on the failed bailout, politicians, and the election.....not for the fainthearted.....

WARNING WARNING WARNING!!!!!

This is your first and last warning---if you think govt is the answer to all the ills in the world and that we should happily give up all our money to others, do NOT read further---you WILL be offended, and quite honestly, I couldn't give a rat's ass about what you think..........

Now that the preliminaries are done, on to business......

The bailout of the financial crisis failed to pass the US House of Representatives yesterday. HALLELUJAH!!! Maybe someone, or several someones, finally got enough sense, or gonads, to actually use their brain and see what it would cost the average US taxpayer. Maybe someone finally understood that with decisions, and especially with poor business decisions, there are consequences and no one should have to take up your slack or cover your rear for you.....

I am sure that all the facts and figures on what it would have cost each man, woman, and child in this country are all over the various media outlets, so I won't rehash them. If you want a quick review of the facts, head on over to Perfect It Ain't--the link should be at the side of this page. Suffice it to say that I, as the majority breadwinner in this family--no offense to my dear hubby, we just work in different fields----and the parent of 5, do not have any extra cash for anything. I do not live high on the hog, getting manicures and my hair done each week----what gets done to them I do myself---our vehicles are 10 and 9 years old respectively, our house is owned by the bank at this point---I think my payments have allowed us to claim ownership of the rock denoting our house number in front-----but I make my payments faithfully and most usually on time. We buy what we need at the grocery store, and while my hobbies can be expensive if I let them, as can Ron's, we base what we buy on what we can afford. We don';t go out to eat nearly as often as we used to, because it gets quite expensive and we can eat just as well if not better at home. We have Dish b/c cable in our area sucks horribly, and we have cell phones for us, not the kids. There is no extra. There is rarely a luxury. Our big vacation trip this year was camping for a week at the state park 20 miles or less from our home. The only other things we did that took us away from home were going to CT to pick my sons up from their dad after summer visitation, and going to COSI in Columbus, OH for a family day trip. We don't travel. We don't live on credit. We don't live big. Our home is fairly new in the grand scheme of things---approx 20 yrs old, and there is some maintenance and upkeep to it, but not as much as a much older home might have. My 4 BR, 2000 SqFt home was less than $130,000 at time of purchase. A little on the high side of what we could afford, but we, above all else, make sure that house payment gets made.

But if we find ourselves strapped for cash and can't make the payments for a few months, do we get bailed out? Sure, it's called foreclosure and bankruptcy. Oh yeah, it's really not a bailout, it's just a way to get rid of the payment. Of course, it also gets rid of our home, but hey, at least we don't have to make that payment every month, right? I don't see the govt rushing to our aid so we can keep our home. Why should they? We screw up, we pay the piper. Therefore, we don't screw up....Duh.....how simple is that?

The CEO's of Freddie Mac, Fanny Mae, AIG, Wamu, Wachovia, just to name a few---why should they be any different? Why are they allowed to walk away with millions of dollars for screwing up and screwing their employees and customers?? Why should they not be made to pay back what was lost? Why should they be allowed to prosper at the expense of others whose livelihoods they were entrusted with? Why are they not held accountable for their poor business practices? Since when is ethics a dirty word? Since when does honesty in business mean less than squat?

Maybe I am naive, but if I am then a hell of a lot of other Americans are too. We trust our banks and our insurance companies and so on, to deal right with us. To not screw us without benefit of dinner and a movie first....And for me to be expected to ante up a share of my hard earned money to bail out a bunch of greedy, less than human businesspeople just so their companies won't fail----well hell people, if I screw my customers and treat them poorly, I lose business and my company folds and I lose my job. Why shouldn't they? I'm quite sick and tired of being expected, and quite often given no choice in the matter, to "help out my fellow man down on his luck" when the reason he is down on his luck is his own damn fault and he shows no inclination to change. Beyond the crocodile tears he sheds for the media, who eat it up...but I digress.....

Now before you think I am anti business or anti capitalism or something equally stupid, let me also tell you that I put a lot of the blame for the housing nonsense on stupid people who refuse to live within their means, and buy $500,000 dollar homes when they have no way to afford them, except through the machinations of a mortgage company or bank to squeeze them through the cracks. There are days I wonder how we got our mortgage---but we also crunched numbers and told the mortgage company up front that we demanded a fixed interest rate, never to change, and that the taxes and insurance must be included in the payment. We got it. We also got sticker shock over the monthly payment, but after careful consideration, decided that we could do it if we were careful. And the interest rate was not bad for people with our credit history. Yes bad choices can come back to haunt you. But how can someone sign on the dotted line knowing that their 4.5% rate is going to jump bigtime in a few years and that means their payment is going to jump substantially and they will have to be prepared for it? Do they think that day will never come? Here's your sign......

And the politicians who are crying on tv today, blaming the other side, blaming the President, blaming everyone but themselves and their own stupidity in trying to pass such a shoddy piece of legislation? GROW THE HELL UP!!!!! We out here in flyover territory are not the morons you think us to be. Bush supported this legislation--yet another case of mental block---so why are you blaming him and saying that he caused it to fail? It is not the Republicans fault that it failed------there are a hell of a lot more Democrats in the House than Republicans, so why couldn't they make it happen? Because maybe they have constituents out there that are telling them the same thing I am-------not on our backs, you idiots.......you want to keep your cushy job there in DC? Then don't screw us, the taxpaying voter.........Obama and McCain want it passed----yall are pushing me to go 3rd party--and I already was not voting for Obama, so don't blow it McCain........

I'm sure there is more I can and probably will say, but now the kids are home and demanding my time........and quite honestly, they are worth more than all the money in the world......