What Do You Think About the Rescue?

Like some of the others I am with Dave Ramsey: "Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps: Common Sense Plan. I. INSURANCE A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity. B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things: 1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage. a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes. b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives. 2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs. C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal. II. MARK TO MARKET A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate. B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing. III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing. B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess."

In addition to whatever is done to directly address the sub-prime mortgage mess and all of the attendant complications (whether one labels it a bailout or rescue or something else), some things need to be done to rejuvenate the overall economy. In the long run, that will be of greater and more lasting benefit to the country as a whole and to individual citizens than a (hopefully) one-time bailout. Therefore I suggest the following: Permanently eliminate federal income taxes on dividends. Eliminate teh capital gains tax. Permanently cut the federal corporate income tax rate by half. Tax the small business owners who currently file a personal income tax return at the lower of either the personal rate or the reduced corporate rate. Reduce the federal personal income tax rates by one third. The economy, employment and federal tax revenue will all skyrocket. People and companies will be incentivized to grow and capital will pour into this country from across the globe. It will become the best place in the world to invest, to do business. It will be the best place in the world to be a worker because of the reduced income tax rates and because of the boom in employment. The dollar will strengthen, which, among other things, will help lower the cost of imported oil. In spite of a strengthened dollar, export-oriented businesses will remain attractive to investors because of the low corporate tax rate.

I think there are other places to find 700B besides the government. When they bailed out the S&Ls in the late 80's one of the things they did was repatriot corporate assets of U.S. companies by lowering tax penalties if those assets relocated here. By doing this, billions flowed back into this country. Lowering capitol gains will also inject money into the sytem. Why in the Hell do taxpayers have to foot this bill. I also think they should start naming names of those bastards who sat on congressional committees four or five years ago and proclaimed that there were no problems with what was going on at Freddie and Fanny. A failed president and a failed congress want taxpayers to give billions to failed financial institutions? No thanks.

In addition to whatever is done to directly address the sub-prime mortgage mess and all of the attendant complications (whether one labels it a bailout or rescue or something else), some things need to be done to rejuvenate the overall economy. In the long run, that will be of greater and more lasting benefit to the country as a whole and to individual citizens than a (hopefully) one-time bailout. Therefore I suggest the following: Permanently eliminate federal income taxes on dividends. Permanently cut the federal corporate income tax rate by half. Tax the small business owners who currently file a personal income tax return at the lower of either the personal rate or the reduced corporate rate. Reduce the federal personal income tax rates by one third. The economy, employment and federal tax revenue will all skyrocket. People and companies will be incentivized to grow and capital will pour into this country from across the globe. It will become the best place in the world to invest, to do business. It will be the best place in the world to be a worker because of the reduced income tax rates and because of the boom in employment. The dollar will strengthen, which, among other things, will help lower the cost of imported oil. In spite of a strengthened dollar, export-oriented businesses will remain attractive to investors because of the low corporate tax rate.

It isn't necessary to intervene in the markets so quickly without a thoughtful plan. President Bush, Sec. Paulson and Congress need to call a "brain storming" meeting with outside economists, financial entrepreneurs and business leaders to come up with a better solution to this financial crisis. A good plan is better than a quick one! There is wisdom in the counsel of many.

I was looking through the revised Senate Bill. I just do not understand why they would burden this decision on the other items list in the bill, such as Energy Improvement and Extension Act, Alternative Minimum Tax Relief, Other Tax Relief and Tax Provisions, Secure Payments for States and Counties Containing federal Land, Special Projects on Federal Land, County Funds, Disaster Relief, and Spending Reductions and Appropriate Revenue Raisers for New Tax Relief Policy.

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps: Common Sense Plan. I. INSURANCE A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity. B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things: 1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage. a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes. b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives. 2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs. C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal. II. MARK TO MARKET A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate. B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing. III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing. B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

set the corporate tax rate to zero. Eliminate capital gains tax. Change the mark to market law to account for long term loans. Fix the ATM law to reflect the current earning of the working class. Get an energy bill passed that allows the US to not be held hostage (now and in the future)by countries that want to kill us. That means allow drilling NOW anywhere that there is a possible find. Also get started NOW with ALL other forms of energy. Make the Bush tax cut permanent.

Every individual who filed a tax return last year should get a $100,000 non taxable check. Adding this to the bill and reducing the amount given to Wall Street to 500 Billion would make the average citizen more likely to go along with the approval of such a bill. I would also cost less than the 700 billion currently proposed and not make the FDCI responsible for the amount they have to insure.

Dave Ramsey’s Plan sounds like the best I’ve read. But I would add repeal of all prior legistration that created this issue starting in 1977 to today. This is the root of the problem, government intervention in the free market. Also, consequences to those executives who were involved the same as Enron executives. There must be accountability to all involved including Senators and Congressmen.

The socialist are all for education and arm twisting. So I would hire some wrestlers to twist some arms and turn guantanamo bay into a re-education camp using Dave Ramsey's financial peace university curriculum, the Wharton school of business, and people who have lived in eastern europe who left socialist/communist societies as instructors.

I would not just throw money to Wall Street. I would find a way to free up credit while at the same time forcing Wall Street to pay for its mess. If that meant insurance premiums by all the "super power" firms in the financial industry, fine. Or taxes paid by them, fine. Or simply fees. I would no longer tolerate sums like fifty million and up going to CEO's and others who have run their firms into the ground. To call that "performance based" pay is about as dumb as throwing our hard earned tax dollars to Wall Street. Just like a child, untill there are consequences, Wall Street has no motive whatsoever to modify its behavior. We need consequences. To say that "I will feel the pain" if there are consequences, so no consequences, is not an adult way to bring Wall Street to heel.

GOD LOVE DAVE RAMSEY!!! IF ONLY HE WOULD RUN FOR PRESIDENT!! Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps: Common Sense Plan. I. INSURANCE A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity. B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things: 1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage. a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes. b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives. 2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs. C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal. II. MARK TO MARKET A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate. B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing. III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing. B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

First eliminate the Mark to Market rule. The SEC could do it with a no cost stroke of their pen. Allowing proper valuation of assets will take the pressure off financial institutions, especially banks. That will also introduce more liquidity, ratings agencies would raise ratings taking more pressure off, confidence would increase and the squeeze would lessen. Second, overhaul regulations. Eliminate outdated, overlapping and burdensome regs and add more regarding auditing, transparency and leverage. Reducing leverage (risk) gradually will increase confidence and the financial soundness of institutions. We shouldn’t live paycheck to paycheck and neither should companies. Increasing transparency and auditing will further increase confidence and ensure scoundrels are not in charge. Right now there is real fear in the markets and the private sector and instilling confidence will go a long way toward eliminating that fear. Without fear, the lending squeeze will lessen further. Third, fear has made lenders much more prudent about their practices but that should be codified so when fear diminishes, temptation to lend more freely won’t return. Borrowing money got too cheap for too long and that contributed mightily to our current trouble. Borrowing money should be expensive so few will want to do it. Fourth, stimulate the economy again. This ‘crisis’ will bring about another recession which will be counter productive to restoring fiscal soundness and confidence. Another stimulus package will help get the economy back on its feet. Another refund would get people spending again and eliminating capital gains would get businesses spending again and investors investing again. Each of these steps will get us headed back in the right direction. Once we are headed there, several more steps are needed to keep us going that way. Fifth, balance our budgets, public and private. Did you know this year’s budget deficit will be about equal to out interest payment on the national debt? If we didn’t have any debt, we wouldn’t have a deficit which keeps adding to the debt. If it weren't for wasteful spending at all levels of government, we’d have money for roads, education, healthcare, etc.; things that really matter. Sixth, cut the size of government. According to the preamble of the constitution, our government is meant to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. In other words, our government, the federal government is supposed to write and enforce the laws, keep the peace, raise a military to defend us, take care of those who cannot (not, will not) take care of themselves and preserve these for future generations. It is a fact of life that government is generally inefficient and the bigger it is the more inefficient it is. It isn’t government role to study the mating habits of the male tsetse fly. The founding fathers spend years hashing out the form of our government after years of subjugation, oppression and war and they came up with a pretty good one: small, efficient and not oppressive. In short, the federal government should only do those things that cannot be done by anyone or anything else. That’s why rights not explicitly granted to the federal government were to remain with the state and local governments and most importantly, the people. If we go back to that principle, cut out all other aspects of the federal government, we could really pay down the debt and give people their money back. Seventh, we need to take responsibility for ourselves and our own actions. Nobody owes us anything. Nobody deserves anything. Welfare is for the disabled vet who cannot work. It is not for the drunk who won't work. Go to AA and get a job. If you need a hand we’ll give you education and training, medical assistance, child care, food and housing for a few months or a few years to get you back on your feet. Then you’re on your own. Everyone who tries will eventually succeed. I happen to be fat. I’m fat because I choose to be. If I cared enough to not be fat, I’d lose the weight. It’s not because my mother always told me to clean my plate because there were starving people in Ethiopia, it’s because I don’t care enough to change my eating habits. Period, end of the story. People steal because they are selfish, lazy, greedy and don’t give a darn about anyone but themselves. Even more than that, people steal because they choose to.

If you're going to give $700 billion tax paying dollars away, please, give it back to the people that gave you this money in the first place. What about credit cards? This is the highest interest loan out there causing most people to pay 3 times what they actually used. What about crude oil? Not using enough of our own? In Venezuela, they use a lot of their own crude oil keeping the price of oil low. There are so many issues at stake causing this credit crisis that it ales me to know the big guys in charge are only concerned about one problemed area and are waiting so long to do something about it. It's not fair to assist the banks that are left when so many have already gone under. It's not fair that so many have lost their jobs, and we still continue to outsource American jobs. Outsourcing isn't keeping most companies afloat, instead the CEO's are seeing larger profit margins. What about 80 billion tax paying dollars, probably more by now, going to Iraq. People, we need to clean our own house before we clean someone else's. Unemployment rate is at an all time high, inflation this year alone is extremely high, and once we bailout a few, we will be close to broke...then how will we handle any terroists on our soil? We should begin learning another language if we plan to have jobs in the future.

How ironic that for years now, the Dems and Left Wing Press have been bashing Wall Street for their GREED and blaming the GOP for anything that went bad in the ecomony. Now, it is the SAME DEMS and Left Wing Press that wants Main Street to bail out Wall Street. Some Solutions: 1. Infusion of liquidity is needed in to the markets. The FED should give them a loan but do not buy the assets from them. 2. FED should Insure the assets to give cover to the investors. 3. Change the mark-to-market rule temporarily to fairly address the true asset prices. 4. To secure the loan, the FED MUST have the first Lien on the assets in the event of a default by the companies. 5. No Dividend or Share buyback will be allowed by the company until the loans are repaid in full with interest. 6. Since it is the "TAX Payers", ONLY those that are paying Taxes, that are funding this bailout, the Repayment OF THE LOANS WITH INTERST MUST BE RETURNED TO THE "TAX PAYERS" IN THE FORM OF A TAX REFUND!!! The price for taking the Risk of bailing out Wall Street. 7. To improve confidence for the general public, Congress must agree to a 9-11 Type Commision to investigate what happened and Lessions Learned with recommendations to Congress. 8.The GSE's must be BANNED from giving PAC money to members of Congress.

The American People say NO! As usual our elected leaders tell us we are too stupid to know what we want and they will do whats best for us. If I wanted a nanny, I would hire one. I want someone in Washington that listens to what the "we the people" say and if they don't listen, its time for them to be replaced!

Kill the bill, protect depositors only and let the companies die on the vine. I can support accounting regulation changes provided it not a temporary pill that simply delays what will ultimately happen. The best way to get rid of the toxic paper is to allow the companies to die off and somebody buy up the remnants at a deep discount to market value. The government is ill equipped to dispose of the assets, they will first pay more than market value and dispose of them below market and celebrate this as a success. I do not believe a credit crisis looms. There many companies that are poised to loan money in the event of bank failures. Just simply look at the bill and it is already bogged down with items unrelated to the alledged credit crisis. Let it die and new broom sweeps clean. Joe

The stock and real estate markets need a major correction. Everything is over inflated to our detriment. Let the market take care of it self and instead invest the money in our economy by creating jobs (manufaturing, defense, construction etc.) then we will truley see a trickle down occur with retail, restaurants, purchasing of products etc. By bailing out Wall Street we are simply sending the message that it's okay to screw up the economy while not even being held accountable and if you do you'll be bailed out as well. And after all, we did survive the depression.

Does anyone besides me get angry about the fact the Dodd and Frank are even involved with the bail-out since both have greatly benefited from this sub-prime fraud! What about Obama who sued banks such as Citibank when he was a lawyer for not giving enough subprime loans? How can anyone let him speak like he has a solution to this problem? He was part of the problem!

Let the big companies work things out on their own - and not at the expense of the taxpayers. As a self-employed business owner, I'd like to know who will bail me out? NOBODY. Why should I pay for big business transgressions & bad judgments?

Why hasn't there been other solutions brought to the table? Why can't the Congress under Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution seize the FED? The FED can then become a clearinghouse bank. The FED would cease to exist. The debt owed by the American people would be discharged in bankruptcy. Congress would take monetary policy from the FED and would simply stand in place of the FED through a monetary board. FED credit computers would be transferred to Congress who would issue new credit (money), because under the present system 97% of all money originates as credit. This new credit would keep the system going and prevent collapse. It could be done without interest and without debt. The American people through their elected representatives would control the monetary policy: i.e. money circulation, interest rates, and credit availability.

GET RID OF CAPITOL GAINS TAX & STOP SENDING OR TAX DOLLARS OVERSEAS. LET THE REST OF THE WORLD POLICE ITSELF. BRING OUR ARMY HOME TO PROTECT OUR LAND & BORDERS & GO AFTER OUR OWN NATURAL RESOURCES TO CREAT NEW WELL PAYING JOBS.

Use Dave Ramsey's plan.

I believe the best long term answer to this is a free market solution, not a governement bailout.

If 8 billion dollars was used to issue $600 to every tax payer that filed taxes a 2007 tax return, then 700 billion can be used to provide $52,500.00 to every tax payer that filed a 2007 tax return. This money should not be issued, instead, tax payers can file for a claims on their secured and unsecured debt. Thus giving more money to those in need instead of those not in need, something like the child tax credit. This should take at max 2 years, tax payers can pay down their mortgage to get closer to their loan to value. Once mortgage payments are made, financial institutions will have more money to lend. And consumers will have enough equity in their homes to refinance or sale. To stop this from happening in the future, mortgaged back securities should have insurance policies to cover any and all losses. In addition to many other restrictions needing to take place in the underwriting market, I believe there should be a cap on how high an interest rate can be. Credit scores are at an all time low, so raising the credit score standard for loan approvals will only assist the rich in getting richer, as it has all along. The bailout plan was only going to assist the extremely rich and the poor. Causing the poor and the middle class esentially to switch places. This are just my thoughts, an average American with little college education.

After the bailout restores liquidity to the credit markets, new credit regulations should require: • only one adjustable rate period, with rates fixed for 8 years, the average length of home ownership • maximum interest rate spread between best and worst qualifying borrowers of 2% to reduce risk in the secondary market • 50-month declining balance loan guarantee insurance by mortgage originators to secondary market buyers, restoring accountability in primary credit markets

Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps: Common Sense Plan. I. INSURANCE A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity. B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things: 1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage. a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes. b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives. 2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs. C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal. II. MARK TO MARKET A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate. B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing. III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing. B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

Economists have been calling this financial catastrophe since 2004. Our politicians didn't care and the Fed has been looking the other way too, except for their participation in "propping it up" with our money they have injected into it already. They couldn't keep it going, so now they want $700 billion! This correction needs to happen. Our future generations won't be able to afford a house and people were living way beyond their means. The banks who made these loans and the investors who bought them need to take the hit. Our money would be better spent providing loans to free up the credit and to those people who need their mortgage renegotiated. The worst thing is to prop this up more and drag it out. Those of us who have been responsible have been WAITING for this. We don't want a bailout. Period. Dodd and Frank should be too ashamed to show their face. We are disgusted with them.

I don't care if you call it rescue plan, middle class credit saving plan, or any other lie. It is a life-line to business who made extremely bad business practices. Both these business and government is to blame. When government start pushing prime loans in the 90's to help out people who could not afford it, it started the housing bubble and now took away jobs from innocent people. The truth is our government wants to bail out the foreign investors who gave these investment banks the loans for these bad loans. They feel that if we don't protect them, they will stop giving our banks money to loan. The market is correcting itself by sound banks buying out dishonest banks. I lost money because I had stocks in one of these banks because they lied about how much debt they had in sub-prime loans. Even with this, I do not want a bail-out for them. The credit crunch will continue even if they pass this bail-out because I believe we learned from our lesson. No more loaning to people who have bad credit and no more 100% loans on items such as homes or cars. It will probably take 2-3 years for this to correct itself. When I graduated 25 years ago from college, I had to put 10% down to buy a house. My house was only $40,000 because that was all I could afford. The average house in New Orleans at that time was $125,000. I only made $30,000 a year and no way could I afford a $125,000 house. Just several months ago, a person making $30,000 could get a $100,000 interest only loan. We will have to get back to actually having equity in something. No bail-out.

It seems we have to go with the bailout plan, but............ Note I have sent to my representatives and senators. Vote for what will help "Main Street". Regardless this happened on your watch, so whichever way you vote, either the coming election or next election you will be FIRED!!!!!!! That is life and reality. If I mess up for my client I am also fired. If my employee messes up they also get fired.

Dear Senator, Regarding the proposed "bail out" or "rescue" of Wall Street and our financial system..... I strongly urge you to vote against any bill or proposal that provides funding OF ANY SORT that obligates me as a taxpayer, no matter the amount. This entire credit crunch can be quickly and easily alleviated with the mere stroke of a pen by suspending the Sarbanes-Oxley "Mark To Market" clause for 30 days. There is no need, and certainly no stomach for a massive spending bill of any sort. Let the market correct itself once the cause of the credit crunch is unplugged. Get government out of the business of business and let the chips fall where they may. The next sound you will hear is that of my wallet snapping shut - and I will work to defeat any Michigan politician that votes otherwise. Thanks for your time and attention. Regards, John Bates

If the "Government" is going to offer reduced interest rates and reduce mortgage balances for those who made bad and greedy decisions, What is it going to do for us who paid our bills and did not make bad decisions on spending . Do we get our uptodate mortgages reduced and a better interest rate? I always thought if you had a bad credit record you paid a higer interest rate because you are a greater risk. Boy was I wrong!

I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey's plan! Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps: Common Sense Plan. I. INSURANCE A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity. B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things: 1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage. a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes. b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives. 2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs. C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal. II. MARK TO MARKET A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate. B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing. III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing. B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.

I say no to the bail out. Wall Street’s greedy millionaires don't deserve to take our tax payer money. Let them rot! Besides what the federal government is doing is against the frame work of the constitution. Shouldn’t a change like this be done thought a constitutional convention? It sounds like the government is changing from democracy to socialism. They really don't care about the people, just the rich.

I would just allow things to go as they may. I do not think we need a bailout. If a company cannot keep up with time then there time is up. Why are we helping old money. It is time for someone new to take their spots if they cannot keep up. It is a part of life when someone falls off then there is always someone else that will take their place. We are going into panic mode because old money is losing money and they are in panic mode. It is time for a change.

I've spent some time going through the Senate's version of the bill. One question I have is why the FDIC limit increase is only temporary? The way the bill is written, it's only in effect for a year. That's not good.

I believe the federal government is desperate in their desire to bring confidence to the average American and non-domestic investors is trying to be all to everyone. This desperation does not spread consumer confidence instead it breeds chaos and hostility. The federal government, i.e. you and I are broke. They've spent, gouged and wasted our tax dollars on the airline bailout, and most recently investment and banking bail out's. It's not only our federal government and party lines that are broke, wall street and our investment communities are broken. We need to bring rational thinking back into our business acumen. We can start by restructuring Wall Street, reduce the hours of operation, reduce the hours of trading, increase the cap on trade limits especially for non-domestic enticements-invest in American company's first, require buyer's remorse options on large trades. I don't pretend to be a savvy investor, but I've witnessed the fluctuating of market sellouts come Thurs late am, through Friday for the past two year. It's insulting to the average investor who believes in our economy, our business leaders and our communities that speculators can manipulate our lifelong savings and investment portfolios in our banking and lending institutions, and make a living on nothing but a phone call and a credit card. America needs to go back to work, the days of sitting on your cell phone and checking your stock options needs to be over!

First: immediately cut federal spending by 10% Second: eliminate capital gains tax Third: cut income tax by 10% Fourth: NO 700 BILLION BAILOUT. Give the gov't not a dime! Fifth: Cut salaries for Congress and the Executive Office by 10% (the noble thing to do) Sixth: Stop treating citizens as idiots!!!!

Why not take the the $700 trillion and divide it equally to all taxpaying households in America? The liquidity of citiizens would increase as debts were serviced, banks would have more credit to extend due the debts being serviced and this is politically viable.

A solution, seriously? Okay: 1. Eliminate or fully privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 2. Ban "short-selling" so that the market is not manipulated as much 3. Full court press investigation into ACORN and it's corruption 4. Simplify and strongly regulate the entire mortgage business; too many people are lying on applications and "gaming" the system 5. Implement Dave Ramsey's "Three Steps to Common Sense Fix" plan (go to daveramsey.com to view the plan). 6. In November, VOTE AGAINST ANY AND ALL INCUMBENTS IN CONGRESS AND SENATE -- THROW THE BUMS OUT.

No Bailout/Rescue The Four-Point Plan Tax Reform: Reduce the tax burden and eliminate taxes that punish investment and savings, including job-killing corporate taxes. Spending Reform: Eliminate wasteful spending. Reduce overseas commitments. Freeze all non-defense, non-entitlement spending at current levels. Monetary Policy Reform: Expand openness with the Federal Reserve and require the Fed to televise its meetings. Return value to our money. Regulatory Reform: Repeal Sarbanes/Oxley regulations that push companies to seek capital outside of US markets. Stop restricting community banks from fostering local economic growth.

Dave Ramsey's Plan sounds like the best I've read. "Years of bad decisions and stupid mistakes have created an economic nightmare in this country, but $700 billion in new debt is not the answer. As a tax-paying American citizen, I will not support any congressperson who votes to implement such a policy. Instead, I submit the following three steps: Common Sense Plan. I. INSURANCE A. Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity. B. In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things: 1. Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage. a. Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes. b. Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives. 2. Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs. C. This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal. II. MARK TO MARKET A. Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate. B. This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing. III. CAPITAL GAINS TAX A. Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing. B. This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down. This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to stand up, speak out, and fix this mess."

I think that this is a big scam.When taxpayers eat the mortgage notes from these irresponsible borrowers, will there be a restricted deed so they can never use the house as piggybank again?When and if realestate goes back up will they be responsible to pay the taxpayers back?

No bailout. Let the open market deal with it. Prosecute and jail those who covered it up and ran those businesses into the ground!

Here is a simple solution. Set up an RTC type company. any financial company that is in trouble over mortgages can give (as in free) the assets to the RTC and simply wipe them off of their books. When the RTC sells the property or receives a payment this deposited into the US treasury. If the offending financial company then subsequently gets into trouble---Goodby. Oh, and also they must now and forever mark-to-the-market. We have let them get by with hiding stuff for far too long. Ken Kesler

The Fed pumped $630 BILLION into the CREDIT market on Monday! Everyone says this rescue bailout is for the credit market and not Wall Street. With $630B already pumped in this week, this sure looks like the bailout rescue is just going straight to Wall Street. This will add up to $1.4 TRILLION being dolled out this week. Someone please explain why we need the $700 Billion rescue?

First I do not consider my self a Democrat or a Republican, I don't simply vote for one side or the other, I try to see what both have to offer and What I know over the past 8 years is this: I blame the Democratic Lead Congress for Finiancial Status. As Much as people have blaimed President Bush I look at it this way: George Bush has been in office for 7 1/2 years. The first six the economy was fine. A little over one year ago: 1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high; 2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon; 3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%. 4) the DOW JONES hit a record high--14,000 + 5) American's were buying new cars, taking cruises, vacations overseas, living large!... But American's wanted 'CHANGE'! So, in 2006 they voted in a Democratic Congress and yes--we got 'CHANGE' all right. In the PAST YEAR: 1) Consumer confidence has plummeted ; 2) Gasoline is now over $4 a gallon & climbing!; 3) Unemployment is up to 5.5% (a 10% increase); 4) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $12 TRILLION DOLLARS and prices still dropping; 5) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure. 6) as I write, THE DOW is probing another low~~ $2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS HAS EVAPORATED FROM THEIR STOCKS, BONDS & MUTUAL FUNDS, & INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS! YES, IN 2006 AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE...AND WE SURE GOT IT! .... REMEMBER THE PRESIDENT HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY OF THESE ISSUES, ONLY CONGRESS. AND WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. NOW THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO REALLY GIVE US CHANGE ALONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!!! JUST HOW MUCH MORE 'CHANGE' DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND?

I acutally think that if the Government has to be a part of this bailout, they should act as a loan company. Lend the dollars to the trouble financial sector with a minimum interst rate. This method should not only help restore sanity to the financial sector but if this methodology would be extended to the auto industry in may be a financing method to allow this industry to get back in the game so they can actually compete with the foreign auto makers.

I was reading that Congress wants to crack down on CEO mega-salaries for banks participating in the bailout. And while the politicians argue how best to do that, Alan Fishman of Washington Mutual is headed for the doors with $19 million in his pocket. Why would a CEO be giving anything for allowing his Company to fail? What I would do: These CEO's should be forced to forfeit 99.99% of there severance packages. That would give Alan Fishman $19,000 Which is still $20,000 more than he should be getting.. Because if anything CEOs should be paying us for making such horrible decisions.