A different kind of bail out - heard on talk radio

[beemaster]

How will we be remembered here in the first decade of the 20th century. I guess we could name the worse things all day long, I'm just trying to really come up with a few GREAT things that could balance the bar and I'm running short on ideas. All I know is when a bank comes to the government when they are 300 billion in debt, the first question I'd have is WHY did it take you so long to come - wasn't 10 or 50 billion enough to at least deserve an email about your troubles.

I heard the math on a radio show (and it is getting sweeter) it was reasoned that if instead of bailing out the banks, if we took the same money and WITH SERIOUS RESTRICTIONS gave the money to the US Citizens, every man, woman and child would get about 2 million dollars.

First, save their homes after reassessing values, have them live on a salary NOT to exceed twice their annual income averaged over the past three years for low income families to bolster ecconomic growth, next make them keep the remainder in a fair interest savings account that they can only draw interest from. The kids couldn't touch their money at all, interest from their win fall would pay for college or home buying as they reached maturity, this money then would be paid back as all mortgages are, these home and school loans are not a gift, but a line of credit, the principal would remain in banking where it would be loaned to other people with strict regulations - no  more $400K loans to young couples with no credit history and a combined salary of $30K a year. This would be the way banks would get their money back, through people, the good old fashion way.

Since printing money isn't an issue and backing it anything of value is the last thing on Capitol Hills mind, I'd rather see money trickle up for a change, let the people have it, again with great restrictions to access - but imagine the growth potential if money could be used to build start up companies, employ more people where layoffs now choke our lungs. Maybe it is naieve to think this could work, but since the banks have done such a wonderful job, how could we do any worse - a Trillion dollars turned to nothing is still nothing.

The main enforcable regulation of course would have to be price gouging, I can see now hundred of loaves of bread on the shelf, each selling for $50 a loaf, etc. Someone would say that since in theory EVERYONE is rich, then raising the cost of food is inevitable - I say if we can afford food and appliances and everything else BUILT or grown in the STATES rather than China, then I'd be willing to pay more, much more if I had it. A fair value more, not gouging prices of course.

Trickle down obviously doesn't work as it does on paper, if e have money to invest in banks, the put it there and have access to it by people who need it. Create a flat tax of "whatever percent" and apply it to everyone. Trust me, 30% tax hurts a poor man as well as it hurts a rich man, the difference of course the rich man may not sleep at night, but the poor man may not eat.

I just don't see how dumping money into failed bussinesses makes sense - it is like borrowing from debt, the words themselves turns my stomach upside down. We have all kinds of great oxymornic terms Deficit Spending is one of my favorite and the ever profitable Buying Debt. You wonder why the world has colaspsed in it's market place and so far taken over 2 million US Jobs with it. The fox is indeed in charge of the chicken coop, yet we want to give him more money to buy chickens - ugh.

[Keith13]

I heard the math on a radio show (and it is getting sweeter) it was reasoned that if instead of bailing out the banks, if we took the same money and WITH SERIOUS RESTRICTIONS gave the money to the US Citizens, every man, woman and child would get about 2 million dollars.

I heard this math as well It just doesn't add up

just to simplify the US population at 300,000,000
You give us all 1,000
=300,000,000,000
so if you gave every one a thousand buck its 300 billion

population of the US is I think 374 million to give us all 2,000,000
=748,000,000,000,000
I think that is 748 trillion dollars

Now we need an accountant to check my math but looks correct to me

Keith

[beemaster]

Well... besides the whole MATH thingy.... I like it 

[Keith13]

When I first heard the amount of bailout money I thought the same thing.  Its rare I think of numbers that large, its way to many zeros for me

Keith

[indypartridge]

Reminds me of the old adage: "You can't borrow your way out of debt."

[kathyp]

as much as i hated the bank bailout, i could kind of understand why they would feel the need to keep the financial markets stable.  those institutions were international, and the potential instability might have been a real problem....if there had been a way to let some of those banks fail in a controlled way without causing panic, that would have been great, but how do you keep the NYTs and schumer from making things worse?

however...when they started bailing out everyone who came through the door with their hand out, i figured we were in trouble.  now everyone wants a piece and it looks like they are all going to get it.

[Brian D. Bray]

however...when they started bailing out everyone who came through the door with their hand out, i figured we were in trouble.  now everyone wants a piece and it looks like they are all going to get it.

Except the American taxpayer who gets left holding the bag.  The only light bulb in the closet is Canada's willingness to chip in on the Big 3 Bailout because they have as much to lose if the auto manufactures go bust as we do.