You might have heard something about me appearing on FOX News radio today. Below is a link to the podcast so you can listen, information about how to vote (yes, please, for me, thanks), and a transcript of my monologue.
Listen to the podcast at: http://battle.foxnewsradio.com
Mobile voting is: Text the word battle to 41411 to vote via text message.
Hi, this is Julie Pippert from MOMocrats.com,. Thanks for listening in on our discussion about the Big Bailout signed into law Friday.
From the web to the water cooler, I’ve heard many concerns and reservations about the bailout, and little support.
That jives with the Bloomberg poll that found only 31% of Americans think the bailout is a good idea.
What DO Americans get from this bailout? Will the bailout prevent a similar crisis in the future, and how can the US afford it?
I think the key here is that people need to stop thinking of the bailout as the solution---the end. It’s a means to an end---a thumb in the dike, a first step.
We HOPE that it’s a first step---to modernize and reform the infrastructure for a dynamic 21st century market.
That really depends upon who gets elected in November.
If Barack Obama gets elected, it will be merely the beginning, as he promised in his speech at Cooper-Union this past March, when he predicted this exact economic crisis and expressed his support of the Dodd-Frank Bill.
That bill is the Main St bailout. It insures refinancing for eligible homeowners, lets them trade bad loans for good, and prevents foreclosure. For ineligibles, it helps them with a way out of their homes via selling when they’re in over their heads.
The idea is to stop the slump and free up lending capital---get ahead of the crisis rather than just react to it.
Unfortunately the reckless gambling and speculating by the deregulated investors and lenders was too deep, and we ended up with the Paulson bailout, which does NOT include the limits, oversight, improvements, or regulations we need to prevent this from happening again.
That’s why I am so skeptical of this Christmas tree bill. Why support and promote corporate welfare? Haven’t we been here and done this before? We ought to ask John McCain and the Keating Five, because lessons lie in history, which seems to be repeating itself.
How will this be any different than the crashes in the late 70s, 80s and 90s?
I came out of college just in time to reap the losses of the late 80s S&L crisis and subsequent bailout: less credit, high interest rates, and more demand for jobs than supply. Then, we all watched a quick upsurge of the economy, almost like a fast inflating balloon. Everyone started talking about bubbles: bubble real estate, bubble dot coms.
I’m sure I wasn’t unique in thinking the S&L bailout fixed the problem. Unfortunately, it only saved the banks and created a false sense of economic security leading to a bubble economy that deflated and now has popped completely. I won’t make that mistake again.
Most Americans didn’t support the Paulson bailout because they didn’t believe it solved their problems, and they’re probably right. It depends on life situation.
Most of us will be fine, just like in past crises. Most of us will keep our jobs and our homes, and while we’ll have to tighten our belts uncomfortably, we’ll manage.
We’ve already been feeling the pinch of a tightening economy, with cost of living quickly outpacing wage increases. For example, I compared my family’s 2007 and 2008 food budget and that one line item went from 10% to 20% of our budget.
Unemployment is rising, with another 159,000 jobs lost in September. Like everyone else we worry about our ability to finance the life we have now, which we keep paring down.
But most of us will survive, and it might be because the Fed and Treasury are spot on that the right combination of economic stimulus, monetary policy, and governmental intervention (aka the bailout) can prevent this recession from becoming a depression.
The bailouts will help some. They’ll save some businesses, help some families, preserve some jobs. Credit might still be there, albeit more conservative and with higher interest rates possibly.
Others won’t get that help. More than a few homeowners already at risk of foreclosure will end up foreclosing, probably the 30% the CBO predicts.
We need to remember, though, that the Dodd-Frank bill is the one aimed at Main St homeowners and the Paulson bailout is aimed at Wall Street, with the idea that Wall St and Main St intersect, so the two bills together create a double-pronged cooperative bailout.
An expensive trillion dollar bailout that is causing a lot of us to wonder whether the help it brings is worth the cost and how we can afford it.
First, keep in mind this isn’t a lump distribution; it will be parceled out in smaller amounts, starting with $250 billion and hopefully American taxpayers will see a return on the investment this is, as the market recovers.
Second, what gets cut depends on who gets elected. McCain has the same answer for every time the budget question comes up: cuts for pork barrel, ethanol subsidies, defense contracts, and discretionary spending, Obama has promised that it will not affect investments in energy independence, health care, education, or infrastructure, but did say he might cut Medicare subsidies to private insurers.
If you asked me the most important investment we could make today? I’d say education and the environment, because both are our best hope for the future.
Unfortunately, a Bloomberg poll last week found that about 12 states already planned to cut funding for K-12 school programs. This? Is very, very bad response.
So I’m reserving my judgment about whether the bailout is a good thing.. I stand firm on the concept that it’s got to be a first step. As Obama said back in March at Cooper Union,
“In our 21st century economy, there is no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street.
The decisions made in New York's high rises have consequences for Americans across the country.
To renew our economy and to ensure that we are not doomed to repeat a cycle of bubble and bust again and again and again, we need to address not only the immediate crisis in the housing market, we also need to create a 21st-century regulatory framework and we need to pursue a bold opportunity agenda for the American people.”
For those looking for jobs, there are still lots of jobs posted on several employment sites.
www.linkedin.com (professional networking)
www.indeed.com (aggregated listings)
www.realmatch.com (matches you to jobs)
Good luck!
Posted by: Rachel | October 06, 2008 at 08:03 PM
I think that you are absolutely right- this is a first step and not an immediate quick fix solution.
"The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit." FDR 1933
You were great on the radio.
Posted by: kim | October 07, 2008 at 07:20 AM