CNN

I am kinda adopting the attitude Congress has, let's take a couple days off and get to it later after a mini vacation. What is wrong with these people?>

How about giving each citizen 1 million dollars. Cheaper than the bail out plan and it will effect everyone in a positive way directly. Promotes spending and consumer confidence. Win – Win.

Jack,

The republicans and democrats that voted the bailout down did the right thing. The only people that should be protected under this plan are people who are at risk of loosing their homes and savings, not Wall street exce's. Gaurantee the mortgage sector, gaurantee indivudal retirement accounts up to one million dollars, gaurantee money market accounts up to a certain limit and make more money available to certain banks. Let the rest be bought out or fail. Let the super rich walk in my shoes for a while then put them in jail where they belong.

Use the bail-out money to support the banks at risk but take majorty shares in every company that is supported by the bail-out, then put a really angry $100,000 a year civil servant administrator in charge of CEO salaries/buyouts/ parachutes/corporate jets/country club memberships and the like. I think you will like the results.

I don't think they should have a bailout plan. I think that one of two things should happen. Either let the companies fail and let the chips fall where they may or let these companies file bankruptcy like an ordinary individual or business. It is not our responsibility to bail out these arrogant gamblers. I don't believe for a second that the US economy is going to fall into the abyss if some sort of bailout plan is not passed.

Jack,

The price tag should be upped to $800B to drive home the message that delaying is just going to make things worse.

Jim
Reno, Nevada

Jack
There should be nothing next.When you have 8 out of 8 of our finest scholars saying this is flawed. I think we should listen.These men
who are trying to take our money and give it to companies to make dividends to give to rich stock holders are lost in space.
NO BAILOUT !! We take our lumps and start over...............Wall Street
has enough money to help out themselves,they caused it and they can fix it.And I might add the congress looked the other way while all this was going on,so they have no clean hands.
David Bebeau
Springfield Missouri

NO BAIL OUT PLAN for starters, Jack.

If financial institutions want to lay their hands on our hard earned tax payer money, let us have public hearings about it.

Let’s examine the situation calmly and seek the advice of economic experts and also suggestions from countries who faced similar banking crises in the past and rallied and thrived: Like Argentina and Sweden.

The economist, Nouriel Roubini, has many solutions that do not involve buying "toxic assets" with hard earned taxpayer money that would only benefit shareholders and unsecured creditors of bankers.

Let us – by all means – disregard EVERYTHING Bush/Paulson and Cheney have to say about ANYTHING because whatever agenda they have shoved down our throats has been disastrous for the United States and the world: the Iraq war, the Patriot Act and the de-regulation that created this financial crisis in the first place.

The stock market rallied this morning despite the doom and gloom predicted by fear mongering Bush – proof positive that the man lies lies lies like a rug.

I do not have faith that the congress knows how to handle the economy either. I want to hear from economists and professors OTHER THAN the people who created this mess in the first place.

Let us calmly, wisely and cautiously look at other solutions besides tossing our good money after bad. NO BAIL OUT – NOT NOW – NOT EVER.

There should not be a government bailout plan of any type. The government caused this problem by meddling with the economy, which caused malinvestments. Attempting to meddle some more will merely prop up assets that are overvalued, prevent needed economic shedding of bad investments, and make the problem worse. Reagan was right, government isn't the solution to our problems, government IS the problem.

Pliny,
St. Louis, MO

I think experts in the financial world who really understand the complexities of banking, economics, markets, etc. should be asked to help with advice & recommendations...people who have nothing to gain or lose politically. People like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, professors in our universities, economists. A group like this talking to the people would certainly be more readily trusted than what is coming from the white house.
We have a president who has a 10 percent approval & Paulson who came from Wall St. telling congress, many of whom don't understand all of this much more than the average person, that they need to vote to give $700 billion away to keep the economy afloat. Well, main st. has been drowning for the last 8 yrs, the farmers went under long time ago, nobody's bailing us out.

How come no one has the balls to mention the real news? How the Fed Reserve is the reason for our money problems, The fiat money supply and Banking Loyals controlling the supply of money. How come you don't mention people like Ron Paul or the over 200 economist that say it is the illegal SYSTEM that is the problem?

What should be next? Nothing. The bail out plan is flawed as was clearly shown by the Democrats not being able to get enough votes to pass it. Are we going to continue to reward stupidity and Incopenance?
Let the people who got us into this mess work through it without we taxpayers always giving up our hard earned dollars. We should learn from past experiences that bailouts don't work.

Jack,
A couple months ago I was so excited about choosing a new president. Recent events have almost destroyed my faith in our
government and our leaders. I feel that Congress are acting like
children and feel like they need to punish us before they will approve tha bailout. The average American did not cause this but is feeling
the fallout from this crisis. WE will suffer the consequences not the
Senators or Congress. I hate to say this but my husband and I don"t
evan want to vote come election day. This crisis was a long time in the making and I can't believe that the government did not see it
coming.

Jack,
Do up the best possible plan to help Joe Public not lose everything, put as many safeguards as possible to protect the taxpayers money, then grow a set, hold their nose and vote for the d@*#* bill!!!

The bill that was just defeated should be adjusted to take care of the American Taxpayer, FIRST & FOREMOST! A TOTAL & COMPLETE bipartisan effort needs to come up with the RIGHT BILL and it MUST be passed ASAP!

Well, When I first started working way back when..I worked for a company that paid their employes the way everyone is talking about...with loans. If those companies go out of business because the loans are not there, What happens to the larger companies that use profits to pay their employes? Well look at it like this...there are more small businesses that employ the americans than the large companies. So if the smaller companies go under, Who will buy the product from the larger?

We need to bail out the companies that have put this country in its financial down fall. We already know whos fault it is...now comes the time to get rid of those that caused this, replace them with more responsible people, and give them the resources they will need to bring this economy back to where it was before George Bush jr. was elected president.

WE CANT AFFORD ANOTHER 4 MORE YEARS!!!

OBAMA/BIDEN For Our leaders

I run a small business that does not depend on my bank–a regional bank with offices in over a dozen states–to issue credit so I can pay my bills. But when my money is deposited, can I find out if my bank is being stingy with the money, to the point of failing to issue credit to small businesses who have good credit ratings?

I would stop doing business with my bank if I found that they were sitting on my deposits, letting my neighbors' businesses fail.

Everyone is trying to blame incapable house leaders for not passing the bailout bill. Who is asking why the people are against it? We have a President who is basically saying that we have a weapon of mass destruction on Wall street. We have a Treasury Secretary who is supposed to be the only one that can handle the problem, yet he had done nothing to even bring the problem to the nation’s attention before this. And when he did, he wanted a blank check with no oversight or judicial review. As for the revised bill, we have Paulson overseeing Paulson. And gee, isn’t it funny that this whole thing just happens to come up just days before the end of the Bush administration, and while he is pressing to pass three more of these great free trade agreements that have enriched the American worker so well. You might as well have wrapped this bill around an eight day old fish. Let's start with some real independent oversight with genuine judicial review.

What is caused the financial turmoil in the United States? You, the people, who traded in forethought and sound financial planning, for grabbing whatever you could get. People are bloated on debt because they refuse to live with what they have rather than what they wish they have.

Let the bailout plan die. Let people experience the consequences of their own poor choices, and then maybe we would have a chance of a stable economy for the future.

Clearwater
British Columbia
Canada

Jack, this plan should be allowed to die a slow...quiet death. There is no way (short of lying) that Congress or the President can make this not stink. It started out as an attempt to get a blank check from the American People...they wanted no oversight and no Congressional interference...in short they wanted more of the "Bush Doctrine" of economics.

I think the plan needs to be killed altogether. I was for it, until I saw the scam the stock market pulled yesterday & Today.

Day 1, Pass the bill or the Stock Market will crash, Day 2, Lets buy back all this stock at a cheaper price.

If you are going to make the markets crash, then do it. Do Not Talk about it. This type of attitude makes me wonder if Dubya is not using Wallstreet personnel to help him hunt down Osama bin Laden.

My father had to take bankruptcy, we lost our home and had to move in with my grandparents. There was no bail-out for us. He became a self made millionaire. I took bankruptcy due to a failed restaurant deal. I had to borrow money from my cousin for gas for my car. I lived in a tent for a while. I came back and was able to retire at 60, five years ago.

There was no bail out for me. I did it on my own. My friend who is here on vacation took banruptcy twice. Like my dad and I there was no bail out for her. She and her husband just finished building a $500,000 on the water in Florida.

The hell with the bail-out package. Let the market do whatever without the tax payer being put on the hook.

Harry
Aspen, CO

PS: Home sales here are down 42.7%, that is the homes in the lower price range of 4 to 7 million dollars.

Would you please tell Mr. Lou Dobbs that I think he is a doomsday screamer, high-horse, self-righteous, self-serving fool. He and his outrageous comments about the bailout are irresponsible and dangerous. We need people who are informed and can really tell the public the truth about the situation, not someone who self-righteously shouts one day "dam the Republicans and the next dam the Democtats.

How about listening to the voters for a change, you know, us folks that are being asked to put up the cash to bail out wall street. Most people are very much against this bail-out because our 401K accounts, our retirement savings and our very jobs are being held hostage by the incompetent crooked Wall Street Wizards.

If I have to go to the poor house, the fools that created this mess need to loose their motor homes, private jets, summer cottages, and even go to jail if necessary.

Hi Jack,

I say give the money back to the tax payers, the lower and middle class that actually need the money. If we had the money to send our children to school, buy a decent vehicle and bail ourselves out of debt, wouldn't that help the economy?? The money would basically be recycled. The only difference, instead of the rich getting richer, the poor and middle class are actually given a chance to dig out from the holes.

What should be next? ANYTHING but sitting around and doing nothing!!! I'm sick of waiting patiently by the TV while people debate one whether or not to do something. Become like FDR and put up or shut up and get out of the way of those who want to fix this!

Hi, Jack -

I'm a Main Street guy. I'm also a Realtor and in the stock market on a limited basis. Since the big NO vote, I've had a margin call on some stock, costing me about $5k, and presided over the demise of a home purchase deal that cost me about $18k in commission. As a result, of this hit to my income, I may also be facing foreclosure and bankruptcy. And, of course, all this will ripple through the Main Street economy.

Regards, Phil in SoCal.

Maybe the next step for the bailout plan should be to end it. Is that a step? The other thing is to give the American people the $2333 to every person (not family) if they think they can afford this. Or point out the $6557 per person they've spent on this war. Yes, let's trust these people with out money. Time for a change, America! Let's try to avoid the continuing merger of State and corporations.

They all should listen to Lou Dobbs, whose interview with Kiran Chetry made more sense than anyone has in recent weeks. Bailout only prolongs the issue. The issue is worthless paper, better just burn the stuff, let the fat cats eat potted and ramen noodles for awhile ,rein in the greedy idiots on Wall street and the let the market ajust to real worth. With bailout we threaten the very base of the American economy.

Put back the regulations. It is not sexy, but it is safe

Kirven
Rancho Cordova, CA

The Democrats have to stop calling for a bipartisan buy-in and instead pass the rescue plan using their majority power. That'll help them regain some of the credibility they've lost since their 2006 electoral ascent to the majority. Anti-regulatory Republicans will take their ideology to their grave – or our country's grave, whichever comes first. So what else is new? Democrats have to stop the finger-pointing and prove they can get their act together.

I'm more offended by the Republicans posturing than by their rejection of the bailout. After years of calling anarchy freedom they chose to vote against the bill without providing any real alternative. If the economy was a car crash victim, they would be rejecting it at the hospital because of their so-called free market principles. If they have any capacity lead they should offer a coherent alternative proposal rather than trying to pretend they are still the party of small government.

Me and house.

all the bobbo's that did not vote yes to the bailout plan should have there name and state listed big on your show, then the county can see what kind of nuts or idiots they voted in.

Me and my house.

First and foremost – get the message right!
Keep the message simple so that ordinary folks understand it.

Then present it in simple terms, not in heavy economic jargon. The American people deserve some honest straightforward truth, for a change. After years of being bombarded with non truths, they are numb and cautious, they will not settle for anything thrown at them, unless it is the absolute God honest truth. Especially if it is good for them. And do not think Americans are not willing to sacrifice a little bit of comfort – they can very easily forgo that extra latte, that extra handbag, that extra pie – if they have to.

A bail out that is essentially a loan should be a no brainer! I know one thing for certain, it is at least ten times worse than they say it is or a free-market Republican like Hank wouldn't be begging for regulation. After the bailout is approved, the next thing they need to do is figure out how to de-deregulate. See, it is so hard to do, we don't even have a word for it yet.

The bailout plan immediately did what Washington always does, hey, Mr. Taxpayer, we need another trillion dollars to fix your life. I receive at least 5 credit offers daily, my credit, although not bad is stretched. I have spent 6 years trying to get an insurance company to pay my disability benefits after court orders. They want to take control of all the money, make themselves rich off our backs, take favors to pass laws that gouge the taxpayers and then turn back to us for help. I am sick of watching them all live high while the guy breaking his back is paying the bill. I have no doubt the bailout contains all sorts of additional "little" favors attached.
As long as we elect oifficials based on the amount of money they can amass for their party, the wide difference in standard of living will continue. We elect officials that owe a large debt to corporations and individuals when they take office. The DOW Industrial should never have been as high as it was. They were trading money they knew did not exist. Bush had to pay back the campaign promises he made. The DOW is now where it belongs. A major loss to the rich and wealthy? YES. But as always, they tell us – Mr Taxpayer, either bail us out or we will make your life hard. Why don't they say, hey, we will give back the money we have scammed over the past 7 years to save ourselves and you.

Patty – Kentucky

I have a proposal. Cut all loan payments in half for six months, and tack on three months to the back of the loans. Also, no penalties for six months. This will double everyones budget, with no cost to the taxpayers. Foreclosures should decrease. The assets remain, so slowing the write-downs. Now, this doesn't solve the lack of capital at the lenders. I would suggest a free-market solution: require all banks and lenders to double their preferred stock issued. Once sold, this would double their cash position. Buyers could be anyone, like China, Dubai or the US Government. An argument of diluting the value of the existing shares is moot when they are failing anyway.
PROBLEM SOLVED, with no taxpayer bailout.
Regards, Keith Harris

Jack, There should NOT BE A BAIL OUT unless we have the following: 1) Criminal Prosecution for those who are responsible for this. (chain gang, not some hotel somewhere) 2) Regulation, 3) Audits 4) a maximum on all interest rates, lets say 5-6% on all existing loans homes, car loans, any existing credit cards, etc. until this is paid for. By addressing #4 people will be able to have more money on hand. If people then decide to default on their load, George can bail us out!
Elizabeth In North Carolina -

I say wait. Time solves all problems and we've put too much haste into such an important deal. Let's sit back and recalculate exactly what impacts our actions will have.

Jack,

1. Congress needs to check their egos at the door.

2. House Republicans and the 93 Democrats that voted against the Bill need to be convinced that we, the People, will hold THEM RESPONSIBLE for EVERY DOLLAR WE LOSE IN OUR SAVINGS AND 401KS!

3. The Conservative Republicans who are for small government, ANTI-REGULATION, free-market ZEALOTS, need to step up and take RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DISASTER FACING OUR ECONOMY!

4. Democrats need to UNITE AND LEAD! Pass a Bill, have courage to stand up!

PEOPLE ARE LOSING MONEY, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US, NEARING RETIREMENT OR ALREADY RETIRED!

ABINGDON, MD.

IF THEY KNEW WHAT TO DO, THEY WOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT UP IN THE WHITE HOUSE. THEY DON'T LISTEN TO THE CITIZENS, WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO THEM, THEY ALL ARE CORRUPT!

First of all the plan should be buried with full military honors. Next the White House Police should canvass the land and find all of the dissenting members of the house. These members who put self above country should be taken to a newly created gulag, kind of a Gitmo in Big Sky Country. (Sorry Montana.)
Next, we need to form a joint commission with members of the House, Senate, Representatives from the 50 States and three territories along with some of our most eminent scholars from academia need to get together. They need to be told they have 96 hours to develop a solution.
American Ingenuity to the rescue again!

The heck with the bailout, forget it. Let the businesses that wrote these bad mortgages take the hit. If they go belly up somebody will replace them. It is called competition and it is all part of basic economics 101.
I would like to know why the news media is not pointing the finger of blame at the democrates for passing the legislation that allowed these bad mortgages to happen in the first place?
I would also like to say that the democrates got exactly what they wanted with the bailout vote. There is a democratic majority and they could have passed this bailout bill all by themselves if they wanted too! They chose not to let it pass so they could put the blame on John McCain for the sole purpose of making Obama look good.

Congress has adjourned for two days and as I write this the Dow is up 365 points! What does this tell us?

I am opposed to any sort of bailout. Perhaps the pain that follows will cure people of living beyond their means and encourage individuals, businesses and the government to start acting fiscally responsibly and to take responsibility for their own actions or inactions.

Congress needs to stop pointing fingers at each other to score cheap votes and start solving this mess. I can not imagine that we were 13 votes shy of staving off a Depression...rework the bailout plan or I'm going to bail out of this country!

How long can I go on?
If a rescue is inevitable.....
Legal actions against those that caused it should be included.
Force the break-up of the largest institutions to a more manageable size. No business should ever be allowed to get so large that it's failure can bring down a nation.
Limit CEO pay of rescued institutions
Curtail all bonuses and dividends untill the money is paid back.
Force banks to rewrite the mortages to current maket value at fixed rates so homeowners can stay in their homes (small loss vs total loss).
Sieze some of the assets of current and past executives of those institutions being rescued. Let them feel real pain.

PLEASE JACK SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO AMERICANS THAT WE ......ARE .........WALL STREET!

OUR SAVINGS, OUR 401KS, THE VALUE OF OUR HOMES ARE ALL TIED UP.......... IN WALL STREET........ THEY FAIL, WE FAIL!

ITS NOT ABOUT FEAR, ITS ABOUT FACING THE TRUTH!

I think the people have spoken, this bailout plan stinks. We are going to get "hurt" either way. I for one will take my chances. What I saw yesterday is an example of politics for politics sake. Congress does not have our interest at heart. If they did we would have seen a bill that had the people in mind and politics, party, and earmarks aside. Instead we got the usual. Let the chips fall where they may, but keep government out of it at this point, they are a disappointment form the President to the speaker of the House to the Chairman of the Banking committee.

DO YOU REMBER WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE FOX AND THE HEN HOUSE,
1 FIRE ALL THE CEO AND STAFF I WOULD SAY PUT THEM IN JAIL BUT BUSH WILL LET THEM OUT AT THE END OF HIS TERM WITH ALL THE OTHERS.. THE WORD "TRUST ME" DON'T CUT IT, EVERY TIME I HEARD IT I ENDED UP LOSEING SOMETHING AND MY FREEDOM WAS ONE OF THEN

Jack,

Perhaps SOMEONE could stand up and tell us what this thing really means. The administration cries wolf and tells us the sky is falling. Economists say it will either freeze the credit markets or that it won't affect much. Free market gurus tell us the market will self-correct after a little financial pain. Maybe if SOMEONE could give the rest of America a real answer we'd be more inclined to make a decision.

Jeff
Flint, MI

Jack,

it seems to the average person that the issue has been transferred from the Fat Cats of Wall Street to the Fat Cats of Washington. Not one elected official seems to be suffering the same angst and pain as te American taxpayer. Therefore, with an issue of such monumental importance as a 'bailout' plan would it not be a good idea – since our elected officials cannot agree – to put it to the taxpayer and stage a Referundum together with ALL the options on the table discussed in Public by our elected officials, the SEC and a body of independant Financial gurus. What would it take to do this ? We seem to be able to have a National 'vote' on American Idol, Dancing with the Stars with no problems.

How about auditing the accounts of those that profited from this mess? Take back those inflated bonuses and some of those golden parachutes. Let them foot the bill for this. Or I like one of the previous suggestions, give the taxpayers some of that money. Please, the stimulus was a joke. Like $600 will get you anywhere when the price of everything has skyrocketed. I paid my bills with that money, did that stimulate the economy? Now, give me a few hundred thousand dollars tax free, and I'll stimulate the heck out of the economy!

The bailout will be useless unless the american voters force the congress to end the corruption and waste in both the congress and the regulatory agencies,and other agencies that they created and are responsible for policing.These are the root causes of not only this crisis buy most of the other problems in this country. R.Fuson,Glencoe,Ky.

Now that the market is rebounding, the sky has not fallen. This is the end of the Paulson lead raid on the U.S. Treasury. Bush and Paulson tried to spread fear and stampede Congress into stealing 700 billion from the American taxpayers. It failed. Keep government out of the market place and allow free enterprise work.

Merely saying it will affect everyone one on Wall Street and Main Street is not enough. People need to know ***HOW*** its going to affect them personally and ***HOW SOON*** they will feel the effects. In other words, the President and Congress needs to sell it to the people. How are we, the people, supposed to agree to Bush's $700,000,000,000.00 bailout plan based on his speech last week? His speech was full of air and no meat (as usual).

How were we planning on paying tor the bailout? Anybody figure out how much this would cost every tax payer? What programs will be slashed to offset the deficit spending?

How about cutting the Pentagon spending to $50 billion and take the other $600 billion to pay for this welfare for the rich and powerful.

Jack, that's a good question but nobody in Washington is asking us, the American people, what should be done next, in fact they have never asked. Washington always talks about unilateral agreements when dealing with foreign countries, well how about some of that unilateral agreement when dealing with the American people.

I have a question? Who is on the board of directors for these banks and financial institutions that are allowing these outlandish wages, bonuses, etc these CIO's are receiving? Are they possibly some of the same persons rushing this bailout and what kind of salaries are they getting?

Wall street ought to take and find it's own "out" of this thing.
only thing govt should do is regulate them, buy up the mortgages–
put people back in houses with affordable pmts and let things
work themselves out. Wall Street and greedy bankers overall caused
this mess.
Get rid of "Larry, Moe and Curly"...

and all the folks "blaming" each other should hush. Remember, the Congress is majority Democrats, if they wanted to push the thing thru, they should have made sure of their own party–then worry about converting the Republican votes. Obviously the Democrats didn't want it to pass.

Tthe problem with the nation's troubled financial system is that Americans don't have enough money to pay their mortgages. Bailing out the banks by having the US government buy troubled mortgage-backed securities is the wrong way–that is like handing a $700 billion blank check to the people - bankers and investors - whose greed and risky behavior caused the problem in the first place.

The right way (at least one) is for Congress help homeowners who've already lost their homes buy them back and to help homeowners on the brink of foreclosure from losing their homes and pass strong regulations so it won't happen again. Helping homeowners directly is a lot cheaper, more direct, and more cost-effective than handing banks $700 billion. It focuses on consumers, not lenders. It stimulates demand, but requires banks to provide home loans that consumers can afford. It doesn't reward banks and investors for their greed and mismanagement, but reduces the toxic mortgages that are now turning Wall Street banks into a house of cards.

Write it in a 12th grade English level. That way members of Congress might understand it and explain it to Americans.

Also the bill should be written by members of Congress or their staff, and the Congressman or Senator must be able to explain any provision they add or put in.

Lobbyists or any person affiliated with the industries involved cannot write any part of the bill.

As a side light, all bills introduced in either the house and senate in the future should bed subject to the same rules. Write it and explain it.

Well, where do failed legislative policies go? To that big legislative circular file in the sky!
Since we did not want 1% of the budget to help poor women and children in the late 90's, why do we want to help poor ole millionaires? Jack, the sky didn't fall, and if my logic and history prove to be right–these millionaires won't just throw up their hands and walk away. They will become "self sufficient" and fix their own problems. It may take some government funded training, but they can do it. We'll teach them how to set thier alarm, pick up the garbage on the trading floor, and make affordable child care available. But we won't just keep giving them money so they can make more money on all those illigitimate loans!

Oh,Jack, I have been waiting for you to ask. They should dump their plan and take the plan every working person and fixed income person in the country is talking about, even on TV. I have heard them on CNN when they invite people to call in on this and I heard it first thing this morning on my radio when the alarm went off and I hear it every evening when I go to have coffee with my friends..............This is it and I'm sure you have already heard it.....Take that $700 Bil and split it up between all of the tax paying and retired people in this country and they will staighten things out.........they couldn't do any worse than the people that created this mess. Am I too old or what that I don't remember when we quit putting our profits back into our businesses to keep them solvent and started pocketing the profits and operating on credit!!!! What a system.

Jack, let’s create Chinese finger locks out of the proposal and lock Eric Cantor and Nancy Pelosi together with it. Then, we turn on a web cam. Let’s charge 10 dollar subscriptions and you’ll have the bailout money in a month…and you may have two less politicians to worry about to boot!

One that will include a speech as to how "wonderful"the Bush-Chenny administration has been ,so the house Republicans can then vote yea!!

With oil dipping below $100 a barrel, the oil companies surely must need some help.
And shouldn't the congress get a salary raise?

Oh and one more question, last time oil was sub $100 a barrel what was price at pump? Any disparated today?

Check in to how many members of congress bought in to hedge funds before they voted down the bail out program. It seems that being a national politician now gives one the capability to do insider trading.

The top economists in the country should convene immediately and draft a wise, considered plan that will benefit both the private sector and business sector. The credit market needs an immediate infusion of cash so people don't lose jobs, miss paychecks or suffer any of the other consequences likely because of the lack of credit. Here in the northeast banks have been offering loans for heating oil. What happens if they can't make those loans? Grandma freezes to death this winter. This entire fiasco must be grabbed from the fists of politicians up for election in November and decided by sensible, educated people.

If we need to inject 700 Billion to save the economy , well let's do it
BUT since these companies, such as AIG, have enormous Real Estate assets all over the world, at least 1.5 Trillions of clear and free assets should be transferred in exchange to the government and sold to repay that depth immediatly.
Miami

What next? A big resounding nothing! Let the market FREE itself. Doesn't anyone notice that the Market is up, so far today, and that Oil prices are coming down? When are the American people going to stand up and say, enough and mean it? Do we not notice the manipulation that is going on even during this "crisis".
Ok, so I can pat myself on the back for not living above our means. I have never had a new car, and I could have afforded one! Afforded being the key word here. There is no way, after the silver spoon crowd is done scaring us all again into things we know are wrong, that they will let this market fail. They have to much champagne on ice to let "it" go to waste. Paulson and his cronies should really be ashamed of themselves and we should all quit being fools. I have not heard anyone ask him about his Goldman Sachs holdings and what he stands to gain or lose?
For cryin' out loud....ohhhhhh yah make that whining out loud.....after all our economy is strong and some of us are just whining....it's mental you know!

Missy Welch....Richmond Beach...Washington

When majority of economists say something needs to be done I believe them, but if majority of us say don't do it then ok. When the economy fails though I really will have little patience for the whining they will most certainly do. I do not like the idea but I also do not like the idea of seeing my family and friends have to struggle. Reality is that this is going to impact the middle and lower class more than anyone, the fat cats on wall street have so much they will not miss the little they wil lose. Going forward though we need to tax them severely to pay for this and to insure they pay their fair share.

Jack, This bailout needs to be studied and considered very carefully. The American people need to realize that we have already helped AIG and JP Morgan, who inturn has bailed out WaMu.

The rich are getting richer at our expense. The are plowing money into stocks like AIG, which will recover, I would be doing the same if I had more that $5.00 to my name.

Also what they are not saying is that the market was falling fast before the announcement yesterday of the bailout not passing the house. Our market needs help but I am afraid at this point that it is another Republican ploy to get rich real fast before Obama taks office because he will not play their get rich games and will truly help us, the ex-middle class.

We need to be careful that we are not being fooled by these get rich professionals and also that we not allow Bin Laden and his followers to buy up our banking stock at low prices and take control of our banking systemus. We are in a critical situation.

I have no idea what the next step should be. I doubt that any one person does, given the complexities involved. Whatever it is, though, I can only wish that the people involved in solving the problem will separate themselves from any personal agenda. I hate the sound of axes grinding when someone else is deciding on my financial future.

Jack,
Why does the media insist on the promoting the bailout plan? Why rush to support a bad idea by modifying it? Sound familiar? You say we don't understand the connection between Wall and Main Street. We do. We just don't TRUST the same guys that got us into this mess to get us out of it. We need a new strategy with new faces. I think the candidates should promote the idea that they will have no power to do anything about our problems during their administration if this plan is passed....endorse a moratorium and wait until the election is over and the ball is in their court. It's in their best interest. They will certainly get no credit for a turnaround and all of the blame for the failure of Bush's financial proposal. Linda in Woodbury, NJ

My wife and I have decided to stop paying are mortgage so we can get in on the action. So what should be next is hopefully getting a free ride on Uncle Sam. Why play by the rules if others don't haft to?

There should be no rush to get this passed – I'm not convinced we're not being hoodwinked by the perpetrator of WMD's in Iraq. We need to get our best economists on this to figure out what and how big this problem really is before we run off half-cocked (no pun intended) like we have the past 8 years. The American people (except the ones that have stupidly overextended themselves) deserve better.

Hi Jack, Like most when you gamble and lose you eat your losses. So lets restructure this bill so that any CEO and Upper level management who were in on the bad decisions are allowed to eat their loses. Fire them ! No severance packages! Most of us get little or no notice of terminations/ severance so why should they. Then structure the bailout to actually relieve the credit constriction(crunch).
What most people are upset about is that the people who gambled and lost are not going to pay. I don't want the receptionist at these companies to be unemployed, just the IDIOT BOSS ! Next in separate legislation re-regulate the industry. Have real oversight with up to date technology to handle this fast moving business economy. The people doing the oversight should be background checked annually to make sure they remain independent and there should be enough of them to monitor the whole industry. Expense yes, prudent absolutely! We all have to accept that man is basically self serving!
Regulations = GREED CONTROL!

The disconnect between the news media , politicians and the people has never been more obvious when you blatanly show your glee that oil prices are on the rise, even though that menas higher gas prices for us regulular joes who don't invest in oil futures. It's sad but at least now you are shown for what you are, You are not us thats for sure. Stop asking who's to blame for this, we want to know who to thank. Please tell us who voted no on this bailout so we can vote for them. Why don'y you guys show the other side of the story. Yesterday was a great day for America.

Jack,

What is to stop speculators from buying up these bastardized securities for pennies on the dollar anticipating enormous profit when the government buys them at higher rates?

Tell me that some foreign government (perhaps some recently successful and extremely crafty soon to be lone super power in the Far East…or maybe one of our Arab ‘allies’ in the Middle East)…is not going to float us the $700 billion loan, while currently buying up as many of the worthless mortgage securities for next to nothing…only to cash them back in to oblivious Uncle Sam…only to be repaid again later for the original loan amount?????

I will give you a dollar today for an apple today, only to bite out 90 percent of it for 10 cents, hand you back the core (no seeds), and have you pay me another dollar plus interest down the road…

Chinese Capitalism 101 (They might even give us a bootleg DVD of Batman with the deal)

Nothing. The Federal Reserve just injected 650 Billion anyways. They can fix this problem without Congressional approval. We will pay for it whether Congress likes it or not and I think that is our biggest problem. The fact that the Fed and the Presidents Working Group on Financial Markets can do whatever they want without Congressional Approval. I thought only Congress shall have the Power of the Purse........

20% decrease in pay for our leaders in DC.

Am I right to understand they took August off, now they will get October, November, and December off too?

Make that 33% decrease in pay for our leaders in DC.

Jack, first we have to stop callin this a "bail-out." It is an effort to keep our economy from collapsing. Many things have led-up to this mess, and there's plenty of blame to go around. But right now, finger pointing, bi-partisanship, political maneuvering, and looking for scape-goats is not going to solve the problem. Congress HAS to try and pass an amended form of this effort. Do I like it ? No! Do I want to be unemployed, lose my home, and live on the street? Hell NO!!!!!!!!!

As distateful as this effort is, it HAS to be done. Credit markets are tightening more, and no one knows how long before the economy seizes-up. I am scared to death of what the future holds. Many are celebrating yesterday's vote as a victory for the average American. If the "recovery effort" is not passed, that victory will be hollow; a Pyhrric, victory. And soon, many will experince –first hand - the agony of economic defeat.

It is all to easy to find blame. But lets fix the mess first, find ways to prevent it from happening again, and then tar and feather those responsible. We're Americans. We're tough and reslilient. We can can get through tough situation IF we work together. But right now, we're not all working together. Ignoring the problem isn't going to make it go away, and the problem WILL affect us all. Getting thorough this situation is going to be tough on all of us; lets not make it any tougher by refusing to address and fix the problem.

Can anyone assure us, the American public, that once these companies, banks and businesses are "bailed out" that they will NOT take the money and run? filing bankruptcy and leaving their customers holding on to unrealized dreams?

Also, out of curiosity, how many of these potential "bail outs" will go to foreign owned banks, businesses, and companies that operate in our Country with our Citizens' money?

There should be no rescue plan–until it is clear who, what, where those rescue tax dollars are being donated so graciously by our leaders.

More information please Mr. Bush.

How about we give the Republican's cover by increasing FDIC Insurance to $250,000 that way they can say, "We took a stand for small businesses whch are the backbone of our economy." statement and we the voter can voice our opinion of their conduct this November.

Jack, if this wasn't so serious I would be rolling on the floor and laughing out loud(LOL). This however is a gravely serious issue, the next step, and in my opinon the only step is to help Middle America, by the way, IT'S OUR MONEY!!!!!!!!!!.

Where is the leader in Washington proclaiming "All we have to fear is fear itself" (FDR). Instead we have Bush, Paulsen, Bernake, Pelosi and Frank running around like chickens screaming "The sky is falling." The bank bailout was too rushed, not clearly thought out, and would have made the country way over extended.

The root of the financial problem isn't the housing collapse, that's a symptom. The underling cause is the fact that America; banks, homeowners, the government, businesses, the country as a whole; have allowed the debt to income ratio get out of control. You do not improve that by taking on more debt. Yes in five years the tax payer might come out ahead but what if we don't make it to five years. As it stands now, if the interest rate to recapitalize the national debt rises to 8%, 10%, 12%. Over a third of the annual national budget for the United States will go to interest on the national debt, and we will have to begin paying down that debt and quickly; where is the budget then.

Something needs to be down about the financial crises I agree. But, the plan that was voted on would have failed. It did not address the fundamental issues creating the problem and would have made us very vulnerable when many other countries are aiming to knock us off our perch.

Please remember, the markets did not fall yesterday because the bailout bill failed. A panicked leadership promised Wall Street a $700 Billion dollar early Christmas present and when they did not get it they through a tantrum. The markets will settle out to where they were before talk of the bailout began.

America needs someone to be calm, claim we are working on some help and then take the time to come up with a good solution not a $700 billion dollar band aid on top of a high fever.

andrew from New Castle, IN

let the market correct itself

Start from scratch rather than adding any more pages to Paulson's deeply-flawed plan that rewards bad executive decisions at the taxpayers' expense. A good blueprint might be the 1980's bail-out plan that worked without bankrupting the Treasury.

NO BAILOUT!!!

What doesn't kill us will make us stronger and I seriously believe that this country would be better off missing a few greedy CEO's and Wall Street tycoons. Wall Street and government got themselves into this mess, let them get themselves out of it....but stay away from what little money I have. I am sick of bearing the price of government overspending and waste.

Nancy Pelosi should study the Newt Gingrich playbook and remember she has a majority. Bush wants a bailout? Fine. Forget bipartisanship. Write a bill that all the Democrats in the House and Senate will agree to send it to the White House. The bill should include provisions for hanging Wall Streeters from the street lights of Main Street. The people will support it and Bush can sign it or be damned.

If the government want's to spend 700 billion of our money send it to the working people of the US, you know the one's that really make the wheels of American Economy move, oh I forgot we only bailout the rich.

How should I know, Jack? If you looked at my investment portfolio, it would be obvious to you that I'm no financial expert. You might just as well ask me a question about astrophysics or brain surgery. There are times we have to rely upon the experts and if they can't agree, then God help us.

Ed Reed
Port Aransas, TX

Clarity.

Clarity

use the paper it's written on to start a fire when you run out of heating oil this winter. they need money, start by repossessing bush, Chaney's bank account's and other executives that caused this mess over the last 8 years i've seen nothing but arm twisting, scare tactics it's sickening. how about a government garage sale, iam sure we have some world war 2 sub's on mothball's somewhere. why do the sheep always have to bail out the big fat piggy's the starving tax payer's should be the last people to pay up, . this is one HUGE con job before they hit the road. STAND UP TO THEM PEOPLE.........

Jack,
One of the biggest problems, is that no one has explained this problem in a manner that every day Americans can understand and relate to. We need someone to tell us what is going on in terms that we can relate to, and WHY we need to bail out the bankers on Wall Street.

The candidate that can achieve this and provide an equally understandable explanation of the bail out, will have the upper hand in how the public views this situation.

I say give the tax payers that money if you really want to pump up the economy. What a stimulous package that would be!

Send me my check.

My Bail out and Stimulus package;

Give each tax payer $1,000,000.00 with a precondition to payoff their mortgage. It will be less expensive then $700b. In fact you can even give $250b to Wall St. The tax payer's who don't owe mortgage will buy a home or invest in their childrens education and healthcare.

Help is on the way!

let thing settel down and pull all the pork out and make it so the busness side pays there own way wall street should pay there own way and the home owners should lose there homes if they dont pay this shoud not be a tax payer problem
perry jones
council bluffs iowa

********BAIL OUT US CITIZENS NOT WALLSTREET********

Please urge Congress to not bail out Wall Street and give the money to US Citizens. We will fix our economy ourselves. It will give us an opportunity to create our own financial security and improve our nation.
Do the math! In the long run, it will benefit Wall Street.

Well, Jack, this is one complicated mess that was not our doing and I can't stand that those who caused it may benifit. I believe those opposed to the bill are up for re-election by a margin of 3 to 1.
Their would-be voters are mad as hell and don't understand the possible ramifcations of doing nothing- they don't want a dime of taxpayer money going to Wall Street execs who put us here. Maybe we need a Plan "B" that congress can back without fear of loosing their re-election. Give a $10,000 stimulas check to every taxpayer with the caveat that they can't put it under their mattress. This huge sum-
$7B would make it's way to banks through loan paments, deposits,
purchases, and credit card payments thus unfreezing crdit. Some banks would go bankrupt. Such is Capitalism. Privatizing profit and socializing losses was never a good idea.

Why do anything?

There are a lot of more important things to do.

start from scratch . get rid of Paulson and bring in Bloomberg / .Buffet where is the executive cap-there is none–500 k are you kidding thats no cap.
the CEO's responsible for this need to be prosecuted. take away their golden parachutes -free healthcare and let them do some serious time .If there has to be a loan give it to the citzens of the U.S to help us –not to the people that caused this .

There is a much simpler solution to the bail out plan. Let the Bush family pay the tab. After all, it was their friends and family who caused it.

Help me understand

The American Taxpayer is being asked to put up a huge amount of money to prop up financial institutions who have lent too much money to too many people who cannot pay them back. The reason given is to avoid a credit “freeze-up” that would make it harder for people to borrow money. If people cannot borrow money, then they will not spend it and our economy will slow down.

True enough, but this crisis is exactly caused by us making too much money available to people who should not be borrowing it in the first place, all in the name of keeping our economy going. So, are we not just putting another band aid on the pig? Eventually, our economy will have to be built on creating value rather than borrowing it. Why not start now and avoid and even bigger crash later?

Richard,
Ohio

Answer simple – ANOTHER N O VOTE. Let the poor managers go down the tubes with their mis-managed companies. We should NOT have to pay for BAILING them out. They are ALL going to get "golden parachutes" anyway. I'm NOT in favor of paying for those. No one will bail me out if I can't pay my mortgage or TAXES. No one is going to help me pay my childs college tuition. VOTE N O – NO BAIL OUT – NO RESCUE NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO GET IT ? N O

NO BAIL OUT NO BAILOUT NO RESCUE NO R E S C U E
HOWEVER YOU SAY IT – NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO
WARNING: I will be monitoring my CONGRESSMAN , SENATOR and REPRESENTATIVE for how THEY VOTED. VOTE N O

Why doesn't the government take the $85 billion promised to AIG and divide it among all the taxpayers to pay off our mortgages thus solving the bad debt problem, infusing money into the banking system, and rescuing the economy without the $700 billion tax bill. Imagine the block parties!

Jack, no bailout! This administration has been wrong about *everything* they've done and they're certainly on the wrong track here. Handing out $700B does two things: First, it reinforces unsound financial behavior. - Don't worry, the government will rescue you. Second, the banks in question will offload their most risky mortgages, the ones most likely to default. It's unlikely that we'll ever see a return from those high risk mortgages.

There are other solutions, being proposed by real working economists, that don't require US taxpayers to foot the bill. Let''s stop rushing towards a bailout and actually come up with a plan that will work.

Ed
Durham, NC

Wow. I'm going to have to agree with Tom Veil and say that each American citizen automatically receives $1,000,000. Much cheaper than the bailout plan, and it would virtually eliminate poverty. People who have debt, could pay it all off and start over again. College students like myself could finish school without worrying about $100,000 of debt when they are finished. Banks would would get their re-payments in full and everything would be resolved.

Here's a novel idea Jack – how about they itemize exactly what is contained in the $700 Billion buyout. Where is the money going, and what amount is going where – and run it by us – it's our money!!

And here's a real good follow-up – WHERE are they getting this money – we already have a huge deficit – is China paying for this too?

The whole thing is scary, and they need to learn from the past, when the Bush Administration wants something FAST – there's something going to bite you in the a** when the smoke clears. Remember the weapons of mass destruction??? Come on Congress, wake up!

Jack,

They should polish it up a little bit, maybe add some words like please and thank you ( for the GOP), and get it passed. I am tired of hearing main street saying bail us out. Have some pride nation!

thanks

Whatever it is, us, the taxpayers, will have to suffer the consequences. We always end up paying to save the wealthy and forget about the middle class.

Jack, this bill failed because it didn't address what Americans are concerned about, and because the republicans that brought us to this disaster have become a disaster themselves.

This is the time for Congress to show that they "get it", and install consumer protections for lending, credit card policies and the myriad other ways corporate America is slowly drowning the middle class. They promise to come back to these issues, but our confidence in these promises has fallen lower than the markets themselves.

I believe we need to build the economy from the foundation up and not from the top down. Puring money into the foundation of the economy, which includes people and businesses that have established good business practices and responsibilities, will revitalize the nation.

the shredder

Well Jack I would say no to the bail out if I thougt a lot of retired or near retired people would not be harmed. So not being an expert on the subject on finances, I reluctantly say yes because of the possible damage that could arise. I say reluctantly because I don't trust so much of hard working America's money being put into the same hand's of crook's and irresponsible politians. I wish people would just admit that trikle down reganomics is what got us to this point and run away from these deregulating no bid swindelers. Please people we did half the job by giving the congress to Dem's now we need a Dem. president so we can get regulations back where they need to be, because as long as we have a republican pres. he will veto all good bills the Democratic Congress passes. That my fellow Americans is why we have a unproductive Congress because all Lil Bush will do is kill all good ideas any Dem's have!!! So no unbalanced Congress and President and maybe we can get back on track just like in the good old Pres. Clinton day's.

I have heard so many different ideas about this and maybe it's just me but shouldn't this start from the bottom up? I am no financial guru, however, it seems to me if you have 700 billion to give away why not give it to people who can't pay their mortgages and infuse the economy that way? Why not give it to small business' to pay their payrolls. Why does it always start at the top with the wealthy and the average American has to wait for the scraps? We keep hearing 'do what's best for main street' but I don't see this happening.

Trina

Lawrenc, KS

Jack,
I seriously think that the Republicans need to quit this blame game and own up to their side of the bargain. Each party was to get half of their members on board. The Republicans failed in their effort and need to take responsibility for their own failure and get it done. They made an agreement, now its time to deliver on that agreement. I have become increasingly disgusted with republicans this election because they somehow feel unobligated to meet their promises and responsibilities. So instead of owning up to their obligations, they blame democrats. How is that bipartisan? I'll let you decide.

Jack–
The short-term focus should be to do what is necessary to get things back on an even keel so the system works. Then Congress needs to get down to work and find out the roots of this problem and fix it. Get a short-term fix started and long-term find out what is really wrong and really fix it. The present administration should not be calling the shots–no one can trust them.

Troy, Ohio

The problem is not fixed. It is obvious that this congress is incapable of fixing anything, and since it is such a lame duck it should not even try. Best it recess until Jan. 20, 2009, and let the chips fall where they may.

However, the next congress should fix the problem immediately. Just how they can reign in the Wall Street behemoths, control greed, eliminate corruption, protect the consumer / taxpayer / investor / public, and restore some sort of decency to government and trust in government by the people remains to be seen. AFTER congress has fixed the problem with re-regulation, re-appointment, and after thousands of heads have rolled down Wall Street and thousands more illegal and immoral brokers / bankers / bondsmen / politicians / etc have filed their bankruptcy suits and been impeached then congress should institute some sort of bail-out or 'earn'-out program to stabilize the markets.

You wanted to know. I told you. Now what?

Well we are where we are because of no leadership in this country for the last 8 years, but regardless who is to blame for this mess, it is up to us to right this great ship that we call the United States of America, and put her to smoother sailing. Partisanship has no place in this in these decisions, as we are all American, and want the best for our great Nation.

The bill needs to be altered asap. We need a bill that will penalize not benefit the administrators and CEO's that created this mess. This means no money to them at all. A bill that will jump start the lending institutions so that companies do not go out of business or lay off employees because they can't meet the payroll or pay the bills. We need a plan to oversee that this does not happen again, and I think this plan should not include Paulson or any people connected with Wall Street otherwise Americans will not trust it. And lastly, we need to rewrite the bad loans. If we fail to rewrite these mortgages and allow the foreclosures to continue, anything else we do will not matter since foreclosure is the root of the problem. Bush really needs to stay off television also. To many people do not trust him.

Jack, one that works and that does not bailout the risktakers on wallstreet. One that the Democrats can't try to claim it as their own idea...suppose to be bipartisan..right Jack??

Perhaps people should read Liar's Poker a non-fiction, semi-autobiographical book by Michael Lewis describing the author's experiences as a bond salesman on Wall Street. The players in this book have surfaced in several less than becoming situations. His circumstances in bond sales have just been repeated on a larger scale in the mortgage collateralazation process.

The question is, do we need bail outs? Perhaps there is another way of providing needed credit for consumers and business that doesn't bring in the greedy Liar's Poker players.

The last time the Bush Administration came up with an emergency plan we were told of the WMDs. Where are the WMDs in the ecomomic crises? Perhaps the leader in fixing theSavings and Loan scandal of the 1980's should be asked for his thoughts and leadership.

Jim Notley
8102 Granite Ave.
Orangevale, CA 95662

Let the chips fall where they may. The government should raise the unemployment benefit allowance though because there are going to be a whole lot of people out of work soon with no place to go to look for work.
Hungry people will not go without food for long. The crime rate is going to rise and You won't be able to find a jury to convict someone who was just trying to feed their family either.

When you gamble, sometimes you lose...in this case, let the chips fall where they may. No bailout. Let it be a wake up call for the future.

The Republicans should behave like true Republicans and say Wall Street's problem is Wall Street's problem, not the tax payers'. Money will be available when the borrowing public is willing to pay a proper price for it. That proper price has traditionally been 3% above current inflation. Interest rates will have to rise to mobilize capital for this consumer addictive economy. The Democratic idea that biased persons, like Jack Cafferty, have that all that needs to be done is for "the greedy" American public to pay more taxes or give more power to incompetent government, while recognizing its' incompetence, is duplicitous!

What type of tax qualified retirement plan do the members of congress have? If their own money was in the market would some of them have voted differently? If our congress was compensated based on their performance they would probably owe the tax payers some money.

Jack
I'd say the GOP needs to get its schizophrenic ranks together. If the bailout/asset purchase works and they are not on board, they are screwed. If it doesn't work, at least they tried.
I think their main problem they have is that voting for the package gives the lie to one of their chief economic myths, i.e. that the Free Market is able to self correct and is in all circumstances to be preferred to the Mixed Market. That is and always has been a LIE even Adam Smith said so... but I guess they did not read that far into the book.
Pablo

Jack
Lets lock all the people who are responsible to come up with a solution to this bailout in a room and not let them out till we have legislation that is acceptable to everyone and the bill passes. To let these people go home to campaign for the up coming election is a slap in the face to the American taxpayers.

Nothing! George Bush tried to sell us the goods before and used PATRIOTISM as a strongarm method. If you didn't agree with him, you weren't American. Again, he is threatening the American people and lawmakers by saying agree with the plan or disaster will be looming. Face it, no one trusts the guy. We should send a message to George that we are not buying his goods anymore!

Wildwood Crest, NJ

Let them fail. A few bankruptcies isn't as bad for the country as a government-run market, Jack

It seems to me that, although a tremendous hardship, NOT bailing out whomever would help put our country's financial status where it should have been before all of the artificial, and unethical "processing" took place. We should leave our children with no money to cope with the results of the climate change.

Take a poll of EVERY econominst to see if there needs to be a bail-out plan. Just because Dubya says we need one don't make it so... First is was WMDs, now this... I need proof, and someone in power that makes me feel that they are tell the truth..
.

The attention in any bail out must be directed to the majority of tax payers, you and I. it is you and I that have been in a recession for years, and it is you and I that when fiscally healthy will stimulate this economy by the ability to purchase, pay our bills, and perpetuate an influx of capital into the system.

We have severely damaged the middle class, we have increased the chasm of wealth from the richest to the poorest, which many have speculated was the intent years ago. Have we not all spoke of this for a few years now and did nothing, I think it is time we stood up and the politicians and fat cats sit down.

Hear what we are saying, merely listening is not getting anything done. Bail us out where needed individually and begin anew.

It is time for the rich to bite the bullet not always and only us in the lower and middle classes.

Gary – Michigan

Make it a $602,279,894 rebate not a bailout. That is twice the population of the USA. Give every tax paying citizen a Million (taxable back to the gov) use the excess for creating new jobs. Let us stimulate the country with the money we receive...buy houses, pay off debts, buy businesses and goods and pay taxes. Everyone wins.. How's that for a stimulus package?

Jack -

Like I have saind in a previous blog, a week ago, it will take a few weeks to come up with a plan, for everyone to accept, so to speak.

And by the way, have you noticed that the market is rebounding today ? I've said previously that the market will take care of itself, like it has for years & years. And there will be ups & downs, periodically.

Yes, there will be some institutions & some businesses that will
go down, but at least the taxpayer will not have to foot the bill for the
fat cats in washington.

Larry Coury
Houston, Texas

Want to save your hide? Call up your broker or whoever and tell you want to buy up a few of those Credit Derivatives right now! Then cash them in for windfall profit once this deal goes through. Oh he can't get them for you? Maybe someone in Dubai already has a lock on the market...

Well, Jack, this is one complicated mess that was not our doing and I can’t stand that those who caused it may benifit. I believe those opposed to the bill are up for re-election by a margin of 3 to 1.
Their would-be voters are mad as hell and don’t understand the possible ramifcations of doing nothing- they don’t want a dime of taxpayer money going to Wall Street execs who put us here. Maybe we need a Plan “B” that congress can back without fear of loosing their re-election. Give a $10,000 stimulas check to every taxpayer with the caveat that they can’t put it under their mattress. This huge sum-
$700B, would make it’s way to banks through loan paments, deposits,
purchases, and credit card payments thus unfreezing credit. Some banks would go bankrupt. Such is Capitalism. Privatizing profit and socializing losses was never a good idea.

Hi Jack,
Why does congress need to pass bill for $700 billion dollars to rescue or bailout our financial institution when the feds yesterday spent $680 billion dollars of taxpayers monies without the approval of congress yesterday? fact check http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9MTZEgukPLY&refer=home#

Bernie
Grand Rapids, MI

Nothing should be done with this bill at all. It looks like the taxpayers have found their voices and have sent a very loud and clear message to Washington and Wall Street. This culture of corruption has no place in a healthy, free society. No one in the current administration should be given any kind of power at all. They have already proven themselves to be more than incompetent, they are criminals and should be treated that way. Start over and bring something that actually helps "the people".

Jack, not knowing enough about the stockmarket to even say if we need a bailout or not, here is what I think it should contain if it is passed. An impartial oversight board, & not any of the cronies in office that watched this crisis take place. If they did not know enough to stop it how do they know enough to fix it! Assurances that the taxpayers will not lose money, but get a fair return. And especially NO taxpayers money should go to foreign banks! Don, Wapakoneta, Ohio

Wait till after elections and then get back to business. You never know the whole enchilida maybe a new batch.

A plan will pass. I think yesterdays theatrics by the Republicans was simply to placate their constituents. Now, they can do what should have been done last week, and that is pass a bill without fanfare and histrionics.

It should place more emphasis on US buying stagnant mortgages and telling the distressed that the US as the lender can restructure their contracts to keep them in their houses until the economy improves; Now this part is salesmanship of the truth but that is easy;
Hard part is really DUMB congressman. Example: This morning Pete Stark (r) East Bay said that this does not affect his local Bank of Fremont on the bay areas credit unions since they are not affected by the bailout. Where in the hell does he think the money and credit comes from? From everywhere. Duuuh!

Jon in California

TAMPA, FL SIMPLE, HAVE EVERY POLITICIAN IN POWER RESIGN ALONG WITH THEIR GREEDY BANKER FRIENDS. HOW ABOUT BAILING US TAXPAYERS OUT INSTEAD?

I for one welcome the fallout that MAY accompany the rejection of an ill-thought, knee-jerk Washington insider bailout. As someone who is currently looking to refinance his home I expect to pay the price… and a small price it will be to preserve capitalism and not reward failure and greed.

I believe that the problem should be solved from the bottom up and not from the top down. Take the 600 hundred billion and put the money into inter structure bridges and highways, public works like electrical grids and put people back to work and they will pay their mortgages go back and look at what President Roosevelt did in 1930. The problem was solved from the bottom up not from the top down. If we keep drinking that Republican cool aid we are going to be in deep you know what.

Keith from Austin, TX. Jack, you and Lou Dobbs should bailout and start your own network program. You two are the only two real journalists on TV – keep up the good work.

i think obama is right. we need to stabilize our economy on wall street AND main street. his speech in reno gave me hope , that if we can at least maintain, until barack takes office , then we might just make it. they better pass it ,for now. they can change it later.

Just let the economy play itself out. After going up for a decade it is time for the economy to correct itself. What is happening now is just part of the normal economic cycle.

If it were up to me the top economists in the country would be called in to help draft a plan that actually takes care of the problem – the bad mortgages. I get the impression our representatives don't have a clue what they're doing.

To all of you who are writing our state reps and trying to spread the word through message boards and blogs, I salute and thank you. You are true patriots and ours and our childrens lives will be better in the future because of you. Wake up people! Do you really want to hand over 700B of this country's hard earned money to banks who jack up your interest rates to 30% for missing one credit card payment. This credit based system needs to fail. Inflation and easy credit are preventing us from building wealth and truly getting ahead. LET IT FAIL. We will have hard times, Yes, but these hard times will come wether we give these banks our money or not. This is the time patriots have been waiting for. Our oppressors are falling apart and crumbling why would you want to save them?

The economy could be stimulated by immediately removing all federal income tax liability for anyone earning less than $50,000/year. The bottom 50% of taxpayers hold only 2.8% of the nation's wealth but earn 13.4% of the nation's income. This represents only a modest loss of tax revenues while increasing purchasing power for those at the lower income levels. It may also prevent many more homes from falling into foreclosure. The fall of Wall Street represents massive losses in future tax revenues. The economy needs to be stimulated immediately or Wall Street will destroy main street. Action has to be taken to reinforce financial markets, but it has to be designed to stimulate the economy and can not be viewed as a gimmick to preserve wealth and artificially inflated home and stock values.

Tom M.
Human Right Advocate, Las Vegas

I know this will sound simplistic, but why can't these multi-millionaire CEOs and Wall Street tycoons bail themselves out? After years of raking it in as well as benefiting from the Bush tax cuts, these guys certainly don't need our help. I say bail yourselves out or go to jail, and stay there.

$700 Billion dollars represents 21 million dollars (give or take a few thousands) per every american alive today. Instead of bailing out the greedy, think about this: What if the government give each american one million dollars today, regardless of age, sex, race or religion. No past or future payment, just everyone who is alive today. That would represent under $400 million dollars. I'll bet this will get us out of the recession, most people can keep their homes, the banks will be back in business and we can now seriously boost the economy. I know it will create other issues such as inflation, the low lives will become lower, etc., but maybe this will motivate the poor and strengthen the middle class and America can again become strong and stable. I say let the american people vote on this solution and see where we end up.

The bailout plan should be modified to bail out the taxpayers of this country. If the gov't is going to give away our tax money, it should give it back to people who gave it to them and let us decide how to stimulate the economy, let us decide which bank (if any) we want to put the money into, and which insurance company to do business with. It's called:
BAILOUT TRICKLE-UP ECONOMICS.

Whatever trickles up to the top by the peoples choices is how it works.

Jack,
If the "Bail OUT" is done it needs to be quick and fast and with teeth to increase regulation and stop nonsense like all short trading and a Cap on Sweatheart deals for CEO'S when their companies go belly up. But what I think happened was a vote to teach us all to keep our mouths shut and let them do the job without our say in it. You see they
the Congress and Senate and for that matter Presidents still think we the people should not really have a say because as McCain says you do not understand. You see to many in our government think that way and that is the problem with this and any other bill.
Paul
Round Rock, Texas

Let Barney Frank "sweet talk" the Republican NO voter into doing what they should have done yesterday. Their feelings weren't all that sensitive for the six years they had control of Congress and rubber stamped Bush policies that got us where we are today.

Rather than rewarding the villains of the debacle, how about total asset forfeiture of those who designed this scheme? Let them all look for and apply for section eight housing and be forever forbidden to play the game with their stacked deck of marked cards. That seems to be the only way republics can win, with a stacked deck of marked cards. No wonder it's the "denial" party.

Mre emphasi on punishment of th irresponsible and offering th bad mortgages to former owner at a reasonable intrest rate. Maybe immediately offering vry low intrest rate loans to Banks for the sole purpos of mortgage lending – restore liqidit

The a;lternativ is a new PWA, WPA, and federal dole.

The next plan has to provide for the resignation of Paulson and taking the administration totally out of the bailout process. It needs something like a troica of ex secretary Rubin and a couple of independant economists. They can't get anymore Republican votes and the only way to get the Democratic votes needed is to show the people that Wall Street is out of the process.

The next step for the bailout plan would be to explore all alternatives, not just the one the House has rejected, evaluate the consequences of each, and select the one best suited for the American people, as opposed to the one best suited for the failed banks.

Well Jack,
In principle, the government should step aside, and let the market do its things. In reality, not doing anything is a bad option. People's life saving are going down the tube. 401K are turning into 201K, and soon will be 101K. Something go to be done.

Our congress needs to go back, work out some plan.

The Market is yo-yoing now, it is because that how some people takes money from other people. It is call the old money and the new money principle. It is a legal way stealing money from stupid and suspected people. The stock market is driven by rumors and chaos, because the market is inherently corrupt and unstable. The more wild and chaotic the environment , the market yo-yos more excitedly. Lot of people will lost their fortunes; while some go to bank laughing.

The stock market need to change to be more stable and more transparent. It can be done, but it is a long winded topic by itself, so I'll just let it be.

so I wake up tuesday expecting more pain on Wall Street and instead the market is UP 400 points without ANY bailout. that tells me that this whole deal is bogus and NOT needed. the markets will correct themselves.

the whole thing has been typical Bush administration create a crisis then panic the public and stampede the Congress so that their Corporate Quisling supporters can once again rob the American taxpayer. hopefully it DOESN'T work this time.

Change the name... calling it a bailout is causing the negative reaction.

Rachel, Atlanta, GA

They all need to swallow their pride and go back to the table. I support the revised plan because I'm worry regular Joes are going to lose their jobs. I worry about the tightening of credit...I hear McDonald's is telling their franchisees to hold off on major renovations...i.e. that is going to affect local people and that's just one company. Wait until it's your employer saying, "Sorry, we cannot have you on the payroll because we cannot pay you!".

Our US House Rep in Lincoln NE, Steve Fortenberry, voted no for the plan. I'm completely embarrased by the House Republicans rant about 'their feelings were hurt because the House Speaker hurt their feelings". Oh PLEASE! This is so first grade! We all got 'hurt' yesterday when the Dow tanked 777 points!!! I tried to get on Fortenberry's webpage to send the "swallow your pride" note, but I couldn't get through. I wonder why? Don't plan on my vote for you next election!

Likely bail out or no bail out the economy will continue to decline. The idea that the public can't have more protection and the people displaced won't get their homes back with negotiated principal and interest they can handle just won't be much good to them.

My uninformed opinion is the rich get the gold mine and the public will get the shaft as fear will do as fear does.

-Jack-

Did you not get the memo? Despite all of the fearmongering going on the Bailout/Rescue/(Insert political aversionary statment to take away from the fact that the government wants to forge our name on loan documents and give the loaned money to a priviledged few)..that plan was voted down. We have basically two options left for wall street...handcuffs or some rocks to kick!!!!!!

P.S. The market is back up 400...Armageddon my a.

Richmond, Va

Keep McCain away to begin with. All the House Representatives from Arizona (4 each Dem and Republican) voted AGAINST the bailout because they actually "listened" to their constitutents. McCain does not seem to "listen" much like Bush. What happens if a bailout get passed, and then, it fails? You have to actually get funds into the hands of people....if people have money to spend, demand for products increase, which means that more will have to manufactured to meet the demand, more manufacturing means more new jobs, more tax revenues to pay for services. Basic economic sense says that the law of supply and demand will determine prices. Under Regan's supply side economics only, and abundance of product doesn't necessarily mean there is a demand for it, and people will not always buy something if the price looks too cheap. The so-called Free Market economy really means that both supply and demand establish a common price and quantity that will sustain the economy.

Hi Jack,
Well among others, the ‘Bail Out’ should definitely include:
1. An Over Sight Council – This council should be responsible for overseeing money distribution, program implementations, role interpretations, etc… for all organizations as defined in the bailout guidelines.
2. Immediate protection for individuals with any type of lawful investment in any of the institutions that are immediately in crisis, not including any of the ‘Professionals’ with executive level responsibilities within these institutions or organizations.
3. Research and strategy (while they’re at it), to assist some of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. What’s 1(or 2) million of 700 billion dollars to help some of these regular Americans secure THEIR property again or not lose their homes? Do you have to be on Wall Street to qualify for HELP??
4. Protection for Americans, so they don’t have to worry about losing their mortgages, or ‘higher financing tricks’ applied to mortgage buy outs, during or after bail-out period.
5. Include plan to distribute assistance in phases. Don’t allow all of the funds to be granted in one pop. In other words, come to an agreement of the total amount. An allow phases (each must be approved) through to end of period as defined for bailout.
6. Include an option that would allow adjustments or modification requests by the President, if it is determined that the guidelines have not been followed or purposely faltered against accordance of the bailout guidelines, after January 31, 2009.
7. In lieu of #5 and #6, make sure every item in the bailout is specific to its affect on regular Americans (mortgages, insurance, jobs, etc).
8. Keep G.W., and all of his people AWAY FROM THE MONEY. I DON’T CARE IF ITS $50.
9. Allow the bailout package to become PUBLIC INFORMATION.
I’ll stop here.

Dear Mr. Cafferty,
I would like to know why know one is addressing the real issue with our financial institutions and our economy. With a stroke of a pen, 40% of our National Debt could be erased by abolishing the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve is a private company whose mere existence is unconstitutional and to whom we owe over 40% of our National debt for interest on money loaned to the U.S. Government by the Federal Serve bank. The F.R.S. was formed in 1933 and named such as a means to fool the American people into believing that it was a branch of the government. The constitution states that Congress shall have the right to print and coin our money. This private company was formed so that certain individuals could get rich but on a bigger scale to promote the international banking communities desire of global domination and control over American Financial Institutions and our economy. I would like to hear your opinion as to why we should continue to pay a private company almost half of our national debt to perform unconstitutional acts. The person who has the courage to propose this abolishment would certainly meet resistance but would save the American People Trillions of dollars and give real control of our economy back to the people
I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Carol Aguiar
Apple Valley, Ca.

They should just let the bill die. It's clearly not working, and no one can decide on anything. Funny that it was proposed by republicans and they're the ones that shot it down yesterday. Sometimes when you try to resuscitate a patient their heart just isn't in it. Let's all move on and try to find another way out of this mess we're in. A taxpayer economic stimulus package should be the proposal being discussed right now.

There is no need for a bailout now or ever because there is no crisis. This is just another case of the administration of George Bush using our nation's penchant for fear to help bolster the reputations of the embattled Republicans in the House who may lose their upcoming re-election fights.

Our economy has been in turmoil for almost 3 years and only now, a few weeks away from the election, has it become a monumental catastrophe in need of immediate rescue. By focusing our attention on this nonsense, the Republicans are trying to make a political bait-and-switch. They are hoping that we will all forget that the economic policies they enacted during the years before 2006 have caused this mess. They want us to think that they and their party are "true mavericks" who are working for the people, though their records over the last 10 years have proven otherwise.

Nothing should be next. Too many people for too long have been buying things they can't afford. Let's get back to the good ol' days when you worked, you earned, you saved, THEN you bought.
This generation thinks they are entitled to have everything now.
Let it all crash and let's start over again. The right way. No money....then no house, no vacation, no technological gadgets, no expensive restaurant dinners, no fancy car. No credit.

I'd like to share an idea from an email, which I'll try to summarize. Give each citizen who is 18 or older $425,000 dollars, which can be taxed. People could then do any of the following: pay off their mortgage, send their kids to college, buy a new car, invest in the stock market, save some in the bank, pay for health insurance, etc. According to the writer's calculations, that would cost the government about $59 billion for 200 million citizens (18+), after adding back the taxes the government would receive. That would definitely help Main Street... would it solve the crisis?

Hi Jack,

Hell no! No bail out! I am at the bottom of the totem pole, I once had to declare that I was bankrupt, and for 7 years MY credit was shot! We (the people of the US have had to bail out the presidents son in his saving and loan scandel, we (the people of the US) had to bail out Chrysler, how many more do we have to do? IF we bail these people out, they will probably get their "golden parachute" bonuses, huge buyouts of their contracts, a pat on the back on the back telling them that it just wasn't to be. These people have no idea, nor do they care! They have their millions tied up in their mattresses where, if the market crashes, they have their reserves. The GREED of these fat cats has taken food and health care, off the table of the middle and lower class families. They should be held accountable, along with the "spectulators" that put us here! Of course that's just my two cents worth that right now isn't worth two cents.

The band is playing on deck. The women and children are in the lifeboats. The rest of us are going down with the ship. Heck of job congress. Thanks for bailing us out.

Is the bailout really a plan? This is an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate the true value of a free market. Dems and Reps have made some very bad decisions over the past decade and a half that has led to the "crisis" we are today.

Some people may be negatively impacted by holding true to our values but if we keep up these socialistic tendencies, our children will inherit the impact of our bad decisions. We need to bring back accountability and responsibility into our society so our children learn to think for themselves.

Brian- Highlands Ranch Colorado

A new plan: Bill everybody on a percentage scale: For example: Income: 0-30,000, 0%; 31,000-100,000, 1%; 101,000-250,000, 2%; on up. Those may not be the right figures but you get the idea.

Jack,
How about we do nothing and let the chips fall where they may. Lets be honest each and every person has benifited in some way before we started to suffer the consequences of spending beyond our means. It is now time to be responsible for our over spending. And that means living within our means, letting go of things we cannot afford any longer. People are acting like spoiled brats demanding more and more with no way to pay for their demands. It is time to start a new way of thinking and acting buying only what we can pay for, Its called reality.

Judie
St. Augustine, Fl

The White House has zero credibility on this or any other issue, since everyone automatically asumes that Bush is lying. The House Republicans are still cliinging to Reaganomics and should be ignored if not shunned. That leaves the Democrats and their narrow majority. They need to craft a bill that suits them and is heavily weighted in favor of taxpayers and people trying to avoid foreclosure. Mortgage-backed securities should be purchased, but no derivitives. Keep the oversight and tiered payment features. Make it as low-risk as possible for taxpayers and pass the bill. Let Bush know it is a take-it-or-leave-it proposition and he will sign. The regulate. Let some firms fall by the wayside if the overall market is functioning normally. Obama should sell it to the public since they like Pelosi and Reid almost as little as they like Bush.

First, stop implying that a bailout is the only solution. It scares me that our geniuses in Congress and in the media think the best way to solve any financial crisis is to thow more money at it. Heck, it's not even "their" money – it's mine and yours. Let's not just treat the symptoms, but treat the whole disease, namely America's addiction to credit, both on Wall Street and on Main Street. If a bank wants to make risky loans to unqualified borrowers, that's their problem, because if it fails, they have answer to their depositors. But if the US government is going to back that bank with the FDIC, then the bank or financial institution has got to adhere to certain standards in its lending practices. Evidently we failed to enforce this.

Congress needs to deal with direct support for the collapsing middle class.

First, if we're all in this together, how about the Wall Street people, NYSE, the NASDAQ and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange pitching in a few billion dollars.

Second, people want to know what is in it for them. People are tired of the government coming to them repeatedly with hat in hand asking them to give, give, give. They have given sons and daughters to go fight two wars. When their homes were being foreclosed upon the market showed them no mercy, but now the managers of the marketplace ask for mercy and compassion. Well it should be a two way street.

Third, people want to know how bad it really is, because just a few weeks ago our leaders were telling us that everything was fine. People are also tired of hearing the sky is falling routine. Give us the specifics. The way things are going there has to be some doubt about 700 billion dollars is sufficient.

Fourth, this is a global problem. Why is the U.S. being asked to shoulder the burden? Shouldn't we try work with the world community on this? Or did we alienate them?

Drop it like it's hot. We the people of the United States of America have spoken we say "Oh hell no!" I can't remember the last time I was this proud of Americans and to be American. This is the America I remember by the people, for the people, and of the people. Not of greed, corruption, and evil. I say the sins of this Administration are coming home to roost and we should let that happen! Many thanks to the CNN staff without you this would not have been possible. Great journalism and the people prevail over power and corruption.... finally this is the America I remember.

Main Street first, Wall Street last EXCEPT when it comes to putting the fraud-loving executives on Wall Street, the corrupt lenders, and even those few dishonest borrowers in jail and selling all their assets to pay back the American taxpayer. Heck, Jack, let's toss a few Congressmen (and women) in jail, too. Do you think then they'd get a clue about whom they should be working for in this country?

NO BAILOUT!!!

Fifi may not get foie gras every night anymore but it's a small price to pay for actually letting capitalism work. And if the people truly are upset with Congress for vetoing the bailout, let democracy take it's course in November.

To me this is the same type of Washington insider con job that got us into Iraq. Caveat Emptor and all that fool-me-twice stuff...

If the Republicans that did not vote for the bailout did so based on a speech given by Pelosi, then I say let it all go. Because OBVIOUSLY there are not any adults on Capital Hill. That was the stupidest reasoning I have ever heard on NOT doing something of this magnitude and ALL Americans should take into account, whether you supported the bill or did not support the bill, that is was not the tax paying public they (the hurt feeling Republicans) were looking out for, but, their OWN hurt feelings.

Hey Jack,
Let it sink!
We have in my lifetime become a Nation of too much of everything. Too much food, alcohol, drugs, too much consumption of worthless nothings.
Time to get back to reality, and put health, happiness, and family in front of just having more "Stuff".
I never learned more in life than when I was 16, my older brother died in a car accident. He was my Hero, and then he was just gone one day. But that event turned out to be the best lesson I ever had about life, and that was to enjoy each day, appreciate the little things, show compassion to the less fortunate.
I believe that America can, and will manage very well in whatever we need to do for our future!
Good Fortune to us, because it won't be because of luck or superstition!
Thomas, Carlsbad By the Sea, CA

Jack

This is a complicated question, there are so many different peices to this problem it would be very hard to lay it out. In my opinion there needs to be three items in the plan.

1. No money fot the executives of the failed companies. They created the problem let them go to the poor farm!
2. If tax payer money is used then the taxpayer get the equity share of all the morgages and as the funds trickle back into the economy the taxpayer gets the benifit.
3. Wall street needs rules, real rules that still allow profits but stop this kind of greed.

What happened to the old "Let the chips fall where they may?" If someone or a group trys to corner a market and fails then it is their loss, the goverenment shouldn't bail them out!

Dan from Alliance, OH

It's so simple Jack that it is down right scarry. Protect the people of the
United States. Help the homeowners and main street. Take the money in the off-shore accounts from the greedy rascals on wall street.
Prosecute all the bums in Congress past and present who supported
no oversite of the mortgage and banking industry.

Mona Belt
Hartford, MI

.

"Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate.... That will purge the rottenness out of the system..." a quote from Andrew Mellon, the Secretary of the Treasury in the Hoover Administration (Great Depression). It wouldn't work then and it will not work now.

The government should not intervene on behalf of business in any way. Ever. Clear enough?

The government is by the people and for the people. If the government should do anything it should help the people, not the idiots who caused this mess. It is astounding to me that in 2008 we still think "if you caused this mess, you can clean it up."

You know Jack-I really don't know. They scarier part is I do not believe Paulson, or Bush, or Boetner, or Obama, or MCcain and absolutley not Palin, knows either.....I'm glad today I do not need to borrow money and I have a job. My healthcare costs are up considerably this year as is food, gas and energy, but ultimately what that means is I cut back on discretionary purchases and leisure activities. People are afraid of loosing their jobs and healthcare.

Jack,

Now that the debate is over....

Mr McCain should resuspend his campaign and follow through on his commitment to rescue the world from the financial crisis.

Hi Jack!
I have a humble suggestion in the midst of this politicized economic crisis-How about getting all the giant economic think tanks of the country together on the hill to sound off on their solutions to the current financial quagmire.For a change it may be refreshing to hear from brilliant and hopefully unpolitical minds about their pragmatic answers to a very complex situation...the American people will certainly have more reason to trust a small bunch of Economic Gurus than a sea of politicians.
It is very troubling when you repeatedly hear the comment that "nobody quite undertsands the ramifications of this crisis"....there's got to be someone who does.
Thanks for your time!

Is anyone ready to acknowledge the effect of the American voters on their representatives via the internet to listen to them and vote accordingly? History was made !!!!!Millions for defense-not one cent for tribute-we will remember the congressional folks who heeded our wishes and DEFEATED THE WALL STREET GIVEAWAY-now call up Newt Gingrich and do whatever he says-HE IS THE MAN WITH A PLAN !!!!!! Lawrenceburg KY

Mr. Cafferty,
You ask "What's next?" O.K. I'd say, the 'Big Shots' in GOVERNMENT have already 'OKAYED' $250 billion of tax-payer help, without the tax-payers' consent (as if I should be surprised). I would tell 'Wall Street to "make do" with it, since despite the fact that they are SUPPOSED to know how to handle finances, they OBVIOUSLY don't, so they need to 'learn by doing'. They are also supposed to pay it back to the AMERICAN PUBLIC in 3 years.
This whole mess, in my opinion, is due to the fact that the American Presidents, AND Government, have never been willing to admit, that the Majority of Americans are in the POOR class, and have been carrying this Country for the LONGEST time. I personally, never could understand why I had to have a 'credit rating', in order to get a loan. I always believed that, the fact that I payed my bills "in full' should be sufficient. I never would have believed that 'Big Business' was in 'cahoots' with the Government to get me to spend money I did not have,..... just like they had already done.
When you come right down to it, I don't think I really care which way it goes anymore. Even Ostriches have to eventually take their heads out of the sand.

Close the loop holes that allow those got us here to walk away clean. i.e. You may have a contract that gives you a 3 comma golden parachute, BUT You WILL be in civil court for it ALL PLUS punitive damages if you take advantage . (CEO FatCat vs. the taxpayers of the United States of America ) Also, you will face criminal investigations and if found guilty, forget the federal white collar crime country culbs. YOU will send your time in maxinum security with the other REAL criminals like drug lords and murders.

Jack, the American people have spoken. Kill the bailout plan. Let the markets correct themselves. If anything, bailout the people who are in trouble, create new jobs and allow the American people stimulate the economy.

Jack,

We should put this bail out proposal before the voters! The presidential election would be a perfect time for the vote. Thirty five additional days will prove the sky isn't going to fall and could possibly save us billions.

Tom
Blue Springs, MO

I think the next step should be to wait and suffer until after the elections. Then voters will have plenty of reason to vote them all out and get people in there who actually care about this country and not getting re-elected. It's time that Representatives from both parties who voted against this much needed plan answer for their incredible failure of the American people.

First of All, Bailout the Middleclass. Then send all GOP members from Capital Hill home in November. Starting with Boehner, Blunt and Cantor. Their ridiculous statements that they were helping the Middleclass during the meetings over the bailout was sickening. And blaming Pelosi was even worse. Maybe we should just send them Diapers and Pacifiers to help with their whinning.

Three key problems should be addressed simultaneously. First, as to the toxic loans held by some banks, the federal government should do what Buffett did for Goldman: Buy preferred stock with warrants to provide immediate capital only where it is needed. The government would get a fixed return and potential upside gain on the warrants. Second, to stop the continuing cataclysm in the housing market, we need a federal agency similar to the one created during the Great Depression to renegotiate where people cannot pay, stretch out payments, and reduce housing supply. Then home prices will stabilize. Third, a new president from a different party is the only thing that will restore confidence domestically and internationally. Any economist will tell you that investor psychology is everything to stable markets. Bush has "checked out" and is ineffectual anyway; McCain proves every day that he's unstable in ways to numerous to count.

We should all sit back and take a few breaths and trust Congress to formulate an appropriate plan. Rushing to solve this problem is not going to benefit anyone. Let members of Congress take a couple days to organize their positions after an eventful week. We need them to be making sound decisions.

Jack,

I'm no financial wizard, but I do watch CNN and I've heard enough to realize that this bill should be passed, but only if it will protect the American taxpayer, so that leaves out everyone that make $250,0000 or more a year. I do worry that my five Grandchildren will be paying for this instead of being able to retire.

Dennis
Ama., TX

jack,

its called put the regulations back in. when they were stripped out is when all the problems started remember the keating five and the graham bill. somethings you don't forget. and people need to live within their means. we need people to look in the mirror. i'm tired of the finger pointing in washington we need a fresh start.

If the experts are saying that the $7B will not guarantee a collapse in the economy, let's keep and use that money for another Stimuls Package for the American People if they do lose their job. Plus, if these so call experts are saying without that $7B bailout, people won't be able to get credit for car loans, Morgages and the like, so be it. At the end of the day, the price for Goods and Services will go down, which will be a good thing for the consumer. Big Companies will not go out of business, prices for consumer products will be very cheap.

why not try to take care of the american people. give them the ability to rescue this country. with all the money govt is tossing around why not offer to all americans the ability to get a new mortgage or refinance an old one at 4% or less and have the govt pick up the difference from the normal rate. you would see foreclosures begin to cease and new homebuyers enter the market immediately if they can be assured a fixed rate 30 yr mortgage with no strings attached. this seems so easy a solution that it is so hard for the pundits to see the forest from the trees. this rescue or bailout is helping only those that got us into this mess. it will not help the average american stave off not being able to afford to refinace or buy again. banks will be fewer in number and competition far less while rates will skyrocket.

Give us some REAL context!!!!

In order for me to get behind this bail-out, I need to know how many institutions are in trouble. Are we giving $700B to 3 institutions or 300? What percentage of lending institutions are in trouble?

I am not a free market man, but the only reason the government should have to step in is if the ENTIRE market is out of cash! So give us the numbers! If its scary, SCARE US. Otherwise, I'd rather see $700B investment in alternative energy. Or free health care for 5 years for each American. Or any other, more productive way to inject "liquidity" into the market.

How about the government starts lending money at low rates DIRECTLY TO US SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS?!?! That would cover all the "main street" problems you've been connecting to this Wall Street welfare.

To quote David Letterman, something smells here.

And tell your CNN cohorts to stop interviewing small business owners. I am a small business owner and I have too much to do to actually UNDERSTAND this mess. Go interview the institutions that are likely to get bailed-out and ask them why this all matters!

Usually in an American game there are three strikes before being called "OUT"!.....They still are entitled a couple more swings at it.

Anytime a salesperson tries to rush or pressure me into a buying decision, I'm out the door and it's a NO SALE.

Considering these are politicians (both sides and much more deceptive than a used car salesman) pushing this – I'd be even MORE cautious. Good for them!!

kerry diehl
michigan

Pelosi said the Dems could have passed a bailout that was too their liking, but wanted the plan to be bipartisan. I say if the Republicans won't cooperate when their verbiage is added to the plan than submit and pass the plan that the Dems will vote for and to hell with bipartison. I would also like to suggest that George W contribute his salary for the last eight years to the bailout. If my job rating was as poor as his I would be unemployed and he should be too. Perhaps we could get the VP to contribute his salary also. I read the bill that didn't pass and saw nothing about getting back some of the golden parachute money previously received by some CEO's who are no longer employed (retired in one of their $5 million dollar vacation homes!). What happened to that idea? I don't think we should just look at the future and this $700 billion bailout, we should also be looking at what has already occured and holding folks responsible for wasteful spending on wages and bonuses. Someone is responsible for this mess and I don't think it's the folks that are about to pay the bill!!

Jack, On the financial crisis, Why can't congress give every legitimate taxpayer $200,000.00 to pay of their mortgage, bad loan, credit card debt, student loan etc. Instead of the government buying up bad mortgages, Let the taxpayer make good on them. This would free up the banks to lend money and stimulate the national and local economies. Best of all there would be income taxes collected on that money. I'm sure that this would pass thru congress with ease. Imagine giving taxpayer money back to the taxpayer, interesting?

Bill Murrells Inlet, SC

No bail-out! But take the 700-800-900 Billion and create a NEW Bank of USA. It can loan the cash to keep businesses alive and make sensible loans for cars/homes/land to citizens. Let ALL the other ones fail or merge. Their share holders can bite the bullet while the economy continues to thrive.

the next bail out plan is to ask McCain to suspend his campaign indefinitely, this will allow the American people to focus more on the challenges ahead.

I think next, the GOP should work out a plan to compensate Scooter Libby for all his inconveniences and hurt feelings brought down on him by the Justice Department. The money should come from every golden parachute contract handed out by the Wall St. corporate welfare recipients; whether they get their charity or not.

I'm no economist, but how about we let the government buy the homes threatened by foreclosure? We can extend new mortgages so that the owners can afford to stay in their homes. That gets the bad debts off the books, helps the homeowners in danger of foreclosure, opens up the credit markets, and with a little luck gives us a return on our investment.

There must be consequences. Place strict credit limits on those homewowners we help out. Place strict lending rules on those who made questionable loans. Cap executive compensation.

When it's all over, we chalk it up to a lesson learned the hard way.

Then we vote all the incumbents out, just for fun.

Can’t the FED just raise interest rates? By raising rates, the FED will encourage investors to pump money into the credit pool, thus allowing people and companies with good credit to borrow money during this period. Ben Bernanke won’t need to wait around on congressional approval, and the American taxpayer will be left out of the equation.

Next on the bailout plan should be to get rid of the house leadership and those trying to use this as a means only to show their influence and power and personal ambition. Where were they really working when all of this was headed off the wind and to the South ?

Please let Nancy Pelosi know for me, that on her challenge action and speach ( which was more of a hand grenade thrown by a political terrorist yesterday ), that the impact on my PERSONAL savings and retirement funding was a whole lot more than what she pays for her professional hair dos, her brass and gold buttons, her red blazers, her silk blouses and whatever it is that dialates her eyes to the point that it is hard to believe she can speak let alone read what her staff has prepared for her. I am approaching 62 and I find myself helpless in the face of what the political process has allowed to happen.

We are getting much much closer to a third party in this country as those running the current ones have run their abilities and their credibilities right into the ground. I will be the first to sign up not as an Independent. but rather as an " Alternative " party member once someone from outside of the system shows up to run it. Change is simply a word to the current pack of Washington wolves, and the people are finally beginning to recognize this. Current leadership and nominees are simply a unch of losing lottery tickets if you ask me. Scratch their surface and all you get is a loser

Put it in the SHREDDER There should be NO BAIL OUT for the wall street bum's

hey Jack,
Isn't there like 250 million people ( citizens) in the USA? Give every American one million dollars! 250 million dollars is nothing apparently to this government. So, cough it up .

I freely admit that "wall street" is a little beyond my understanding, so could someone please explain to me where this 700 billion dollars is coming from?? Are we selling our future to protect people whose bonuses are more than I will see in my lifetime? Financial institutions tell us that they will work with and help us if we are having problems paying bills, mortgages etc...But when we do ask for help they tell us no; and yet the government wants to help the people who created the problems to begin with. Like I said I guess I just don't understand.

Also I think giving everyone a million is definitely a great idea!! Win-Win!!

Jack,

The plan should be first retooled by economically-intelligent Democrats, to make sure taxpayers are put at the forefront in this rescue plan, and then re-labeled as an "American Rescue Plan" and not a Wall Street bailout. This failed because of a combined lack of leadership from the bill's sponsors and a lack of clarity in what the bill actually is, which was fueled by the mass media calling it a "Wall Street bailout" without adding that it is bailing out parts of Wall Street that have direct links to virtually all American people.

Brian
Moscow, Idaho

Jack,
I think the Congress and the House of Representatives should come together to chart out a plan that is approved by both houses and legislated to bring the great country out of its economic crisis and save the common American who is suffering from the drudgery.

I think everybody should just face the music. This is the end of the American Empire over the world. Within two years the Euro will be the reserve currency of the world, unemployment will be at 25% or so, our troops will be forced to come home in defeat because there will be no way or no reason to maintain the occupations since terrorists won't care abuot us anymore as we won't be the "Great Satan", we'll be the "Dead Satan". With a likely Obama victory in Novemeber and a significant number of people who have racist notions about to be out of work and in bread lines-etc, there will be serious civil strife all across the country. I even predict successionist movements.

It didn't even take the Al-Qaieda to defeat us-the Republicans did it themselves.

A lot of people don't seem to get that it's not so much the bailout of Wall Street at this point, as it is the easing of the credit constrictions. They don't seem to realize that credit tightening will make it increasingly more difficult for small businesses to borrow enough to purchase new materials, make payrolls, etc. They wanted trickle-down economics, and boy, oh boy, are they going to get it. Just wait till they can't cash a paycheck because the paper it's written on is worthless. Then the same people who are screaming "no bailout" will be whining about why the government didn't do something sooner.

Unfortunately, Jack, a large part of the electorate is uninformed. That's why we had two terms of Bush and why McCain and Palin still have a snowball's chance in Hades of being elected.

Only one of thirty Americans supports the bailout. A lot of these folks should study Economics 101 before they make their final decision. How do the Americans (who do not want the bill to pass) , figure they will have increased financial assets without some kind of bailout?

On "60 Minutes" it was stated that Paulson was worth $500 million from his work on Wall St. This was partially accomplished via the lobbiests working on Capital Hill. Now Paulson is in an opposite chair and is supposed to know how to get out of the muck. He's been at the fed trouth to long to know about the other side of life.

Jack, a plan must be adopted and approved which allows banks and other companiues to freely obtain credit while the people of this nation are properly protected. Let's see less partisanship in Congress and less interference by those in the mass media as well as ciutizens on the street who know little about the needs of the economy. As long as we allow this interference, the economy will tumble as a rescue bill never becomes reality.

Locate the genius who circulated the e-mail that takes the bail out/rescue amount and divides it among the American people. Hire them as the Treasury secretary and have them implement the idea. What an economic stimulus that would be – and the people can have hands-on participation in resolving the crisis! That would increase our patriotism and unite us in a way that hasn't happened since the Revolutionary War.

The bailout is beginning to look like the rush to war...another knee jerk reaction. Bush and Paulson aren't going to be around too much longer and it's ridiculous to give them 700 billion to do God knows what with. Deal with each problem as it comes up and leave the rest to the next administration.

It is hard to know what to do, because they are asking us to trust them and I just can't.

Why only go part way? We should get totally stupid and borrow at least 20 or maybe 30 trillion dollars. Then we could live like hogs in a mud puddle for several years before the country goes bust!
Jack, we have not even been able to pay the interest on the national debt since Clinton was president. How in the world can we ever pay it back if we do this bail out.
We have a huge trade deficit, one legitimate war and one for Bush's personal reasons. The jobs that actually contributed to the nations wealth have been outsourced and now the middle class is supposed to magically pay for this mess. No thanks Jack, Bush and his friends can go to hell as far as I care.

Hi Jack,

The bailout plan will eventually pass. The objection most people have is that the CEO's and Managers of the failed banks will continue to get big bucks to resign. Why not offer them compensation based on the current value of their failed banks–for example if the stock is worth 16 cents a share, that should be their fair compensation.

Throw the greedy corrupt CEOs life jackets... NOT $$$$.
According to several financial experts, this all began 20 yrs ago not 8 like so many people keep saying. It's my understanding that a Republican wrote the Deregulation Bill, but guess who signed it.... A Democrat named WJC. He also admitted on the "View" that the Stock Market spiralled out of control upward 300% during his terms in office.

Those greedy corrupt CEO's and the companies they ran need to experience the same pain that Main Streeters are feeling; I was always told, You play, You pay. So, let them pay.

The blame game is stupid. We're up to our necks in debt and over-extended credit living. We need to tighten our belts and begin to live within our means. We need to stop listening to anyone who tells us "you can afford it."

The American people should not be responsible for the Wallstreet failure and please give credit where is due! What Congress and the House does from now on is on their shoulders and so far, they have done nothing. The scare tactics are not working, and the fact that this bailout has not passed only delays more money to the corrupt and greedy. You would think that these politicians would get the message, loud and clear!

I think it's time to hunker down and let the Depression wash over us. Then we can start to rebuild, thIs is Standard Operating Procedure for any disaster.

I have been really torn on the whole bail out mess. On the one hand, something needs to be done to prevent any kind of collapse of our financial system. On the ohter hand, let the people who got us into this mess hang from the nearest tree. The more I heard about the bail out plan, and the lack of confidence in its success from our own lawmakers, the happier I was to hear it had failed. As for the future of any bail out plan? Congress needs to throw away anything that came from Bush or Paulsen, and just start over from scratch. Surely, they can come up with something better than those other bozos.

Wonder why we hate this bailout? Miss a credit card payment by a single day and you're treated like a degenerate criminal and slapped with a $50 late fee and an increased interest rate. Two dollars short on a $15.00 debit grocery store bill and you get slapped again with a $35.00 fee. Banks being allowed to cook a scheme where they pay the largest check or debit from your checking account first and let 6 others bounce so they can collect another $210 for doing absolutely nothing. Now they want us to help THEM??? No way!! Wonder why we don't believe the sky is falling? The messengers of doom are the same folks that sold us the "smoking gun/mushroom cloud", "treated as liberators" crowd and their pals in the media making seven figure salaries while trying to pretend they're just like us. Forget it!

Jack: Thursday morning plan B needs to be ready to go for a vote by the House for the bailout plan for America not just Wall Street. If, House fails to act the Senate must start the ball rolling or we face 300,000 people being unemployed, credit drying up, and a bleak Christmas in America. This could slow down the economy to the point it takes 10 years for the economic life of this nation to be the same again.

John
Alabama

Jack, it look like everybody in govrt is for bail out .Wonder how many have money in the markets?

I think they need to take their time and investigate further into the corruption that got us into this mess. The riff raff on Wall Street as well as Capitol Hill needs to be taken out and be made an example of. They need to make sure they strip the incentives to be irresponsibly greedy from these clowns. I think politicians are as much to blame as Wall Street.

Let them go bankrupt..that is what the average everday person is having to do. They need to regulate the market again since it has been proven these people cannot be trusted to be responsible.

How about creatively for once? Is anyone in Washington capable of thinking outside the box for the good of the country? I am no expert, but it seems to make sense that if you invest in the population, you invest in the wealth of a nation. If you invest int he wealthy, you invest in, well, the wealth of the wealthy.

Throw all the paper wasted on printing it into the recylce bin and go on with our lives. The market rally today shows that Congress has no clue about the economy.

We need regulation on derivatives, a transaction fee on
Wall Street, program to help those in foreclosure work
with mortgage holders to come up with way to
receive payment (any amount would be better than none)
instead of banks ending up with empty houses, guarantee
those CEO, CFO, etc. do not receive their huge payouts
in the form of salaries, stock options and "golden parachutes",
and oversight/regulation in those other areas of our
financial system that have no oversight/or regulations.

It should also be a plan that can be looked at again
come January with the new Congress/President.

Jack, it needs to include the little people, and we know that is wishful thinking. But wait, re-election is in a few weeks, so now they are listening, go figure. We need to clean out and elect all new, that will get their attention, they know about as much as Palin what the people want and need, I guess blonds are not the only one's who have dumb blond moments, right Jack.

This bailout plan would result in a massive bureaucracy that we will be stuck with. Like a Port Authority organized to pay the cost of building a bridge, it will exist forever and will be used for job creation and lucrative government contracts. The cure proposed for our economic woes is far worse than the disease and may bring us into Depression rather than Recession if it fails. Glenn in NJ

PS: Even the diagnosis is wrong. The problem isn't mortgages–it's debt and this not only doesn't address that problem but makes it much worse.

I am suspicious of any plan put forth by Bush, Cheney, and Paulsen. Their record so far does not favor the middle class or Main Street in any way, shape, or form, and this bail out is just the latest.

However, I do see we have a problem on Wall Street. It is called greed. When one of us lives beyond our means, and gets into financial difficulty, we have two options: bankruptcy (except the Bush Administration made that a lot harder to do now), or finding alternative ways to deal with our debt, such as selling off assets. Why should a large company have the option of a government bail out if there isn't a government option to help me? While I agree that timely measures need to be implemented, I think Bush is crying "Wolf" yet again for his own benefit and for the benefits of his cronies. Of course, he's used to it...he always gets bailed out by his dad in his private life.

Strip anyone who made more than $250,000 dollars at any of these troubled companies of all stock options, golden parachutes, low interest loans, cash buy-outs, and luxury goods and put the the goods up for auction. Prosecute the ones who made fraulent decisions that caused this mess, up to and including our "beloved" President and his henchmen.

Reestablish regulatory oversight on the financial world. Make it even more difficult for Congress or the President to rid us of regulatory oversight, perhaps through a Constitutional Amendment. I'm all for smaller government, but I prefer having sensible rules on groups that can hurt or destroy us all than having the government poke it's nose in my bedroom! Oh, and while were at it, try Bush and his Administration for violating my rights to privacy as defined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. National security is one thing, invasion of personal privacy without due process or probable cause violates the very core of our country's values.

Hmmm...that should keep our Congress busy until we can replace the deadwood both in the White House and on Congressional Hill.

I agree with Tom V. of Min. One million dollars to each natual born citizen with a 50% tax. The gov. gets half of it back leaving a half million. A half million is a lot of money for most americans. Give the other 699+ Billion for the bail out. I would think that the typical american would pay down thier mortgages and save the rest. This allows the banks and the rest of the american economy to benefit by spending and saving. It would also give the government time to decide what they are going to do to fix the economy for the long term.

The average American that got one of these bad loans is "Guilty" of stupidity or greed and should be made to suffer some losses.

The bankers that offered and approved these loans are "Guilty" of greed and possibly fraud and should take a bigger hit.
Before we talk about a bail-out, we should put some in jail.

Today’s market rally suggests that bottom feeders are scraping up the bargains from yesterday’s sell-off, in anticipation of an eventual agreement in congress to pass rescue legislation. I hope that those who opposed the original deal continue to oppose anything put forth that would coronate the secretary of the treasury as King of the Money, regardless of other changes. Oversight must be mandatory and rigorous.

Just don't reward irresponsible borrowers, for taking deals/loans that were too good to be true. It seems too many borrowers just gave up on their mortgage without first sacrificing the other luxuries in their lives first..i.e. cell phones, MP3's, new cars, big screen HD TV's, etc...

I would like to know how many people who got foreclosed on, took a second job, or got a roommate, or did something! before just walking out on their new home loan..

Nothing, it should run it's course,that's the way it was meant to be.Furthermore, we really must now end the wreckless 10 billion a month war because we can't afford it anymore.

Jack , the bailout plan should be constructed to help the homeowners and business owners. The criminal investment firms must not be included in the bailout, if Washington allows the bailing out of the investment firms, it will show all that crime does pay. Send them to jail no bail.

I think they should tweak the plan to add NO compensation for the CEO's and a promise that charges of misconduct will be filed by the attorney general's office against all those responsible. From there they should replace the regulations and restrictions the Bushy's removed in the name of God knows what, and see to it a thing like this never happens again. The incumbents are doomed anyway. No one in his right mind would reelect the likes of these rodeo clowns for another term. Or would they?

Jack, I thought that the bailout didn't pass by last weekend I would go to my ATM yesterday and no money would come out. Today is tuesday and my bank still has money in their ATM. Come to think of it we didn't run out of gasoline 4 months ago either. Are are still searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? I find it amazing how this so called financial crises happened to be staged 5 weeks before the election. Oh yes lets pass this in a hurry before we leave office.
Dave
Overland Park, Kansas

No bailout! We created this mess, yes – we. We elected a guy who doesn't give a hoot about America, we elected the membe\rs of Congress who go on leave during a crisis, we put up with corruption and decaying morals at the highest levels,
The partisan bovine scatology I've had to listen to lately has convinced me that not only does no one want to own up to creating this mess, no one wants to take responsibility for it either. Yeah, you people in the White House and Washington and on Wall Street are really showing your colors, and those colors are not the red, white, and blue.
You should all be ashamed of yourselves!
Now, get your butts to work and fix this thing. I, the American taxpayer have been footing the bill for your incompetence for years. I'm sick of it! You work for me, not I for you. Go do your job, or come November you're all fired!

Jack, How much was the CEO of Wachovia paid when Citi Bank took it over, I can't Find it on line. That should tell a lot about how main street feels.

If the house could not agree with the Bailout plan, I feel they should come up with a new plan where it will be fair for both the general people and wall street. Something needs to be done now and they should put aside their politcal views for the time and thing whats right for the people and not what right for their careers.

Hiya Jack...This is a weasel deal Jack...we've broke the devil's dishes...this bailout is going to grow legs quick Jack...just let them gavoons deal with their own mess...Go see where you gotta go with them housing prices!

Jack, I really don't know what's next and does anyone for that matter? I think we had better do something because doing nothing is causing outright chaos! With all the finger pointing going on, it's hard to determine who to trust.

I know ... It's all a joke or perhaps, "gotcha journalism"

take back all the monies that was stolen from these failing companys by the ceo's paying themselves 100's of millions, return it to the coffiers of these failing companys. then and only then will i agree to put any taxpayer money in this bailout.

waycross, ga

instead of us the people that work for the corporations and pay gas companies they should reverse it and pay us back so that we can spend money and make the market strong again/

how is it sensible to pay people that already have money more money.

to fix the problem give the hard workers or the poverty stricken the money to buy the pushed stuff from the corporations.

If there is a bailout or not. Our encomony will continue to fall. It is very difficult to trust our govenment. However, the rich will get richer and the balance of the people will be holding the BAG for this mess. Our Financial problems are from the GREED of Washington and Wall Street. The short term interest rate almost double after the bailout failed. Credit market is slowing down to -0-. I truly believe within the next few weeks (if this bailout does not pass) we americans will be in BIG TROUBLE.

Next? take a step back and think about what we can do to help our children instead of spending a gazillion dollars and sticking them with the bill. The economy is in bad shape. People have spent money they did not have and could not afford. Let the big banks suffer. They are big enough to know what they were doing and should now pay the price for their actions. The economy will fix itself! It will take a long time but it is what we need! The mentality of enjoy now and pay later has to end!

Keep our powder dry, and see how well the stock market does in the next few days.

It appears our government is waiting to see evidence the credit crunch actually hits main street; well it just did. My variable rate loan tied to the prime lending rate just went up even through the prime rate did not. Why? Because credit, even for the good companies and lending institutions more expensive and they will pass that cost on to all of us. By the time there is enough evidence for our politicians that main street is hurt, it will be too late.

Arrest, conviction, and stiff sentencing, for all perpetrators and their accomplices to the enormous fraud of the last 40 years would be a good start. Unfortunately, the elected accomplices are still in place and, as usual, will reward the perpetrators and the citizenry will be punished; AGAIN.

Mr Jack,

I was in kindergarten last year. Everyone knows that after recess you have to take a nap!

Ps. My mom had to type this because it takes me too long to find the letters.

As long as we're hearing crazy ideas and thinking out of the box, how about this one? Move the election up by one month sooner, get it over now, and let the next President and next Congress figure it out!

If I were a lender needing to be bailed out I would be concerned about a few things right now. First, if I take any of the bailout money sometime within the next year or so someone is going to start asking questions about my business practices and my compensation. Second, given the current economic situation it would be fair to assume that more layoffs and downsizing is on the horizon, meaning more people are going to face defaulting on their loans. Third, given the first two assumptions why would I want to invest any money from this bailout in mortgages or new debt of any kind? So given that scenario Jack how exactly will this bailout help the American taxpayer? Instead of giving billions of dollars to people who have already shown they don't know how to properly handle our money, why not give the money to the American taxpayer and let us put it back into the economy by paying their bills and supporting their families?
Perhaps I am being just being too simple.

Since all the Children in Congress don't know how to play nicely, let the Adults (The American People)have a "General Election" and vote on this $7B issue.

Scrap the damn thing all together. Listen to the American people when we say, let some big corporation take on this debt. After all, they got the money, we don't! Serve the people! This single company isn't going to destroy The United State's. Fear tactic's to pass legislation isn't going to "fly" with the American people! How dumb do they think we are?

McCain should sell some of his 13 cars and 7 houses to aid in the recovery effort.

Turn the tables on the banks – who have been changing the rules on credit card holders for years. Change the rules by which banks operate. Cut the amount of interest they may charge credit card holders to 10%. Limit the time they may punish a person for missing one payment (2 months at a higher interest rate). Cut the mortgage rates and split the loss on a home between the owner and the bank holding the mortgage. Make all sales of mortgages subject to the agreement of the mortgagee and do not allow any change to the terms of the mortgage by a new buyer of the paper. We have carried the burden of obscene bank profits for years now. It is time for that to change.

A $700 billion stimulus package for small business and low to middle income American Citizens would be nice!

What they should've done first is give Americans another stimulus check, then pass the "bailout". The holiday season is here, we're just about to throw out one turkey, Americans need to know they'll have money to buy a turkey they can eat & be happy!

Then, if the government is to buy those bad mortgages whatever, then call it something, give it a face, give it a name like Mortgage Rescue Trust or KADA (Keeping American Dream Alive) something corny like that! It has to be packaged right but so far it's still just a "bailout" for rich-hurting-reckless Wall Streeters!

What Obama suggested in his Reno speech should be incorporated in the plan! We little people don't all have financial advisers; my financial adviser: Quicken, that's it! He's done a good job of explaining exactly what the "bailout" is about & how it could afftect our economy, credit, jobs, etc., in simple tems that it makes sense!

This past week I have been getting a lot credit card offers, Wall Street rebounded some today since yesterdays 700+drop, I see some negative amounts in my retirement account but as I see it it was $ that was never mine meaning I didn't work to earn it-it was just cause it was on stock market that it rises & falls! I'm a working person so I'm more concerned of job creation which has been dismal under this administration!

I saw JPMChase buy out another bank, Wells Fargo & BofA still strong I hope! House prices are going down which is good for those qualified to buy house can now, and I hear Donald Trump on King show buy up properties cause prices so low! So where's the crisis!

The crisis is that we have a president the we do not trust. He's taking this country to its lowest! And who suffers, middle class "jobless" workers!

If Paulson is worth 500 million dollars, and he wants to be a real super hero, maybe he can fund the 250 million dollars it would take to give each American just one measly million !

PLAIN AND SIMPLE GET IT RIGHT

ROSE
AZ

No bail out! If you want to stimulate the economy, divide the money up among all taxpaying American citizens. People could pay off their mortgages, pay for children's college educations, buy a new car, etc, all of which would stimulate the economy. It doesn't take an economic genius to know that the proposed plan won't work. Give America's middle class a break for once.

According to the bank situation in Sweden in the early 90s, banks cry that they're broke, when they lose money in the loan department, but still have lots of capital in the safe. Sweden said after you spend every penny (or kronar, lol) on liabilities, we will buy you out. You will become owned by the citizens of Sweden. They had to bail out 2% of the banks, because the rest of the banks didn't want to really be bought out, they just wanted more working capital. Then Sweden sold them back to themselves at a profit for Sweden. Their unemployment went up 300% (like from 3% to 9%) for two years, then settled back down. They then regulated like crazy to fix the problem. That would be a better option than this big buyout, which is really more greed.

Put some punitive language in it. It started out totally protecting the idiots who got the financial system into this mess. People are mad at the Wall Street financiers and don't want them made whole. What keeps coming up is the threat, if no passage, of future inability to get mortgages (those who have the financial situation to handle one will be okay), families unable to get college financing (boy, that one scares middle America) and inability to get car loans (Drive your old one awhile). What they are really afraid of is that the consumer will not take the chance of putting themselves into debt again and that will slow the economy. Haven't they ridden the consumer far enough down yet?

NO BAILOUT NEEDED!!!!!

Let the Markets work thing out for themselves, and weed out the weak!!!!!

A lesson needs to be learned by EVERYONE!!!!!!

Jack,
Some of the resistance to this 'bailout' or 'rescue' or whatever they want to call it today could be the simple fact that many folks don't have a "stake' in the game.

EBRI 2007 Retirement Confidence Survey This retirement survey was conducted by EBRI – the Employee Benefit Research Institute™. It gives statistics on retirement like "25% of workers have no retirement or other savings at all. 21% of workers have Retirement Savings Only and only 45% have retirement and some type of other savings". And then there is the retirees, where "24% have no savings" of any kind.

Add that to the fact that these figures only reflect accounts that EXIST, nothing about many them being sadly underfunded to the point of being irrelevant.

These folks just don't see what's in it for them and just don't give a darn about the fat cats. And with the price of gasoline (most folks don't really think in terms of 'oil') dropping in tandem with the trashing on Wall street, a lot of folks actually perceive a positive.

A Depression without this 'prop up' the guilty approach? I don't think so. The interactive natures of today's world economy, new & developing technologies, forced innovation and long overdue adoption of business practices that reward those who actually produce over those that simply trade financial paper (or more accurately, digital files) for their daily bread (or Kobe Beef) will come to fore.

Good 'ol American Ingenuity and commitment to hard, smart work.

Tough times....Sure. But a long overdue shakeout.

And we might see some real positives. Like a reduction in the obesity statistics.

Bert

Well provided and I am sure congress will pass this eventually, the F.B.I. should round up every jerk that had a big hand in getting us into this mess, then lock them up and throw the key away.

Then the politicians and the merchant bankers that remain free then need to get together and recieve instruction on how to build an economy, because you will never build a successful one on huge credit and service industry alone.

It has been proved time and time again that this will fail on average every ten years, this country is perfectly capable of manufacturing products and competing with the chinese.

That I have no doubt about at all, they are beatable and their is also a lot of ocean between them and us, come on America wake up, we can do this I do not care what any bean counter say's.

Martyn Bignell, Fort Lauderdale.

What should be next is that all players (politicians, journalists and analysts) stop saying voters disapprove because they don't get it, and stop covering this like a partisan kiddie standoff. What should be next is that the players step back and hear what we have been saying:

You all say we have to do this - we say we don't trust your judgment. You all say if we don't it'll get worse - we say that’s not good enough and you’ll need to come up with something to make it better or no go. You all say the exec compensation issue is really not important - we say it most certainly is. It is indicative of everything we voters hate about our system right now.

This is very serious, and all of the players have been way off point in their coverage, approach and understanding of what is really going on. Our leaders and journalists don't understand WE THE PEOPLE and don't know how to serve us. For the sake of the country, I hope what's next is that they get IT and US soon.

(BTW – I’m a democrat. These sentiments know no party.)

If I were a lender needing to be bailed out I would be concerned about a few things right now. First, if I take any of the bailout money sometime within the next year or so someone is going to start asking questions about my business practices and my compensation. Second, given the current economic situation it would be fair to assume that more layoffs and downsizing is on the horizon, meaning more people are going to face defaulting on their loans. Third, given the first two assumptions why would I want to invest any money from this bailout in mortgages or new debt of any kind? So given that scenario Jack how exactly will this bailout help the American taxpayer? Instead of giving billions of dollars to people who have already shown they don't know how to properly handle our money, why not give the money to the American taxpayer and let us put it back into the economy by paying their bills and supporting their families?
Perhaps I am just being too simple.

No bail out. The president is an idiot and congress is worse. A new bail out for American. Congress in prison for 5 years. Bank/financial executives "responsible" for this – prison for life. Credit card interest to be 5% over prime, stop foreclosure, force banks to re negioate home lost for those with credit and work history, bring ALL jobs back to this country and etc. Replace congress with retired school teachers, wielders, fireman, you get the idea. NO lawyers and NO lobbyist. Congress works a 50 hour work week with TWO weeks vacation, just like everybody else and ONLY social security retirement for congress, what they think they are special??????

JHT from Maplewood MN

Educate the Republicans on what the problem is. It is credit liquidity, not bail out.

Jack:

I truly believe in survival of the fittest in regards to the economy. It's obvious that allowing a few Wall Street banks and companies to be responsible for the overall health of our economy isn't working. In fact, it's just plain dangerous. We should not bail Wall Street out. It's unfortuante that so many people may have to suffer due to actions and poor decisions of a few greedy Wall Street executives, but there is a lot more on the line than bank accounts and retirement funds. If Congress passes this bailout bill, they will have sell the principals and values of the American people. These can't be bought back.

why do we have to pay 700 billion dollars to bail out wall street if main street is hurting to. I think the better plan would be to give every tax paying American a tax break of 1 million dollars. This would lower the bail out to what?? 1 billion dollars. All those people who are losing their house to foreclosure will then pay off their mortgages and also get rid off cc card dept and also those who are not in foreclosure will just pay off house put some some in bank and stocks and use some to spend on things they want which will go back to to wall street through purchases. I don’t under stand why this is so hard to figure out yes it is a patch but a cheaper patch that gives our gov. some time to help wall street fix problem and also get some regulation in there to protect us from this happening again.
oh and the million dollars should be a tax refund/rebate and it should be a whole million dollars like the last tax break we got from the gov

The only thing the current bailout plan needs is a clause that:
Strips Bush of his life long retirement; And presents him with an honorary "Harry Truman" placque (in FOOL's Gold) which reads:
"The buck NEVER stopped here."

The bill rejected yesterday was a marked improvement over the original blank check proposed by the Bush Administration. It included restraints on CEO pay, protections for homeowners, strict oversight as to how the money is spent, and an assurance that taxpayers will recover their money once the economy recovers.

I agree with Barack that we shouldn’t start from scratch again but try and add the following in the resolution: Raise the FDIC limit to $250,000 as part of the economic rescue package – a step that would boost small businesses, make our banking system more secure, and help restore public confidence in our financial system. The current insurance limit of $100,000 was set 28 years ago and has not been adjusted for inflation.

Jack here is a wrinkle no one's discussed. Part of the bailout should include emergency re-deployment of our troops to keep civil order if there is no plan or if it fails!

If the bailout fails we should re-institute the draft. At least draftees will be provided room and board plus a minimal salary that can help their families. Besides, by saving what we're now paying Blackwater it will practically pay for itself...

Put a fork in it, it's done!

Now, if you want to put a few mil in each and every one of the voting public, THAT would be a great way of spending China's money.

There should be NO NEXT Bailout plan for the super-rich.
Brownwood, Texas

I haven't heard anyone, on any news program, address why we should trust the folks pushing this issue. This is not just now happening. It has been coming for several years and the Banking Commitee Chairmen like Barney Frank and his Senate counterpart seem to have ignored it. Despite the implication that the name of his/their commitee indicates that these are the folks who should have been paying attention to it.
Again, why on earth would ANYONE trust anyone involved in pushing this?
And then, of course, they predict the American taxpayer will reap the rewards in the end. How? Will we each get a check for the $10k in 5 or 10 years? NOT HARDLY!!!!!

This is my beef with the bickering and finger pointing as to why the bill yesterday was voted down. How in the world can the republicans say that it was the comments of one person, Nancy Pelosi, which made them say they voted against the proposal? If that is true, they just neglected the dire needs of 350 million people for the spite of 1 person. This is John McCain's party, the party of 'Country First'? Yeah right. Get it together or we'll all wake up to a world where our country has become dead last.

First put a sock in Pelosi's mouth and tape it shut with duct tape. Then have someone tell the elected officials that if they want to behave like children then they should resign and go home. It's not a wonder that Ross Perot was correct when he said, "If you put all new members in Congress without changing the system, then we'll have the same thing but with new faces". The system is not broken, it's shattered. Read the #1 best seller, "The Spiraling Malady".

We don't need a bailout plan...the stock market already bounced back today. We're all set.

Jack, in order to get the bail out plan back on track and passed in both the Senate and House, Congress should add a maditory pay raise for all Congresional members of let's say 10%. That will seal the deal and it will pass with a huge margin of votes.

Focus on "The People" for a change, instead of Re-Election Politics! The real issue is the Economy, not the Wall Street bailout. Wall Street wanted less regulation, so let them cleanup of their own mess. No one in Congress seems interested in the Unemployment Rate that is now 6% and growing. It is time for a second Economic Stimulus Package and Extension of Unemployement Benefits before our country sees this Recession get worse from Credit Card Defaults.

Jack,

1st voters should "bale out "of all of the member of the senate and congress that have been in office for more than 4 years, to rid our ship of all the foul water that has been creeping into leadership. Then prosecute those that profited from this debacle and let them "bail out "themselves!

Give each household 1 million dollars to stimulate the economy... more reasonable than a check for $700 billion dollars to a failed congress and greedy Wall St. hounds. Like many Americans I work hard, pay bills on time and like to eat. That million would buy a lot of groceries.

Jack

We are rushing into this. The next step should be to slow down and get some experts to really tell us what will or will not happen and give us options. It sounds like Palsen (a former banker on Wall street by the way) made a rash judgment (gee sounds like a Bush move doesn't it) and said the sky is falling and we need this money immediately before the need can be assessed and whether or not this money will even help.

This is one of the many knee jerk reactions the Bush White House and his cronies have done to get us in this mess in the first place.

I don't pretend to be a nobel prize winning economist but common sense tells me when you have a big problem, you think it through not just guess your way into a $700B 100% tax funded bailout as the answer we "think" might be the right one and we need it yesterday.

The American people need to wake up and I am glad it went down. This is one situation that we need smarter people than the President (haha that is a joke), Palsen (2nd joke) and our elected officials alone (3rd joke).

Even if it ends up being an educated guess, I would rather it come from the highest economists and financial folks rather than some elected or appointed official that has repeatedly shown their incompetence.

John
Carlsbad, CA

Hey, I have an idea; as a first step, what would it take for someone to explain in layman's terms exactly how this bailout affects Main Street, because it's very clear to most of us how this would affect Wall Street-– but in the absence of specifics, of course we're ticked off; someone is trying to shove something down your throat without an explanation. You would think that someone would have the wherewithal and ability to be able to explain all of this in some detail, wouldn't you? Saying 'it's very complicated' isn't cutting it.

Personally, I don't care what they do-–but they better do something --quick; and if this current piece of legislation isn't cutting it, let's get busy with something that will. Where, by the way, are all of our leading economists? Did they take the month off and go to Europe? Where are THEIR ideas or solutions? You would think the President might have considered inviting THEM up to his oval office; but no, instead, we carve a 3 page outline into a 110 plus page piece of legislation-–put some lipstick on it-–and call it a day.

Then, just to prove to all of us, how messed up Washington really is, we get the two major political parties to tentatively agree that no matter how much lipstick we put on it, neither party wants to put its stamp on it, so they agree to push this legislation through--in a bi-partisan manner.

Had I been Speaker Pelosi-–my trust of the Republican House is such that I would have have EVERY Republican cast their vote, keeping half of the Democratics 'on hold' before allowing them to cast their vote(s); that way, I would have known what had to be done to pass this legislation. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice---–.
To think that some Republicans could disregard the import of this legislation and change their votes because their feelings were hurt ? Dude; that's scary stuff.

Ed / New York

Enforced Oversight & Regulations, New Substantial Leadership all around, No Golden Parachutes for greedy CEOs, American Citizens need to also take responsibility of their Financial Security (do not spend/over-extend oneself if you can not afford it & know what your limits are), Complete Exposure as to what this bailout is paying for and what the plans are to payback this money to American Taxpayers with a timeline.

I am at a loss as to why our Senators and Representatives and almost all of the talking heads in the media think that the American people are so stupid. Every time anyone mentions a number concerning how many people have contacted their congressmen about the bailout, it has been 85% or more in oppostion to the plan. We have heard all the dire predictions from all of these people as to what will transpire if the plan is not adopted. We understand the consequences. Maybe we as a people think that this may be the penalty we will all have to pay for our loose living in the past two decades. Sooner or later you have to pay the piper.

From:Necland,California
I think this is a test of how strong the people of America is,if America is strong enough to deal with this crisis our selves,then we don't need to kiss the government a#$,to have them lie to us again;President Bush should have told us a long time ago that the economy was weak,but he thought he was right by going into Iraq.As american people we need to send a statement "now",and make sure the next president don't make the same mistakes.

They must first determine if a "bailout" plan is really required then stop the political positioning. The public at this point doesn't seem to believe a bailout is required.

Let's put this question on the ballot in November, let the voter decide

Fire the executives with no golden parachutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fire everyone who made these stupid loans and got greedy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cap executive salaries!
Make loans to the banks to help them but do not just give them our money!

I have one serious worry about this bill Jack . If we go that deep into debt I am concerned the value of our dollar will be hit hard . If you think oil was bad at $140. a barrel , what will people do if that is even higher? Commodities will sky rocket , then we will have far worse problems on our hands.....

Wall Street made this mess. Since they are so smart, they should also be able to find a solution to get themselves out of it. Have the CEO's fired with only a weeks pay at minimum wage and aid the small businessmen, homeowners in trouble with their mortgages and relieve the taxpayer.

Educate people who think Wall Street doesn't impact Main Street! Everybody who has a 401k, or other pension, are affected by the stock market. People are mad at Wall Street, and don't want to bail out big shot CEO's, but they don't realize how it could impact their life if we don't.

. . . .Tape Nancy Pelosi's mouth shut.

I think rather than paying the financial institutions 700 billion we should pay each American age 18 and above the 700 billion thereby relieving the housing situation, medical care, credit problems, college graduates bills, and we would still have enough to pump back in to the economy and the problem of our economic woes would be fixed. Besides the fact that our woes would be fixed, high paid Wall Streeters wouldn't have their pockets lined on the way out the door.

Hello from Montana: Tell the "experts" that Americans understand. Talking down to us about the credit crisis and freeze out, the bailout of Wall Street which is now the bailout of Mainstreet, and the tricky effects of allowing Wall Street's meltdown is hypocritical

Leave Wall Street alone without a bailout. Nationalizing our financial assets will not cure economic symptoms that appeared years ago. Bailout or no bailout, the results will be essentially the same; economy that takes 10 years to recover.

THE GOLDMAN CONNECTION

There was a New York Times report that the New York Federal Reserve had a meeting about AIG, the gigantic insurance company, and the only private-sector firm in the room was the chairman of Goldman Sachs, which happened to have a $20 billion concern. I don't understand how the President - I don't understand how the President can avoid firing the Secretary of the Treasury, when you have a former chairman of Goldman Sachs who wants to have unlimited ability to spend money, and you have the current chairman of Goldman Sachs the only private-sector person in a room, which, by the way, two weeks later, the U.S. government put up $85 billion to help AIG, in which Goldman Sachs has a $20 billion exposure. The average American looks at - when the average American understands this, they are going to be so angry at this Congress if it passes a deal to give Secretary Paulson money.

On September 23, 2008, Edward M. Liddy resigned from the Board of Directors of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in light of his new role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American International Group, Inc.

Jack,
My husband and I have been good stewards of our money and stayed in our "starter home" that we could afford as we have watched friends and neighbors buy homes on interest only, cars with no down, credit cards out their ears and now...........we are going to bail them out for their idea of the American Dream? Give me a break. I am all for helping out my brother but why should I pay for their lack of self control? My father-in-law and I saw this coming three years ago. Take some responsibility for your own choices people, don't buy what you can't afford. Obama and McCain, Pelosi and Bush are not gonna save you from your lack of self-control.....................Chris/Boise Idaho

Jack,

All day I've been listening to those on Wall St and Washington whine about how the simple minded taxpayers just don't get the connection between Wall St and Main St.

WE GET It !!! We've been getting it for years now. We've been getting it, while those on Wall St and Washington have been sending our jobs overseas: while, large and small American businesses hire illegals to drive down wages; while more taxpayers have lost their health insurance; while taxpayers kids are increasingly being left behind and left out of opportunities for higher education: and most tragically, how the taxpayer's kids have lost their brave young lives or limbs in Iraq anf Afgan. while those on Wall St and Washington grew rich.
While yesterday, the taxpayer, gave back to
Wall St and Washington what they have been giving to Main St. Seems like they didn't like "getting it". Too bad.
Wasington and Wall St. stop whining and Barney go on vacation.... Enough/ Life goes on.

The bailout concept is a sure way of perpetuating flawed financial system. We need something of an entirely new dimension – something which will crystallize only if we let Wall Street collapse. It may be very painful, but when we have a disease sometimes painful measures are the only option.

Congress cannot give the Wall Street crowd a blank check and expect the American people to go along with this. Why not loan the banks that are in trouble some financial help and if they remain insolvent, shut them DOWN!
Or, take the 700+B and put it into public works which will put people to work and upgrade the infrastructure.
Or, hold hearings with expert testimony and reach a conclusion and then vote?
I think Paulson is trying to pull the wool over Congress's eyes and thought he could get away with it. This was a hasty ploy on the part of the administration to ram this down the American people's throats and I urge Congress to take time, sit down and listen to the critical thinkers before you rush off too fast and pass something that will come back and haunt you at some future time.

We need to write our congresspeople to make it clear that they do NOT have our votes for re-election if they can't get past their bickering and vote for this.

In Georgia only TWO of our 13 representatives voted for this. Bravo, Sanford Bishop and Jim Marshall, for standing up for what's right for the American people.

FAILURE! FAILURE! FOR18 YEARS WE HAVE RUN A SMALL BUSINESS. WE HAVE GONE THRU HARD TIMES BUT NEVER FAILED.WE EMPLOY 8 PEOPLE AND HAVE GONE WITHOUT PAY TO SUPPORT OUR EMPLOYEES.CONGRESS FAILED THIS WEEK & FOR THE FIRST TIME SO MAY WE. WE CANNOT PAY OUR EMPLOYEE'S & CANNOT GET ANY CREDIT.LET THE GOVENMENT REPS GO WITHOUT A PAYCHEQUES FOR A WHILE OR BETTER STILL VOTE ALL OF THEM OUT. THE CREDIT SQUEEZE WILL BREAK US ALL. SHAME ON THE REBUBLICANS. I WAS ONE . NEVER AGAIN

Since the Republicans in the House didn't want to play ball, I'd say the Dem should put EVERYTHING they wanted to protect the taxpayers on a new bill and pass the darn thing – let the Senate take this hot potato – then it will be easier to see if this is strickly a bail-out for Wall Street or a protection for Main Street.

The next step should be a clean-up process like you would do for any toxic material. Dig a hole, pour some high octane on it and set a match to it. Michael Moore said it right, "this is the Bush administration stealing the silverware on the way out the door". The more they push for this, the more I believe there is something buried in the wording that is designed to be exploited later. I want to know how many lobbyists put their filthy finger prints all over this one.

Invoke the plan Sen. Obama suggested to Bush.

Seven hundred billion dollars divided among approximately three hundred fifty million people equals two thousand dollars apiece. Since most Americans owe far more than that in credit cards, mortgages, and other loans, it would behoove us to invest that seven hundred billion in places that will keep our credit flowing. Does that road lead us to eliminate private investment/banking firms and create a government loan agency? As long as the money flows and people have a decent job, a home to live in, and a good chance that their children have a better tomorrow, who really cares?

I like the term bailout.......Bail is what you post to help get a criminal out of jail until the case goes to court........it's so appropriate to end the Bush administration with not only a bailout..........but the largest bailout ever.......His eight years in office has set the country back a century

Go through with it, but with the following:
1. In future make damn sure the people buying houses actually stand a chance of paying for it. In other words they are paying more than just the interest. In still other words put some teeth into the regulatory process.
2. Stop this baloney of deducting interest paid on loans and credit cards from Income Tax. Maybe the Gov't will end up with a surplus.
3. Put a bunch of angry mothers – who have to balance their family's expenses – in charge of the executives salary and then stand back. Maybe then some of these guys will actually do some work.
4. While you're at it how about implementing universal Healthcare which will actually help people and stimulate the economy. It should only be for another $150 billion – practically chump change.

Certainly not what McCain did last week riding his white horse to Washington last week. Both candidates should work behind the scenes and McCain should stop with the showboating because it only makes him look as if he is playing this very serious situation for political gain and that despicable to me and I'm sure to the American People.

back to the drawing board... surely all those very smart people can come up with a solution to the issue? the lack of true problem solving skills in those in charge is amazing.

use the bailout money to give out for homeowners to keep their homes,give another stimulus check to taxpayers to pay bills,pay for healthcare, pay for college education, etc anything that is useful to survive in the united states of america..middle class are suffering the most and the rich guys are getting away with murder!.i want the middle class to get most breaks not the rich.

It should continue to fail until both houses hold some kind of fact finding hearings with some qualified experts out side of the elected offcials and with some quidance craft a bill that is good for te taxpayers now and later. Until this is done, nothing should be passed.

I vote for the $85 Billion ‘We Deserve It Dividend’ ! Can someone ask McCain or Obama about this plan!!! BRILLIANT.

It is my opinion that Congressional Republicans have begun to separate themselves from both Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain and are organizing for a coming democratic administration.

There shouldnt be one. Let em burn !! It's this entire country's fault , they ELECTED this mess over the last 2 elections. So reap what you've sewned !

I was for the plan originally, then I was against it, and then I was for it again. Now, I just don't know anymore. The Republicans and Bush have made such a mess, it is really difficult to say what is the right thing to do.

Jack -

That's simple: Congress should stop trying to sell us a pig in a poke, adjourn for the elections, and wait to see what other tricks the Wall Street richies will try to scare us into giving them a free pass. I'm a Democrat, but I agree with the conservatives on this one.

The bailout is a scam. The latest crazy idea is this bit about raising the FDIC insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 per account. I mean, heck, if you have more than $100,000, you already know about splitting your funds to insure their safety. And, with that kind of money, you are definitely not somebody who needs government help in managing your finances. How exactly does raising this cap help anybody who is threatened with foreclosure of their mortgage?

For that matter, look at this talk about limiting CEO pay: they say the CEO's should receive the same salary as the President, $400,000 a year; but they don't talk about those other little "perks" that go with his job – Air Force One, helicopters, limousines, housing allowance for Crawford, expense account, etc. What do you want to bet that those CEO "limits" will include all these other goodies? And you won't know about it until after the bailout is passed. Another scam.

So-called "issues" like these are like the Wizard of Oz when he said, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." It's a magic act full of smoke and mirrors designed to distract the citizens from the true problem – rapacious greed by the already rich doing their best to get richer.

Our Congress has become a disgusting accessory to this obscene situation. Shame on them!

Nothing, let the dead dog lie. These big dogs CEO's got themselves into trouble, let them dig their way out. It doesn't take much upstairs to know that you don't loan someone money to buy a Hummer on a Pinto budget. Until these CEOs figure that out, let them earn minimum wage. I applaud Mainstreet for their extraordinary efforts to kill this bailout. I hope and wish that they flex their muscles again, this time to outlaw lobbyist.

The bailout plan was pitched wrong from the start and the only way to fix the course of this is to tweak it some and to make sure it's understood that it's a rescue plan for all americans and not just the people on wall street.

Ryan in NW Indiana

I'm not an economist, just a taxpayer, so I don't know specifically what the "next" step should be. But one thing I'd like to see incorporated into the bill is the formation of a special commission (similar to the 9/11 commission perhaps) that would completely disect everything and and hold all the players accountable for their actions. Regardless whether the derivatives sector was/is regulated or not, whatever happened to the term FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY?? If we don't send these crooks to jail, where they belong, then someone owes Martha Stewart, Bernie Evers, Michael Milken, and the family of the late Ken Lay, et al, a BIG apology.

This rush to action regarding the economy smells like the same rush to action regarding going into Iraq. I say stop the rush to action and lets just watch the picture show and when the credits run we can then pick up the pieces and begin to develope a new, honest, system complete with necessary regulations that will prevent this from happening again. Big business is not benevolent toward the common person therefore I don't see any reason for the common person to be benevolent toward Big business. It is our money they want and there will be little received in return, you can count on it. I don't think it is as bad as we have been led to believe by the liars that are in the current administration. Somehow the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer if this is actually done. The fear factor of losing jobs, retirement funds, credit etc. is very effective at making people believe the bail out is the only way to prevent those losses. This whole thing stinks and I don't think we need to bail out those Big companies. There must be a better, or different, way that dosn't put taxpayers on the hook. Private Industry got themselves into this situation through their greedy actions so they need to get themselves out without the help of the the very people they cheated in the firstplace.

Jack, I am personally one of the millions that is thankful for the members in Congress that voted against this bailout. it was a victory for Americans. A day after the vote against it and the world did not come to an end, the sun is still shining and the stock market is rebounding today. If there is a real problem, fire Paulson and get someone outside Washington who is much smarter to come up with a plan that makes the real culprits take responsibility and pay NOT the American taxpayers who are already funding a war that should have never happened and was based on a complete lie! NO BAILOUT EVER!

Jack,

We need to ask ourselves why all these assets are 'illiquid." Answer: they were bad business from the start. Where in this plan is the reform and regulation that ensures responsible underwriting standards ... now and in the future?

Rick, OH

The bailout plan which was so critical that it required all nighters on the weekend will now have to wait for a few days. I hope when the red phone rings at 3:00 A.M. in the morning that Congress has a greater sense of urgency than they have demonstrated over the collapse of the world's economy. The people who voted against this bailout must be more knowledgeable than the financial experts that have predicted serious consequences if the bill failed. I want to know their credentials. Maybe they could publish their updated resumes. That would be helpful in two ways. We can view their areas of expertise and they can use them for their job interviews after November.

No bail out, not this time. It's becoming apparent, even on CNNs own front page poll, that the people have had enough.
Joe and Jane Average American would rather forage for themselves through another Great Depression then hand over first their homes through foreclosure, then their tax dollars to the tune of 700 Billion to these Wall Street thieves.
Enough is enough, indeed.

Jack,
How about bailing out middle America and letting the "fat cats" on Wall Street and the banks blow their brains out for being idiots. It's time for the rich to suffer the consequences. No bailout to big business!

Dan Radcliff
Palmyra, VA

Here's my question to you. If we infuse $700 Billion dollars to save the credit system which created a false economy through its irresponsible lending practices, what is going to stop them from creating the cycle all over again? It seems to me that we need a economy based on sound principles, not Ponzi schemes.

Everyone has a responsibility and are responsible for thier own actions and having said this they elected then re-elected the biggest buffoon to ever lead a nation anywhere in world. So the reasonable answer is to let the chips fall where they may then maybe they'll pay a little more attention to their responsibilities this November.

Jack,
In this household we have one registered Republican and one registered Democrat and we agree that we would cast our next votes against any Democrat or Republican who votes for any bailout bill in the House or the Senate. We worked, raised our kids and paid our bills on a tiny fraction of what the polititians in Washington and the traders on Wall Street make. We'll take our chances.

Chuck in California

I think that large sum should be given to the tax payers who are
losing their homes, so they can pay the banks, if the sum given is not for full payment, at least they will be able to manage their mortage payments.

Also, the billions of dollars thrown into the Iraq war should be returned to the U.S. by stopping the war, and having a way to recoupe some of that money,
Governments never cease to amaze me. for intelligent people they act so stupid.

What should be next for this Comprehensive Rescue Acquisition Plan or CRAP is complete defeat. The bank was robbed because the security guard let the thieves in. The proposed solution is to give the security guard 700 billion taxpayer dollars to distribute to the thieves who committed the crime. I really hope the voters are not as stupid as the politicians think we are.

Be afraid, be very afraid. Hasn't that been the answer for the last 7 years?

According to recent and not so recent actions taken by our elected
officials, it is easy to assume that they have zero respect, concern or
consideration for our ability to demonstrate intelligence regarding
what is good for we "The People."

As a working class American who is a wife, mother and grandmother,
I am appalled and suspicious of the current administration's attempt
to pull another fast one on working class Americans, all in the name
of FEAR and SCARE TACTICS. In fact, if the scare was so real, why
did they not use emergency means or other alternatives to stop failing
Wall Street, before using scare tactics again to excite and scare the
public?

I hope we "The People" continue sending bold messages to our
elected officials that we are not asleep when it comes to our
investments or the economy and, by their bold face unscrupulous
tricky tactics and lies, we have become even wiser. But most
importantly, we are wise in using more scrutiny as well as being
suspicious when listening to their rhetoric. It has become even more
apparent that their ability to protect and defend this country
economically or globally, are questionable and warrants
investigation before the selection process!!!!!

Thank You,
Penny Brown,
Coral Springs, FL

I'm glad the bailout plan failed in the House. Let Wall Street banks sink or swim on their own. Bailing out Bear Stearnes was a mistake. Bailing out Freedie Mac and Fannie Mae was a mistake. Bailing out AIG was a mistake. And signing over a blank check to anyone associated with George W Bush is a mistake. We did that already and nearly 4200 Americans are dead.

My solution is take that 7 hounderd billion and pay off tax payers mortgages. This solves the housing propblem,and imediately puts money back into the ecomny.All tax payers will be happy and this will solve the problem.. just take a minute to think this through.

RES IPSA LOQUITAR....THINGS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES...GET OUT OF IRAQ...SAVE LOT OF MONEY....AND LIVES OF OUR AMERICANS....BE FRUGAL...DO NOT TAKE SPOUSES WITH THEM ON TOUR...EAT FRUGALLY....OK....DO NOT WASTE.....WE NEED THESE THINGS...CEO SALARIES MAY BE 85K FOR CEO....THEY ARE NOT WORTH A DIME OF MINE....WE NEED A LAW THAT CLEARLY SHOULD MAKE THESE PRESIDENTIAL FELLOWS TO SHOW THEIR ASSETS BEFORE GETTING INTO OFFICE AND AFTER EXITING THE OFFICE...THAT WILL DO GOOD. FOR THE NAITON....LORD, BLESS AMERICA FIRST....MR. RAO

We should all listen to Bush and do whatever he suggests. After all he has been the most successful president in American history and has never lied to us.

i think exeutives of major corporations should be prevented from having those excessive salaries and buy outs

(Jack, even IF it takes the whole segment, I sure hope you read "shar from Pa's" comments on the air tuesday. they sure make sense to me)

Get people to GIVE you their MONEY, so that you can then LOAN it BACK to them, at INTEREST!
Now THAT'S what I call a DEAL!!

Jack the next step should be to take all assets of the people that causes this mess. That mean`s CEO`s of banks that made these loans, Phil Grahm (McCains financial advisor) that got deregulation passed, Clinton that signed the bill and Bush (junior) that let it get to this point under his watch.
With accountability I`m sure this won`t happen again.

If we remove the blinders which have channeled our economic views and policies over the last several decades, we might see a scenario in which NOT bailing out the financial system may put us back on a more productive economic track. I think if we just ignore the Establishment's attempt to panic the taxpayers into funding a bailout and leave it completely up to the financial industry to act in its own self interest, it will move to shore up the most critical and exposed banks so as to limit the damage caused by the credit crisis, without the need for one cent of taxpayer money. The "market" will not commit suicide. It will however, severely cut back and tighten it's credit policies.

The resulting severe tightening of the credit markets can be seen as a good thing, and in fact may be just the medicine America needs to wean ourselves away from too-easy credit and profligate spending by a nation which can ill afford to keep spending without saving, especially when there's no indication that wages can rise fast enough to support sustained borrowing and spending. So clearly, the problem isn't just one of a broken mortgage market, it's in a much broader sense a problem of too-easy credit across the board. The way to fix the problem it is to TIGHTEN credit, NOT reinforce lax policies!

So, let the problem correct itself, as painful as that might be. By taking this bitter medicine, we can encourage our society and our economy to possibly move away from being a nation of merchants and consumers marching in lockstep over the cliff while other nations take our place at the top of the pyramid, toward a more sustainable and rewarding goal of restoring our position as the greatest producer of goods and services on earth. Just maybe we might right the American ship and in the process become a stronger competitor in the global economy and a stronger society based on more traditional values of innovation, manufacturing and social progress. We can turn this problem into an opportunity, if only we have the courage to not cave in to the gloom and doom wailing of our financial and political establishment.

We need to figure out just what it is we need to correct and then correct it. This doesn't need a bailout or a handout or a giveaway or whatever the politically correct term is for it today. We should not take Paulson's word for anything. He was aptly described yesterday in the cablesphere as a "glorified day trader". I would start by putting some Wall Street executives in what I have dubbed the "Federal Housing Program" – AKA prison.

The longer this goes on, the more it smells like the typical Bush scare tactic. David Letterman got it right. This whole thing smells.

In a discussion I had with a friend, she wondered why poor but religious countries suffer economically. My answer to her was simple: I think that you have to separate religion from politics simply because you can worhship your God all day for spiritual and material abundance, but if the leaders of a (3rd world) country are incompetent and corrupt, you cannot expect stones to turn into bread or fish.

What's next? Who knows? America is religious and a rich country, but we seem to be worse than a 3rd world country with the kind of leadership we get from Wall St., Congress, Senate, and White House.

I just hope that the presidential candidates have not changed their minds or suspended their campaigns, what with all the garbage awaiting either of them.

There is no next for the bailout plan. Cheney's buddies will just have to find another way to steal from the people of this nation. They have stolen enough already. No bid contracts for Haliburton, oh please. Enough is enough.

Complete exclusion of George Bush from any input into the bailout "plan." Complete disregard for any compensation or golden parachutes for CEOs. Make monies available for failing small businesses before giving it to banks to squander on their wealthy big business pals. Distribute the $700B themselves and maybe, just maybe it will reach those who need it. In other words...let it trickle up, not down.

Thom
Negaunee, MI

Why not pay off the present value of mortgages of all home owners whose house value is say $1 million or less or just give a $1 million to every home owner whose net worth is $1 million or less. That way these people would be able to stay in their homes (that some might now own outright) & then they would continue to support a lot of businesses in their neighborhood. Thereby teachers, garbage collectors, mailmen, grocery clerks, hairstylists etc. , all the people that would be supported by a suburb of homeowners in the same situation.
The losers would be (as it should be) the mortgage companies etc. that sold inflated-value mortgages in their first place. They would take the hit & only get cash from the new lowered-value mortgage buyout.

I'm not sure, when there are only about one in six americans that have a 401K or retirement plan, who is really getting bailed out, I don't believe it is the average american, could be alot of the hedge fund jerks that have riped the the american people off to the tune of billions of dollars, now the fast food worker, and all the under paid people will get to bail out the jerks along with bankers and mortgage companies that made millions of worthless loans and made hugh profits on them. I guess we can reward them now by bailing out wall street

Regulation, oversight, protection for the people, prosecution for the crooks that caused this, the people making a profit when those helped recover, a cap on all executive salaries, more regulation, an independent board to make and control decisions and oh yes more regulation.

Let's get the heads of these banks and other financial institutions before congressional committess to explain, in laymans terms, why they need the taxpayers to run their business and how they screwed up so badly.

Jake,

Maybe we can get all the retired CEOs to take a look. Wolves in charge of guarding the sheep that is what we have with the Republicans in Congress. They created this mess and they are the ones we are counting n doing the right thing?

This failure is all about Karl Rove strategy, miss lead and attack you opponents strengths. They wanted the Dems to pass it so this could be a re-election issue. Only problem the Dems weren't that crazy about it either they wanted more regulations.

As far as Pelosi’s anti-Bush speech, that too would be more believable if Bush attended your convention.

Some observations of recent events on the bailout vote. First to say that House
Speaker's comments caused republicans not to vote for the bail out is utterly
stupid. It doesn't even merit comment, how stupid do these congressmen think
the American public is? I hope someone invites Senator Dorgan of North Dakota over
to the house and explain what has happened, and explain all the black money and
off shore accounts that have contributed to finding ourselves where we are today.
And I hope someone starts going after these individual and prosecute them for these
seemingly illegal actions. I think today he just uncovered the tip of the iceberg.
Additionally I would like to see the assets of all these individuals seized and
put back into the coffers of the American Taxpayers. Now please have Congress act
like responsible adults and hammer out together Democrat and Republic and Rescue
Bill which will put America and its people back on the road of recovery. You in
Congress are embarrassing yourselves acting so childish. We sent you all there
to look after our best interest now start doing it and cut out all the political
back biting and turmoil. You all need to get into a full blow open session and hammer
this out and not stop until you all produce a rescue bill to save the economy of
this great nation. Put aside your political posturing and get the God Damn Job done
now.

Raise the FDIC protections, discuss alternatives and have Democrats put together their own bill if the Repubs don't want to agree to the bipartisan one.

Jack, I love the posting by Shar of Pa.. Here is another idea. Since everyone says the real problem is the credit crunch, why not take 60 billion and create a bank that only deals with credit worthy small businesses and individuals in the lower to middle class. You loan at a fair rate for those needs or emergencies that happen. Bet you would find that without the greed factor, this bank would do well. Let the big guys sink or swim on their own.

It should not be what McCain proposed today, giving bush a pen with a trillion dollar inkwell to do whatever he wants on his own.
McCain tried to broker a deal, ended up looking like a fool, now he wants to bypass congress & the American people and give bush free reign with our money.
Thats' one of the major reasons we are where we are now.
I hope Obama jumps all over this, and also the members of his own party shoud disavow him, once & for all.

Alan Catskill, NY

Jack,
I am not against the 700B bailout plan as long as the recipients are the American people. Follow the FDR plan and invest in our infrastructure(creating jobs) and college education. We are witnessing a new awakening by the people who will not accept anything less. We the people have been going without for quite some time. Remember "YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW".

I'm hearing that members of congress are voting with their constituancies. How many of their constituancies are economists? I really think it's time for legislators to learn about this mess, get information from the experts and make the best decision they can for Americans. This goes beyond a popularity contest!

Jack, if this doesn't prove our government is broke what will. For something over 300 million we could bail out every legal citizen of the us.
everyone gets a non interst bearing 1 million dollar account
Withdraw no more than 60 thousand ayear with a 15 year cap for total
withdraw up to 250000 for home purchase with approved documents,one time only.
money moved to designated bank in recepients area.
bank gets noninal fee for service
flat tax of 15% levied on each withdrawl . Other normal income taxed as presently done.
Convicted felons denied participation.
I'm sure there would be some programs that could be cut back or eliminated like welfare
How many new fighter planes could we omit to pay for this.

Jack,

The price tag should be upped to $800B to drive home the message that delaying is just going to make things worse.

Jim
Reno, Nevada

Jim from Reno Nevada, you are an idiot! The American people will not be bullied!

Dee
Houston ,TX

Let it Die. Did anyone notice the point drop yesterday 777 points.
7 is the holy number and God was trying to tell his country America that it is time for something other than borrowing money. Debt is never in God's plan. Thank you Lord for protecting our great nation yet another day.

Guys in Charge are responsible ! Frank and Dodd should resign for the good of the country. They are going to fix it. Ha! Fox in the hen house.

Jack,
I think we need a list of those that voted 'NO' to the recovery plan so that we may vote 'No' when the time arises. They don't seem to understand that this is not a bailout for Wall Street this is putting life back in Main Street.

Jack,

Enough is enough. We need to drop the bailout plan completely. The only way to truly restore a healthy economy is to usher in a recession. It may be a tough pill to swallow, but the cost of a bailout as just a "possible" or "maybe" solution to this crisis is much more dangerous than the cost of a sure fix recession. After all is said and done, how long did we really think an economy addicted to artificially injected steroids would keep the inevitable from happening? Ask Major League Baseball how that has worked for them.

The bailout plan should include those of us who have no savings or stocks! Yes those of us who live from paycheck to paycheck or on fixed incomes that barely gets us through the month! We keep on talking about those who are doing alright getting through the month with their salaries that they make but what about those who do not have enough to stay afloat already and will not be affected at all bailout or not?

Let's see, if that 700 billion dollars was evenly distributed to tax payers in America, we would each get around 3 or 4 million dollars. Wow, I would go out and buy a house, buy a new car, open a business, invest some of it; in other words, I would put the majority of it back into the economy. Problem solved.
But wait, that's REAL for the people by the people government. Something we will never see here in American.
Joann Vallo

What should they do with this bill now? Shred it!

I find it baffling that the Feds simply issued Billions of Monopoly Money and showered banks with it just hours before the NO vote came on the 700B Bailout bill. Without any vote at all.

We’re definitely not being told everything we should hear and perhaps those who did vote no had gotten wind of this happening? It may be too, why the stock market seemed to rebound a litte.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahwz_k5JvuB8&refer=worldwide

I didn’t even hear anyone in the media comment on this, did you?

DJ

The plan should be canned.

It's looking like it is time for everyone to pack their own chute. The one Washington is packing is full of holes and probably wouldn't open anyway since they can't agree on how to pack it.

The bailout should now be what it should have been to start with. Action by the White House, using options that already exist. President Bush has executive powers and options that he should use and stop passing the problem to congress. Congress can relax some current legislations that would also help solve the problem. Borrowing money to pay for bad debts just does not make sense, everyday citizens can't borrow to pay debts why should bankrupt businesses.

Leaders pushing for instant bailout bemoan the "blame-game." How can we really fix anything if we do not know what went wrong and who should be replaced?
If you're driving down the highway and your oil-light comes on will you keep driving until the motor burns out?
That's what Bush and his cronies like McCain want us to do, so they can sell us another clunker

I have been watching the market. What I saw yesterday was market manipulation. Today we are back up 485 points, which averages out to down around 292 points total for the week. I'd say the market is where it should be at this time. If some banks get eaten up for bad practices then I say fine. We all need to reign in our spending for a while an let things simmer while a good comprehensive plan is worked out on the hill that will benefit all of us and go after the ones that allowed this to happen. Enough is enough.

Obama-Biden '08

Each American has given so much to this country and to other countries too. Our Lives, our children lives,our ancestors; the generations from slavery, the generations from WARS, so many UNWANTED wars.

NOW the American people need a real rescue. Now, we need our government to BAIL us out . Not so we can live like Paris Hilton. So we can create a secure AMERICA Oh, by the way, the Market went up today 400 points.
What would you do with at least 500k?

No bailout for the corrupt power elite. Let the irresponsible fail. We need national health, a citizen's bank to help actual people, and decent pay. If people were paid decently they could easier pay their mortgages and buy lots more things, thereby helping the economy. Oh, yes, let's also make the four hundred richest people in the country pick up the tab for Wall Street . . . they can afford it!!

If Nancy Pelosi doesn't keep her mouth shut, she's going to have to be bailed out. Her mouth will lose Obama the election. Then maybe Palin will sell her jet on ebay.

First, the FDIC proposal is a red herring trying to sway voter condidence with no skin in the game.

Now, if the underlying problem is the foreclosure tsunami and the "lack of confidence" seizing liquidity for lending then we should be hearing about details directly allocatiing the 700 billion to the source issues NOT to clean up balance sheets. Allow a provision in their accounting of this bad debt to create a long term set aside that allows Wall Street and banks across the country to amortize thier "toxic" over time rather than making it national debt that we and our chidren have to bear as long term financial cancer.

Pete @ the Jersey Shore

Hi Jack -

You know, maybe I'm just dumb, but I don't understand why ANY of these bailout plans should include ANY amount of money for the CEOs of these failed institutions. Isn't this kinda like the captain abandoning ship ahead of the passengers as the ship sinks? Why should these guys get ANY compensation of ANY kind? If they are responsible for their own institutions, then they, above all others, should feel the effects of their own failures. That extra money could then be used to compensate the little guys who are probably going to lose their jobs and the ability to feed their children. It is just disgusting.

European Central Banks reacted by Bailing Out their banks. Now all we need is half a Bailout if that. Why not just make money available to banks that aren't in trouble to alleviate credit crisis?

Instead paying it out to the mortgage banks, pay it out to the homeowners. They will use the money to pay off the mortgage, be able to keep the house, and the bank will get heir money. Then suspend tax cuts on anyone who takes advantage of the program. And in a few years when business stabilizes, increase taxes on the specific companies that were involved in the predatory lending that led to this and make them pay for it.

Either let the market find it's own level and let the consumers (who foolishly, speculatively, or innocently overextended themselves) sink. 5 years from now we'll be fine, getting mortgages from the First People's Bank of China and sinking ourselves to a 2nd rate power.

Or, spend today and tomorrow educating the people that this is a loan, not a gift; Educating Congress that this is a focused remedy, not a time to pull out the old pork; Educating Nancy Palossi that saying stupid, politically venal things at a time of needed national unity is, well, stupid - and maybe why she wasn't able to get her own party to back this bill (or get anything else done in the past 2 years)

First of all, it should not be a "bailout". I am a firm believer that people need to take responsibilities for their own actions. Do I care if the fat cats that prospered from this now have zero in the bank? NOPE. I feel really bad for the people that are losing their 401K money that that need to retire on in the next 3-5 years. As for credit, it has been abused and so everyone needs to take some time to learn this lesson. I guarantee you that it will all straighten itself out if some regulations are put back in place. Oversight is not the answer. We need regulations and good enforcement.

The next bail out plan should be for the ever increasing numbers of unemployed people in the US. Remember the WPA?
Why can't we use the 700 billion to rebuild our infrastructure and collapsing school buildings, that would put a new spin on bail out!

I'm for bailing out American people, not a few money hungry Wall Streeters, who don't have a clue how most of us live paycheck to paycheck.

Sherrie, Tennessee

Jack, here's a thought, why not forget about the 700 billion and just re-write the terms of all those toxic mortgages so the people can actually afford to pay for the homes that are being swindled out from underneath their feet? Wouldn't that be a win win? Or is that just to friggin Obvious!

We need the bailout plan.It has to be passed into law to take effect.We have the same majority party in both the House and the Senate.WHY DID THE BILL NOT PASS?Because the Democrats only know how to serve,they don't know how to lead.

First we have to get that no good for nothing Pelosi out of the way before anything can be done. That should be done at the same time impeachment procedings start on Bush..........

Get them all out of office please oh, lord, please!!!!!

Jack, We might of lucked out that the Bill didn't pass. We now know the House Republicans aren't going to vote for anything unless it has more corporate tax cuts and more deregulation. Let the Democratics write a Bill to rewrite all those bad mortages.

During last week, politicians, journalists and analysts seized this crisis to act like if they were the spokesman for MAIN STREET and they were rising on this occasion to protect MAIN STREET interest. MAIN STREET as always, can only be the suffering victim because all they can do is to let these people putting words in their mouth and hurt them more.

What is next?

The politicians will pass the bill. The journalists and analysts will poke around the battered financial system and open up another crisis. MAIN STREET will suffer more.

I think that the American Government has absolutely no business messing with Wall Street at all. If so many people working in the Government were not so tied to Wall Street financially to begin with, that it really wouldn't matter. As for mysef, and I'm sure by the response from the general public, this bail out should rightfully go to the American Taxpayer if anybody should be put on the hook for 700 Billion Dollars. The Government is skirting the Constitution by trying to usurp what people want in order to satisfy a buddy or two falling from the tragedy that they themselves have created and yet none of the taxpayers profited from. Main Street has been hurting far longer than Wall Street from the same results of deregulation that has brought all of us to the brink of financial catasrophe. In the end of all things, our Government truly needs to let Wall Street right itself and begin to truly concentrate on bailing out Main Street as the response of the general public has been indicating. How loud do the voices really have to become before our Government will start to listen to those for whom they are supposed to be working?

The same basic package, but more help for people with sub-prime mortgages. I'm sure that there are other factors that should be considered, but stopping home foreclosures is a priority.

Can anyone tell me where the $700B figure came from? Was it pulled out of the air, dreamed up in a mushroom induced fugue? No one has shown me why $700B.

Beverly Ferris
Kennesaw, GA

whos it going to help..... not the people that really need it. ...
like the people who lost their jobs due to the so called bad economy after 10... 15... years of being on time and never missing a day.... going in even when your sick... wheres the job security in this country..... people who got mortgages when they shouldnt have dont need to be helped but those in that bracket that were going along fine... and lost their jobs and had good credit... well they need to be helped..... you have companies filing for bank... protection... and the people who have employee stock well lets just say they got not only kicked in the teeth by the fact that they lost their jobs out of nowhere but the stock they have is worth nothing... and the gov wants to lets say reward all these people that screwed up.....

At this juncture it is fear that is causing the market to tumble, not failing financial institutions. Credit is obviously becoming tight as a result. However, if, as a whole, the American people and businesses had demonstrated they were responsible about credit, my opinion might be different. But clearly we, businesses, and government are not responsible spenders, lenders, or regulators. It's time that we not only paid the consequences for it but that we learn to live within our means. No bailouts.

since we taxpayers are now major capitalist we should use our leverage and buyout the bad banks with leveraged buyouts and start the ( First Taxpayers Bank of the United States ) we could make loans and collect the profits ourselves!!! then we would have money for infrastructer improvements paying off the deficite, ect it is unamerican for us not to use our capitalist leverage and put it to our use!!!

Hi Jack –

I'm tired of all these people voicing their opinions about small government and free market and all that crap without direct experience of how this crisis can effect them personally. Don't get me wrong – I would totally agree with these aspirations in any other situation. But this is not just any situation. The warnings from the old, grey, banker gurus are true. Yes, my 401K has shrunk, like everyone elses. That is not the immediate problem. The real problem is that credit has frozen up, and the transfer of money from one hometown business to another has stopped. There are many small businesses out there today trying to figure out how to make their payroll this week. They are not being paid for services rendered, and the bank won't give them a loan to cover expenses. This is not about the Stock Market! This is about the economy crumbling from the bottom up. When people get a pink slip and no pay check they might understand! Hopefully it will not come to that. Congress needs to bite the bullet and pass something this week.

I'm from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Quite simple Jack: Scrap it and it's camouflaged GOLDEN PARACHUTES (loopholes) for CEO's and such who should be dragged out into the street and summarily HORSEWHIPPED.

P.S. READ the present bill very carefully and you "ll find the loopholes.

There is no next step.......let it fail and let the market straighten the mess out on its own. The market is more efficient at doing this than Washington, and the American people are more intelligent than Washington. Let's eliminate the ability of Washington to vote on bills and turn the responsibility over to the American public. We'll all be better off!

Lynn
Phoenix

both canidades are playing chicken, niether one wants to take complete responsibility for this "bailout". In the mean time the 23% approval president and his band of monkeys in congress cant see the real picture on main street. Great Depression number 2 is coming, heck it is here

The next step in the bailout should be Congress bailing out of WA and let us bring some intelligent people into WA. Congress is a joke – childish and immature (w/exceptions of about 12 of them) to say the least as it is all a game with those clowns. They are for "self" first and to heck w/the Country.
Only 3% of Mortgages are in trouble and the dishonest BAnks made such a mess out of those securities by playing engr games that the toxic assets should be given to a bank w/leadership skills and let the fraudulent banks go under. Gov't can prop up the honest banks.
The victims of predatory lending should be helped.

WE MIGHT HAVE TO GO BACK TO PAY AS YOU GO ..... WON'T THAT BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR AMERICANS. TO BUY WHAT WE CAN AFFORD.
Joanne Buck
Minneapolis, Mn

Jack, Give each legal, adult taxpayer $1 mil, which they would pay taxes on, of course. That's only about $200 Mil.. Much cheaper and you would see the first return to the feds (in taxes) and the economy, banks, businesses and everything else would recover immediately. Dahhhhh....

Jack,
So here we are once again with our leaders blaming each other for the failed bail out package, and then taking a couple days off. I'm astounded by the actions of our entire government in this crisis. What should be next, well how about this, how about they actually ask us we the people what we want?

Why isn't the government forcing these executive boards to be terminated? These people screwed us in so many and so it should be their turn. We can't let the companies fail, that's a given, but we can and should dismiss the fool that got us here. That should be the first order of business, and any plan that does not propose this is flawed.

Secondly you got to give more assurance that taxpayers are going to see that money again. Buying the failed and stuck mortgages does not guarantee we can sell them for a profit, especially if the economy downturns again. Maybe use the bailout money and buy massive shares in the companies that need it and disburse those share amoungst ALL of the tax paying public(which we could do several times over.) If you do that the companies get the money they need, and people can stand to make a better individual profit or minimize the loss by simply exchanging the stock for its value depending how the market adjusts.

Anyways that's my two cents and I hope everybody in the US realizes that the people are making the politicians scramble today, as we rightly should, let's make them work for us, but let's all share our personal ideas too lest the government fail us with a crappy bailout package again.

I threatened my congressman with running against him if he voted for the bail out. Well guess what, he voted for it. So I guess I'm running in 2010, and I'm gonna beat him like a drum!

Ken
Greenville, SC

The next bailout plan should do nothing more than to make possible for people, whose mortgage has forced them into foreclosure, to renegotiate at a lower rate so they can continue to live in their homes. Not a cent for the speculators who drove up prices so they could flip and make a profit. Not a cent for the companies whose predatory lending practices led us into this mess. And sensible regulation so we don't repeat this folly

The first checks written from this bailout plan should be to the American taxpayers that are facing foreclosure to save their homes and give them 6 or 9 months to get their finances in order. The 2nd check should be written to create a reserve account of credit for small business owners (with good credit and thriving businesses) to give them access to funds to keep their businesses going and then we can talk about wall street

The market is balancing itself, and there has not been any bank runs and we are not yet standing in soup lines. The concept that if we don't give Sec. Paulson $700 billion today that the sky will fall is just a scare tactic. There a numerous economist that would be more than happy to work with the House and Senate committees on other options to help those poor fat banks. Let us keep in mine that there are a number of banks that are not failing. So some of them are doing what is right. Let's reward them, help the average Joe and small business, then if there is anything left, (and we have fired all the CEO's without packages) help out those poor greedy banks. Then reinstate all the post depression regulations, that the Republicans worked so hard to get de-regulated.