And the Loser Is?

Wow Really $700 Billion with a B dollars to bail out the banks? Are we serious? Have we learned nothing from past mistakes? Are we really that dumb that we’re willing to drop into the same pattern that created this whole mess? The answer to that question is yes we are. And the answer to the title question is the American people.

Yes this country has a money problem, and yes this country is in a huge mess right now. And granted we cannot get out of this without the banks being healthy enough to get out of it, but what ever happened to CAPITALISM? What ever happened to the FREE MARKET we so love to sing praises about? How can we fix this mess without spending $700 Billion of taxpayer dollars? Simple FLEXABILITY! The one thing that banks have lost as a result of their fear is the flexibility to do business.

My proposal is simple:

First – Extend government backed loans to include current homeowners who want to refinance.

Second – Extend the life of the loans either in default or on their way to default status from 30 years to 50 years.

Third – Drop the interest rate for homes to 5% fixed for the life of the loan.

What does this little stunt do? It actually accomplishes quite a bit. Number one it allows people who are currently in a home to keep their home because their payments are now back down to reasonable levels. It also frees up money for these same people to spend and reinvest in our economy. Another way it stimulates the economy is by allowing the money being paid back to banks to be circulated through the economy. Finally this plan also allows people who may not own a home, or previously lost their home to reenter the market by getting a federally backed loan that they can actually pay back.

Within months the market will rebound and will allow banks to go back to doing business. Does this fix the problem right now? No it will take more than 48 hours, but it fixes the problem, it doesn’t provide a band aid that will only push the problem out another few years.

We’re borrowing from Peter to pay Paul the way Bush wants to do it. We’re increasing our debt, and burdening the taxpayers, some of which don’t even own a home. The American taxpayer is now paying for the mistakes of greedy corporations who are standing in line just waiting for their corporate welfare check to help them out.

Have we learned nothing from previous mistakes? Haven’t we learned that money given, and not earned simply takes away from the American dream? Bush got two things right last night. The American people do want to pay for their homes, especially when the alternative is a tent in some field. The second point he got right was that the government does have to do something, but NOT THIS!

The question I ask myself is why now? Why not last year, when everyone in America who had two brain cells could see we were headed for a recession? Why didn’t our leaders see this coming and act instead of sitting around blowing smoke up our rears and saying that things were great? The answer is simple; it hadn’t affected the very rich yet. You see back then it was just us poor folk getting the shaft. Now the rich are seeing their investments crumble, they’re watching and crying as their almighty dollar is worth less than it was. They trembling at the thought of watching their investment portfolios take a dump. That’s why Bush waited so long.

Is this going to actually fix the problem? Not in my eyes. This will simply free up money to allow the banks to get into more trouble, and require yet another massive bailout down the road. This is a band aid people, nothing more nothing less. This is yet another backroom, good ole boys club deal that will end up biting us in the rear. Will my solution fix the problem? Yes it will, I’m not an economist, but I know it will because it actually allows the people to pay back their loans. Sure the banks will have to tighten their belts for a few months until things stabilize, but sometimes hard lessons make the best teachers.