. Wolfe it doesn’t make him look good to cover up the obvious…she’s an idiot! Thank you Jack for flipping on him. Sometimes in this political game we at least want a little truth!..As for Sarah “the idiot-hideous”, I can see why the Republicans want to gag her. This whole Republican issue is ridiculous! We will see tonight what this is all about. I am still a Democrat! Jack my heart goes out to your beloved, stay strong, we love you!

Pay attention to McCain. A bailout is useless if we elect a dedicated deregulator.

Also, John McCain is guaranteed to attempt self-aggrandizing over saving us from financial disaster. What would it do to the McCain campaign if Obama were to comment in response; “You took nearly 24 hours to get to Washington for a national emergency? That’s just like your mentor George Bush reading ‘My Pet Goat,’ John. If it was real you should have been much faster. If not, you shouldn’t have lied.”

Brad Mahoney
Memphis, TN

In the last few days, ordinary Americans have shown they have suspicions about the bailout. Most investors who have their own money in the market are not running scared. Seems only those who stand to lose their outrageously overpaid jobs because they mismanaged other peoples money are the ones begging to be bailed out.

Jack,
Absolutely not. We should also be considering prosecution of the CEO’s for crimes against our economy (Economic Crimes)… they ultimately had the responsibility for the use of the questionable practices. I can not believe that there is even the thought of compensation to these individuals. Where is the total outrage???

Who knows what this bailout will do for the finanial health of the country! It seems to be the greatest ‘golden parachute’ to end all golden parachutes for Paulson, Bush and their cronies.

Las Vegas, Nevada

We the people should not bail out wall street. If we do, that will start the cycle of more and more monitary bail outs to come. When are we going to say enough is enough.

Show me da money!

There is absolutely no sense in allowing markets to correct themselves if they plunge the entire world in trying to achieve that goal. However, there is nothing pleasant about using the tax payers’ coffers to bail out financial giants whose CEO’s care more about their own wallets than the American citizens’ very lives. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the only choice we may have at this moment is to bite down, smile, and accept the fact that we need to bail out Wall Street.

Senator Palin,
Is the downfall of Senator McCain’s presidential chances. All I know about her is that she is for Soccer moms. No Jack she is not a candidate for the White House Thank God!

No bailout……..PEOPLE FIRST………..

I say NO bailout. We need a good market correction without the political machine with their oiled and money covered hands mucking with things. Don’t socialize the debt when you haven’t socialized the profits.

No matter who the fault….if you are not the cause, good for you, if you are the cause, shame on you. However, we are in this together. If the economy fails, we ALL suffer. So you people need to shut up, accept the fact that unless you want another great depression, shut the hell up and LISTEN to whats goin on

No Bailout!!!

They made their beds on Wall Street, let them sleep in them now.

If this bailout goes through any politician who voted yes should be voted out and then tried for crimes against the American taxpayer.

This is absurd! The market will work it out quicker than any bailout. The bailout will prolong the bubble evolving into a greater and much more harmful burst.

Come on Jack.
If your house catches fire, are you going to call the fire department or wait for the rain to come?
Rick
Waianae, Hawaii

So companies can leave the country, put those people essentially into poverty because of the falling job market, yet Wall Street wants us to bail them out? Where are the priorities here?

if it our country in debt shouldnt the country be getting bailed out by other countries. I remember when debts were forgivable..

I don’t trust the goverment to buy bathroom fixtures (remember the $600 toilet seat?). If we give them $700 Billion, I fear that’s where the majority of the money will wind up. No bail out…. Let the market take care of itself.

If you think sub-prime bad, wait until a trillion dollars in credit card loans hit the fan. Citicorp already started spiral by raising existing card holder rates, regardless of their credit score.

The size of this socialistic takeover of the markets, though enormous, is not sufficient to ‘bailout’ Wall Street. The market is going to consume the weaker companies out there. Not even Congress can change the Darwinian nature of the markets.

Maybe the 700 trillion should be given directly to we taxpayers - another economic stimulus check, - I’d be happy to pay off my mortgage, my children’s college education debts and spend, spend, spend…

The FBI is investigating the very people that Bush wonts to turn over $700,000,000,000 dollars too. I say NO WAY !!!!! I think their trying to cover up some kind of corruption of the Bush Administration before they leave office.

If the government doesn’t bail out the country then I think they have to, in mass, resign for not doing what the government exists for which is to protect the citizens of this country. Enough bad has already gone on, and letting it fall off the cliff is tanamount to NERO fiddling while Rome burned.

The question shouldn’t be a matter of whether the government should bail out private industry, it should be a matter of will it even work? The right has repeatedly lauded the free market system and sometimes, in a free market system, businesses fail. This is a dangerous precedent set forth by our legislators and is far from a free market solution. I believe the old adage is correct: you make your bed and in it you shall lie. Let the political and economic repercussions teach us a valuable lesson: free markets are only as good as the stop-gap measures the government installs to oversee it!

I’m having deja vu all over again — fear tactics and blank checks! Please, can somebody tell me how the magical $700 billion amount was arrived upon and where it would go?

Corvallis, OR

Excellent question Jack: I have been struggling with this one because I don’t know who is going to win the election. I feel that I can trust Obama with managing the bailout money, but I don’t trust McCain and the republicans.

Simply NO!

If we continue to give money to the people that caused the problem won’t that make it worse? Why don’t we make a deal with the people that are hurting and losing their homes to help them make their payments to the lending institurions that gave them a poor product? I don’t see how helping at the top is going to help at the bottom. If we help the bottom, making a deal for them to make there house payment, then in the end the money will get to the top.

These executives have already demonstrated that they are not responsible businesspeople. There should be tough penalties for this kind of thing. These people are financial terrorists driven by greed and selfishness. If they get that money, they will just be laughing at all of us. Not only should they be put in jail, but also never allowed to work in the financial industry again. This New Yorker says……you fill in the blanks.

Hello Jack, I have a solution and it is much cheaper. Give all household who filed taxes last year 1 million. That pay’s of the mortgage and stimulate the economy. That’s a two for and cost only approximately 100 million.

Johnnie

No. Me, along with alot of other folks could use a “bailout” too! These companies sold bad products to people and should have to pay a price.

No bailout. We cannot keep printing money. We must learn to live within our means. I do not want to pass to my kids a worse quality of life but it sure looks like that will happen. This administration is corrupt, and you cannot believe anything they say. No No No bailout. Any State Senator or House of Representative in Calif. that votes for this will not get my vote in November, guaranteed.

The only way they should be allowed to spend $700 billion of our money is if they cut 700 billion in wasteful spending. Take all the money we’re spending on illegal aliens and use that to bailout Wall Street!

Something STINKS around the Treasury/FED bailout plans!

Treasury — Why is the Paulson plan geared at shoring up Wall Street instead of insuring troubled homeowners and helping them pay their mortgages. The plan announced by Mike Pence (Indiana) would trickle up to Wall Street with a sure recovery … the Paulson plan will just impair the Taxpayer and waste $$$ resources before the next [ATTTACK] domino falls.

FED — The FDIC did not back WAMU with money to stop the run caused by panic withdrawals. Why not? I thought this is what FDIC should/would do. If the FDIC replaced the fleeing accounts with FED funds, WAMU could have averted the failure. Instead, the FDIC allowed/arranged for Wall Street to steal the assets of this institution.

The markets should be allowed to correct themselves if the Taxpayers, Homeowners, and Depositors are kept healthy and stable. If a stinky bailout plan prevail, a raw-capitalism survival-of-the-fittest policy will cover the land and the Country will suffer greatly.

“The Market” is a THING, incapable of making decisions, regulating itself, or doing anything else that thinking persons do. PEOPLE make decisions that effect “the market”, which affect many of us. Quit bailing out the wealthy at the expense of the poor! Let’s stop worrying about THINGS like markets, and corporations, and start worrying about people. Couldn’t we make sure that all American children had health insurance with that $700 billion dollars? I’m sure we could do that, and a whole lot more. No more corporate welfare, without first providing human welfare.