Bush, Paulson, McCain, Obama (notice I dropped the BHO even though I still think he's a disgrace), Pelosi, Reid, Boehner and McConell. . .
ALL need to appear on TV together. All need to say roughly the same thing, without taking shots at one another.
They need to:
1) Guarantee to home owners that are in good standing that other struggling home owners will NOT be bailed out of their liability. If homeowners are helped it will only be under the strictest of provisions (restructuring loans, ARMS to fixed, etc. but NO forgiveness of debt)
2) Guarantee everyone that Banks and Wall Street (and CEOs) are NOT going to reap any profits from tax payer dollars. (This one's pretty hard to control because there will eventually be profits to be had)
3) Explain more precisely where the $750 billion is going. Remember that this thing has grown from 3 pages to 12 pages to now 109 pages. Many people think that their money is being given away. Hopefully that’s not true. If it’s being invested then say so and explain the risks (e.g. as long as the majority of people continue to make their mortgage payments then that portion of the mess will be OK, etc.) Explain that eventually we'll get most of our money back, maybe even make a modest profit.
4) Guarantee that there is no pork in the bill, that there are no more risky provisions like affirmative action mortgages, no ACORN type money, etc.
5a) Guarantee that there will be some kind of an independent investigation (FBI and Special Prosecutor NOT just Congress) into why this happened, why it wasn’t recognized, if it was recognized why it wasn’t made more public.
5b) Guarantee that whoever blocked the public knowledge of warnings, whoever committed crimes or whoever acted unethically will be prosecuted or fired whichever is appropriate.
6) Guarantee that changes will be made via re-regulation or oversight such that chances to a return to this status is minimized.
7) Guarantee that any onerous stop gap measures will be temporary and they will automatically sunset.
Wow RWU (can I call you RDubyaU?) I agree with absolutely everything you said (except the part about BHO being a disgrace).
I also read your posts about your opinions on the bailout and I totally agreed with 90% I couldn't sign on to some of your solutions to the problem but I thought your analysis was crisp, cogent, and totally on the mark.
It reminds me that for the most part your side and my side want what's best for the country even if they differ on the way to get there.
So whatever plan let's at least agree on this: we should all be hoping it works.
To your point #1, I keep hearing that the $700B is an "investment" and the government expects to get most back, and possibly turn a profit. So, applying that logic to mortgage debt, it would seem that if I, as a taxpayer, have to bailout some dumb ass that bought a house they couldn't afford, I should get some equity for it. Now, I think we all agree that housing is in the shitter, but it should improve at some point. I'd like to share in the upside if I'm being held up at gun point by the federal government.
I agree with you totally... I posted something about loan restructuring below and above not knowing someone else was agreeing/putting that idea forward...
I wish there was a way for us to effectively tell them these ideas because it doesn't seem that they've considered a lot of your suggestions...
First - In numbers 1,2,4,5a,5b,6 & 7 you have the word Guarantee listed. The goverment has NEVER guaranteed anything except the fact that rich people can NOT manage our country effectively!
Second - IF they do comply to number 3 it will be hard to distinguish political rhetoric from truth. These people talk in circles for a living and more importantly for a reason. People do NOT want to hear the truth because it scares them!
Third - Even IF the government were able to do everything you pointed out above. Things are still going to get worse by the day as you are referring to only two companies and ONE issue creating our enormous economic problem!
Facts - The 240 Million people in the country owe more than 45 Trillion dollars.
The 240 million people have assets of less than 13 Trillion Dollars.
The government owes almost 10 Trillion dollars.
The 240 million people earn about 13 Trillion dollars per year.
Insurance Companies, Oil Companies, Financial Ins, Techology Companies have 13.6 Trillion dollars in liquid cash assests that is growing at a 5-6% clip every year.
The answers to our economic issues can be found in these facts, the question is...who has the power to make the right things happen to transfer the money back into the hands of the american people and away from the american corporations?
Some of those guarantees would indeed only be personal guarantees issued by people. Others can be written into the new Code.
Point 1 certainly can be cast into law. #2 is harder to define. #3 and 4 should already be included in the new code. My point is more that enough time and transparency should be given before voting that everyone, press etc. has time to sign on to assurances. #5 and 7 can be codified #6 is a longer term promise.
Point is to get everyone on record. Our system of political chacks, balances, rewards and punishishment comes every 2, 4 and 6 years. The more firm the poltical stance, the easier it is to make voting choices for us and for them.
Country not run well by rich folk? Do you mean rich politicians or those controlling the 'means of production'? It's the latter that actually 'run the country'. They haven't done so well? Let me think back to the good ol'days when the poor and middle class 'ran things'. Oh wait. That's never happened.
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