politics - forget it, let's just work together people

[JeepcoMJ]

okay.

 

is anyone else sick of the "you suck, no you suck" attitude between democrats and republicans?

 

we're in a HUGE financial crisis here, and when we ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER THE MOST, people point blame and then bills that should (no guarantee) help fix our economy cannot be passed.

 

why can I no longer secure a private student loan? I need it. government loans only go so far.

 

chalk up the other issues. this is the one that most affects me at the moment, but jesus friggin christ people. just because you belong to a party with different views than the other main decision making party, doesn't mean you no longer belong to the country who your decisions affect. put aside your differences and lead (i.e. do what we voted to have you do) (this is not directed at any of you, just the people in power).

 

does anyone else agree?

 

note; this is NOT to become a point fingers at your "opposing" parties. I simply want to know who is of the same mindset, and discuss what we as the people of our country can even do about it.

[possum]

Sounds good to me. But our society is so concerned with ME that no one wants to listen and work with anyone. I hate the way our society is just concerned with having the latest dumbass I-phone or keeping up with the Jones'. How can you work together if you are just constantly trying to be better than than everyone? We as a country have become stupid, spoiled, fatass brats.

[dfreeman616]

I've got to say, I both agree with you and disagree with you. You're absolutely right about finger pointing. However, if you're talking about the 'bail-out' bill that was defeated yesterday, that was a non-partisan vote. 40% of democrats voted against it, and 67% of republicans voted against it. As far as what we as U.S. citizens can do about it, those results show what we can do about it. When the bill was introduced and up until yesterday, it looked like it would pass. It's because 100's of thousands of Americans (including myself) wrote, emailed, and/or called our representatives and told them we do not want another $700,000,000,000 in national debt because of what boils down to an accounting issue because of faulty federal regulations. There are other options than the kind of insane blank checks that don't really solve the root problem in the first place. This issue could be fixed with almost no additional national debt and really fix things while helping people other than Wall Street and corporate executives. I could go more into that, but you'd be better off reading it from someone more qualified than me:

 

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/fed_bailout/index.html

This guy is a christian, so take or leave the prayer part as you want, but what he has to say about money is better than 99% of politicians (which doesn't really take much). That does give some answers as what you can do.

 

Trust me, I understand where you are. I'm trying to finish my degree while working full-time and providing for my wife, 1-week old son, and myself. It's not easy, but there's better options out there than that bill.

 

Besides, the economy isn't going to collapse because of this. We're in an election year, and news people get better ratings when there's bad news than when there is good news. Even with all that's going on, our economy is still growing, more jobs are being created than lost, and the basics we need to survive are pretty much available. Look back over the past 100 years, and there have been plenty of cycles of both good and bad. We'll get past this, we'll be ok. As FDR said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." :USAflag:

[JeepcoMJ]

you...sort of get my point.

 

Yes, this is directly resulting from the bill. I also disagree with the bill, BUT i think that viable options are out there and they ARE NOT trying hard enough, and are not willing enough to work together to get us set straight.

 

I'm not going to school right now because I owe money to school, and cannot secure a loan to cover me; i know that this way of thinking is some of the problem with society today, except for one thing. I'm 21 years old with junior status in college. I've been at junior status since the end of my freshman year of college, and am currently 3 credits shy of senior status. I don't want to put off my education. the time and place is now.

 

putting off my education even a little bit means chances of putting it off further due to money issues are greater. I wish to complete college with my major in spanish and minor (or major depending on my time frame) in Criminal Justice. I'm 4 semesters shy of this due to several changes in major. upon completion, I KNOW i can pay off my college loans in less than 2 years, easily. the job market is huge in that area. 40,000 isn't really alot of money anymore, and that's all I will be in debt. it can, and WILL be payed off. I just need help to ensure success so that I may pay off my debt (doing it on "uneducated pay" is just not possible with cost of living in mind).

[Akula69]

Believe me, I know what you mean. My 17 YO daughter will be heading off to college in about a year from now - was not able to get the free ride (on the scholarship) and we'll have to do the loan route.

 

By latest estimate, we'll be carrying 60K when she's done (assuming she doesn't mess around).

 

I am thinking it'll be really hard to get that kind of dough :roll:

[deziped]

If the use of the words I and me were banned for use in Wash, we the people would stand a chance of seeing some meaning-ful legislation come out of that place for a change.

[MrSimon]

I work in the financial industry so I'm seeing all this stuff first hand. I only have a few points to make.

 

1. I'm a republican, and am never a fan of big government, or of the gov't sticking its fingers in the capital markets .... I prefer them to generally leave us alone and let us deal with our own mistakes. I don't like social programs, and I don't like high taxes (well, I don't like taxes at all, but you get my point). I like private control of most things, not public control.

 

2. BUT, this "credit crunch" that we are in is a big deal and will impact everyone. You guys are already seeing that its getting harder and harder to get loans ... cars, school, houses, etc. It will get worse. Small businesses will go under without loans to buy inventory, credit card interest rates will sky rocket, etc etc etc. It really could get very very bad. I don't think we're looking at another depression, but it could still suck a big one.

 

3. The bail-out plan is NOT a blank check. Its not even a bail-out really. All the plan does is allow the gov't to purchase the bad securities from all the financial institutions who carry them on their books. Once those banks and other companies can rid themselves of that toxic debt, it will free them up to start lending again, which is good for everyone.

 

A lot of the securities that the US Treasury would be buying still have value, and that value will most likely increase. In fact, the government could actually make money off this deal. And, they are authorized to buy up to $700 billion in debt, but there is no way they will actually need all that.

 

As a general rule, I don't like the gov't creating these "New Deal" type things ... and this one mught bite us in the arse down the road. But, if I had to vote on the bill, I would vote yes. I think the alternative could be devastating.

[CEThomas]

Yes,

 

I do not like it but we need it to keep from going over the edge. Right now we have 2 large banks in Ohio ready to over the edge. If they do and end up being taken over by a bank already in the area, a LOT of people will be out of a job. The more people out of a job = less tax being paid. Less tax being paid = more state cut backs / layoffs. More state employees out of a job = less shopping / eating out. And then more people layed off in that area and so on.

 

I work for the state, which is the largest employer in the state. We just had a large budget cut and layoff last Feb. Now we are looking at another round anyday :cry: My daughter works at DQ and they see the drop in people eating out and she keeps getting sent home early :cry:

 

And I do not want to even talk about what our 401K did Monday :mad:

[MrSimon]

And I do not want to even talk about what our 401K did Monday :mad:

 

Hey man, look at it this way, we are just buying in low!!! As long as it goes back up by the time we retire, we're all good

[chicofuentes0224]

I agree with Simon for most of what he says. I'm one of the small shops going under because of the domino effect that the problems on Wall Street have caused.

I don't like it either but let the government send out the 700 billion.

In economics it's a non-tangible. That money isn't even real. Are your taxes going to go up?

Yes, but to be honest you're not going to notice it as much as you will notice how the economy falls if they don't "bail them out".

The only real people getting hurt by Wall Street's mistakes besides themselves is the small guy.

Cet summarized it for you. It's happening as we speak and will get worse.

And anyway if you don't think you should pay higher taxes because of their mistakes, then don't pay what you don't think you should.

It's completely legal and possible to make up the amount that you think is your fair share of the pie.

[dfreeman616]

i'm not saying not to do any thing, but 700 billion is not the answer and there are many other options, like in the link i gave earlier. here's the basis of one option:

 

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion

in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes

to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps:

 

Common Sense Plan.

 

I. INSURANCE

 

A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans

would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.

 

B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:

 

1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.

a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current

and allows them a chance to keep their homes.

b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad

loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit

balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working

with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.

 

2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company

holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when

they don’t do their jobs.

 

C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.

 

 

 

 

II. MARK TO MARKET

 

A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps

companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying

mortgages and real estate.

 

B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—

and it costs the taxpayer nothing.

 

 

 

 

III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX

 

A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of

tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer

nothing.

 

B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth

is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans

to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and

it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

[summerinmaine]

They Started It!!!!

 

 

Nyah, Nyah, Nyah . . .

 

:brows: