As any economist worth his grain in salt would tell you, government intervention into economic affairs such as this one just wastes money and makes the problem last much longer then it normally would.

Let the market correct itself on its own. Why should we bailout out people who took out loans they couldnt pay for in the first place. I have members of my own family who have been foreclosed on. Its their own fault.

National Government has no place within our financial system.

I agree 100 % with you USF11. People should have dealt with it by themselves without the bailout. By the way this is no place to post this political crap in here.

Correct on both ends. The economy is in the dumps because of many issues, the bailout is throwing $$ at the problem without any long term agenda. There is too much waste in this plan. Do I have the answer for all these problems in our economy no but, a 800 billion $$ solution not so much.

We're expecting the same actions of the last 8 years (overspending) to get us out of the hole that it created in the first place.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different result.

There actually is an answer and i quote USF11, "Let the market correct itself on its own". That is the only "promising" answer.

I like how people say we're wasting money on the bailout,uh has anyone noticed that billions of dollars have gone to the Iraq war and has it worked out at all...NOPE

phillycannon1720, don't go there man, you are being really short-sighted. To say the Iraq War hasn't worked out is ignorant. The war against Islamist extremists will never end because their sole goal is to convert or wipe out every infidel on earth. We will never leave Iraq entirely, for our own safety. To say it hasn't worked out is silly...has there been another major terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11? No, I don't think so. Thats worth every penny.

Sorry to get off topic!

Why shouldn't people be pissed off about this? 99 percent of the people in Congress and the Senate didn't even read the damn bill! We don't know what the hell is in it for Christ's sake! It was rushed through and shoved down everyone's throats because of Obama's fear-mongering. If we're not going to get out of this overnight anyway, why not take a little extra time to make sure the bill is effective and efficient instead of blindly signing off on it? That's ridiculous at best.

Wow...it's obvious that no one actually read my post. I never said anything one way or the other about whether the bailout was a good idea. My point is that the bailout passed, so everyone has to deal with that fact. This constantg complaining about something that can't be changed only decreases consumer confidence even more.

Oh, and let the market correct itself? Herbert Hoover tried that in the 30s, and we all know how that went.

The problem is this; we've set a dangerous precedent with these bailouts. Now everyone is going to want one. Can't you see the mentality? "It's OK if I screw up because Uncle Sam will just cut me a check. I can do whatever I want." We can't just keep printing money and handing it out like it's water. Our dollar is going to become worthless and inflation is going to skyrocket.

We didn't fully escape the claws of the Depression until World War II. The New Deal itself was not the thing that got our economy back on track. In that sense, it's a little overrated in the annals of history.

I think the most dangerous precent was set with the original TARP bailout, which was basically Paulsen throwing money at the banks without really paying attention to the details. Then when the auto industry came in for their "fair share" they got a bit more scrutiny (it didn't help their cause that the more conservative members of Congress saw it as an opportunity to do a little union-busting as well). If (and this is a big if) the remainder of TARP becomes more of an investment rather than a gift, we'll be okay. If tax payers actually get a return on their investment in these banks over the long-run, things will work out just fine. As for the mortgage proposal, from what I've read, it's NOT a gift of money to people who f***ed up with their mortgage. People who were buying houses to flip or clearly overstepped their reach when it came to affortability won't get help. From what I can tell, it's the people who are paying their mortgage properly, but now owe a ton more money than their house is worth because of the way the houses around them have deteriorated in value that will be receiving the most of the aid. Which I have no problem with. If I'm paying my mortgage like I'm supposed to, and the idiot next door gets foreclosed on, suddenly I'm in a big hole because my house is no longer worth what I paid for it. Obama specifically said that no help will go to people who acted irresponsibly (on both the borrowing and lending side). We'll have to see if it stays that way. A good first step would be to keep people like Pelosi as far from the bill as possible (I blame her for most of the stimulus debacle)

You still aren't getting it. Criticism of the government is fine. Spouting doom and gloom about something that is fueled by doom and gloom (recessions are at least 50% psychological) is not.

To letsgopitt, I completely agree, All this going onto national media and going around saying how this is just getting worse and worse is definitely not helping for people like me. If you want American's to be on your side, shouldn't you try to show them the positives in your way instead of the "potential" negatives in the one we have? Just my 2 cents.

Somehow when Republicans disagree it's whining, but when Democrats disagree it's a sharp display of their principles. Democrats make an art form of hypocrisy.

You call it whining, and yet your Senator Frank helped cause the banking crisis that now he thinks he's ready to fix?

Bull.

You Democrats are doing your best to ruin this country as fast as you can. Congratulations, you've fooled enough idiots to get elected.

Soon they'll realize that your ideas don't work. They sound nice, but they don't work. They haven't worked in the past, and they will never work in the future, because of a profound misunderstanding of how people operate. Once you remove incentive they will stop being productive.

Which side of the Berlin Wall had the barbed wire? Why are Cubans risking their lives on makeshift rafts? Socialism does not work. It penalizes acheivement.

It causes the very problems that you Democrats are dumb enough to think you can cure with more of the same.

You think it's Republicans that have been spouting doom and gloom. Maybe if you took your head out of your rear you'd realize that it's your traitorous political organization that's leading that charge.

Only a Democrat would think that it was government interference that ever cured an economic crisis.

If all the Democrats in this country moved to Canada tomorrow our GDP would double. Maybe triple. Canada would be ruined.

You on the left are so sure you can cause the problem that you fail to realize that you are the problem.

Pitt, at least we agree on something...I can't stand Pelosi either. I think she's a complete moron who is totally out of touch with reality. She looks clueless.

I'm with you about needing a more positive tone. I think this recession is more psychological than most that have come in the past. People are scared and lack trust, especially because of things like the Madoff scandal. Everyone's waiting for the next shoe to drop and there's a general lack of trust in everything right now.