The Government Bailout of the Banks: To Do, Or Not To Do?

I've been considering whether or not the U.S. Government should bail out the banks with taxpayer money. That's 700 Billion Dollars, mind you. Who came up with that amount? I guess it's to help keep failing banks in business. But why?

After some careful consideration, I think that they should simply let the damn banks do what they have to do. Don't lend them a dime of taxpayer money. Let the market do what it will do. If it falls, maybe some of us with a little money left can get a good deal on some stocks. People are going to have to sacrifice anyway. So many people have lost their homes already- what happened to the loans that Congress talked about- the mandate that banks were going to renegotiate loan terms so that interest rates would have been lowered, so that payments would have been affordable? What happened to that plan? Why is there this big "giveaway" to the banks? If the banks take the "loans" and go out of business anyway, guess what? The government will be left with nothing to show for it. Already, the biggest bank, Washington Mutual, was already seized and given to another big company- the government couldn't help that bank in time. Frankly, I think that everybody is panicking now- overreacting really.

I've witnessed at least a couple of lousy bills passed under this current presidential administration, that have made Americans worse off: the bill concerning drugs for seniors; and the new bankruptcy laws for individuals (written by a bank that I will never do business with again, MBNA). Now, they want to loan money to the banks?


If they do loan the money to the banks, I hope that it will at least include forcing the banks to do a moratorium on foreclosures, and forcing them to re-write the existing loans to a lower interest rate, and an up to 6 month grace period before the first payments are due.

Whatever they do, who cares if some stocks have to be sold by some people and institutions in order to make payments? There's also something more afoot going on here, too, than just with the banks and the real estate bust. Robert Kiyosaki had a book about "Rich Dad's Prediction" a few years back, which spoke about how the biggest stock market crash in history was coming. It's unavoidable- and has a lot to do with the baby boomers retiring, drawing a pension, and taking their money out of the stock market. Hey, we're in for some interesting times.