Do you think Bush will cancel the election if he doesn’t accomplish something to assist in solving the financial crisis, especially if things get dramatically worse over the next 30 days?

This “bailout” is pure socialism, am I the only one that sees this?

Once again we have a pundit placing the blame on American families. The number one reason people defaulted on their credit debt is medical bills. Use the 700 billion to socialize medicine and the rest will take care of itself.

We should NOT bail out companies who got fat off of careless financial decisions. THEY should pay, not the American taxpayer. If you are going to have socialism, have it for everybody, not just the rich.

In the last debate the candidates linked the nation’s national security to it’s financial security. Sounds reasonable!

So if our national security is dependent on our financial security, and our financial security has been put at dire risk due to the decisions and actions of a few individuals, then what would preclude the results of those actions as being characterized as treason, and the individuals responsible for the those actions as being considered traitors? And don’t we already have laws designed to deal with treason and traitors?

Hi Suze – LOVE your advise and wonderful knowledge that you share with all of us. But, I’ve been thinking, wondering, if maybe a bailout is not what we really need. I don’t know, just thinking, that the market was manipulated or fabricated to SEEM as if all this money was there when it wasn’t. With all the CEO’s greed and golden parachutes, maybe it should be left alone to re-adjust itself to wherever it should’ve been to begin with. We can build it up again or start over with more honesty. Anyway, I’m just thinking out loud. I look forward to seeing you tonight. Thanks for all you do.

As is Social Security, corporate subsidies, etc., etc.

DO NOT BAIL OUT THE RICH. New Orleans is still a disaster. Healthcare is unaffordable. Gas prices are not coming down. There will be disastrous consequences if the Bush regime gets this through. Unless there is massive regulation, this plan will not work. Greed needs to be kept in check. We can all thank the Bush/Clinton regimes. Reagan/Bush..Reagan/Bush..Bush Sr….Clinton….Clinton….Bush…Bush… now we’re looking at McBush or Bill Obama… Contact your local representatives and make them take their time with this Bill

It wouldn’t be Bush who cancels the election, it would be his handlers.

The last 8 years have been far more than little Dubya thought they would be when Daddy Bush & his pals bought him the White House.

Oh my goodness! I should be so worried about things that I have to stop running up my credit card balances!

Yeah, I realized that about few months after I got a credit card. Thanks for the heads-up.

You seem to think that it would be terrible if people started learning to manage their own finances and become frugal. I, on the other hand, think it’s terrible to continue driving ourselves into more and more debt.

all of this all of this stems from one thing us going into iraq.all the scare tactics are just designed to make us forget that.

This “bailout” is pure socialism, am I the only one that sees this?

Josh you are right. Its socialism that saves few by stealing from the rest of us. Kudos to those that voted against the bill. Again Wall Street is trying to scare us to save their big homes, Aston Martin cars, Jets, Helicopters. Mr. President you want help economy? Start repossessions of Wall Street assets. I can use slightly used Jet myself….
To those that cry the end of the World, if by end of the World you mean lavish lifestyle then I agree its going to be end of the rich Wall Street world.

There should be NO BAIL-OUT! ALL of the people who stand to loose from this directly, PLAYED the market; they gambled, lost and now they want their money back…FROM U.S.! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

It will be INITIALLY worse if there we the people do not submit to this OBVIOUS blackmail, but we will survive. We will NOT survive if we keep bail-out THESE WHINERS who LOST…FAIR AND SQUARE!!

NO!!!!!!

@Josh in Dallas – I could care less if it’s socialism, our focus should be on fixing the economy not silly ideology.

Socialism? So what? Does it matter to you that your 401K is way down, that the economy will tank, that more people will be unemployed, that credit (even for legitimate purposes) will no longer be available? Well it matters to me and don’t hive a hoot if it is called socialism or capitalism.

Nearly 200 economists publicly opposed the bailout and with good reason. Read their letter to the House and Senate and other supporting information available online. The bailout is about saving the guilty and using scare tactics to make it worse. Don’t buy into it. Say no to the bailout.

We have been living a lie for 25 years – we have consumed while producing nothing and we have been told that as Americans we have the right to consume as much and as fast as we can. We have solved every problem we have faced by attempting to buy our way out and by going further into debt. We have rewarded greed, deceit and lies. So, why are we surprised that this has happened?

My only question now is will we do what needs to be done, or will we again lie to ourselves?

The bail out is unacceptible unless those who did this are punished.

The Bush Republicans should be proud of their leader today. A 778 point drop in the DOW. The largest single drop in history. That’s only 222 away from the Bush’s 1000 points of light! Wow. Impressive!

In Regards to The Bail Out:
We are outraged as tax payers. The very corporations, Big Brother wants to bail out. 1 get all the tax breaks. It is the middle class and working poor who pay all those taxes. The very people whom these corporations
Duped into taking these loans on homes with flexible rates, and lied to these people (tax payers). These people lost these homes no one bailed them out.
Now Uncle Sam wants to bail out these corporations with our taxes. I say no way they belong in jail the way they robed the tax payers already .

Suze Orman’s comments are brilliant. She is articulate and connects with Main Street. She needs to be on a bigger stage so the entire country can hear this. ie: Have Paulson’s job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why not have the 750 billion sent to everyone 18+, yeah with each one of us, the govt will get the money back by the taxes we would pay on our share, and than we’d be left with plenty of cash to (hopefully) be wise and pay off our mortgage or other debts. This would leave us an amount plus the amount we earn at our jobs. Thus the economy would rise again. I wouldn’t pay anyone involved as CEO’s. They knew what was happening and destroyed our Beloved USA. God Bless America

This is not a bail out of the rich. If this doesn’t happen we may very well see a second great depression. A total collapse of the economy will effect everyone. The poor and the middle class will suffer far more that the rich.

Nobody wants to bail out the rich, but we only hurt ourselves if we fail to act quickly.

I am not for the bailout. We need to stop taxing the tax payer, we are at are limits. We need to start paying our way, and making credit harder to get will be a good thing in the long run. Bad financial decisions look good in the short time, but in the long run not approving the bailout will be the best. Or at least revising so that it is not 700 billion. The government needs to take time with this decision and not to rush into anything because of emotions and stupid people pushing them to do something right now. Take a breather and we will survive as a country.
Make business responsible for themselves. They wanted big money from people who could not afford to pay them back and what a shock they are not getting paid back. SHOCKING. It is not the American People’s responsibility to bailout big business. The stock market will rebound, just give it some time.
I am glad it is an election year, we can hold are representatives responsible for their votes. Both of the reps from MN voted NO and I am watching them closely. JUST SAY NO!!!

Companies that fail need to go bankrupt. Where is my bail out, I could use $5 million to pay off all of my bills, house and buy a new car for myself, my wife and my three kids, plus send them all to college. If we end the war in Iraq how much money would we be able to fix the broken bridges here, fix the roads and not to mention all of the promises for New Orleans that people there are still waiting for. We need to stop trying to fix the world and keep our money here and fix ourselves first then when that is done then we can send money to other countries, but get our Veterans off the streets, give them better medical care.

I completely agree!!! The power of the rich in this country is completely out of hand. My tax dollars, my children’s, grandchildren, and great grandchildren’s taxes will be paying off this debt just to keep the “fat cats” bellies full. HOW ABOUT TO THE TUNE OF 11.3 TRILLION DOLLARS!!!! I know that the couch is very comfortable for American’s to sit and watch t.v. on but somewhere down the line, we have to actually stand up and FIGHT for what the hell our country stands for and get fed up to the rim with how our children’s futures are COMPLETELY at risk by GREED. I propose that we look at ourselves in the mirror and then look our children in the face and examine what we ourselves can do and a great start would be to actually put down the credit cards and save for what we buy.

Our country AMERICA has a declaration of independence, a constitution, and a bill of rights. These documents were put in place for every single American in this country by MEN THAT WERE FIGHTERS for what is right in humanity and to keep government in check. WE THE PEOPLE have the power by our voice and vote. The Declaration of Independance basically mandates that THE PEOPLE must take there Government back if they are not doing right by the people. But yet we do nothing.

The bottom line is that nothing in this country will happen until we actually see our children starving and we ourselves are hungry as well. Maybe then something will click on in the American mind that says enough is enough and we take our Government back. I for one am hungry and if your hungry too, then post to this and let’s take our country back for who it belongs too. THE PEOPLE!!!……….

I am sick and tired of the “haves” trying to bully us “have nots” into saving their butts.

I’m glad the bill didn’t pass. I think all the innocent people who had nothing to do with this should lose all their savings that they’ve worked their entire lives for, lose their jobs, and not have money to pay their mortgage or put food on the table. I think it was important to send a message to the rest of the world that we are broke and they should abandon our economy.

Suze-
You’re wrong.
I’ll take my chance with free markets any day.

Will the adults please go to Washington! Let’s quit playing one-upmanship & the blame game. If there’s something to be done, get it done & quit screwing around & do it! If not, then say so. Personally, I think the bailout is the least of 2 evils. We all got ourselves into this mess, led by the nose by predatory lenders, unfathomable greed, & Enron accounting styles from Wall Street.

Here’s the problem with insisting on not bailing out the rich – it’s not the rich we’re bailing out – I’ve said it before, it’s US! Regular people and small investors have our IRAs, 401Ks, mutual funds and savings tied up in these corporations. If they go down, millions of people will be wiped out! Not fat cats who can afford it, but regular small investors who absolutely can’t. If we don’t do something on a governmental level to salvage the situation, we are going to be in deep trouble.

We have always operated somewhere in the economic spectrum between unrestrained capitalism and more socialist tendencies. I don’t think we need worry about becoming a socialist economic system. But, unrestrained, unregulated, unsupervised capitalism gives us is exactly the mess we have today. There have to be checks and balances for the greed and avarice of the richest few who will always be willing to – and have the money and power to – manipulate the system for their own gain . It didn’t help that they had many, mostly Republican (because of basic conservative philosophy about the goodness of unregulated markets) congress people in their pockets.

Not passing this plan is a huge mistake!

I think alot of us stopped eating out about a year ago, and now thank god my lease is up that will save a little more, at least I feel like I am going green having to ride my bike to work! But seeing as my husband got laid off last week I am just happy I have some where to ride my bike to right now, I do loans for a boat dealership , how long do you think I have left? Your advice is a little late for most that is probably why most folks are so mad that you all are just figuring it out!

Obama/Biden ‘08

Suze is another talking head who wants people oblivious as the ship goes down… Everyone MUST take their money out of their banks checking/savings accounts… FDIC is almost insolvent, and there are another 117 or so banks on their list ready to collapse THIS YEAR!

They insure about $5 TRILLION in accounts nationwide, and they only have about ~$45 BILLION, or bout a measly 1% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So do NOT believe anyone but your own due dilligence, do your own homework, and realize that almost ANYONE on TV, in media and print of the large corporations, any and all financil planners and brokers, etc are all either lying or are stupid and will go down with the ship, too..

Cash out, but gold/silver bullion, and sell your house and rent…

Is your congressman/woman smarter than your 5th grader? Of course YOURS is, but everyone else’s isn’t. They may not be smarter, but they can sure bicker better than any 5th grader I’ve ever seen. This is all just stupid. You’re mad as hell at Wall Street. Good, you should be. Now get over it. Not supporting this bill is NOT going to hurt them. They are already rich. Don’t take out your anger on your local small business owners and fellow citizens. Call your congressman and urge them to pass this odious bill. Hold your nose, swallow hard, and make the call. Oh, don’t forget to call the guy that used to live down the street from you who just defaulted on the loan that he KNEW he couldn’t afford when he took it out. He’s as much to blame as any Wall Street exec.

If we keep bailing them out…who is going to bail out the tax payers.

Katrina hit Louisiana and hard..and not one wall street executive came down and cleaned up….I think that the decison makers who made these decisions need to charter a bus…and come down south….and rebuild the homes for those who are homeless…Louisiana, Mississippi and other states are still recovering from a natural disaster…which we can accept but this we can not accept….not for greed.

The golden parachutes are done with.

I think the stock market should close for this week, until there is a resolution to this crisis. Otherwise, panic selling is going to destroy it!

Socialism is not necessarily a bad thing. We are now seeing the negative effects of capitalism–greed. People in America are encouraged to spend more and more on things they do not need with money they have not earned yet. We are encouraged and enticed to live on credit and the masses are making corporations rich….There are many democratic/social-minded countries in Europe which invest in their people instead of big corporations and wars and they are a lot happier than us “fat” Americans.

America cannot blame lawmakers, we cannot blame shady subprime lenders, we cannot blame investment bankers, we cannot blame highly paid CEOs, we cannot blame the president, and we cannot blame the rest of the world.

The blame for this fails directly on the average American citizen. WE have had a false sense of security for too long. WE have lived beyond our means. WE have spent too much time trying to get something for nothing. WE have been embracing debt and rejecting savings. WE have turned a blind eye on fiscal responsibility. Then WE panic and do stupid things like liquidate our retirement funds and stock portfolios and bank accounts and bonds and CDs…taking a huge loss, damaging the companies we pull out of and then put the money someplace tremendously stupid, like under the mattress.

Stop pointing fingers unless you want to point it at yourself. Live frugally, be responsible, save, help your friends and neighbors…that will be where your highest returns will be. My grandmother and father survived the great depression this way…learn from history. Get over yourselves.

Americans have lived well beyond their means for my entire life time. We don’t know what the word “no” means because there is always someone out there willing to give us the answer we are looking for. We have carried the poorer Americans into the middle class…..but the middle class has stayed the same and the rich get richer. President Bush doesn’t live paycheck to paycheck, neither does McCain or Obama…..they are all out of touch with America. I am glad the bailout was rejected because the only people it was going to help were the ones that got us there in the first place.

I’m voting for Ron Paul.

Stop worrying about bailing out Wall Street. Start worrying about whether you will be able to get a house or pay your bills or even obtain credit. Parachute compensations should be the least of Main Street’s worries at the moment. Congress & the House of Representatives–YOU SUCK! I’m so disappointed.

Ladies and gentlemen, the public is had. There are numerous amount of commissioned personnel that made out in this mess prior to the demise. Who are they and what will be done to bring those to justice? Obviously we live in a capitalistic society; however, the “invisible hand” got the best of us. Now we hear people complain about government intervention in the market place. Our free market enterprise allowed this to happen. The question is “hw can this be avoided again?”

I wish we could have regular people making these important choices, not demos or repubs. All they do is look out for themselves and their party and not think about the regular Joe. Why should the tax payer have to bail out wall street and the banks who were greedy as well as those home owners who took out crazy loans that might have some drastic changes to them. Why can’t America someday be run by normal people, not politicans. These people are a giant joke.

Another thing, this war is a joke. Those kids will die for nothing, that part of the world will always hate each other and the U.S. All that money could be going to education, the poor and so much more. How can we get rid of the politicans and get people who care about the us citizens, not themselves or there “party”, which are both a joke!

The reality here is that W is so powerless he can’t even get people in his own party to stand behind him at this point. We need a new president now that can rally everyone around him him to get some real reforms done that will truly help everyone. What a disasterous eight years we have ben through…

Luv Suze, but don’t agree with her here. The US Government is acting like a Drug Pusher, they want to keep Americans hooked on credit. It took years to achieve the euphoria and it will take years to clean the system of this mess. The bail out only prolongs the pain, sort of like “death by a thousand cuts”..

Suze is absolutely right. There is plenty of blame to go around and I absolutely blame the people out there that live way above their means. These people are mortgaged to their teeth, more house than they can afford, that THEY purchased. Do they have a brain? Don’t they know what they cannot afford? So they continue to fully furnish the house that they cannot afford. Of course, they are eating out often, shopping at the mall often and living a lie, a facade – all to impress others. Mortgage lenders, Banks, all have some responsibility, but at the end of the day, the consumer ought to have sense enough to know what they can afford. There are kids at my daughter’s private school that have designer handbags, clothes, drive a $50,000 car, latest electronics, but then will confess in Chapel that their parents are filing bankruptcy. This is what is wrong with many American families – the ‘I want it now’ mentality.

The main problem is caused by America collectively spending more than it earns. It has the Worlds biggest credit card that cannot be paid off…….

Number one, we aren’t bailing out the rich. We are infusing cash into the financial system of the United States. Without the cash infusion we start a stack of dominos falling that will result in a crash not seen since 1929.

Number two, blame can be shared, by the government, starting at the time of the Carter administration forward, it was hard for banks to withstand the government pressure to lend and to lend to those who were marginal and by the banks who plain and simply got with the program to such an extent that they got greedy.

Number three, the cost of this bill we individually face by making this cash infusion now is MUCH cheaper than the bill we will pay when the markets crash and the banks close.

Number four, if you don’t have the cash then you probably can’t afford it. Put your credit cards in a block of ice and use them only in a life and death emergency. Remember you can’t get something for nothing, anything worth having is worth sacrificing for and if you don’t save for a rainy day you deserve to get wet!

I’m sorry, maybe I just don’t understand your point.
So what if it’s socialism? What’s the big, fat, hairy deal? We’re not talking about the government deciding what school you should go to or what kind of job you should have. We’re talking about the government making a financial decision that benefits a massive percentage of the United States. Seniors on fixed incomes want to see a bill passed, sure, but what about small businesses or first-time home builders? Markets need liquidity and I fail to see what the problem is. The government invests now and we have a less painful slump. I’m prepared to live with that. Ordinarily, I’m a fan of less government, but I think the big picture necessitates a one-time expenditure like this.

Why isn’t Suze Orman work Secretary of the Treasury?

I agree with Suze Orman regarding the need for a very major change in consumer attitudes and spending practices. Maybe the present crisis will help people make wiser and more informed choices about their finances.

I hate and detest the idea of this bail out, but if we don’t do something, many innocent people — working people who have done nothing wrong and played by the rules — are going to be hurt in ways we can not presently fully appreciate.

I do think that a compromise on this bill needs to be reached and if that means allowing bankruptcy judges to modify existing mortgages to keep people in their homes, then so be it.

Finally, as much as I believe Congress should pass a bail out measure, I feel that it should take ample time to make sure that we, the taxapayers who will ultimately pay for this business, are not only protected as much as possible but benefit as much as possible from the proposal.

As far as Bush — well, he’s not the only one to blame, but between this, lying about Iraq, sanctioning torture and his other misdeeds, he needs to be held accountable for the trashing of our country.

Scream NO to the bailout!!!! The bailout is a wrong move. This is the start of Socialism. This is the way that the government is going to own our homes. Its the start of the New World Order. This is what they have worked for for years. They have to be stopped. Why haven’t they spoken more about bailing out the big 3 automakers? Why haven’t they given the public a ballpark idea on how much taxes are going to go up and for how long? How many more private businesses are we going to be forced to bail out? The market is going to crash either way, this is a temporary solution with permanent results to the taxpayer. My grandchildren will be born into owing this, and they weren’t even here for the creation of the problem. Why do I have to live with a tax burden for bad business when I had nothing to do with it?
Prosecute those involved and let the market crash. These are crimes against the American public!

Thank god this happened in an election year…otherwise they would have gotten a key to the Treasury!

What is WRONG with people? Don’t they READ? It should not be called a BAIL OUT program. Call it a TAXPAYER INVESTMENT PROGRAM OR SOMETHING. People are so very ignorant. That’s why it didn’t pass. Idiot citizens called their politicians and threatened not to vote for them next time. Idiot politicians, afraid, didn’t vote for the plan.

It seems to be REPUBLICANS who cannot think in complex terms. They can’t believe Osama wasn’t in Iraq when he orchestrated the terror or that the war must be stopped. (52,000 or so people died in Vietnam before we LOST the war. Must we have that many Americans die in Iraq first?)

Thank you, Suze, for your straight talk and your intelligence. There are so few people out there who can do what you do.

It’s contradictory that you would say

“They can’t continue to go out to eat, charge it on a credit card and then just pay the minimum at the end of the month. They have got to go into a different type of financial mentality.”

and then say that you think they should have voted for the bill. The bill was nothing more than doing this very thing on the national credit card and doubling the credit limit at the same time.

Time for America to go into debt counseling.

In reading all sides of this thing, I’m convinced that we need to do the “big correction” by letting the big companies fail. Spending more and more money to bail these companies out just makes the problem worse. We need to let them go bankrupt and have stronger companies buy up the assets.

And please stop with the nonsense about Bush canceling the elections. The federal government doesn’t hold elections, the states do. A President has no mechanism to use to cancel them.

The majority (maybe the vast Majority) of the American people are against this. Thank God that finally our congress did what the people that elected them to represent them, did what the people wanted. My representative did vote for this and he will receive the wrath of his constituents when he comes up for re-election,

I watched C-SPAN this morning and it sounded like the Democrats were in bed with George Bush and then complained about his performance,

I was an Independent until I finally figured out that the democratic party wants socialism at all costs. Stupid me!

Go McCain!!!!

Take the golden parachutes away. The convoluted language of the bill leaves them in place. Take them away!

I don’t agree with the bailout-it’s corporate welfare & we-the poor middle-class smucks are picking up the tab.

I pay my bills, keep an excellent credit score and save my money. This bailout is just an Economic Patriot Act.

Fool us once, shame on you, GW

Fool us twice, shame on us.

Suze, I just don’t yet understand why the Congress should have passed this version of this bill. It seems that it is not far off from the insulting initial demand Secretary Paulson made last week.

If those financial institutions were one of your call in guests, I think you’d rag them out and say ‘no way do you deserve more credit after how you’ve behaved.’

I look at it this way:

If it’s socialism to do this, then we might want to consider socialism. If, for example, the company you work for can’t take out a short term loan to pay the bills (such as electric bill or your wages) while waiting for money to come in from clients, you won’t get paid. Period. Many companies nowadays don’t operate with a lot of money in reserve (that whole lean-and-mean thing), so these small short term loans are a big deal. With credit from banks drying up, that kills those short term loans.

I personally prefer the old stockade method of embarrasing those responsible for this mess, but somebody’s got to do something or a lot of small businesses are going to get killed.

politics, politics, politics. You can’t have a free market and a safety need at the same time. The striped suits think so but as bad as is this to swallow, I believe the house did the right thing. For those of you who will lose your house (for those who have homes way beyond their means), then you should have thought about the consequences.

Here’s a thought. Throw another 10billion top and add health care benefits to the package. That should suit everyone’s needs. Hell, let’s add another 50 billion, build The Kremlin next to the Pentagon and start drinking vodka. Socialism is what we are talking about here….but we don’t care when it doesn’t pertain to a Rocky movie. As long as our -sses are saved right? We need to pucker up and take the lumps. This will weed out the corrupt and greed and make Wallstreet stronger than ever.

For those of you who are about to retire, I am so so sorry. Seriously, if congress wants to help out, they should pass a bill that will bail out anyone w/ in 5 years of retirement who just lost 1/2 their retirement in one day b/c of greed and gluttony. (spelling?)

Finally the people have won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suzi Orman has sold out, btw….

When we had a terrible crisis in 1907 J.P. Morgan got the bankers together to figure out what to do behind closed doors. Now we’ve got POLITICANS behind closed doors, like they really know how to solve this.

This defeat just proves the election year cowardice of those in the House-both D and R–who voted against it because they were too worried about getting re-elected than doing the right thing. If your leg has gangrene, you have to cut it off before it kills you-it may not be your first choice, it may be painful, it’s extreme, but it’s necessary. It is SO MUCH BIGGER and far reaching than just bailing out the greedy fat cats on Wall Street. In the following days and weeks as America’s economy spirals down, we need to remember those who failed to have the INTESTINAL FORTITUDE to vote YES and let our banks fail and our retirement savings evaporate. And yes, we WILL remember you on voting day.

I love your show Suze, but you need to study up on how macroeconomics works. The government has no money left. By producing bailout after bailout, they are only printing money out of thin air. When the government prints money out of thin air, the dollar loses value. When the dollar loses value, all costs of living go up including gasoline, food, and energy costs. Thus, more Americans will go into debt and be driven into poverty and foreclosure. The government will then print more money to help them, causing an endlessly cyclical effect. Eventually, if not contained, we will see a run on the dollar and be driven to third world status, thus never being able to recover.

Bottom line: Easy money and cheap credit got us here. We were all living beyond our means – from the government on down to individuals and families. We are addicted to easy credit. Injecting more cash into the system is like giving a heroin addict another fix. We’ll recover for a day or two before we crash again.

I know it sounds bad, but the reality is that we are in an economic depression no matter what. If the government steps back and allows it to happen, and all the bad debt to be cleansed out, it will be painful but quick. If the government tries to keep stepping in and injecting more money (that does not actually exist), we will only bankrupt the country and make this depression last 10 or 15 years instead of 2-3.

We have to let it happen. The sooner we hit bottom, the sooner we can start to recover from this catastrophe. We all made our bed, now we must lie in it.

What I want to know is:

What happens to those of us who DO pay our bills and DO live within our means? No credit cards, no car loans, and I DAMN sure had to properly qualify to purchase my home.

I understand the bail-out and what’s good about it; I also understand what’s bad about it. I also do not condone bankruptcy, or people simply walking away because the value is not now what they agreed to pay for a property.

The Bail-out means as taxpayers we foot the bill for those irresponsible, greedy bastards.

Bankruptcy ALSO means we will (somewhere along the line) foot the bill with higher prices.

Yes, I think the bill should have been passed, but more should have been available for people with homes that need to be protected. To save Wall Street, we need to be sure that homes are not going to keep going into forclosure. I believe that bankrupcy judges need to have the right to modify mortgages to unsure we don’t keep falling into the same situation. We do not need a bailout every year.

We should all have seen this coming. You can’t have a big house, two or three cars, go shopping every week and out to eat five nights a week on a working person’s wages Using that plastic is the worse mistake we can make.

But the worst of all are the big investment banks who thought they could keep paying their CEOs millions every year along with more millions in bonuses and not get caught someday. It took the housing market to do it, but it was going to happen somehow. Frugality is not an American trait. Maybe it will be after this.

how come the only people i see that are for this bill are RICH PEOPLE????? shouldnt that be a clue that the rest of us are going to have to grab our ankles?

I do not believe that the taxpayers would ever get paid back. The country is trillions in debt and I’m suppose to believe that any profits the government makes with yes – this bailout- will trickle back down to me? Sorry Suze, for once I cannot agree with you.

Ugghh. Obviously, it is more important for Congress to save their own jobs than to save our country. Today, the people who we elected to watch over our country bailed for self-serving reasons. They needed to work together to make ONE decision in the best interest of our country, but doing so could have hurt them at the polls. What happened to taking one for the team?

Ms. Orman, I work at a credit union. Yes we are sound and secure. But one fact that you state is wrong. We do cover each owner on the account up to 100,000 each. If there are 2 owners, it is $200,000. If there is are 2 beneficiaries that are blood relatives or by legal documents, the account is insured up to 200,000; 3 beneficiaries and the owner, $300,000 and so on. It isn’t $100,00 per account. It is based on the owners of the account.

Laughing at the naive folks who think the “bailout” is just to help Wall Street. Get with it team – all those small companies that rely on revolving credit lines to pay salaries will soon be without money, meaning no paychecks for you. Liquidity is a thing of the past and we’re all about to suffer. Socialism? Perhaps. But what I fear far more is populism – I’d rather be France than Bolivia any day.

Hi, Suze — Sorry, but your advice seems a little disjointed to me, maybe because I’m one of those people who doesn’t have time on my side. What exactly are you trying to tell me? Pull everything I have out of the market? And put it where?

As for people who insist on believing the only thing the bailout would have accomplished was to bail out the rich, well, folks, get real. Yeh, it would have bailed them out. It would have also made it possible for them to bail us out. Now who’s going to do it?

Everyone is referring to this as a “bailout”. People need to understand that as far as being angry with people who made “reckless” decisions with their money, fine, be mad. Be angry that your neighbor took a loan he couldn’t afford and now his house is foreclosed on. BUT, the government is basically “investing” in mortgage securities that are very cheap because of this. Down the road, perhaps they can allow people to stay in their homes (getting some of the money back is better than none). Anyone who thinks they aren’t paying now; who do you think is paying the property taxes on the vacant houses?? it is (or will be) split up between the people who still pay taxes!! So, you are already paying for it!! (And that is just one example, there are many more) So you can let the banks and your neighbor go down the tubes, but you will go with them! Or you can rescue yourself and your neighbor as well and survive. BTW, Suze is right about american families spending too much. If you can currently make your bills and have savings, then you wouldn’t be so upset!!

The house Republicans are the suicide bombers on our economy.

Yes, stand on free market principles. It’s just rewards to let Wall street fail. That’s exactly the same principle that Herbert Hoover stood on 80 years ago, and it gave our country a lasting just reward?

The free market cares not who gets destroyed, including our nation.

I, like most of the working class, say let big business figure it out. They (big business) are making record salaries, bonuses, and profits and we the working class is going farther and farther in debt just to keep going. Where was my ‘bailout’ when I was working 3 jobs to support my family? Where was my ‘bailout’ when gas went to 4+ dollars and I had to drive 20 miles to work each day? (while the gas companies made again millions in profits!)

Once again the working class is expected to let the big guy walk all over us! I say no more…… No more to the big guy getting bigger and the little working class getting crushed once again.

Tell Wall Street to ‘buck up Cupcake, deal with it!’

do not let the greedy corp.’s get bailed out. do “we, the middle class” ever get bailed out?? NO NOT EVER. we will not have a middle class anymore. we’ll only have the very rich & the very poor thanks to good ole boy bush. he has to be the worst president these unites states has ever had. what a mess!!!

DO NOT BAIL OUT WALL STREET!!! Until our Reps in the Hill take care of MAIN STREET with their mortgages, healthcare, gas prices, etc etc etc …

This is a sad day for America. When the country needed our Washington Leadership the most, they have let us down. I am so disgusted and angry that I am considering not even voting in the general election. Our Federal Government is broken and needs a complete overhaul. Thanks for absolutely nothing you bunch of political robots!

I am really scared now.

The Wall Street jerks responsible for this need to be arrested, and their lavish properties siezed — Lear jets, yachts, fast cars, upscale real estate. Trial dates need to be set.

Then, and only then, will the public support a bailout plan. People don’t know whether they are afraid of golden parachutes, or their own retirment plans. They need to see action taken on their behalf.

Suze says” However, if you are older, and counting on this money (you need this money for retirement) that is money that never should have been in the stock market to begin with.

Your rule of thumb is money that you need within ten years is not money that belongs in the stock market because of the deterioration we have seen and will continue to see if they do not get their act together.”

Give me a break. Then how do you keep up with inflation?????????????????????; especially since she is against variable annuities !!???

Our system needs to change:
Federal Reserve is privately held not a government institution.
Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke were not voted in.
Who is overseeing the Fed?
Research Ron Paul and his campaign for liberty.
We must wake up.

My emotional response to the “bailout bill” is that, the bill should not pass because I am an average guy and I don’t think that these investment companies deserve any help. But, my rational response is that, passing the bill is the only solution to the current problem. I hope that congress will let their rational mind overcome their emotional side.

What is so hard to figure out with the economy? People must eat to have energy to go to work and make money. People must have gas to get to work to make money for the house payment. The price of gas goes up and the price of food goes up so it takes away from the money they have to pay their bills such as the house payment. None of this happened when gas was cheaper. We could do more to fix the price of gas than we are doing. When people can go places and spend money, they will and they will pay their mortgage. #1 food #2 gas for work to make money for #3 bills and lets not bring up ethanol, most people cant afford a new flex fuel car and cant afford to convert their old cars so what good is it really doing? Doesnt it cost more to blend it with gasoline as well? Look at grain prices! The 700 billion dollar plan just allows us to bypass the real problems for a quick temporary fix and when the price of gas goes to $6 a gallon we will be in the same boat all over again unless the banks decide not to give out as many loans in which case we will probably have homeless people roaming the streets in armys. Fix gas and the economy will start fixing itself, im lucky enough to live 10 miles from my job, how about the rest of the country? How about 700 billion dollars towards repairing gas prices? How about incentives to get those big gas guzzlers off of the road. I bet a lot of people would junk their 1970’s 1980’s v8 boats for a check.

I’m not smart enough to know if the bill is needed or not. I have to believe the people that deal in this area because that is what they do!

1. Congress needs to quit acting like little kids and act like the adults they are suppose to be. That goes for Pelosi first because you do not rub peoples nose in thedirt on something like this, the Republicans that changed their vote, Bush, McCain & Obama!
2. The media needs to stop calling it a ‘bail-out’ plan and start calling it an investment in the future of the country.
3. As an investment in the country everyone of us must realize that if this does not pass, we MAIN STREET people won’t have a main street, because all the shops will be closed, and we won’t have any money to spend there anyway, because we will all be out of work!
4. We, MAIN STREET, also must realize that our GREED contributed to those who figured out how to manipulate the system’s greed. We all shoulder this blame!

Gosh, I wish half this much time and intensity could be spent on becoming less dependent on foreign oil. I consider that a crisis. It might have dramatic effect on the market and the financial institutions.!

If the issue is banks having the ability to loan out money – then the government should have criteria set up and all those who meet the criteria will be given a loan backed by the FED – new loans – with regulations and standards – not bail out the bad loans already given. This will solve the credit crunch issue. This bail out is outrageous. Our economy may suffer, but we need to get to a more realistic economy where the markets work not in an inflated environment. The housing crisis is needed – most people in California cannot afford to buy the homes they are living in – that is a problem. The market needs to come down a lot. The housing market doubled in 4 years – that is not sound market behavior. Bailing out only makes the rich richer – and we pay for it! If we can think outside the box – we can save houses and 401k’s and reward the financial institutions who made sound business decisions – not reward those who went in for the easy money and discarded standards and regulations. If we bail out – we bankrupt ourselves and our future.

Sorry Suze, ‘No’ on the Bailout. My R.E. professor told me ten years ago this would happen b/c back in the 80’s the same thing happen with banks taking on bad loans etc. We Americans have such short memories. Have we not learned from the Japanese real estate downturn? This bail out is Corporate Welfare.

However, this is a great time for investors and is the time I have been waiting for. In fact, I sold the family house in 2005 and my wife left me b/c of it. Now, she says I’m genious when I had truly lost my mind. O yea, my ex went to Stanford, which is probably where the leader’s of these banks went.

I am glad the bailout was not passed. Giving that much money to the incompetent and untrustworthy Bush administration would be madness.. They have been wrong about everything.. the Fanny/ Freddy bailout was supposed to stabilize markets and so was the Bear Sterns fiasco…the bailout is too expensive and is basically a third world solution to the problem ” Mobutu Economics” !!

I believe that we, the American people are to blame. Several people are living lives that they cannot afford plain and simple. I think the market is correcting itself. My husband was in the housing industry and it was a great ride while it lasted. We have seen our yearly income reduced by six figures and my husband facing unemployment. But we made wise decisions and lived beneath our means so we should be able to make. I think everyone needs to stop looking for someone to blame and get your financial house. If you cannot balance your own budget you should not judge others that cannot.

Don’t trust anyone right now giving advice on the bailout who has a stake in Wall Street getting richer. And answer me this, if we need the bailout so badly, then how could The Fed pump $600+ billion into the markets today without the bailout being passed? The bailout is a scam.. plain and simple.

Greed, Greed and more Greed. From the little person with No Income No Job incomes to a Goldman Sachs CEO payment of 70 Million in 2007. Debt is not good. The government Dems and Repub. alike create debt for our country. But Americans hold the same if not more debt. I think around 7 Trillion. Great work. I hope Osama remains quite or we are in big trouble with another 9/11.

Suze, it was the government that started these problems when it created FNMA and FHLMC to begin with. It was the government that then forced banks to lend in areas and to people that weren’t qualified through their CRA requirements. It was the government that said everyone should own a home and further forced banks to lend to risky applicants.

What in the world makes us think the government will get it right this time?

We wouldn’t be having this problem had people making 25k a year not bought 300k houses.

Funny how now the corporations are the only ones receiving the blame when pure greed from American citizens was half of the problem.

Thank you Suze .. I have loved your no nonesense approach for years – even when it makes me uncomfortable! Looking forward to hearing you tonight.

It seems we have had a string of irresponsible behavior everywhere … from individuals to the president for a long time. Leadership and accountability (personal and otherwise) have been sorely lacking.

I do not understand how I, as a responsible, timely mortage & car loan paying, retirement planning person will be paying for the $700 B debt – increased taxes?

I can’t see how I can afford any more … short of selling my house (part of my retirement plan/nest egg) and moving away from tax happy NY state. Hope you have some words of wisdom on that!

Suze. How much do you think the 1999 ‘alleged’ collusion by Acorn, Illinois State Sen. Obama and President Clinton in ‘encouraging’ Fanny and Freddie into giving mortgages to people that they would not normally give based on their ability to pay their mortgage?

It’s time to disband congress and have a Direct Democracy. We have the technology (just like buying on E-Bay) to vote. All we need is a set of “paid debaters” from each party to air the out issues. These characters are too concerned with getting re-elected to do the right thing. Instead of doing something they know is right, they prefer to worry about what an uninformed public thinks. We elected them to take care of that issue and they can’t do it, not even when the stakes are incredibly high. My proposal is:

Pay each one of these 535 people $1M a year to stay away from their job until their term is over. Then, they can go someplace else; we don’t need to elect any more of them. Think of it, for only half a billion dollars a year maximum, we save the 100’s of billions they waste. Not passing a $700B work-out (that could conceivably cost little to nothing over time) today cost all of us $1.2 trillion in market value in just one day. Yes, that’s your and my 401K and other savings. What will happen tomorrow and the next day? What will happen tonight in Asia?

There is no perfect solution and whatever we do will always be a work in progress that will require a lot of changes. Let’s get something started and the markets will regain confidence. It’s all about perception.

The only perception now is these guys are all idiots and not to be trusted.

I guess Bush’s Economic Stimulus package worked well…..Also, where did all the money go? If the banks are dry, who has it all?

Why can’t the government broker mortgages to the American people, just like ordinary people can buy tax lien certificates for people who can’t pay their property tax?

To David Whitener:

Dave, In America, the President doesn’t have the power to cancel a general election. In fact, no one does.

One of the things this credit crisis has proven is that the market is not capable of correcting itself; it needs help, in the form of regulations.

I laugh at the people arguing that the recovery plan is socialism and that the market should be left alone. Are those people willing to risk having the American economy go down in flames, and taking down the entire world financial system with it, while they wait for the market to correct itself?

I’m not American; I don’t even reside in the USA. Watching this unfold from “outside” gives me a different perspective. You guys blew it today. Your economy (and by default capitalism and free market as we know it) is hanging by a thread, and most of you don’t even realize it, because you’re too busy worrying about “socialism”. WAKE UP!

Rafael
Santo Domingo, DR

Thanks for you advice Susie! I think a lot of people are looking at this bail out in wrong ways. My understanding is that the Bail Out plan is more of buying out the troubled assets, and turning it out into possible profit with possible risks (profits to go back to tax payers/Americans). It is not 100% bail out. Sure, the Bail Out plan do sound like it will profit the Wall St executives, but essentially it is not because money has to flow in and out of our market regardless, and this plan should work out the huge bottlenecks in our current economy.

This is a time for everyone in America not to be emotional but be rational. I know emotion runs high for those people who struggle everyday to survive. However, if we let the emotions take over our ability to think rationally to arrive at a solution that can work then this nation will end up having so much more people ending up in a worse situation. I am in middle class and I lost a lot in 401k too. At the same time I understand that this is a serious problem and we everyone needs to focus on a solution. We need to move beyond past and learn a good lesson as a country and move forward. Whatever done, we need to make sure laws are made to make sure this sort of a thing can not happen again. We can not change what happened, but we can change what is to come. Instead of being angry and fustrated about the situation, we all need to think about what next. One part of is to elect right people to govern this country. In that part people made big mistakes past 8 years. Once reason why we are here is that and now is our chance to start correcting those mistakes and move forward with what left with resolve.

Not sure, but I think having the election is governed by law – is this something that falls under the constitution or some other legal doctrine – that there are presidential elections every 4 years?

Nancy Pelosi goofed when she made the bailout about finger pointing. As I understand it, the Democrats would not allow constraints to be put into place two or three years ago when the economists warned about this very thing happening. The Dems did not want to discriminate against the poor being able to obtain a home. Well, guess what? They could not afford the mortgage they were given, but the Dems allowed it to happen anyway. Let’s point the finger at the Democrats not the Republicans.

What happens to all of us that are trying to live on social security? If inflation gets any worse we will all be on welfare. Someone needs to let the fat cats on wall street and in Washington live on our income for just one month. Then maybe they could decided what is right for all of us.

Blame Nancy Pelosi.

Suze, I have watched your show and respect your financial wisdom. However I think telling people that FDIC insured banks are 100% safe is not entirely correct. What American taxpayers may not realize is that there’s no separate account for FDIC money, just as there is no separate account for social security. In the end, TAXPAYERS are the FDIC for one another. A WaMu failure would have wiped out half the FDIC fund. Please go ahead and look it how the FDIC is running out of money!

Brad…..the number one reason why all these people are losing thier homes is bc our socialist democrat gov. made these banks make loans affordable for people who darn well couldn’t afford them. Not bc of heath care bills. that is why we’re in the mess we’re in.

We elect all these house & senate know it alls to look after us!!??
Let’s shorten their term in office. They are not feeling the pinch.
Who is taking responsibility and being proactive? Who do we trust?

What would happen if the Saudis or some other ME country bails out Wall Street?
Has this even been considered and what would be the fall-out?

We lost our home because of this subprime mortgages. My husband was laid off due to the “anticipation” of downturn in the real estate market. He was in title insurance – this occurred back in Dec 2006. No work was available anywhere in his profession. He barely found a job May 2008. We went throught our savings trying to save our home and I worked long hours but in the end, we still lost the home. So, where is my bailout? Because of these bad loans we lost our home and we had never even been late! In no way, did I think I would be in my 50s and have lost my home.

Bailing out, or “rescuing” if you like, insolvent companies who made terrible business decisions will only prolong the agony. I agree with the other comment that people need to come to grips with their debt and living on credit….just as our government does!! Borrowing to bail out is a recipe for further disaster and the taxpayers will be holding even more debt.

I want to hear more plans for helping the economy. I’m helping to pay for it and I want more options!

Well, I’ve read the first 13 comments and two actually make some sense. Shame on all of us for being so financially ignorant. It’s no wonder the politicians get away with the things that they do; we aid and abet them with our votes and our political and financial illiteracy.

Suze suggests that the country might be out of the woods in 7-8 years and that we can look forward to another 2000 – 2500 points off the Dow. I suggest that we might, in effect, lose our national sovereignty (the dollar undergirds the world’s currencies). Who will trust our tainted financial markets, our weak currency, and our corrupt leadership in the future? Not many. We are reaping what we have sown. God help our children and grandchildren.

While the DOW went down about 7% today I feel lucky because my preferred stock that pays an 8% annual dividend (CHSCP) went down only 1.1%.

You people against this are idiots; while I am not in favor of this plan in theory…… we need to DO SOMETHING!

Hasnt social security funding been raided in the past to help pay down debt ? I have not heard anything mentioned in the recent past about how solvent the social security funding is or isnt…..any word on this?

Anybody who knows anything about economic cycles knows that this kind of problem is not new. That has happened before. This will happen again.

Bad investments will be wiped out one way or the other. Bad debts will be paid back through regular monthly payments, bankruptcy, foreclosure or other means. There is no way around that.

This bailout is only an attempt to make the blow more tolerable.

I truly believe that, in situation like this, the role of the government should be to make sure that the poorest don’t end up in the street and then let the market do what it must do.

We are all grown ups who must face the consequences of our decisions. Take charge! Be responsible!

I believe that everyone is missing the point. If the credit dries up there will be no way for large companies to pay for their employees. If this happens than we will all feel the pain of this economic problem. I agree that we shouldn’t bail out top excutives however, if we don’t bail out the companies we will suffer. Imagine more than a million people more in the unemployment lines. We talk about socializing our economy yet if we have to pay for all of the unemployed wouldn’t that be socialization on another term. We will have major problems from this either way and I would rather see people working than to pay them for sitting around and not working. We really need to get a clear understanding at what is at stake here. Its great if the big companies fail but the only ones that will be hurting will be the middle and lower classes. Most top excutives have plenty of money that they can survive on however can the lower classes say the same? I doubt it. I realy think that the way to use our vote for this year is to tell all of congress what the change is that we need. That is to vote every last one that is in office now out of office. That may shake things up and get some of these people working for us not against the US.

I am so sick of the fingers being pointed from one political party to another! Its all a game for the election. This is a serious problem… We are struggling to break even each month- I have two children that my dream is to send them to college one day with out too much of a struggle & debt. Now I am worried about food, home and clothing. Everyone is to blame, all of us. We are all greedy- CEO’s and our political leaders – who are the most greedy of all. If it was not an election year, I wonder if they would have come together to find a solution for the American People. I do not think for one minute that Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank had the middle class in mind today…. they had their party, power and control in mind.

Why is the word “RECISSION” typically used as:
WE are in a Recission?”
When will people get it?
We have been in a “DEPRESSION” for some time now!!!
Why sugar coat it?

The average credit card debt per household in this country is $8,600. The total credit card debt in this country is $951 BILLION. People must learn to live within their means. If you don’t have the cash, you don’t buy it! My 86 year old father has an annual income of just under $19,000. He owes MasterCard $13,000! He believes if he wants it, he should have it whether he can afford it or not. That’s a major part of this country’s problem.

Reading the comments we see that people just don’t get it.

Pure socialism -someone says. No…. but not passing the bailout is leading us to financial anarchy.

EVERY economist sees the bailout as a “must have” not something that would be helpful. If you do not have a strong background in economics- bite your lip and stay quite.

This is not the time for ill-formed opinions by people who do not have an understanding of markets. Check your pride at the door and realize that we must agree with the experts.

Today the economy lost $1.2 trillion dollars – as opposed to a $700B bailout. If and WHEN more banks fail this will look like a drop in the bucket.

Suze,

Is it possible for the stock market to be closed for trading until a rescue plan is arranged. Would this help stem the losses in the stock market?
The stock market closed in the Former Soviet Union to stem losses earlier this month.

Thanks. I appreciate your insights and advice.
Mel in Chicago

Let me get this straight…the bailout package will purchase all the bad investments the banks made which in turn gives the banks new money to loan. Is that the gist of it? If so, how will this fix the problem? That is the problem…the banks made bad investments…who says they won’t do it again with the free bailout? Am I going to get bailed out if I make a bad investment? Whatever.

President Bush, John McCain and their cronies should be ashamed. First they get us into this mess, then they play politics instead of getting us out of it. If they think this will help win the presidental election, they’ve got a rude awakening in store! We’re sick of their nonsense!

Sell Low… Buy high! If your Mutual Funds are still in the equity market, then it is too late for you. The only safe place now is where you are at, when the market starts to move upward again you are positioned at rock bottom (how much worse can this mess get). Watch the market as it rises, set target amounts that you will be happy with and watch for them. Don’t sell short, even if you only have 3-5 years before the golden handshake at least you will recoup some of you losses. Now is too late for T Bills and Money Market, it is time to rebuild where you lost.

If we pass this bill, this is going to send a wrong signal, that tax payers money can be used for ANY purpose. Every company will start lobbying for bailout. The market has to correct itself, even if it has to take time. Call up your senator,congress man’s office and let our voices heard. We are the ones paying high gas prices, and high medical bills, not the crooks who caused this issue. I am a honest, hard working tax payer, who dont want my money to be spent like this — PERIOD.

The Federal Reserve needs to be dismantled. Greenspan was critical of their role for years until they hired him and gave him millions to see things their way.

We need the gold standard back or something like it to restore peace and order.

The wealthy make the laws and rules so the govenment will pass the bail out and have tax payers pay for it for generations to come.

It’s time for middle class and poor people to stand up and defend themselves. Oh, wait, they used their homes as atm machines to buy SUV’s and remodel their homes. Gee whiz, I was all excited about standing up to the rich, and then realized the middle class signed on the dotted line for things they could NOT afford. And the banks made the loans in a hot market and sold them to Fannie. They knew the market would cool and the government would bail them out.

It’s amazing to me that even today, our lawmakers are more interested in pointing fingers at each other as who is to blame for this crisis instead of focusing on what they should be doing…fixing it! This is not a Republican problem. This is not a Democrat problem. This is everyone’s problem. And those that insist on blaming Bush, should remember that we’ve had a Congress controlled by Democrats for the past two years and a virtual stalemate the previous six. Congress should be fired as a whole and a new group of elected representatives brought in that can’t be taught the “ways of Washington” by those who have ruled for years. Democrats, Republicans, Congress…fix the problem and stop the finger pointing.

If the Economy suffers doesn’t that favor the Democratics? Why would they vote to solve a problem that might help the economy, and favor the Republicians in this election. They would rather win the election then solve the nations problems. Nancy Pelosi is a total jerk. Why would you slam the opposing party when you need their votes?

Tell me again why everyone recoils in fear at the “S” word?
“Social”- ism is simply a belief and a practice that asks us to share risk and responsibility….free market capitalism (and the monstrously greedy and their gov’t cronies) got us into this mess. A little bit of so-called socialism in the form of long-overdue regulation is necessary to get us out.

Social security is socialist — and it’s important and necessary. Charities are based on socialist principles. We’re all in this together folks. Yes, as Suze says, we each have to mind our p’s and q’s and take care of our own $$, but we have to recognize we’re a large community, not single islands.

I am glad the bill did’nt pass. The CEO’s need to take a pay cut. You don’t see avg people being bailedout only in this country do you see big companies getting bailed out. Regardless of what happens on wallstreet we will continue to see job lost and homes in foreclose. DON”T BE FOOLED AMERICA this bill is not a good solution.

OK…the vast majority of Republicans voted AGAINST this bill and yet somehow it’s a failure of Obama’s leadership? GOD I am tired of relentless Republican outrage and spin, spin, spin. I thought we got rid of Karl Rove?

Let’s face it, the GOP representatives KNOW that their constituents are going to blame them and their incompetent Whitehouse team (and rightly so) so are pulling a desparate last minute grandstand to show that they are still the champions of free enterprise.

The whole thing makes me sick, and god knows I dont want to see $1 trillion (because, let’s face it, with this administration the bill is always higher than what they sell you…can you spell Iraq?, the self financing war? yeah, right).

But, we are where we are and if we don’t do something , we are all in the deep doo doo. Just pass the bill please and then we’ll sort out the rest.

we, taxpayers with average income are being squeezed to the bone. It is so hard to pay for medical, car, and other insurances. It is really really hard. We live modestly, we are not able to save enough, cannot afford vacation, we are educated, but our business is in finances or other money making fields. We honor education, honesty, balance. Now all is out of balance.

My two main assets are my house and my 401K – the mortgage company and I will continue to own the house together for a few more years. My 401K looks awful and I don’t have anything going into it anymore since I was disabled out of work. To say I’m scared would be the understatement of the century. And at the end of the day knowing that we are all in this together doesn’t make me feel any better.

Annie Kate
Birmingham AL

I am proud that the few lawmakers had the good sence to vote no to this piece of@#$% legislation and I hope the ones that voted yes are prepared to be either be recalled or voted out of their seat s in NOvember. This shock and awe bailout is nothing more than tactics deployed by a group of crooks; The dow fell but did not fall as hard as it did in 87, or in 29; Its not a matter of liquidity its a matter of insolvency; When the banks realize there wont be new pot of gold waiting for them they will start lending, Its not 700 billion but a much higher figure, these creeps in congress did not consult the many economist around the counrty, there is an unlawful/unconstituional transfer of congressional power to but a few, there is no public oversight of this process,
Congress are the ones that deregulated this industry they should pay, not the hardworking taxpayer, Congress are the ones that encourage subprime lender so let the congress pay not innocent taxpayers;

If thier is a major depression, the american public will pull itself out of it, creating more debt to be placed on the backs of taxpayers is unacceptable. its the government that is running scared b/c they know that they are insolvent at this point in the game and can not meet their notes, they know that the already horrific debt created by these morans will cause the dollar to loose its value until one day its not even worth the cost of toilet paper. I could go on and ona bout this but I wont….
I applaud those who voted no and hope the ones that voted yes loose their jobs, I certainly will be working towards that.

Nancy Elliott PA, JD

IS there a chance that foreign interest will come in and buy up all or part of the debt?

The average credit card debt per household in this country is $8,600. The total credit card debt in this country is $951 BILLION. People MUST learn to live within their means. My 86 year old father has an annual income of just under $19,000. He owes MasterCard $13,000! He believes that if he wants it he should have it whether he can afford it or not. I believe if I want it and have the money left over after paying my monthly bills that I can purchase it and pay cash.

I think once Pelosi realizes taxpayers are not stupid. Her comments about it being Bush’s fault don’t fly.

Correct me if I am wrong. It all started with the Community Reinvestment Act. Things got carried away. Banks being in fear of heavy fines for not making these rediculous loans was just the beginning. It spiraled into todays mess.

Until Pelosi admits this, she may not get the cooperation of the taxpayers.

If a bill is passed there should be nothing else in it. No nothing else.
We cannot afford it.

McCain/Palin

Usually I agree with Suze. I chose to pay off my mortgage in six years (2000-2006) by making extra principal payments every single month. Today, I have zero debt–other than one credit card that I pay off in full every month. I believe in her living-within-your-means philsophy, and although I’m concerned right now, at least I can sleep at night when it comes to the ownership of my house.

But on this bailout–I’m sorry, but I must disagree (not because I claim to understand economics, because I do not).

Newt Gingrigh is opposed to the Paulson plan, and whether or not everyone likes Newt, he’s one smart guy, and I believe him to be a patriot. Secondly, Representative Mike Pence (Indiana) voted against the bailout, and I know enough about him to know that he has our best interests at heart.

I believe there’s a lot more going on behind this ‘economic crisis’ than we are being told. The economic situation we’re in right now has been predicted for the last three years by Jack Van Impe (www.jvim.org); this guy and his wife, Rexella, are PhD’s and no dummies themselves. I agree with those who believe that our current leadership is nothing more than a puppet ruler.

As to who we should blame? How about ourselves? Those elected officials who have failed us for the last 50 or so years have done so with relatively few whimpers by the general public. How many of us have been willing to get involved in public affairs, unless it’s a potential situation in our own back yard. (Note that I’m including myself in this blame as much as the next person.)

It’s time for a change–by us, the American public. It’s time to wake up to what is happening to our country right under our noses.

Why is congress so afraid to put limits on CEO compensation? Makes me wonder if they are afraid to offend them. Why did the economy have to come to this before their outrageous compensation packages got any attention?

If we want to fix it we can start with a flat tax of 10-15% for coorperations and business. This would genertate more jobs and revenue with a lot less paperwork. Because we will have nixed all the tax loopholes. Have a 10% tax on people that make over 200,000.00 and 0% for people under that. That would stimulate the economy becaue people would have more money. I thought taxes on wages was suspose to end after the WWII.

Vote out all incumbants

old saying “good plan today is better that a better plan too late.

I can not believe that people of so little understanding get elected.

We are suffering in Canada because of this too. Right now your Gov’t has had too put $ in Off shore banks to keep confidence in US $.

This is time to lead reather than be afraid what will happen to there own election cjhanses.

I have Kids with up side down Mortgage in MD. one payment behind, and he has been laid off. Suggestions. I am hoping the 210 k owing on 130 k gives them some leverage but ??

I blame the Homebuilders, both public and private. For 4 years we didn’t need Sales Offices because the lines of first time homebuyers and investors went around the block. The news people would televise the events. People had been known to camp out in Tropical Storms. To prevent the madhouse we created lotteries where you put down $2k to $5k to reserve a lottery ticket and hope you could get your first pick, before the price went up. We would sell entire sections of homes in one afternoon. The financial models dictated, “Sell 10 houses in 10 days, increase the price $10,000. Supply and Demand. Entire sections of PUD’s would see a single model’s price go up $100k in a weekend. And of course don’t forget the $75k lot premium which is always pure profit. The important piece to remember is that the costs did not go up…This increased sales price was all profit to the Homebuilder. Then 18 months later when the house was finished the first time buyers could no longer qualify for the loan needed to close, so the Homebuilder’s Mortgage company would step in to “qualify” the buyer and sell the loan off as “Sub-Prime”. That is when the Major investment houses where duped. The unfortunate piece of all of this mess is that the first time homebuyer, the small time investor ( possibly your neighbor who thought he could flip a house at closing but couldn’t) where forced to close on something they just could not afford. How can a first time buyer afford a $3,000 month mortgage payment, plus Association Fees, high Florida insurance and taxes? They can’t. So, here we are. The group that should have been regulated where the Homebuilder’s….Growth Management failed becuue it never accounted for the damage runaway development would cost our country.

No bailout! This is a correction of a bubble not unlike the dot-com bust that occured a few years ago. I am tired of reading about all of the wealth the average American has lost through the decreasing home values. Has everyone forgotten that this wealth was artificially created? Home prices literally doubled in many areas of the country in a matter of a few years! Home prices must decrease so the average American can again afford to buy a home.

I have a feeling this bailout will pass once the republicans get their provisions added. My only recourse, since I was stupid enough to not buy a home I couldn’t afford with an interest-only ARM and get some benefit out of this bailout, is to vote the incumbent politicians out of office. Everyone should vote out the incumbants – send the politicians a message that this is unacceptable!

Tomorrow, I’m going to a local mom & pop florist and send some flowers to someone and say, “hey, I’m thinking about you”. Do you know what kind of economic stimulus that would cause if everyone did that? Notice, I said, MOM & POP shop, not ftd or 1-800 floral-rip-off-flowers-in-a-box!! Just think, not only would it put a few dollars in the hands of a family who could use it, but it’ll put a smile on the face of a friend. By the way, I’ll pay cash.

America is officially socialistic country and corporate welfare Wall St. bailout proves it. So those in power (with money) make worse decisions than a drunk gambler in las Vegas while the past 15-20 years the feds are asleep at the switch (actually in bed with the Wall Streeters). Greensspan et al stoked the economy like crack whore stoked on cocaine and the when it crashes, we hardworking, overtaxed middle and upper middle income people get screwed again.

Those in power (Wall Street) get rewarded for bad behavior. Of course to make it palatable to the left wing Democrats there will be more mandates and regulation for fair and affordable housing meaning more perpetual government intervention. No different that the socialism for the ethanol industry, the upcoming one for Detroit automakers or any other lobby that exists to suck $$ from federal gov’t.

The whole things makes me sick. Both the President (Cheney) and Mr Bush bear responsibility; along with the cabal in Congress both Democraps and Republisins like Barney Frank, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi – all corrupt powerful and out to lunch.

How about sending some of the scumbags to jail, I mean CEOs and politicians? No, instead we bail them out with more money that the treasury doesn’t have. And in the future every low life expecting a handout will get one because it pales in comparison to this debacle.

If this is leadership we are doomed to mediocrity and worse. Someday China and India will own us all.

Suze,
Thank you! This morning I thought my money market was safe but when you came on the Today Show and said to double check I did. Turns out I had $77,000.00 in a money market that was not FDIC insured. I moved it to an insured money market.
Barb

Bailout vs. bankruptcy, insolvency and takeover. Pretty soon there’s only going to be one bank with no options at the rate we are going with major banking and investment failures AND what happens when a major firm goes belly up and there’s no one to take over and keep them going. Who hurts then – Main Street, the little people who answer the phone, help the customers, open the doors, they are the ones on the street without a pension plan, severance, stock options and jobs. Real people get hurt. I agree with Suze – the bailout was the only option and shoould be followed by swift action to bring an immediate end to the nonsense these investment and banking firms have been pulling. There is just no excuse for writing enormous golden parachutes when you know your firm is in trouble. It just hurts the financial bottom line because it’s a liability that has to be accounted for.

Our leaders need to quit pointing fingers, buckle down and get a bill passed now before it’s too late. I have a friend whose personal pension fund lost over $100,000 today and they aren’t running a big corporation by any means. They’re real people like the rest of Main Street who have worked hard all their lives and are nearing retirement and now this.

As for the question about President Bush canceling the election – no dice, that’s Congress gig and obviously those fools can’t even agree on what to have for supper.

If for the past years we hadn’t encouraged people who had no business buying a house to buy one. Too many people that had no income, no savings went for the no money down homes

In days gone by, you needed 5-10-20% down to buy a house – but we eliminated that and said come all, get your free house

Too many did, too many didn’t just settle for one, they wanted two, three to flip and make a profit but like all pyramid schemes, it always ends and it’s crashed down on all of us

We are all Americans and have benefit in one way or another from living in this great country- it’s time to take care of this crisis and not see our country go down the tubes for these past decisions that yes were bad but the alternative is worse- let’s do what we need to do- we may need to sacrifice some but living here is more than worth it !

I am currently in graduate school and I rely on student loans to pay for my out-of-state tuition. Will this situation affect my ability to recieve student loans if we do not “bail” them out?

I keep hearing that the house Republicans were upset with the bailout measure because it places a tremendous debt on the taxpayers. This is why they voted against it.
Why havent they expressed similar outrage over years becaue of the horrendous national debt that has accumulated under the Bush administration? Afterall, didn’t they inherit a surplus from Clinton?? Doesn’t this debt adversely affect us all as well as the future of our nation?

I’m a Financial Advisor, and have been for the last 18 years. I work
with a very stong company that has an excellent history (going back
to 1937) of managing mutual funds.

Will you please tell Suze Orman that she is of no help to anyone
when she continually tells individuals that they should be out of
the market. She has to know that’s ridiculous, as many people
are long-term investors, not short-term worriers. She incites
fear, which is the last thing we need right now. This is irresponsible
journalism on her part. When she has been managing a large
mutual fund, maybe she can comment. She’s never professionally
managed money in her life.

Please stop it-you’re causing so many people to lock in their losses.
This doesn’t help anyone.

Perhaps Suze Orman should be running for Congress or even higher office. She makes a lot sense Too bad McCain didn’t pick her for VP

I am currently a law student and I am worried about whether and how this bailout will affect student loans for the upcoming year. Does anybody have any suggestions or reassurance for concerned students?

I can’t believe how many uneducated people are making comments on this subject.

Yes everyone wants to point the blame at someone else. But nobody told anyone to take a interest only home loan or buy that house you knew you could never afford.

If people would of educated themselves on what they were buying they never would of signed on the dotted line. While I agree these loans should never of been made available the fact still remains it is your job to educate yourself on what you are buying.

Millions of Americans have thousands and thousands of dollars of credit card debt, is that also the fault of the credit card companies? Did they make you use your cards?

We need to start taking responsibility for the things we do.

I for one am jumping all over Suzie’s advice and buying all the stock I can because it will rebound and I would much rather buy it cheap now than pay more later.

We definitely need a stronger Independent party where more of our leaders are focused on fiscal responsibility! Let’s get out of this 2 party system! Ralph Nader will get my vote this year.

We need voter reform… do away with the electoral college and go to a popular vote where everybody’s vote will count!

Half of your peoples comments are just plain stupid. If you really want this bill to not pass, then dont sit and complain about your retirement funds going down. Yes we can all admit that this was caused by greed. You can sit and complain about CEO’s and everything but guess what, it wasn’t the CEO’s of these companies who couldn’t use common sense in applying for a loan they couldn’t repay. Are the CEO golden parachutes crazy and obsured, sure. So is the fact that a household making 100k a year goes out and buys a 400k house. People aren’t sitting and complaining about that. You do not want to see what will happen if a bill is not put into place. On another note, in the long term, this will benefit taxpayers, not hurt them. Get off your little soap box and read the facts before you comment on these things.

I believe the mortgage/credit problems were caused by people buying homes/goods/services that they could not afford. I believe the lenders/banks/mortage companies were aware of this but turned a blind-eye to the situation and let greed run us into the current financial mess. Many people are just not trying to live within (or below) their means. I believe the government giving a $700 billion bailout is wrong and am glad Congress didn’t pass the bill. I believe that the government controlling private financial institutions is a giant step toward socialism and we should all be very afraid.

When can we expect indictments?

The situation is actually simple:

1. Let the government direct lend, like it already does, and we’re all happy.

The banks aren’t being bailed out (and they shouldn’t be), so the tax payers are happy;

Lines of credit would be open, lending would contnue, thru Federal Credit Unions.

2. Like John Crudele of the NYPost says, let people tap into their 401ks.

3. Bank of America bought Countrywide, Merrill Lynch and MBNA–now I have to take over their bills?

The federal reserve already opened the credit windows to banks. Banks took their money and gobbling up assets.

If they now don’t want to lend, let the Feds do it.

Rich
didyouweekend.com

Suze, what exactly does this crisis have to do with us “poor folk” that are already out of jobs, have no home, basically no debt, no 401K no future funds…What will happen to us?

The government does NOT need to bail the corporations. When John Q. American gets in trouble and asks for a bailout, they don’t get one. If you are thinking bankruptcy is a bailout, you’re wrong.

The economy needs stimulated and it is stimulated by Americans spending. Americans can’t spend when interest rates are sky high! Lower the interest rates across the board and people will be able to spend less on credit cards and mortgages and more on other consumer items … things like medication and food.

Most of America can’t even relate to the stock market. We are confused because we save for what we need. If we can’t afford it we don’t buy it. Why should we bail out the “elite” top when their greed and irresponsibility has caught up with them?

Talk to us “common folks”. In the past few years I’ve looked at houses that cost 400K for 900 sf. What? I save for the 20% down payment and when I’ve got that the price has DOUBLED.!!

We are not a Democracy…..we are a Capitalarian Monarcracy!

The goverment claims the terrorists tried to destroy the US economy with the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Little did we know in the past 3 to 4 years our own greedy American Bankers and stock brokers and CEO’s have just raided the markets into another Great Depression.

The failure of the House to pass this bill shows me that many in Congress are cowards. And the failure of many Americans to see that they WILL EVENTUALLY pay the price of the financial collapse just convinces that many of them are incredibly STUPID! I am really ashamed of many of my countrymen. We will all go down the toliet together!

Pelosi is poison. Her vicious, malicious, unfounded hatred of Bush is obvious calling 1 man the cause of this crisis. How can Democrats support her as a leader, someone who brings about consensus. Why did they choose her, for her venom and ugly approach? She is not a leader and it surprises me Democrats continue to permit her rants.

Suze,
I agree this downturn will take years to workout. Until the government operates with a balanced budget I see little hope of turning the corner. Elevating the ceiling on the National debt to 11.5 Trillion is proof that we’re standing in quicksand and sinking fast!

It seems to me that the US has not kept up with education needs of higher business and Engineering, instead shipping our middle income jobs off shores. In fact we have seen both in the state levels and federal level during the Republican Administration to send Civil service job over seas as well. Why are all manufacturing jobs gone away too? Where is all of the differences in “wage” going? is it given to the CEO’s since the companies in the US do not seem to be making huge profits either. Where has all of the money gone?????

Why was it so popular in the 80’s when it was announced that the US will be come a service industry? They foresaw the US shipping jobs off shoes? Why didn’t we become alarmed then?

I will say this, the big danger is if you need credit anytime soon (and by the way, you will likely need it sooner than you think), you won’t be able to get it. If you have saved up for a rainy day as Suze is suggesting we do……..

But I think you will all agree that it will be a bad thing for our economy when we go to the bank next year to expand our small business (which has employed dozens of people in it’s 4 years of existence) and don’t have a prayer to get financed. So we’ll be stuck in our own effort to expand the economy (and hopefully get more out of our business, that’s the point after all, it’s not a charity). Bingo, you have a recession, or worse. And we live in an area where our business is growing and the economy is doing relatively well, just slow growth instead of tanking. I can’t imagine in other parts of the country.

i am a fun of your show. it is rather an entertaining thing watching you denying those “irresponsible” thoughts…

i don’t understand why there are still people in this country arguing if this “bailout”-if we have to call it – is “socialism”? do they really understand what is “socialism”? are they talking about the western European style or some other style that only exists on paper? long time ago, there was such debate in China, about whether China is turning from “socialism” to “capitalism”. What a joke!! Now China’s economy is a mixed economy. There is no such pure “socialism” or “capitalism”. what ever works for this country, especially now, the congress and gov’t should do it. Wake up people, if you really want to know what is “socialism”, you should read history and know what is the New Deal.

We have lived in some type of “socialism” since then and your grandparents/parents are still enjoying it as social security that we have to pay for it…

The bill was flawed, yes, but people are really playing russian roulette with five bullets in the chamber if they don’t realize a flawed bill is better than no bill at all. Capital markets are frozen, that means people get fired, nobody can buy anything on credit not even food, and retirement funds get flushed down the toilet. Congresspeople are saying they’re responding to voter anguish…OK, maybe it is true what foreigners say that Americans are mostly stupid if they’re pressuring their representatives to drag out this mess and turn it into a global panic. From such a panic, no recovery may be possible other than suffering through a depression worse than the 30s.

The administration, financial institutions and their lobby(ies) are simply trying to intimidate public (and perhaps each other) by the fact that there will be collapse of the economy if the plan is not approved immediately. At same time, every reasonable person understands that this is a classic correction problem for the excess capacity (in the financial sector) to disappear. The “capacity” has been built uncontrolled for years, if not decades. It dates back, at least to the *.com era when banks would spit out all those fake IPOs for companies that did not have (and would never have in the near future) a real product. Once that fraud was realized by investors, it was too late. the banks cashed out. since they had pretty sizable amount of money from the rip, they went on a different area to create another buuble. the focus was shifted to hard assets sector like real estate. That did not live (and never will) long either. And now what… The natural solution the insolvent banks is offered by free market which means death sentence. In other words, the country does not need this many banks since they are trying to chase too few real(!) customers. the hordes of “gigantic banks” can only “live” if bubbles are constantly created and they leap from one area onto another “inventing” nothing but fake products that nobody needs. this condition (permanent bubble creation) is broken, so that they run to the last rescue. our pockets. yes, there will be severe recession with perhaps great unemployment, but it will clear up all this fog and eventually result in real growth.

I heard Ms. Orman saying how stupid we all are for being glad the “bail-out” did not pass and how we just don’t understand how bad this is going to be on us regular folks because we’re using our credit cards just to make ends meet, and without the “bail-out” we won’t be able to do that anymore. What a shame! I am a regular folk who has completely stopped using a credit card, is desperately trying to pay off credit card debt, who has NO GROCERIES because I’m paying my bills, and who believes that the people who are crying out to pass the “bail-out” — like Ms. Orman —- are the ones with the most to lose. The rest of us stupid, regular folks have been down in the hard-working trenches for years. Yes, it’s bad here and has been. Join us, won’t you.

Me and My wife both earn over 100k a year. We just recently got married (Friday will be our first anniversary). We beagn to look for a house once we returned from our honeymoon but due to the cost of the wedding and other expenses we did not have a 20% deposit. We could of done one of those crazy ARM mortgages but will wait until we have the 20%.
What I want to know is why all these people are coming out and saying that the bailout should go to the people who are defaluting on the mortgages, when these are the same people that are making maybe 50 to 75k combined in there house hold with kids and have taken out way more then they could afford and have crazy intreset rates that kicked in when there intrest only mortgages kicked in the intrest. I mean i thaught this was a country that rewards people for making the right decisions and did things the right way. I mean no one is going to replinsh my Deffered Comp retiremnet saving which is down almost 15% YTD and if I were to buy a stock and it was to tank no one is going to give me back the money I lost. So why should we bail out these people who made obviously horrible decisions? If i would of known this I would of taken a Million dollar mortage out and just waited for a bailout.

There are numerous places to assign blame in this problem:
1. Corporate greed: yes, Wall Street and the fat cats that run it have taken advantage of the governmnent’s rules to do what they want , and they have gotten rich because of it.
2. The government: they created the rules that led to this mess. They let Fannie, Freddie, and the banks do what they wanted with no oversight. It’s absolutely abominable.
3. American greed: people bought more than they could afford. When my husband and I were looking at houses in 2005 we were offered twice the amount in mortgage that we took. Twice! We thought the mortgage companies were insane when they offered us that much. We knew we could not afford that. We were also ridiculed for not taking an ARM and buying a bigger house on a nicer/quieter street. Hah! We were careful. We bought less house than we wanted, but we are secure now. Most of America is greedy, doesn’t think about consequences, and wants more, more, more, without thinking about personal financial responsibility.

The bailout failed, I believe, because people like me are angry with the current situation. I personally emailed and called my senators and representatives to urge them NOT to vote for this. I would vote for an investment plan IF it promised that the CEOs of these Wall Street entities and banks would not benefit. But this plan does not do that. I think that the rational side will prevail, and some type of plan can be proposed and enacted, if our politicians recognize our ire and punish (not reward) those who put us into this mess. I’ll support a propping up of the banks if it will not reward the CEO’s. I draw the line there.

Wow, Congress and Wall Street have finally seen the light.

I’ve got news for them, most Americans have already adjusted their frivolous spending behavior these past 12 months. I don’t need a new car, and my current one is paid off. My mortgage is completely within reason, and I turn off lights that I don’t need to save on my energy bills.

I work in the IT aspect of the Real Estate industry, and surely my job security is at and all-time low, but I WILL NOT be snuckered into propoganda by people who profit the most from these mortgages.

Susan, why would I loan money to a mortgage company that already takes 30% of my monthly income?

Let the easy credit days die. The faster it happens, the faster the stock market will recover, and banks can be confident that when they lend to other banks, the collateral won’t be high-risk and near-default loans.

The homes & people I know who have had foreclosures were ‘investments’, not first homes – they are still living in their first homes. The foreclosures came b/c the investments didn’t sell, not due to credit cards, medical bills, etc – simply bad/risky investments and banks stupid enough to give them money. As far as the calamidty that is going to fall on us b/c we didn’t pass the bailout being preached by Suze and the Bush admin, how are we supposed to believe them now? The boy who cried wolf (terrorism, WMD in Iraq, etc) routine is old to the American public, we don’t know who or what to believe. The scare tactics are old. And now, the lawmakers up for re-election are afraid of backlash from Main St b/c we are tired of falling for the same old the sky is falling message.

With the failure of Washington Mutual what happens to pension funds? I worked for a company purchased by WaMu. I was 100% vested under the old company. WaMu assumed the pension fund of the old company. Have I lost my retirement pension?

How much of the discord is the derives from the debate between the
adherents of Friedmens Chicago school of economics and the keynesian school? The Republicans do not want any plan that brings government oversight to business, yet they should know that if the economy collapses completely, the collapse would also engender government control but at an even higher level! So they must have some plan, perhaps the WTO will step in and bail the U.S. economy out. The WTO has marginalized people all over the world, guess it’s
just our turn.

bob in SC

I really am worried as I read some of these comments. Apparently, Americans are not only ignorant in world geography, history, and math, but are also ignorant about basic economics.

This isn’t about some Wall Street “fat cats”. This is about the you and your neighbors not being able to get credit. The world economy is based on credit – and if American banks don’t generate it, it doesn’t exist.

The dollar, which is already shrinking against other foreign currency, will become even more worthless. That means that China and any other country with better credit, can come in buy what they want. They’ve been quietly subsidizing the USA all througout the Iraq War. Our lending institutions will be cheap and easy.

We all lose if we don’t cover the debt. Wall Street “fat cats” didn’t hold a gun to our heads to force us to spend money we didn’t actually have. We all rolled the dice, and we lost. Time to pay up.

What about Social Security Disibility Insurance? and Supplemental Security Income?

I haven’t heard anyone say anything about this.

Last 8 years have been great for me, my wife divorced me, I bought her out of the house we had been living in for the last 15 years. It is mine free and clear. I have no debt, I never have invested in the stock market, I don’t have a 401 k. I have plenty of money, not rich just not wasteful. I love the the “bailout failed” I was on the phone for 6 hours this morning calling congress. Let the greeding wallstreet people fail, the banks that offered bad loans, let them fail. And god help us if Obama gets elected!

Amen Rich and Trevor! I agree with both of you! I am a working mother and every day I am exhausted, I work my a** off each and every day, balancing MY budget, making sure I DON’T overspend- NOT taking loans I have NO BUSINESS TAKING…..Don’t ask or expect me to bail your sorry a** out. Sorry big fat Wall Street guys, you have no sympathy from me………I hope you all sink in a sess pool of financial misery and if the bill is passed, I hope you choke on each and every dollar……….Suze I normally respect and agree with you on most things, but not this time. Sorry. This needs to shake itself out…throwing more money at it isn’t fixing the problem, it’s making a new one.

Did any of you actually read the bailout plan? It was set up to be run and overseen by presidential appointees. The “protections” for all of us were listed as to be written later. The oversight committees were all easily over-ridden with just a written explanation. This was the original Paulson plan disguised as a real plan. It was an asset grab pure and simple.

If we want to restore confidence we need to appropriate 10billion for aggressive prosecution and asset seizure throughout our government and wall street. When people start going to jail for this scandle, confidence will start to return to our markets. While were at it – GET RID OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.

Trevor, Nancy Pelosi didn’t create this problem…if anything it was Bush Jr., in my humble opinion our worst “president” ever.

Besides getting us embroiled in two wars (Afghanistan and Iraq) and giving us all tax rebate checks — once in 2001 or 2003 I forget, and once this year, he has done huge damage to the national debt. We as a nation can’t continue to get our money from China and to get in bigger amounts of debt. Where will the 700 billion come from? Where did the money come from to pay for the wars? Republican presidents like to cut taxes and start wars, but they’re not really great at balancing the budget or creating a stable economy.

Let’s hope some of those people who voted Bushie in again in 2004 get to the polls and make a different choice this time. Enough is enough. While the american people are to blame for getting themselves in over their head, who else did they learn to do it from but the goverment?

Well, if we are spending $10B a month in Iraq, why not stop the war save $120B a year? $120B a year x 6 years is $720B!!! Bailout paid for, problem solved!!! And while we’re at it, vote out the Republican scum that put us in this desperate situation in the first place. Their mantra is “fiscal responsibility”, is that code for “let me give my rich buddies a pass, while we screw the middle class royally”?

Yes, let’s blame everything on Nancy Pelosi. That’s just stupid. It’s a little bit of everything: CEO’s, deregulation, people spending beyond their means, useless politicians, horrid President, etc. The stock market lost $1.2 trillion today. Do we really think it’s going to get better if nothing happens??? What’s sickening are these stupid politicial games. Seriously….Pelosi is being blamed for her speech?!?!?!!? Get some big boy/girl pants and do your job without blaming someone else.

I could not agree more with this comment : “We wouldn’t be having this problem had people making 25k a year not bought 300k houses” EXACTLY!

That factor combined with the greed on wall street got us to where we are. Face it – most Americans took advantage of the opportunity to buy a 5 bedroom, 4 car garage McMansion with adjustable rate mortgages. They knew better. They were jsut being greedy. They then proceeded to park two or more leased SUV’s in the driveway and fill the houses with furniture and flat screen tv’s bought on credit. All the while dressing in designer clothes, carrying the newest cell phones and eating out multiple times per week. THese are the same families who claim it takes $800 a month to feed a family of 4. These are the people that those of us who live within our means look at and wonder ‘how they do it’. Well, they don’t and their secret is about to be let out of the bag. They are completely living on credit. They have no cash and all they know is living beyond their means.

Every foolish American who bought a house they knew they couldn’t afford honestly deserves what they have coming to them. The rest of us who pay our mortgages, work hard, buy used cars, shop frugally or second hand – we should not have to bail out the mega rich wall streeters nor the greedy Americans who knew better.

Remember!
Republicans caused this mess, and
Republicans voted 133 nos to 65 yes against the rescue bill.
Republicans voted this bill down!
When you lose your job and can’t send you kid to college
remember that and don’t let them fool you again.

Love ya Suze, but you underestimate just how pissed off we are!

Your’e financial advice is sound, but what experts like you don’t realise is that the line has been crossed way to far for the last time with us.

UNLIKE the GREEDY CEO IDIOTS on Wall Street who are only concerned with how much they can get, we are actually willing to let our personal finances suffer just to kick a CEO’s ass.

Feed em Beans, like they do us.

I am absolutely against this bailout as is. Here are two options I would support:

1. The current bailout WITH meaningful regulation. (If such regulation isn’t included now, it won’t be.)

2. Instead of 700b to Wall Street, 700b in tax cuts to the middle class. We KNOW that will help them with food costs, gas prices.

Bring all our troops home from every foriegn country and tell them to take care of there on self . They don’t care about us leave them all high and dry. Tell our troops your here to protect this country ONLY that would save us millions a month instead of a useless war. We can’t find gas to put in our cars now so why waste it in hummers and f-16 and aircraft carriers. And it would save alot of mens lives which are priceless. We need to demand our men come home now!!!! Let all those freaks kill each other. They have been killihg each other since time began and they will till the LORD returns!!!!!

To Ryan K. Actually, I believe Bush signed an executive order (totally unlawful, but what does that matter) that allows the indefinite stalling of an election in a time of “national crisis” or during an emergency. Bush and his backers (they back both parties really) have done many unlawful, unconstitutional things in the last 8 years. What makes you think they couldn’t get by with putting off an election. I’m sure they would tell us it was for our own good, our own safety, our own security, and I’m sure plenty of people would actually believe them.

I love it …. Americans are so worried about “terrorists” getting into this country from the ‘outside’ when what they really should be worried about is the terrorists attacking the country from the inside …. manipulative, greedy corporations who want no part in government regulation …. “Let the free market economy reign” … until there greed gets the best of them. This country is being attacked from the inside … by corporate terrorists !

I have real disappointment for all my thirty-something friends who hate and blame Bush for things that their elected democratic congress is solely responsible for. (ie: excessive home loans given to people in the name of “fairness”)

All this Obama “Change” talk…things are definitely going to change all right. Capitalism is fair; socialism is not. Democracy according to Obama should be socialized.

Wake up folks.

Why don’t middle class people realize that the Bush administration and the “republican” way of doing things caters to the rich and does nothing for the middle class. The belief that de-regulation was a good thing for the market must see now that people are basically greedy and depending on them to do the right thing for the american people was nai’ve. May GOD help us….

Our economy is two-thirds consumer spending driven. If people stop spending, companies will cut jobs. Then people will spend even less.
The vicious cycle will continue. Our country’s economy is based on greed. It is set up that way. No matter what we do, it seems we have built our economy on a house of cards that is destined to collapse.
We MUST educate ourselves and demand accountability and top voting party lines. Most of the comments I see show most
Americans wil vote based on party and rhetoric.They will support whoever runs for office with the “right” initial by their name (D) or (R)
They will make excuses for their failures so long as they have the right initial. God help America.

American economy is based on greed. Won’t function without it. By the way, Democrats started the subprime bill many years back because they wanted to help the poor american who cannot afford to buy a house and Republicans went along. So I guess it didn’t work.

This situation in this country is in is terrible. Suzy, you have always told us not accumulate credit card debt. That is what this country has been doing. This country has been borrowing money from Communist China to pay for things. We find ourselves with trillions of dollars in debt and yet here we are going to issue another 7 billion dollars to our financial institutions to pay bad loans. I for one am scared to death of losing everything, my job, my home, putting food on the table. We need people to take hold of this problem seriously without fighting each other to resolve this horrible mess. God Bless all of you.

I’m a 59 year old full time working semi-disabled woman. I hoped to retire at 62; I have some IRAs that are mutual funds (now tanking), a bank CD IRA at SunTrust, the beginnings of an annuity – and a mortgage through Wacovia that I am paying with a Wacovia money market account!

I feel like the bottom is falling out of my world, and I don’t know what to do next. Fortunately, I have been able to pay off any credit card debt each month, and I’ve paid off my car loan. Should I switch my mutual fund IRAs into bond funds only to stop further losses? Should I just keep putting money into the annuity and forget the mutual funds? I feel like all my efforts to ensure a decent retirement were a waste of effort. Any suggestions?

Didn’t this start back in June of 07 when the Feds raised interest rates on treasuries to attract more investors beause of the U.S. ’s deficit spending there by competing for capital within the private sector? The spread between the safety of treasuries and these riskier mortgage backed securities narrowed..so investors fled to the safety of treasuries? So did our Federal Government cause this meltdown?

so sick of people saying bush this, bush that.I sure don’t blame him for everything., people think he causes every disaster.. geezus… we’ll just let wall street fail..screw main street because bush is in there….. I have some money too lose and I’m not rich..

If the bailout happens, the government will essentially be printing money. Given the laws of supply and demand, wouldn’t our dollar be worth less? Given our trade deficits, aren’t we going to be paying more for everything we buy?

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING?

I purchased a home 10 months ago in a Long Island, NY market that falls every week. I Purchased something I could afford and baring disaster should be able to pay my bills going forward. The value of homes keep falling and at the end of the day I will own a mortgage that is much greater then the value of my home. Home prices will continue to fall, where does that leave homeowners who lived withing their means and now own property that isn’t worth the debt it carries?

I enjoy Suzie, but when she says the older person does not belong in the stock market which means mutual funds in Traditional IRA then where were we suppose to put the money. We were told years ago thats where it belonged. What gives?

I recently became disabled and had to retire early. I took what pension I had and my 401k and invested with American funds. This is my primary source of income. IF it were you, would you pull what’s left and put it in CD’s or Bond’s or something else? I’m SCARRED!

Hi Suze –

Won’t a bailout just serve to keep home prices artificially high and disproportionate to median wages? Don’t you think the housing market will come down more? Shouldn’t it?

For example, the median wage in my state is 65k. According to conventional wisdom (aka old banking standards) – people should buy homes that are at the most 2 and a half times their annual income. By that math, median home prices in my state should be about 150k – but they’re still around 470k.

How can you advocate this bailout knowing that home prices are way out of what people can afford? It’s not going to fix that!

When Congress leaves for two days while the US market crumbles around us really shows how important this issue is to them. I wish I could take a couple of days off when the pressure is on!! This is the most important time in recent financial history…get to work on it now!!

Suze,

Are the people who left the market today and caused the big drop then not “sophisticated investors”. I would be willing to bet that the drop occurred because of big institutional investors dumping their shares because they were hacked off that a bailout was not done. And not a bunch of scared grandmothers going to T-bills. I agree there are bargains but you can lose a lot of money waiting for those bargains to finally bottom out.

BUT … what if you are me and you are days from closing on your 1000 sq ft Boston loft… got it at a major price reduction with a 5/5 ARM 20 % down through a credit union. The closing is set for FRIDAY! Am I aCRAZY? Am i the only person in the country about to buy a home? Should I put on the breaks?

As a relatively young person working in the arts I have no 401K and have spent the last 10 years contributing to my own Roth IRA. With today’s intense drop in the stock market and doom and gloom on the horizon, I wonder if right now is a good time to contribute to my IRA or perhaps to weather the storm for a while. Also, as everything is crumbling around us, where are the opportunities to use the fiasco to benefit someone like myself who can wait 30 years before seeking returns on my investments?

I keep hearing politicians from both sides saying they are considering the “American People” when making their decisions. If this is the case and this is such a huge and critical situation that is going to effect everyone why don’t they put this out for the “American People” to vote on?

Banks refinance personal loans without credit checks can they do this for mortgages? Can they extend the terms or lower the interest rates for existing mortgages? Can they do this without credit checks or refinancing? If they can do this why won’t they?

i’m glad it didnt pass i want a house but know i cant afford it right now so sorry for all the IDIOTS who tried to live above their means no bail out for stupid bussiness decisions and greedy people i’m alright with 2015 until it all resets NO BAILOUT

I am out of work right now. I have a credit line with Wachovia who just sold to Citibank. Should I take out money before my credit line is frozen in case I need money to get me through the tough times?

So on Thursday, is this bill going to be presented again? If so, in what possible form?

Is there any guarantee that this bailout will resurect the economy?

Silly thought, but what about putting a FREEZ on ALL ARM’s??? Would this not help many people stay in their homes?

Oh please. The stock market will come back.

People who are retired will need to hold onto the portfolios and their houses and live on their social security.

Good thing they have it!

I let myself get in credit card debt over 10 years ago, then I went though the path of robbing peter to pay paul to make my payments, until I was over my limit on most of my cards. I tried to go throught a credit card couceling and making one payment a month. I did this for over three years, but after my car broke down, I had to buy used car to get to work. That was over five years ago, I am still tring to pay off all of my cards. I don’t understand how these banks are in so much debt with all the intrest, late payment, and over the limit fees I have been charge over the years. I cannot seem to get ahead.

I have work at the same place for the last 27 years, and my income has not kept up with the cost of living.

Hello Susie, I just like to know why credit card companies are allow to keep giving credit and increasing credit card limits when they know we are to far in dept. I owe 70,000.00 just on credit cards and make only 55000.00 a year. I pay my credit cards on time each month but need to keep using them to survive. What should I do because I dont want to stop paying or file bankruptcy but I think I’m fighting a losing battle. Sometimes I just want to give up because I had to take my 18 yer old kid out of college because I can’t pay for it. Please advise!

This bailout is corporate welfare brought about by people who mismanaged their money and people who thought they could pass on high risk loans to unsuspecting investors. People who were duped into buying these bundled collateralized debt products should get something back. The people who bought more house than they could afford should suffer. They got greedy. The investment banks got greedy. They did stupid things with other people’s money. That is unforgivable and stupidity should have a price. WHy should I have to fork over more hard earned tax dollars to bail out the stupid? Let ‘em rot. I have cash in the bank and won’t be hurting. If I lost my job, I wouldn’t expect a government bailout. So these guys should get nothing.

By the way, fixing our national healthcare nightmare would go a long way to keepng lower and middle-class people from bankruptcy which will have many benefits for our economy. It might be a form of socialized medicine but it seems to work in many other countries and they keep a lid on healthcare costs at the same time.

What are the best case and worst case scenarios that we face?

why not loan the money… and expect a return within a few years?
Why do we give them the money?

Instead of bailing out the banks we should be thinking how to bypass them and make koans available directly to people, small business and corporations.

Is this a good time to write ourselves a check out of our home equity line, pay the interest on it, and stash the cash in an FDIC insured savings account? Sounds crazy, I know, but it strikes me that this is one way to secure some money out of our house before everything falls apart even more. Please note, I’m a moderate investor with no credit card debt. Thanks.

so should we be thinking bankruptcy?

Suzie, almost everyone I know got out of the stock market months ago and 50% of Americans were never in the market so I think you are going a bit too far in your comments that everybody is seeing their retirement go down. Stock prices were inflated because Americans were spending beyond their means which could not continue even with a bailout and home prices are going down but they were overpriced as a result of all of the subprime lending and a correction was in order. Today just sped up a correction that was inevitable.

the disaster capitalism…put/change 401 to minimum with the company match. Take cash and buy silver and gold where you have the control of these assets. Pay down credit like there,s no tomorrow. Do it now

Again, why blame the government when the true problem lies w/in all the Americans who signed the dotted line knowing they couldn’t afford it. What if I dangled a gold string w/ dynamite that will explode in 4 years, for free would you take it? Appears that’s what happened here.

Maybe our educational instutions are to blame. Put more focus on educating EVERYONE on economics regardless of major and also make them take an exit exam on common sense before entering the real world. For those who blame Bush or anyone in government are only passing the buck to make them feel better. Its not what you want to hear but it needs to be said. Let’s take our lumps and hunker down for a few years. I highly doubt it will take 15 years for the turnaround b/c any improvement from today would be a light at the end of the tunnel in my mind.

Greed is the common thread. Greed among the American People, greed among the lenders, appraisers, and banks. How could the government possibly benefit from all of this? So don’t blame them.

Suze,
Many people I have talked to regarding the bailout are under the impression that our income taxes are going to go up immediately to fund the bailout- I am under the impression that taxes will not be raised but my current taxes will be re-directed to the bail out fund. Which is correct

I really would like to know if it is true that an offer by the Japanese was rejected bc a better offer was expected from the Govt. If so why not let the market correct itself with private investment at true value? If a profit is expected as we have been told, wouldn’t private investors fall in line with the Govt buyin off the table? Let the elite who have been scatching each others backs put their money on the line. How about the oil companies with their obscene profits. If more than the increase in oil prices was passed on for these profits, wasn’t that gouging the consumer. Let Washington impose windfall taxes retroactively for the buyin and do something instead for the rest of the housing market that is about to foreclose. Taxpayers would not object.

Are you noticing how all the so-called “experts” (like Suze) are saying that with the bailout everything “should” be okay? They have no idea.

There were so many holes left in the bailout plan. For instance, CEOs and other top executives of these failing financial institutions who already had contracts for golden parachutes were going to get to keep them.

Not a cent of taxpayers’ money should ever go to these losers.

Okay Suze

You have been a proponent of the bailout, but many Americans are reacting against it, probably because they have lost trust in their government to tell them the truth. I think the President failed to explain the reasons for believing a financial crisis was in progress with worse imminent, nor how the proposed plan would adress the crisis. Can you set that out so people can see it?

Should I take the cash out of my Fidelity account that is not insured and put it into an insured bank account.

what’s with the disjunct between big media/ most of those in power and the masses? Most polls (not helped by people like lou dobbs) show that most americans would vote against the bailout. It’s as if you guys are having to really spell things out to the masses about how this crisis affects them/ will affect them. Is there some sort of an intellectual chasm here? Are most americans stupid?

I wish the media would stop calling this a Wall Street bailout. It is misleading and this is what is getting the public up in arms. Wall Street bought the paper our local banks sold them including loans to you and me. If the banks cannot continue to raise money as has been said over and over again, we are all going to suffer immeasurably.

It’s interesting that regular folks have a grasp on something that all the so-called “experts” seem to miss: that INVESTING in real things and meaningful programs — such as infrastructure and universal health care — is a far more powerful solution than just propping up the debt-based house of cards. The right yowls about not having a true free market…yet the insane free lunch on Wall Street is precisely what happens when the market has way too much “freedom”. Invest….don’t just magically produce “capital” without real world assets or benefits. This disaster is a fitting cap to the Bush /Cheney era with its draining of prosperity to benefit the rich. In a just world the entire bunch would be tried and imprisoned. (PS: this is entirely a creation of the Bush “administration”…although its really just a cabal of white collar criminals. Clinton left the country with a surplus….and look how far everything has gone to Hell.)

Suze, Being a very small business owner who has payroll, taxes and benefits to pay out every week for our 28 employees, these are scary times that we are in. For the life of me I cannot believe that somehow everyone cannot see that this bill was not designed to bailout the banks but to help out the everyday Joe like me that depends upon credit (and my customers credit as well) so everyone gets paid. If my credit goes away its not that big Wall Street tycoon that gets hurt, no its all of the employees and suppliers that depend upon us for their livelihood.
And by the way lets look at the real cause of the mess that we are in, We all know that banks made all kinds of bad home loans that never should of happened, but lets also have some accountability from the people that were accepting these bad loans. If you or I buy a house that we cannot afford, or if we refinance our house to buy things that we cannot afford, or if we invest in real estate that we can’t afford. Then maybe we are as much to blame as anyone in Wall Street. No the real culprit here is that too many people have no idea on how to live within their means.

I am an International MBA student in my Final Year MBA in Finance.What suggestions do you have?

Suzie:

I am 53 and am putting 6% into my retirement savings (75% company match) and it is in the following: I have $80,000 in a AIG Valic Money market (I moved it out of stocks last year when I lost $30,000). I also have $120,000 in a Thrift Plan account with M & I, and that I also have moved that into their Money market account. Is it safer to move it to their fixed income account? It’s not insured by FDIC in Money Markets but it is insured by FDIC if it’s fixed income, correct?
I have only about $2,000 credit card debt, and $225,000 balance on a home worth about $375,000. Thanks.

I moved all my 401k to my companies stable value fund (”guaranteed” return, adjusted quarterly) in April. Am I safe? It does matter “near term” – I am 62…..

Suze,
I”m 60 and have had all my retirement in an IRA for the past 8 years, it is down to $200,000, I am going to stop taking out for as long as I can stand it, but should I get it out of the market now, or ride it out? I am still working and will have to refinance my house if I stop taking out of the IRA as my job doesn’t quite bring me in enough with my monthly bills.

Why should a person be able to buy a house without making a down payment of, say, at least 10 % or hopefully more? What part of adjustable rate mortgages was hard to understand? And do I really trust Henry Paulson since I learned that he made $38 million in one of his years with Goldman, Sachs? What’s wrong with just making a million dollars per year? What do they teach these guys when they attend prestigious colleges and universities? Clever ways to be greedy?Golden parachutes? Heck, how about serious jail time?
Do we really need gov’t regulations that say “Don’t steal other people’s money”?

I’m 65 yrs young. 4/5 of my money is in a dollar valuation mutual fund. 1/5 in an index fund. Should I consider moving the money from the dollar valuation mutual fund to an FDIC bank account, or CD’s? (Would have to do several different accounts, to protect each $100,000.) I’ve been told my account is covered by the SIPC up to $500,000. Should I buy more of the index fund? Should I just leave all alone?

Suze,

I’ve been approved for a student loan through Sallie Mae that will essentially take effect in January when I start school. Should I be worried about my loans potentially being reduced or taken away?

This is wrong. I don’t have a problem with the government helping banks, but I’m livid that we are not holding anyone accountable.

Insanity is oft defined as doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Without changing dramatically, we are just going to repeat ourselves.

Unless, Suze, you can tell us all why this isn’t going to be thrown away money again… in the meantime, that dollar of ours is sucking further and further…. hate to say it, but this is what happened to Russia 18 years ago.

Trevor Guerlain, how was it Nancy Pelosi’s fault? Because her speech made some Republicans mad? So then it was ok for them to basically say, “Oh Nancy…since you said bad things about us, we’re just not going to vote for a decent solution to a horrible problem. We’ll just take our votes and go home! Let the little people suffer because you offended us!” If that’s the thought process of the Republicans, then I say BRING ON THE DEMOCRATS!

suzie, i have a 403b and planned to retire in 7 yrs. 35% is in the stock market. the rest is in bonds / stable value accounts. should i get out the stock market and invest 100% in a stable value account. thanx

How does all of this mess affect Roth IRA?

I am a 73 year old retiree living on a pension and Socia Security; What affect will the financial crisis have on my income?

Suze,

I’ve been approved for a student loan through Sallie Mae that will essentially take effect in January when I start school. Should I be worried about my loans potentially being reduced or taken away? How will this crisis affect students?

Funny how the conservatives are all for the free enterprise system and reducing the size of government until they get into trouble. Then their allegedly core principles go out the window and they want the taxpayers to bail them out. This is a perfect metaphor for George Bush’s entire life: one screw up after another but he can always turn to daddy when he gets in over his head. Hey, don’t worry, McCain’s financial genius, Phil Gramm, said it’s only a mental recession anyway.

I have 500,000.00 policy term life insurance with New York life insurance, I have converted 150,000 to whole life that will have a cash value for me at the age of 52. I will continue to convert most of the policy within 10 years.

My question is will this type of insurance effect the cash value due to all this money problems in washington?

I chose this type of saving for me over the 401k program, because it will give me more cash value than 401k

Things to ponder,
Does anyone think Ceo and top executive pay should be tied to and based on company performance? Mine is.
Do small business owners take little or no pay if their business has down-turns? I might not get a paycheck.
Do most businesses keep their accountants on the grindstone until they close the annual books by a deadline date? I do.
Should politicians go to work every day until a national crisis is resolved? They better!
Shouldn’t all members of congress accept responsibility equally since they have all been in congress at the same time? I think so.

There is another option to the bailout plan. Make the companies pay off and work off their debt. This can be done without any legislation and could start tomorrow if Cox wanted to. The republicans have such a plan if the Democrats are respectful enough of the American People to listen. The Dems wanted the Republicans to swallow their plan (developed by the foxes that were in charge of the chicken coup). Thank goodnes the Republicans and 95 democrats listened to the people; the only ones whose opinions should matter!! WE THE PEOPLE….Let the free markets work this out. We don’t need the government running our lives and throwing us into billions dollars of debt. The sky is NOT falling. It’s fear that the Dems are selling; not a long-term viable solution.

Hi,

I am 52 yrs old and I have my retirement money in AIG. Should I roll it over to another company?

Thanks

Wake up people! Yes, the Wall street guys took too many risks and got burned. Yes, they got paid stupid amounts of money for it. Yes, it’s maddening. FORGET ABOUT THAT. Check your emotions at the door and face up to what is staring us in the face. It’s a big black economic hole. This “investment” (don’t call it a bailout) is imperative and we’re going to have to buy into it real fast or we will feel economic pain like we have never seen. The financial markets are about to sieze up as a result of this and we need to get it going again. Period. The “system” that encouraged the risks and paid these guys too much can be fixed and regulated after it’s stable once again.