Washington Mutual's collapse is the latest of a series of takeovers and outright failures that have transformed the American financial landscape and
wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars of shareholder wealth.
The government bailout talks on a $700 billion rescue for the U.S. financial system.
http://www.reuters.com/ar...ws&rpc=22&sp=true
Financial crisis mess.
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 phillip |
Financial crisis mess. |
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Posts: 2080 (09/25/08 23:12:46) |
Last Edited By: phillip 09/26/08 13:13:24.
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Soapyscraps |
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Posts: 3653 (09/26/08 05:39:14) |
I won't make a personal comment on anything political anymore but I did get this in the email last night that made me chuckle (and totally wish it
would happen!)
I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to eve ry person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.000 in taxes That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.000 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved. Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads Put away money for college - it'll be there Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs. Buy a new car - create jobs Invest in the market - capital drives growth Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1,000.00 ("vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President. If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail ou t every adult U S Citizen 18+! As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work." But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve the Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC. And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam. Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest. Kindest personal regards, Birk T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic PS: Feel free to pass this along to your > pals as it's either good for a > laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on > how to best use $85 Billion!! Proud to be:  & 
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ImShellyC |
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Posts: 7308 (09/26/08 05:55:38) |
I could use the $297,000. Sounds like a plan.
 
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malar2002 |
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Posts: 6287 (09/26/08 07:26:36) |
Aaack - I forgot - it hurts only when I laugh (about this, anyway).
Malar
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ElizabethF |
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Posts: 17307 (09/26/08 20:04:06) Board Administrator |
It pisses me off. I have only borrowed money to buy my house (I paid cash for all of my cars) and it is almost paid off. I never borrowed a bunch of money for
things I could not afford. Now I am expected to bail out all of those who purchased big homes and a bunch of other luxury items on credit. Ugh! Plus my
generation didn't get pensions, we were forced to save on our own for retirement (we won't be getting Social Security) and now our retirement funds
(401Ks, etc.) won't be worth what we planned for. It sucks! Our generation is getting the shaft!
If I had my way, I would make the folks who borrowed all that money start selling off their luxury goods and pay back the money instead of living high off the hog and then expecting us all to bail them out! (and yes, the Government = my pocketbook) Elizabeth |
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Lighthouse |
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Posts: 2292 (09/27/08 06:13:57) |
It sounds good for all of us to get that big money, but there are too few of us that manage money correctly or we wouldn't be in this mess in the first
place. Too many would go for the fancy cars, big screens or travels and not use it to pay off bills. Remember the stuff some people bought with their credit
cards for Katrina? If our population was level headed, we wouldn't be in this mess. Too many didn't do their homework before believing the banks and
took out loans they could never pay for. We are a nation of gullible people or we wouldn't be in this financial trouble.
Loretta |
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Soapyscraps |
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Posts: 3655 (09/27/08 08:52:11) |
I see what you mean, Loretta, but like my joke email is *ever* going to happen. I took it for what it was, a joke. However, it's got to be better than
what's coming up now, and to top all this extra money off, our wonderful Democratic congress wants to add a second round of "stimulus" package to
that. So, while it would be nice to have the extra money, but in the long run it's going to cost us so I wish they'd just not.
Proud to be: &
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Lighthouse |
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Posts: 2293 (09/27/08 11:22:11) |
I know it was a joke, but just remember, they were talking about having the public manage part of their Social Security! Thank God that didn't happen. I
hope this is a lesson not to bring that subject up again.
On another note, I was listening to a local radio talk show and a lady called up with an interesting story. She was a single woman with excellent credit and purchased a home for $800,000 with no problem. All went well for a couple of years, then her mortgage company sold her loan to another mortage company, who then sold it to a third. She had her payments deducted from her bank account. All of a sudden she received notice of foreclosure on her house! Apparently not all her information got to the third company and they were not taking the payments out of her account and thought she was delinquent. Now she has to hire lawyers to iron out this mess and clear her credit. Be sure and check you bank statements! Loretta |
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ImShellyC |
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Posts: 7322 (09/29/08 05:25:35) |
If she was stupid enough to not check her bank statements and not know that her payments were not being made, then she deserves to be in a "mess."
JMHO
I totally agree with E on this. I too have had to work all my life and save until I had the money to buy things. I borrowed some money to pay for my first car simply because I needed another car (mine was 30 years old) because I was driving 20 miles each way to work. I have never carried a balance on my credit cards, but I know people who buy all kinds of stuff on credit and then pay the monthly minimum on the card. So they end up taking years to pay for vacations, Christmas presents, meals, clothes, etc. My personal rule is if I cannot pay it off in a month I don't get it unless it is an emergency like my fridge goes out or something like that. I saved for years to be able to build my house and have never lived beyond my means. My bank would not loan money for a mortgage if it is more than a certain percentage of a person's wages. I know some people's homes are being foreclosed on because they have lost their jobs due to factory closures and such; however, some of these people bought homes that they knew they couldn't afford and the banks knew they were a risk. I believe that every child needs to be taught how to balance a check book and do basic budgeting when they are in middle school. There are so many people out there who don't have a clue how to manage money and they are teaching their children their own bad habits. In fact, I think our government (at all levels) needs to take money management classes. Obviously they don't understand that you shouldn't spend more than you take in. JMHO
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ImShellyC |
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Posts: 7332 (09/30/08 08:08:45) |
Chris,
Our accountant here at work got the same email and did the math. 85,000,000,000 divided by 200,000,000 is 425. This would be before taxes, so our share went from $297,000 to less than $425.
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Soapyscraps |
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Posts: 3658 (09/30/08 08:40:10) |
Yeah, my brother in law just emailed me the same math this morning. He said someone didn't have a big enough calculator to get all the zeroes in! hehe It
wasn't going to happen anyway, although they are trying to push thru another stimulas (sp?) package thru with this bailout. Just what we need (although
extra money is always nice for me!) to push us further in debt.
Proud to be: &
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Guy I |
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Posts: 2191 (09/30/08 10:21:28) |
Now, I know there is things like a balanced budget, and Gross National Product, and Cash Flow and all that stuff that government spending is all about. But
what I can't understand and no one has yet to give me a real, honest answer, is, with our ability to make US dollars, legally, why can't they just
print out say $800 Billion to settle everything. I mean, if WE, as individuals were legally allowed to make our own money, wouldn't we just print out a few
thousand every other week, or an extra $125,000 each month or whatever. Its money that would be circulated around, and there would be plenty of it around to
make everyone happy!
Just a thought. 
Guy
(Laughter IS the best medicine!)  
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ElizabethF |
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Posts: 17317 (09/30/08 11:51:51) Board Administrator |
If they just printed out more money, that would devalue the dollars that we have in our pockets, so that would be BAD. In fact, they just did inject billions
of dollars like that a couple of weeks ago and it did make your money worth a bit less.
We all need to hang on and see what happens. What we are lucky about is that it is an election year and they are scared to lose their jobs, and so they are scared to screw us. This is why the bill didn't pass. Otherwise, we would all be screwed right now. Thank God for small favors. Democracy in action! I hope they fix it at least a bit and at least ask a few economic advisers who have a clue to get involved before they start pulling numbers out of their behinds. Thank goodness everyone learned from the last time they tried to scare us and ramshod decisions down our throats and we now insist on INFORMED decisions. They try these scare tactics - agree with us or else it is the end of the world!!! DUH! Thank goodness America is not falling for their $@+#. Let's make them come up with a decent plan! Elizabeth |
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Bayley Rose |
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Posts: 482 (09/30/08 14:01:23) |
The new dollar bill:
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Soapyscraps |
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Posts: 3660 (09/30/08 19:16:01) |
Oh Baley, I love that! lol
Proud to be: &
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Bayley Rose |
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Posts: 483 (10/01/08 05:19:39) |
My sister sent it to me in an e-mail. I told her I think I have a few of those in my wallet.
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Ms Mistoffelees |
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Posts: 3104 (10/01/08 05:47:29) Moderator |
Word. That bailout plan was whack. Get a better one. |
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MASAJ225 |
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Posts: 3386 (10/01/08 07:08:13) |
I still don't even understand WHY we need a bailout? If we're not "POOR" or RICH, we're screwed. The only thing I really know is that I work every day and pay taxes, so I don't want to pay for anyone else's life or mistakes. How's that for compassion??? LOL Excuse me, I'm pmsing.
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Bayley Rose |
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Posts: 484 (10/01/08 13:55:04) |
Well, I've never been good at major finances, so I have a simplistic view of things. I don't want to be on the hook for mistakes
made by greedy CEO's and whatnot. Too many times, they screw the little people and they rake in more money than they can spend in a lifetime. And, now,
they want us to bail them out. That doesn't sit well with me. They say that, if the govenment doesn't pass this bailout thing, the economy will
collapse. Seems like we're screwed either way.
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Bayley Rose |
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Posts: 488 (10/01/08 17:43:16) |
Well, I guess it doesn't matter what we think. They're announcing on the news that the Senate has passed the bill.
This should be real interesting .........................
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Ms Mistoffelees |
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Posts: 3105 (10/01/08 18:06:44) Moderator |
http://abcnews.go.com/202...ory?id=5921002&page=2
I saw this today in the paper. Interesting. I agree, btw. The cost to the taxpayers is crazy, especially since, like alot of you have pointed out, it wasn't the majority of the taxpayers who got into this mess. What is making me cringe, besides the finacial implications of this, is the finger pointing crap going back and fourth, the blame game. It's not what it seems, impo. This could have and should have been averted quite some time ago. Things should have started "changing" when the first bill was brought up for vote back in 2006, maybe, just maybe it wouldn't have gone this far.
Last Edited By: Ms Mistoffelees
10/01/08 18:09:03.
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