I like Russell Crowe's solution on Jay Leno last night: give every American $1 million... it's cheaper than the $700B bail out, and would REALLY stimulate the economy.

Exactly who is bailing us out? And who will we owe as a result?

For years the Oil Companies have been making hundreds of billions in PROFITS, without regulation,
Gasoline is just as much of a Utility as electircity, so this B S about free enterprise for the oil companies don't fly. Profits made by the oil companies played a MAJOR roll in this mess. It wouldn't
be a unjustified to get the oil companies to kick back 2 or 3 hundred billion or more. Just a thought.

That money could be used as a stimulis package. Help folks get back on track.

You can't but a new chair or a washing machine or a bike for your kid or home improvement, if all of your money has to go in the gas tank so you can get to work, so you can buy gas, so you can get to work, so you can but gas..........

Congress should NOT pass the bailout bill.....too little thought has been given to it....it is the way we rushed to war with Iraq....with this administration's track record, why would anyone think the plan was valid. I am against giving this much power to an administration with 4 months to live....let the chips fall where they may instead of postponing the inevitable to same this president's "legacy"

I placed my 401k bet and lost $3000. As with most Americans, I can't afford that hit.....but should I worry??? Someone will bail me out, right??

Why 700 billion? Isn't that a little bit too much? Why aren't these corporations or investments that need the bailing out insured for this kind of situation? Isn't that what the fees you pay are for?

NO! Let the system be FORCED to fix its inherent problems rather than putting this almost 1 trillion dollar bandaid on it. Funny we lost a trillion of funny money in one day and now we want to invest 1 trillion of real money to bring back the funny money that is maybe just an illusion so rich people can get richer. Maybe letting these companies fail will cause a more diverse solution to the market they meet and a more stable one.. if you risk big, you can earn big as all these fat cats have been, so why should the taxpayers bail them out when they loose big... and as for our loss in 401K etc in the stock market, that is the chance we all take when we invest in people who care more about making money and taking our money than in the stability of our country and the needs of the majority. Let them fail, for we have no guarantee that it is throwing more bad money after good.. know when to fold'em and now is the time to let these greedy bastards fold!

The whole mess is because no one bothered to explain the "bail out" to the American people. Folks heard about it, called their congressman/woman, and said "no" to bailing out Wall Street and rich CEOs. When they made those calls, I don't think they realized the impact to everyone RIGHT NOW. The House should have made the decision to help Main Street Americans for them and not been so greedy as to think they wouldn't get re-elected if they voted their conscience instead of listening to a few that panicked and called their representative. Get it passed now... even though we don't like or trust the Bush administration, this time they're right... we need it passed.

yes we need bailout this if ceo's are not going to benifit then this money is for us for people becouse if comapany goes down jobs goes down and we people are job less these money is for our benifit becouse we should know that for some new company to be as big as aig and wa mu will take lot time and till that time we will be in recession

I think people are happy that it didn't pass, Barclay. I know , I am.

My question is "How much would it cost if the Federal Government purchased all of the houses currently in foreclosure and just sold them through FHA?" Lets use easy numbers 1 million homes at $417, 000 each(conventional loan limit). $417 billion. Cheaper and more effective.

It seems to me that it would be far less costly and the Fed would have tangible assets to recover. This would also free up the capital of all of these financial firms who are at the center of this mess.

Honesty, no bill should be passed until the American people have been given more information. Why aren't our leaders doing more explaining to the public instead of finger pointing and blaming...oh yeah, politics. It is pretty sad that congress has forgotten why they are there. Not for any one party, but for the good of America and it's citizens. It is time for doing what is right and making compromises. The President and the Democrats seem to have been able to come together for the good of the nation, now is the time for the Republicans to do the same. I dont want the bill and the debt it entails, but I dont see we have any other choice. This bailout is not only needed to help Wall Street & Main Street, but our nation as a whole, especially as it relates to our standing in the world.

I think this installing fear into the public is not needed. I for one think that we ought to let these companies fail. We need to learn how live without credit again. I am on disability with MS and dong fine so far with what I have. I hate to see my nephews children and possibly their children paying for all this. I read the one hundred and ten pages and thank goodness the bill was not passed. Why should we give the Treasury all this money without knowing who is going replace them in three months. Thank you for hearing me out . My mother and I both enjoy your show. You are fair then the rest.
Have a good one,
Marilou MArtin

HELLOOOO! How come no one is talking about this failure to pass the Bail-out is a political move by Republicans?? It's not a coincidence that congress will regroup on Thursday, the same day as the much anticipated VP debate. This is not about Repulican's lack of leadership- it is about republican strategy to try and overshadow VP debate at expense of American people as trillions are lost in stock market.

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

If congress wants to the economy flow they should send a check to the legal citzens for $50,000, they could purchase cars, pay down on existing and new home pay off bills and watch the economy flow up to Wall Street. Put a cap on intrest rates charged by credit cards With that kind of stimlus, more jobs would open here and the money right back into the states Making where it belongs. Put import tax on the things that even on the are owned companies that by the fat cats in our own country. We were once one of the most self efficent, educated productive place in the world this is how our country found ourself in this dark situation

Everyone knows that Nancy Pelosi has got problems, so it would be believable that she would make a statement that she did Monday before the vote. They didn't have enough votes so she made this calculated statement so it would rile the conservatives and the bill would not pass. It would appear to the public the the other party didn't support the bill. Now Obama can play good cop and say that's bad to make the statement and Pelosi is bad cop. The Dems are in control of the house and senate why couldn't she get the votes? 12 members on her committee would not vote for it. She told her fellow party members that where up for election not to vote for it for political reasons, thinking the con's would pull the vote through, it back fired. Now they can blame it on con's. How could this problem happen when the dem's are in control of both houses? Can you answer that without a bias slant? Why didn't the dem's pass legislation so this problem wouldn't have happened, I hear all of them saying they warned against it, why didn't they do anything about it, Bush didn't veto anything that pertained to this?

All I saw yesterday was a bunch of spoiled children on Wall Street having a tantrum because they didnt get their way. The Asian and European Markets behaved in a more intelligent fashion. If nothing else,the reactionary behavior of Wall Street yesterday just made my wish to NOT BAIL OUT these people even stronger. Dont think we dont know what may happen. We are done with the fear mongering in this Country!

Has the democratic leadership considered going forward with a demo sponsored bill (i.e, don't bother with the 'bi-partisan' effort) that would NOT include the bailout money but would include consumer targeted protections only, such as mortgage adjustments in bankruptcy court, increased FDIC protection, etc. This would be a 'stage one' plan aimed at protecting main street..The Main Street First Protection Plan. If a bill like this were to get through the House with support from the 94 demo holdouts in the house, and is clearly NOT a bailout or a capitulation to the Treasury, it would send a message to the public that Congress is capable of acting and a message to the house republicans that no action on their part is not good enough. And it might set the stage in public opinion for a followup bill to deal with credit problems on Wall Street.

Even with a master's in accounting I don't pretend to understand all this, but right now I think the ones calling for no bailout do not understand that this bailout was not going to help just the fat cats on Wall Street or in big corporations – this is about being able to continue to do business as usual – to be sure that at the end of the week your boss would have your paycheck so you could pay your bills and buy your family food and shelter, etc. I don't like what the bailout will do to our deficit but I like even less what no bailout will do to our families. So yes, they should pass a bailout. And people for the bailout should be calling their representatives and telling them that – if all they hear is "don't do it" they will never know just how many of their constituents want them to pass it.

Annie Kate
Birmingham AL

If you folks that benefited from the, $250k and up per year, 'trickle down' tax cuts, want to see the market get better, just jump right out there and buy something. You wanted a 'trickle down' economy. Well, you got it. So quit whining, and get out there and START TRICKELING.

I am glad that te american people finally se that this is a bail out for the greedy. If we have 700 billion dollars to bail out wall stret how come we never have enough funds to provide decent housing, education and rehab for those individuals who are in dire need.We ay social workers little or nothing and teachers also. Bu congress wants to sit on their fat butts and bail out the rich? How about this. We let the chips fall where they may and perhaps we as a country will realize that when you get yourself in front of Jesus and all that he commands us to do as far as justice,honor and to do what is right there are serious consequnces to pay. Christians are just as responsible for this mess and the secular world.Now it is time to pay the piper and we do not wat to do so. Unfortunately, we made the choice by the people we put in office.We have to trust God to lead us in the right direction and to have the right laders. Those who are really honest, moral and know that God is the only source of divine inervention and wisdom and that he is in complete control.

To answer those final questions ... YES ! If Wall Street totally fails then companies fail and if companies fail people lose jobs and reitrement savings and home and this causes more people to lose jobs and savings and homes in a never ending downward spiral. There is a lot of blame to be shared by many but the fact remains that each of us is so interwined with the next for overall financial, social and economic stability that some action must be taken. This would not have been the case I believe if some PROACTIVE actions were taken to control 'The Markets' a decade ago but that is now water under the bridge.

Those folks that are saying let the banks and financial institutions fail will sooner or later feel the effects when the companies they work for fail or when their mortgages are called in or when their retirement plans are wiped out. When they can't send their kids to college and even if they can do so find that there are no jobs for them when they graduate. Short of hording Gold Bars under ones pillow no one will utilmately be imune to such depravity if nothing is done no matter how 'secure' they might feel at the moment.

Russell Crowe on Jay Leno last night had the best idea. Take the $700 Billion and give each American household $million. That would certainly spur the economy and give the money to the people who are deserving.

I think that congress will pass a bailout plan eventually...when they decide to get back to work that is! We can't afford for them not to. I mean if Wall Street sees that there will be no bill passed than they will go crazy like they did yesterday and the Dow will plummet again and who really knows how bad it will get. We can't afford to gamble and find out. Too many people lost their butts yesterday...and a lot of them were senior citizens losing their 401k's and having no retirement money now. That is crazy!!

I think that the bill should not have any money for ACORN for one. And also it should make sure that we have no golden parachutes for the nuts that got us into this mess to begin with. And I don't think that we should bail out people who can't pay their mortgage. No one forced them into a house that they couldn't afford! Why should we bail them out!? They need to see that their actions have consequences just like everyone else. It's not up to me to pay for their house! I bought a house that I could afford and have it payed off so why should I pay for someone else's!?

Cindy...Ga.

if the stock market can rally back, why cant we wait and make a proper plan instead of rush to judgement on a failed plan?
One last effort on the current adminsitration to cash in our our tax dollars. It is not enough that the war could pay for this bail out by ending the madness. And my final comment: why do all republicans seem to encourage war, fighting, invasion, take, de regulate and yet spend billions?
Pattern?

they should not pass the bill. it is the american peoples money we should get it to pay off our morgages and let it trickle up instead of it trickling down. if they give it to the big banks, then by the time it reaches you and me our credit scores will be bad, because will won't be able to pay all our bills and that will reflect on our credit therefore we wont be able to get a loan anyway. so it looks like the hard working americans will be the ones left behind to suffer. i think its all about who has the money and thats whos gonna get it. not us the ones who need it.

As a taxpayer and an investor, I do not appove of a taxpayer bailout / rescue of wall street. The free markets will sort this out on it's own.

First, great question.

You know what they say never get emotional or make a rash decision when it comes to money.I think the real problem is no one in congress really understands the real complexity and severity of this financial mess. Plus its east to blame Bush and reps. The thing is Bush had nothing to do with this at all. Thats a well documented fact. Pelosi and Obama and Franks look stupid to blame him. I think before we do anything to bailout the market with our tax dollars there needs to a investigation of how we really got here,the truth not political blame game. I know how we got here but its to complicated to explain. I think this bailout in the current form would allow the same criminal business transactions to continue. I dont want to put a bandage on a problem that will keep happening. I agree with the economists. Mr Buffett is solely concerned with his stock. When you have people who cheat the integrity of the system with empty loans based not on actual realized value or proof of income you are lying and that is a criminal act you should be out of a house not bailed out by us. I want a bailout plan that has been specifically written to buy out only the financial institutions who have massive amounts of those subprime mortgage backed securities. Not for helping special intersts like Acorn.This is strictly about all the sectors in our financial institutions here and abroad.

This really started in the 70s its taken a long time to get here. Its not going to be fixed over night. I just hope a lesson is learned. If something seems to good to be true it is. You cant get something for nothing. I think Paulson is in a panic because he used to be on Wall Street. I think the economists are right.

You're neglecting to add it went up over 200 points this morning. The market will eventually correct itself. It's this whole instant gratification that got us into this mess. If people saved and diversified – this wouldn't be a huge issue as it is. No more knee jerk reactions. No more bailouts!

The Bail Out was not passed because for a change we the people are having our voices heard. Thats what a democracy is all about. For far to long the big shots, politicians, hedge funders and the like have done as they pleased and to the rest of America by their actions have basically said "let them eat cake". I am totally against a bail out, in our free market economy if you make unwise decisions you fail. Wall Street needs to quit whining. Main Street has been in a recession for over a year and we are barely making ends meet we have nothing else to give.

Here's what people don't understand...Main Street has been feeling this problem since 2000. Guess what, I don't have any 401K or savings because I was wiped out by medical costs and the loss of my job.

Not only is no one bailing me out with my mortgage, debt, or medical bills, but also I was still taxed on my 401K withdrawal.

So, I really don't care about lost jobs, lost savings or unavailable credit. I have no job, no savings and no credit!! It's time for everybody to feel the pain.

$700B Rescue plan!!! Here's a plan...Why don't you just pay off all our mortgages and car notes, extend unemployment, have a fixed price for Cobra, and suspend early withdrawal taxes!!

Let the market correct itself!

I agree with alot of the people that have been on the news giving comments about the bail out. Give the tax payers back the $ by distributing the funds to the americans. That will jump the economy. Homes will be paid off, debts can be paid off and the $ will immediately hit the economy creating jobs. Its a win-win for everyone and not just Wall Street.

Yes, the world's financial markets and America's credit market require some action to soothe nerves. In a global economy these House Republicans will take down the world economy, in their spineless cowering under the heat for getting us in the mess we are in .

Speaking for myself, who has no credit card debt and living on rent, working for a major software firm. I think bailout should not happen. As I forsee no immediate of late impact on myself if this bailout is denied.

Yes, it may hurt alot of people stuck with a lot of loan and that is a fundamental problem with the capitalist system we live in, spend more than you can afford. If, people can curb their desires and spend according to their pay checks we will not be in this mess.

But you cant blame the people all this much since the capitalist system promotes just one thing, live on loan for your whole life and be slave to the credit card companies.

Are you kidding me! Congress wants us to entrust the economic bailout to the former CEO of Goldman Sachs?! We have had enough of Politicians in general, Democrat and Republican. We don't need a bailout, Americans have been through tough times before and we can weather this without writing a check to Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke!

Here’s what people don’t understand…Main Street has been feeling this problem since 2000. Guess what, I don’t have any 401K or savings because I was wiped out by medical costs and the loss of my job.

Not only is no one bailing me out with my mortgage, debt, or medical bills, but also I was still taxed on my 401K withdrawal.

So, I really don’t care about lost jobs, lost savings or unavailable credit. I have no job, no savings and no credit!! It’s time for everybody to feel the pain.

$700B Rescue plan!!! Here’s a plan…Why don’t you just pay off all our mortgages and car notes, extend unemployment, have a fixed price for Cobra, and suspend early withdrawal taxes!!

Let the market correct itself!

NO! – Let the Market clean up its own mess by taking its natural course. The American tax payers are being set up for the biggest heist of American Tax dollars in its history, and for what? To buy nothing more than Junk bonds and bailout greedy financial institutions and foreign banks, and the kicker is, with no guarantees to the American Tax payer that this act of stupidity will even stop the crisis – Who says crime doesn’t pay!!!!

I don't believe that the stock market are rebouding on hopes that the plan will be passed. What we are seeing here is investors waiting for the oppurtunity to buy stock at a big discount. The doomday scenario painted by Bush, Paulson and Bernanke is just a fear propaganda to force congress to approve this bailout in a rush. And I wonder why, is it because they are afraid that the people will wake up and see that there is no doomsday.

No, Congress should not bail out wall street or any street! The American people may suffer dearly for these mistakes but I would like to remind the American people to read an article in the New York Times dated September 30, 1999 with the heading "Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending" . Was this not when Bill Clinton was President? America has not to quit living above their means... Let the Executives pay their way out of this. Where was the financial committe that this watch falls under. If an individual fails on a loan the government doesn't come to their aide (this bail out is not for the individual tax payers or borrowers) it is for the large corporations and ceo's. Let themDig in their pockets and dig some of that honey out of the jar that they took. I know how to grow and plant a potatoe. How many in Washington do?

So far the stock market seems to be moving up from the tremendous drop. Honestly, at this point, I dont know wether or not the bailout is neccessary, I do know it is a bad idea but may be the only option we have. I hope they revise it to a more apropriate and agreeable standard. Perhaps congress should play a waiting game, let it build over time and by then the economy will fix itself. I am just kidding. I think there was more to it honestly then simply angry constituents. Fact is alot of congress folk didnt like this bill and still dont. What ever happens, I just hope its the right thing because this situation is extremely complex that we have people saying that the defeat is still a good thing despite the big drop and others saying this is such a tragedy that those who opposed have no excuse.

I am so tired of hearing the media and some in Congress say that the American people don't understand the bailout and that's why it's so unpopular. Please don't speak down to us. We get it. We just happen not to agree. I am an attorney. I understand what the plan is attempting to accomplish and I have read most of the text of the bill, which is probably more than most of the members of Congress have done. My personal stake in all of this is that I bought a very expensive home in a very expensive suburb of Washington, DC at the height of the real estate boom. I am now looking at my ARM adjusting in 2 years and I am underwater on my home. So, frankly, I am much less concerned with the credit markets than I am with the ability to write down my mortgage, which if I cannot accomplish, may lead to foreclosure and bankruptcy, at which point I won't be able to get credit anyway. This whole mess, at bottom, was caused by falling home values and forclosures. If legislators don't address the REAL problem and address the problems of people like me, it's simply a handout to the Wall Street factcats. So don't tell me I don't get it.....

I conferred with a financial manager in my office who has demonstrated sound judgment in her job and home as it pertains to money management. I asked her what should be done to restore confidence in our government.

1She strongly recommended completely squashing the idea of a bailout; 2. Give every American 18 years of age and over their equal portion of the $700 million to jumpstart the economy; 2. Fire the CEOs of each of these failing financial institutions, pursue a criminal investigation and prosecute all those responsible.

She also has some excellent recommendations regarding the overhaul of our penal system that would probably make these CEOs and other criminals think twice before committing such atrocities that we will post at a later date.

No to the bailout plan. If the government (Fannie & Freddie) hadn't tried in the 90's to get people to take out loans they couldn't afford, then we wouldn't be in this situation. Do not let the government bail this out. We need the market correction and we would be better off weathering this ride and helping retirees who have lost everything and who are unable to work keep a reasonable roof over head. Mortgage companies should be required to allow homeowners to continue to stay in ther current home (paying on the loan) until the loan can reviewed for fitness to the purchaser and/or lender. This may take a couple years but at least the money still flows. The biggest loosers are the wealthy retirees and the stockholders. Everything is a risk, walking across the street is a risk.

I feel if they called it what it really is. The first extortion payment, maybe congress will pass it. After all isn’t that what it really is? In short the top Wall street CEO’s won’t lend the banks any money unless we buy their bad dept at an inflated price The American people are being held ransom.

Let's see . . . Congress lends my money to Wall Street banks who don't have enough money to lend money so they have enough money to lend my money to back me and still have enough money to cover the money they lost lending money and make a profit lending my money which I lent to them via Congress back to me. Unless they don't feel like it.
Simple. Sounds fair. Wonder if they have a bridge to sell me? On credit of course.

For anyone who wants this congress to do anything that might even look like a plan.......the whole bill is on the internet.Get at least 110 pages ready if you want a print out. Then read the Whole thing.........remember.....some will not have read it.Then make your voice heard. to whoever may come back into town for however long it might be....some will not want to be bothered. Some want the stocks to crash and banks to fail and people to be homeless all accross this land without food,gas,shelter of any kind ,and of course,,,no medicine.I suppose someone may give them water to drink.....who knows.......at least this is how it sounded when I listened to some of the spoiled little children who had their feelings hurt and walked out.Such leaders we have.......NOT !!!!

May God help us........

Gentlemen it would be more effective to send $1 millon dollars to each of our 300 million citizens to stimulate the economy. This would save all those due for foreclosure, it would pay off most of their other debts and leave some cash for purchases. With this stimulous package the first candidate to endorse the idea is guaranteed a victory in November. We would have all learned a valuable lesson and there would be no bad debts for the Wall Street mob to have to complain about. If we are to have socialism let's start at the bottom and let it trickle up for a change. I will be delighted to send you my bank information for a direct deposit so you ccan save postage and printing. . Think about it! Sometimes a simple answer is the best answer.

Like someone said to me at work yesterday. Why dont the Federal Government, if they want to fix this, pay off each home that is currently in foreclosure. If someone is paying their mortgage with no problem, they dont qualify. But if you are currently in foreclosure or a payment or two behind, have the FG send each person/family a check (that can only be used to pay in full their mortgage) and have the economy stimulated that way. The rule behind that also is that no one will be able to refi to take any equity for 5 years. WIth the money that's left in families pockets now that they dont have a mortgage, they will spend on cars, tv's, vacations etc. You name it. But I am not for a plan to nowhere...such as a bridge to nowhwere which is where this bail out takes us.

The first Candidate to accept this challenge to try Trickle Up instead of Trickle DOWN will be President.

I would really like to see some balanced reporting on this and other issues. Prior to the House vote yesterday, CNN was very negative on the bailout plan. After the vote and stock market crash, CNN has changed coverage to start including personal stories from "main street". It's clear CNN is responding to appeals by the Administration to turn public opinion.

I would really like to see more balanced reporting.

I would like to know why the people responsible for all the fraudulent mortgage practices are not being required to give back the the money they obtained from the public. Wouldn't a massive payback be a good start to reversing this current crisis? Why are we not hearing about the F.B.I. investigation into this matter?

I guess if congress does not pass the bill to bail those companies out, we can always go back to bartering like in the 19th century!., exchanging goods for goods if we run out of money!

James H is on the right train of thought - but the numbers are more like 7.5Million homes lost to foreclosure at an avg value of 200k (this figure is comes from IndyMac's bank owned houses as of 6 weeks ago - a decent indicator but probably a little on the high side given their large exposure in California).

If those assets sold at 50% of current value - again, this is a worst case scenario as these homes usually recoup 60 to 70 percent) - the total amount to buy up all the bad houses in the US would be about 75B.

Now ask yourself - where/who is the other 625B going to?

I think Congress finally got it right – no bailout, no way. I strongly oppose another government "quick-fix" to solve a government-created problem. The money is gone because this credit should never have existed – there has to be a better solution than to just dump more money in the sinkhole!

The DOW is already rebounding, give it time. Leave your money alone, take care of your credit, and always remember that investments are inherently risky.

I agree Wendy, there are approximately 306,000,000. people in the US, so it seems to be a viable solution to just give everyone a million dollars!

Carol – That is a very good questions. Exactly who is bailing us out? And who will we owe as a result?

Due to the shortage of money in investment / commercial banks (hence banks filing bankrupcy), the bigger bank "Federal Reserve" comes into play. Fed can supposedly print money and loan it to the collapsing banks, in turn to loan that money to us the American people. Thus creating more wealth from thin air causing inflation. The so called freeing up the credit market and inticing the same inflation cycle. So in the end American people will have to work hard and pay off this new money created due to the bad loans given by the deregulated banks.

So in short the American people are bailing out the American people who got stuck in bad loans from the deregulated banks. In the end the banks win becasue we will be paying the banks for the money they printed out of no where.

I'm so tired of the bad math people are constantly using to "solve" this crisis. $1million to each american is less than $700billion ?!? Well, assume 300million people and that's 300,000,000 x $1,000,000 = $300,000,000,000,000. That's 300 trillion dollars, probably more than the GDP for the world for a decade or more. Yeah, we'll just go down to the First National Bank and take that out.....

Also, there's some other bogus plan out there that looks fine all the way through, but another math error has him doling out $425,000 or something like that when it should be just $425.

That's the problem – nobody wants the free ride to stop – just keep looking for solutions to "get money". Well as individuals, businesses and governments, we've used it all up.....time to hunker down and pay the bill we've been running up for years. Either that or wipe it all out. See, if you keep diluting the money it won't be worth anything for anybody,,,,main street, wall street, anyone.....

Congress listened to their constituents and rejected the bailout? Give me a break! Why start now? They never listened before.
And why all of a sudden their constituents, the American people (myself included) are experts on the Economy.

People are saying let's not bail out Wall Street. Let's hold them accountable for their poor decisions. Well, I am all for that. Let's hold everyone accountable for their decision. Who elected this joke of a president? Why don't they say, hey I am sorry the president that I elected has let us all down and I am willing to pay my share to the american people. The republicans who voted for Bush (twice) should finance this bailout alone.

I do not believe the bailout/ rescue is a good idea no matter what they call it! This morning we have no plan, it was rejected yesterday by the house. I have heard that the market is recovering/ rebounding and that the dollar is actually up. We have long been due for a credit crunch, the way that we in America abuse credit. It seems in college I remember learning that the economy has cycles, that it is almost a living thing, it self corrects, adjusts, etc… If we try to manipulate the market with this 700 billion dollar crap shoot are we just deceiving ourselves and possibly making things worse? I have investments, am a small business owner, and am suffering along with everyone, but this plan worries me. There are no guarantees and in fact it may make matters worse.

It's sad to think that those who are supposed to be the pros and are supposed to be the best and the know-it-alls seem to have so much difficulty coming up with a solution. It is appalling to hear many of them say that they had no idea this was going to happen and act as if it just started a week ago, when the first visible signs appeared 16 or so months ago. Do the math.

give this one trillion to each and every American above 18 years old. Split it up in 200.000.000 pieces of 5000 USD each, that will help payoff the mortgages, restart the economy and little later save the banks because money is flowing again.. from down upwards.

Take $700 billion dollars, and create $10K shares, each tax payer would get at least one share.

The government would than give the value of those shares to Wall Street to help them out of the Jam. There would be tight rules as to the value of the share when it was returned in say 5 years, say at least %10 on our money.

Then every American would receive that money back in the form of a Federal Savings Bond at least $11K that could then be used to fund investments & savings accounts. Or you could keep the Bond in a Federal program that would be used to invest in the infrastructure of the country.

Here's my favorite idea, take that money and buy a Solar Power System (Around $30K) for every household in America. This would create 1000's of jobs develop the Alternate energy industry and take is a huge leap to doing away with foreign oil.

In fact lets do both, I feeling generous

No Congress should not authorize a bail out plan. Let the lenders fail. That is what business is about, you either run a good practice or you don't and if you don't then you do not succeed.

Lenders and Oil have raped the citizens of America, all in the name of G.W. Bush gangland style. Then we are expected to pay extortion on top of the mess they have created. It is time to stop the speculation and the killing, time to get back to where we belong as a country and as a Nation.

In the event that all lenders fail, then Congress can bail us out, the people on the street, who worked hard, who did not go dangerously into debt. and made an honest effort to better ourselves as citizens and as individuals.

I cannot marry in each state of the union, but I can lend a hand when the going gets tuff. Show me some respect and then you get it in return.

i don't think we should have the bail out! just think about this why should we bail them out when we the Americans have enough debt of our own. do we get bailed out no! do realize how much some people are in personal debt.? i know i am one of them. i think what we should do is clear everyone! by this i mean no more debt! everyone has a good credit standing. i have friends in other countrys and we are known as the brokest country! reason for it is because our government hands out money and we dont get paid back because they call it debt forgiveness! wheres ours!

there isnt a shortage of gas eaither we have so much gas that it actully can be 1.00per gallon. please everyone i have two songs for you listen to them one is american idot by green day and it is the truth! and the other is roit. it talks about how everyone talks and does nothing.

I sure hope some of you folks are being funny - either that or the education system in this country is in serious trouble.

306,000,000 People X 1,000,000 Dollars = $306,000,000,000,000 or 306 TRILLION DOLLARS - just a tad higher than 700 billion.

let the market correct itself. leave the goverment out of it. I didnot buy a house because this zero interest ant teaser rates did not add up with me
I chose to live by my mean,( not above and beyond my means), if i cannot afford it, i will not buy it period.
Its the greed that fueled all this and sky rocketed real estate prices all the way to the moon.
wall st deserves this, they got 30 billion in bonuses last year, are they going to give it back?, did they share it with main st? hell no.

and if they argue that credit from now on is hard to get to buy a car or a house, guess what?! fine, I can live without it like the whole world does.
we did the stimulus package and nothing happened, we did bear stern 25 billinon and nothing happened, we did aig 85 billion and nothing happened, we did fanny mae and freddi and nothing happened, so what guarantees that giving 700 billion of free money to banks will work?! they just keep it.

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

This whole "bailout emergency" makes me feel like I am sitting through a sales pitch for a timeshare. It is so reminiscent of the need to go to war with Iraq "right now".
I applaud the congressmen, Democrat and Republican who believe this plan is a pig-in-a-poke and not thoroughly thought through.
President Bush has accomplished much during his terms: he provided his and Cheney's friends at Halliburton with no-bid contracts for Iraq support, the Oil Companies have enjoyed obscene profits, he is working diligently to remove all remaining barriers to oil exploration, and now he has a chance to make his constituents in the banking industry (no, I don't mean rank and file republicans) even more wealthy by forgiving the greed and excesses they have displayed during deregulation. Let's forget the bailout and start regulating this out of control industry. It will hurt for now but we will all be much better off in the future and maybe we might even reacquire some of our old friends and allies around the world.

There is one piece in all of this that is missing. I have not heard one word from any one regarding the problem of re-doing Mortgage loans at current Market Values. If the bill is changed to add the correcting of Mortgages to current Market value and forgiving what could be an average of $100,000.00 in debt nation wide what is going to be done about the 1099's sent out for Capital Gains Tax. This comes at a rate of 30% which means any one who does this will have a tax bill of $30,000.00 due to Uncle Sam. Now if you can't pay your current mortgage can you pay Uncle Sam $30,000.00 in taxes for the forgiven debt? I would say most assuredly not. I have not heard one word of this problem from any one. It will be a huge problem and will cause much more hardship and foreclosures or at the very least a large amount of wage garnishing going on by the FED'S. Not to mention the repercussions to Americas Credit Reports. This information needs to make its way to Congress and the Senate.

I'm with Wendy!

Now that I have had to think with a more level head,the idea of a bunch of self serving self adulating politicians authorizing the gamble of all of our hard earned tax dollars to save banks that traded bad mortgage backed securities is a bad idea. We have no guarantee we will get the money back. Thats a big gamble that I dont want to make. I say no to the bailout.

Raquel and Wendy,

That would be quite the stimulus package and cost way to little. AND
much too fair or as the conservatives would say, " that's socialism" or welfare.
So...let's just give out corporate welfare instead.

Im tired of hearing about bail-out, we need to change the name to

Recovering America .

Or for the White House could say; Recovery Bill.

They need to do something in good faith for american soon. They need to recover active home notes and pending home notes. Then step back. This would cost less. That way they can reevaluate their situation at hand.

I'm very disappointed in all the news media that tote that I am ill informed and out of touch if I don't agree with the bailout plan. Those that argue how "main street" just isn't "getting it". I am an educated and well informed American and do realize what may happen without the current plan. I am still against it. I understand the credit problems and how it may affect the llittle guy, how it may impact loans and credit and how it may impact jobs and services. I still don't agree with the bailout plan and extend a sincere and heart felt Thank You! to every House member that voted against it. I understand well enough, the media and the other House members just aren't "getting it" that I say NO! Market correction became a term for a reason. If it means we as a nation have to learn to live within our means than so be it.

With all that is going on with the economy I haven't heard anybody mention one group. I'm talking about the single person, married couple or family who own nothing exept maybe a second-hand car. They work but do not make enough, and did not try for , a mortgage. The only savings they have is in their chequing account. No 401K, whatever that is? No credit cards. Their rent and food costs take almost all the pay cheque. Going out for dinner means McDonalds, as that's all they can afford. The car is usually parked now due to gas prices.

My question would be. HOW DOES THIS RESCUE PACKAGE HELP THESE PEOPLE?

It seems to me that this financial mess hit congress in their pocket books. Most of their savings and retirement are tied up in the stock market and this is going to affect them! I hope they all go broke. I do not agree with the bail-out. People have been loosing their homes and small businesses have been closing ( shipped to China). This is nothing new in the last month. It will continue to happen wheather this bail-out goes thru or not. Just another SCARE TACTIC from good old GW Bush. I say let the economy do what it must do. We also have money in a 401k but we are willing to wait for the market to rebound and it will! I also like the idea of every family recieveing about five hundred thousand. If the government gave us that, taxed us on it, paid off all our home mortgages, and let us use the rest to pay other loans and bills we owe, Then it would Surely jump start the economy!

No bailout plan is required – it should be considered on a case by case basis. If like AIG intervention is required that's fine. If like lehman it is not strategic and serves a market that will have less future activity let it go. If this slows down Wall Street so be it, the best way to shape future behavoir is not by regulation, but by letting negative outcomes take their course.

Why take vacation time if the intention is to come back and pass this plan on Thursday?? Why let the Dow drop almost 800 points? Will it pass right before the VP debates? how conveeeenient.

No, they should not pass this plan. Instead, at first, they should reform the financial sector, as a senator proposed today in the Senate. Otherwise we will have much more of the same in the future. Pumping money in the current financial market is like pumping a cup of tap water in a sea of salt water.
No economic plan should be passed before we have a new legislature and a new president. We need to have an integrated economic and foreign policy plan in order to keep our budget under control otherwise our country and us, Americans, will enter the "lipstick on a pig" era. And, definitely, we still want to remain humans.

NO! – Let the Market clean up its own mess by taking its natural course. The American tax payers are being set up for the biggest heist of American Tax dollars in its history, and for what? To buy nothing more than Junk bonds and bailout greedy financial institutions and foreign banks, and the kicker is, with no guarantees to the American Tax payer that this act of stupidity will even stop the crisis – Who says crime doesn’t pay!!!!

It seems the answer to everything with our government is throw money at a problem at the last minute....this is no answer....we need to fix the root of this problem....the root I believe is that the rich get richer and the poor and middle class have got poorer over the past 25 years....More families are being raised in single parent households causing mom and dad to have to pay for two homes instead of one....we work more, we sleep less, we are more stressed so we emotionally feed ourselves with matierial things we don't need paying for it with money that is not ours. 16 years ago Hillary Clinton worked on the Health Insurance problem in this country....16 years later, two parties of 8 years each and STILL no fix of the health problem that is crippling the poor and middle class. The divorce and paternity industry, predominately ruled by our system, is a money making industry that financially destroys the poor and middle class for sure....this whole governement system needs to be dismantled....in the meantime, businesses need to promote hiring people local to curtail our gas consumption....we also need to reduct business travel as well...don't take a plane..don't take a car....do a webinar! We need to stop throwing money to fix bad fruits on a tree whose roots are rotten....We need to realize that no matter how strong a house can be built it will never stand on sand....The foundation of our society is broken and until this is fixed, no amount of money or power will correct a problem permanently.

I work for one of the top 4 banks, and what people don’t understand is that everyone will be affected. I went from processing 40 loans a month to 10 because of policy changes. What that means to you is that if you want a loan for a home/car/vehicle or even a credit card. Unless you have A1 credit (700 score or higher) I have to decline you. If you run a business and you employ 25 customers and you need loan because you business is slow and you have any lates on you credit you wont get that loan. You will have to close up shop. How many of us are employed? Everyone is affected. I am praying everyday my bank doesn’t fail because of 100,000 employees in the USA will be without a job. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Yes the FAT CATS abused the system and got rich. However they have the money to ride out this recession or future depression. DO YOU! Can you afford to pay $20.00 for a loaf of bread? Your grand parents did! I need my employer to get bailed out so I can keep my job and give your or your employer the loan they need to keep you employed!

Will we pay for the bailouts by printing more money, and if so, are we headed the way of Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe? Could the jump in foreign markets after the defeat of the bailout bill possibly reflect concerns about the administration's irrational, irrational plans for paying for the bailouts?

A bail out bill will be passed that will benefit the corporations and CEOs at taypayer expense .... AFTER the election and they are safe in their seats for another couple of years.

I've been telling people for the last few weeks, just give us our money (at about $10-100k, depending on variables) and we'll get right with our mortgages, pay down credit cards, invest in the stock market and stimulate the economy. And we'll actually see a real return on our money. This way we all win, including the financial institutions, rather than a few CEOs.

Thank you, Robert G.!

I AM one of those people, and I was wondering why I had fallen through the cracks – again!!

I disagree with the Palmer's conclusion about what the stock market told us. Read the investor blogs and see. The market fell only 4% after indications that the House was not going to pass the bailout bill–that's hardly a sign of financial Armageddon. Four percent swings are not rare. The market was up more than 4% today–for reasons certainly unknown. Maybe investors thought the bailout bill will pass; maybe they believe it won't pass and that a stronger dollar is good for commodity prices and therefore the economy. Maybe hedge fund redemption selling came to an end as the quarter ends, having nothing to do the bailout plan. Writers have a tendency to assign their guess as to why a market went up or down, but make no mistake; they are guesses.

This country survived more than 2,000 bank failures during the '80's without a $700 billion bailout. This tremendous debt burden will provide little value to Americans, but will have certain adverse affects on the US budget, the dollar, inflation, our grandchildren, and more.

I think that all of these wealthy CEOs and Millionaire's should fork out some money to help Wall Street get back on it's feet. It's about time that they give something back to the U.S. economy, instead of always taking!

Average American's, like me are struggling and we've done MORE than OUR fair share! The Government doesn't help me bail out of MY debt, so why should I have to bail-out Wall Street?

Congress knew that this was going on, and it was only going to get worse, and it has! Now, suddenly it's the public's responsibility to bail-out these greedy bankers and investor's who would stop at nothing, to make a buck!? Where is the accountability?

On the foreclosed homes that were probably no money down. Weren’t they required to get PMI insurance. Isn’t that protection for the mortgage company?

NO TO BAILOUT

love the first comment. Heck give everybody $100,000. Id be happy w/ that !

They said this bailout would cost each family about $10,000.00. I say just send me a check and we can spend it how we see fit.

Look everyone is talking about weather we should support the bail-out plan. Honestly can't say we should or not, but consider this, if we take the $700 billion and put it into new technologies that develop alternative energy resources. Like solar, wind, wave power and other promising tecnologies. We should build some nuclear plants even though I still have a problem with nuclear waste even though John McCain says it can be recycled. All of this will create new jobs. People with jobs spend money which would help our economy recover and lesson our need for foreign oil. True this will not help in the short term, but when most of the country is against the bail-out maybe we should consider another plan. We should also use some of these funds for off shore drilling. No drilling now will not solve our immediate demand and bring down prices, but when the oil does come available we can sell it to those countries in need and turn the tables on OPEC. Bring some of the world’s wealth our way and reduce our trade deficit.

This bailout is nothing more than another smoke screen to reward those that have behaved badly because they are rich and donate a considerable amount of money to political campaigns. Congress and the President are lieing to us again. I really think Ali Velchi, and others, are underestimating the understanding of this situation. by the citizens. I fully understand the effect that this collapse will have on main street.. What I am saying is I would rather suffer the consequences of no bailout than the consequenses of wall street getting one. If I have to drive my car a bit longer before I buy another, if I lose the house I am trying to buy cause I can't get a loan, if my Roth IRA plummets, so be it. The only people I feel bad for are thoise who lose their jobs.

If the republicans were interested in the welfare of the taxpayers why didn't the plan they put forth have it in it at the start.
They are taking another idea of the democrates and trying to turn it. They would be better off to shut up and vote .

What if the law makers were to bail out the middle and lower class, allowing them to pay off their credit card debt and purchase products, creating a need to create jobs and restore jobs that were lost.
wouldn't that help?

Fix middle america and let Wall street heal.

Call it what you want, BAILOUT or what ever..! It's still correcting a lot of wrong doings by people running financial instutions (big business). Maybe people would support the bill if it had provisions to prevent all these instutions from reverting to business as usual once a bill is passed. Why should ceo's and managers get any bonus or pay out they made the bad decisions, it's payback time, maybe fines and even jail time! SENATORS, if you want public backning on this give us something in the bill to really assure us you have our wellfare in mind. Does a lot of good to put this bandaid in place if you don't have antibotics on it......!!

Why didn't the goverment step in and tell these banks to renegotiate these predatory loans so people can keep their houses. Banks believe the system only works for them, until they fail and then they try to strong arm every american to willingly become slaves to the system they create. It's time for them to own up to their own mess and lack of cooperation with the American people. This bill is unpatriotic and the people on wall street and in these banks are also unpatriotic. These companies are for one thing and one thing only, PROFIT!! At any cost, no matter who it hurts, even if it tears down the entire system. Time to let this "bubble" work its way out on it's own like it's supposed to. These banks will hold paper while the American people squat in these homes. Everyone likes to talk about "Main Street" but it's already "Skidrow"!!!

since congress can't seem to agree on this put it on a ballot and let the public vote on it. It will either pass or fail at least then the will of the people is known. I vote no bailout.

I agree with Wendy. The "BIG CEO'S" of these companies, are not hurting with all their houses, let them sell them off to pay back what the stole from all of us. Where is this 700 billion dollars coming from anyway? Lower and middle class people are working just to feed their families. They can't afford 401K's or anything like that for there families future.

Robert G
I would say - regardless of whether or not this Bailout (not Rescue Package) passes - the group you identified above has the best opportunity they'll ever see to find affordable housing - perhaps buying a house at a price that is 50% below market.

The banks are overrun with repossessed properties. There are still lots of credit unions out there with 1st time home buyer programs that enable folks to get in a home for 3% down. For $3000 down and less than $600 a month, the crowd you described above could get in a nice home - that's the kind of help that keeps on giving.

McCain said he was going to suspend his "campain" and did not. Is that a misspeak or an outright lie?

If congress continues to state that money is the solution to the problem, then why not pull a group of top financial analysis from various accounting companies to strategically come up with a plan? I am more inclined to take their advised and stand behind their proposals.

All the news is about why the bail out did not work and how to redo it
It seems to me the people do not want it,maby thats why they voted that way. if not it should be,
steve

I must be missing something here. I have seen comments on giving everyone in America a million dollars. I have even gotten emails about it (imagine that). How is this cheaper than 700 billion? Do we only have 700,000 people living in this county? Or is my math off and 300 trillion is less than 700 billion?
I think I missed a joke somewhere...

Besides that point, it is who you are if this bail-out will help or not. If it passes it will help some and hurt some. If it fails it will help some it will hurt some.

We should have seen this coming. The Fed and Hank Paulson definitely should have seen this coming. But, alas, we didn't. I don't believe we have any choice but to "buy" the toxic securities from the banks so that the credit markets can unclog. But ... the politicos we have in Washington seem to know little if anything about economic problems or anything other than what they need to do to get reelected. Given this rosy scenario .... it might help if the media would stop calling it "The Wall Street Bailout" – even you filed it under "Bailout". Wall Street is not really understood by the Nebraska farmer, and New York has always been a nice place to visit, maybe.

It isn't a bailout ... it certainly isn't just for Wall Street. It is for us all and indeed for the health of our country.

Without the bail out the golden parachutes still exist, right?
Some of the parachute holders fund some of the legislators' campaigns right?
Could it be that simple: vote yes and you don't get campaign funds?
If so, are there Conflict of Interest Issues???

I want to know why the vp's and up along with the board members of all these firms are not behind bars right now.............

Have any of the Washington officials even told us the names of any of the corporations that need this bail out?

Do any of these corporations have common board members? (Is Mr. Smith on 3 or 4 or more of the board of directors of these companies who apparently don't understand how to run a business?)

Who is bailing out the middle class. no one was worried until wall street was hurting, well wall street can go to hell, and Nancy Pelosi with them. Maybe Pelosi will help Obama to lose the election, then Palin can sell Pelosi's jet on ebay. I have no confidence in congress, this has been the most do nothing congress in history. Why would anybody vote for a democrate is my Question.

I think the government should stimulate the economy by helping both the taxpayer and the financial institutions.

Giving money to the people does not guarantee they will use it to pay off loans or credit card debt. Giving money to the banks to bail them out does not guarantee that they will not find themselves in the same situation in the future.

Why not create vouchers, payable to financial institutions only, for the taxpayers to use to pay their mortgages and credit card debt? This way when the people submit their voucher for payment it will help them to keep their homes and alleviate their debt and in turn it will help the banks to bounce back from the current crisis.

It does not make sense to provide financial aid to the banks only and leave the taxpayer to pick up the slack. We cannot afford to live now (i.e. unemployment rate, taxes, gas prices), why not help all involved?

READ MY LIPS NO BAIL OUT They made this mess let them clean it up. Wall street can go to hell. Americians are worried about putting food on the table, gas in the tank, keeping their heads above the water. No money for wall street.

I am so sick of all reporters telling us "the people don't understand" – how dare you? Is it hard to believe that we understand and still don't want government intervention? The irresponsible spending spree over the last decades needs to come to an end. Yes, we will go in a recession and everybody will feel the pain – but sometimes it just needs to get worse before it gets better!
The bail out plan does not prevent us from going into a recession and there will be still jobs lost, homes foreclosed etc. What are you doing then? Bail out more?

This has been the most do nothing congress in history. Why should the tax payers foot the bill. Pelosi is a pinhead, of a leader. She needs to be run out of town. Congress had better listen to the people, or suffer the consequenses. It's they're choice. NO BAIL OUT

I don't understand how these over paid people that are suppose to be so smart can't figure it out. Corporation after corporation has been taking us to the cleaners while they get there Golden Bonus's and we get our lives turned upside down and our pay cut. Let them pay for there mistakes. Don't bail them out, let them bail them selves out. A bill needs to bein effect to regulate these people and there incomes. Pass the money around!!

Why don't they help them out with there money issues with a good bill covering all the issues and then take all the people that are responsable for this and tax them. Let them pay for it all.

Don't pass a bill that is not complete or it will never get fixed. Look at NAFTA!! And who really cares about Rep or Dem it's We the People.
They make more money in a week than I will see in my life!!

I don't feel for these overpaid idiots!!

Simple solution to ecomomic crisis.

Be a hero to the individual taxpayer/citizen.

Tke the 700 billion bailout (or less) and give ti directly to the above, say $500,000 each. How many payments I really don't know maybe 100,000,000.

What could happen?

Individual gets $, pays off credit debt, distressed mortgages,etc.
Credit institutions get this money and get bad debts off books and begin to make credit avaiulable again.
Corps. and business get the needed infusion of $ by selling to now solvent consumers and are able to get loans from banks etc.
Wall St. is again calm and investors begin to invest again.
Politicains get to boast about being a hero and having the individual citizens interest at heart.
Remove the stigima of no action Government and eliminates the impression that taxpayers are again bailing out the fat cats and corrupt fininacial officers of Corps.

I feel this is a win/win for everyone.

THIS IS A NO BRAINER. If everybody had the gov. to bail them out they would be reckless too. NO BAIL OUT

"The Buck Stops Here" is what I want to here from my government stop the partisan bickering Mr. Bush and give us a solution. As a former military we have saying “Make it happen” and as a business owner “No excuses” is our cry. For the past year and a half I’ve heard the housing blame go from Loan Originators to Mortgage Broker to Irresponsible Bankers, now its Wall Street. When is someone in this country going to say : “The Buck Stops Here”

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

I'm going to go along with Lou Dobbs – I read his interview with Kiran Chetry – and agree that it does seem a little rash to throw down $700 billion over night. This "bail out" may just hurt the people more than anything. I'm glad that some representatives rejected this bill- what will it do for THEIR people? -agreeing with Robert G. (previous poster).

And even though the DOW may have dropped 777 points, if I was a big time business person I would drop a load of money into it just as the day ended because we all know it'll come back, thus providing me with a large return. Worth the risk? oh yes I think so.

Wendy: please leave the thinking to those who can actually do simple arithmetic.

300 million people x $1 million = $300 TRILLION
The (stupid) bailout proposal was for $700 BILLION, which is more than two thousand times less than that idiot Crowe's "brilliant idea."

Well, something must be done. I do not live beyond my means. I do not spend excess money on extravagent things. I know how to budget my money. But bottom line is this...ALL of my excess cash is not going to savings at all anymore...it is all going towards gasoline and groceries. I understand there are people in trouble with mortgages right now. I empathize with that situation, but at the same time, is it fair for EVERYONE to suffer??? Actually, I think it is. It is the only way to correct the problem, or at least get a handle on things. Sometimes we all have to take a hit in life to make things start moving in the right direction. I only hope it is not too late when Congress finally decides to do the jobs they have been elected to do!

Bailout?
Bailout whom? The executives that have made billions of dollars off of our 401K.......Recklessly took my hard earned money to line there pockets?
No Bailout for those people let them feel the pain I felt as a struggling middle class worker.
CJ
Alaska Resident

Let the economy clense itself just like how the planet clenses itself, maybe then these congressmen and woman won't get re-elected

The random amount set for the bailout is way too high. Anyhow, maybe the CEOs of failed and/or corrupt companies should be required to give most of their golden parachute money back. Otherwise, why should they have a say in any of this?

I fault the financial crisis entirely on the Bush Government. They should have had regulations in place to advoid this. A CEO has no right to give himself or herself a payout or bonus. The company comes first. Too many people are living way beyond their means. This is the times. Maybe it is time for people to feel the crunch instead of having everything they want. So many people have very little and work so hard for what they do have. This is what makes me upset and so many people are wealthy and uncaring. I blame all of this on the Republicans and I think from what I have seen and heard that a John McCain, Sarah Palin ticket is very scarey. He is what I would class as a war monger and she is just as bad. I lived in Alaska so I know of her. She should be home raising her kids instead of being a politician. John Mccain isn't much better, he is milking his POW experiences and military career to get into the presidency and that is no experience to lead a country. His wife is a multi millionaire so how would they know how the average people live>>>> I am changing my Politics for the first time in my life and voting Democratic. I like the way Obama conducts himself and he came from a poor background and I think this is what we need. Bush is wealthy, so was Clinton, and the wealthy do not know how the average person lives. Thank you

What bothers me so much about all this pseudo-disaster is that the minute the American people stood together and said, "Let them die!", Wall Street "miraculously" came back from the dead. We were being played by the fat cats but this time we didn't fall for it. Unfortunately, the idiots in Congress apparently are more concerned about where those great perks are going to come from if they don't defy us and bail out the scum on Wall Street. The good news is that we can still send Congress packing with our voices and our votes.

Is it possible to use the proposed bail out money to buy up oil fields for ownership and turn around and drop the gas prices for consumers?

I have a bail-out proposal to stimulate the economy. Since this is "our" money, how about taking 300 mil and giving 1 mil to every American. Watch the market move then!!!
This bail-out is nothing more than giving money to the very people that got the market into this mess. If all else fails, loan them the money at 10%. I can't believe anything the White House tells us anymore and the Republicans, bless their heart, are the biggest liars and cheats that I have ever seen. Democrats take a close second. Screw them all.

Dear Mr. Presedent,

I am just a simple man, I make only about $35,000.00 a year. I feel that the congress and the senete just think of the rich perople, and there own wallets, I feel, that what you need to do is just give the people the money and let them bail out the banks...give me enough...and I will pay off my home, that is bailing out the banks...with the remainder of the money I will buy a new car, that will help the auto motive industrey. Then
with the remannder or the money, some people will takes vacations, which will help out tourisum. Hence,
we the people will be bailing out our own country.

Thank you for your time.

Matthew L. Hayes
Charleston, SC

I simply cannot justify bailing out a bank that pays a CEO that has been on the job three weeks millions of dollars when the bank goes down. He got his money first!!! Let the banks who survive have the business. Why should the taxpayer who will never see that kind of money have to bail them out? Wall Street will recover!

From what I gather from news and reading other bloggers, I can not believe why individuals believes that the bail out would favor the rich. The reality is that the bailout was geared toward helping bad mortgage debt which is the "stressed home buyers with adjustable interest rate". This method would relieve the credit markets and provide another revenue source for the american government, until the debt is paid off. Having the american economy fail because you think you are sticking it to the "man" which in reality sticking yourself . Talking Heads what is your solution because I have not heard anythings but scrape.

There will be a bailout but when there is a bailout maybe there should be something in there that taxpayers can tangibly grasp such as a cap on usurious credit card interest and/or bring back the tax deduction for consumer interest that is drowning a vast number of Americans. With 850 billion in credit card debt, it would be nice to know how much interest is generated on the debt each month. Should be capped at prime plus. Look at the 3-4% banks are paying on CD’s.
Ask yourself, is it really that wise to put more oil drilling platforms off shore with the potential disruption caused by the threat of hurricanes. Look at the Atlanta area gas supply right now???

I am amazed at how stupid these people are who say "NO BAILOUT." Read your history books people. The great depression really happened. The economy has been floundering for the past 8 years. Exectutive and legislative mismanagement and lack of enforcement of supervisery provisions already in place have, no doubt, brought us to this place. Whlile the causes need to be fixed, if our economy collapses, all of us will be adversely effected, not just the "fat cats" on wall street. When the economy collapsed back in the 1920's, the Republican president and congress failed to take any significant action. We should not let this happen again.

Let's do someting that makes sense with the $700 billion. How about building windmills and retooling the auto industry to produce electric cars. This would reduce unemployment, cut our dependency on foreign oil, reduce our military need and cost of policing the world oil markets, reduce our trade deficit, reduce greenhose gas emissions, etc.

We just need some common sense!

Listening to Lou Dobbs (who now proclaims to be "fair and balanced"), when he expounds on the proposed bailout makes me want to throw up. He, a supposedly educated journalist, projects the analytic capabilities of a third grade child in his editorials on this subject. I believe Mr. Dobbls would be better suited to join the right wing crew at Fox News who also claim to be "fair and balanced." If he trully represents the independent-thinking citizens of our country, then I fear for our country.

This is a one trillion dollar bail out plan subtracting 300 billion already used in AIG, Fannie/Freddie and Bear Stearn. If Wachovia has 300 billion high risk loan, we have to think this left over 700 billion dollar proposal is not enough. We cannot afford it. Why we waste the resources. Please do not forget the three billion dollar already in the Wall Street pocket.

fannie may, freddie mac and wall street put themselfs in this position
and now wanting congress bail them out seems criminal.
inditements instead money is what they should receive.

The simple 'staight talk' answer. HELL NO! We won't pay!
Congress should be ashamed for even asking such a thing.

I wanted to vote yes to bail them out, but they keep slapping us in the face. This week 2 banks raised my credit card interest rate and lowered my credit line. I have a small business and am never late with payments and always pay much more than the minimum payment. My fico score was 704 last week and who knows what it will be next month. It doesn't seem to matter what congress does, they are going to make us pay for their mistakes one way or another.

The Gov should not bail out anybody..Let the natural scycle of the U.S economy play out, and whever goes down with it oh well inclduding myself if I was a part of this economic fall out

Congress!!!! Help!!!!! bail me out I lost my job now close to losing my home. Help with unemployment benefits extensions!!!!!! Help Americans that need 'HELP'...

No to the bailout. In a couple of months when this thing doesn't work, because it won't, the fools supporting it will be crying victim saying something stupid like "how could we know." So here is an we told you so early on.

The people have the same information as you. We can deduce that 700 billion will not solve the fact that American's are overleveraged not just the banks. It will take years to balance our books. Growth has to slow down to allow the foundation of the middle class to strengthen. Business have to have transparency to allow for proper investment. Private individuals are not businesses and they can't carry so much debt. Cash must become king again. The majority of investments should be in tangible things. Fake money has been the delusion of our society for too long. I must re-evaluate my values, I know many Americans have theirs in place and that is why we are calling for a no vote. I hope those who believe and know this will vote must be NO will use theirs come election time to remove those how believe the lies of Paulson.