Believe it or not, it's not just the wealthy who have a stake in this. And after watching a rather large chunck of retrement savings disappear, I'm getting sick and tired of the dancing for joy around the blogosphere. I can't believe that it is so hard to comprehend the fact that even the middle class got hit today. Where will folks now go to get a home loan or small business loan? We do want to be upwardly mobile, right? I guess if there is one thing Republicans and the far left have in comon, it's that they want everyone to be poor.

I know someone who lost $8,000 on the stock market today.

I don't want to look at my 401(k) for quite a while.

This is serious stuff, and shouting "Hell no," doesn't really change that.

I just got laid off today so I'm wondering if the syncophant who wrote this is going to feed my kids.

Taking a philosophical stand is nice, but the liberal blogosphere is showing a startling lack of concern for the REAL people who are being affected by this.

This is now way bigger than sticking it to "the man".

Dear Ms. Chart,

Thank you for this diary.  I was beginning to become discouraged reading several of the others on the rec list today.

I fully understand that millions of innocent bystanders are going to be negatively affected by the current track we are one. However, although I'm not an economist, I also have serious doubts whether the proposed bailout would have a significant impact.

This ludicrous idea that our economy was going to continue flourish on the power of real estate speculation, exotic financial devices, and hedge fund quacks has come crashing to the ground and now the same jerks that preached de-regulation and some of their laissez faire henchman in Congress are coming to the taxpayer looking for a handout.

We need to stop exporting our manufacturing base, revive the family farm, tighten our belts, and move toward a sustainable economy where cancerous growth, unfettered greed, and a credit-card mentality are not honored.

For those of you who are fretting now that you won't have the money to buy that timeshare in Palm Springs or eat out 5 nights a week I have very little pity.

Where were your voices of caution when an overheated market was fattening your 401ks?

Suppose an idiot neighbor who made his money by shady dealing owns a McMansion.  Suppose an idiot neighbor has allowed brush to grow up (expensive to trim it) against his McMansion next to stacks of firewood. In addition the neighbor bought gasoline when it was cheap and has stored it in his garage. Now, the idiot neighbor has been setting off fireworks that have set his McMansion on fire.

The rest of us cottage owners step up to try to put out the fire at our own expense (which may benefit the idiot neighbor) because the idiot neighbor may burn down the rest of the neighborhood in addition to his own house. It is in our own self interest to pony up to put out the fire. Once the fire is out, it is in our own best interest to enact strict regulations against fireworks and creating a fire hazard.  We might try to recover some of our costs from the McMansion owner, but he may have already lost everything.

Bush is such a poor communicator he has failed to explain the crisis to the public in a way people can understand.

Yeah, only 5 banks!  Let's make it 50!  Or a hundred!  Who needs banks anyways!  I keep money under my bed in gold coins, and drink only distilled water 'cos flouridation is a capitalist plot to invade my precious bodily fluids...

Well, you got what you wanted... now EVERYBODY's going to be poor... happy?  ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

Maybe you can jump for joy in front of that 50 year old guy that just lost all of his retirement savings... yep!  I'm sure he will appreciate it!

Stop the madness!  Stop the crisis, now!

The comments that I've been reading in the liberal blogosphere of late simply blow my mind.  It's a chorus of Neros playing their fiddles and caring not one bit about people like me who have modest IRA's and are watching those funds tank.

I'm so fricking happy that you and your 95 cohorts in Congress can blissfully take a cavalier attitude about banks crashing and Wall Street fat cats taking it in the ear.  But while you're doing that, consider for a moment the hosing that so many retirees have taken today and will be a long time getting back to even, let alone attempting to see their savings keep pace with inflation.

In Florida I have watched my electric company (Progress) ask for a 31% increase, my home owners insurance jump 10%, the newspaper jump 67%, water increase 13%, and gas and food going up and up.  And who is out their protecting me......certainly not the 95 progressive democrats who seemingly appear to give not even two craps about retirees.

I'm looking forward to Obama being President and ending the insanity of the past 8 years but he best not be depending on the leadership of Ms. Pelosi and those 95 idiots to advance his positions.

Ideology alone is just what Speaker Pelosi was complaining about today.  

I'm glad you have your ideology, hopefully that's not all you have left to live on.

ALL of you who think that if only this bill had passed things would be better have left a few things out:

1.  LOTS of companies are just abondoning their employees when they feel like it.  Killing Pensions they never in good faith put money into.  I have seen 55 year old workers loose ALL of their promised pensions because the Managers had given themselves bonuses' just before the companies bailed.  And the REPUBS said it was fair in a free market economy.  No security.

2.  You may have lost your job, but because of a LOT of hard working liber-biased people, who STAND ON PRINCIPAL, there is WIC, foodstamps, unemployment, Energy assitance, and foodshelves.  I know it sucks, I have been there, but that safety net STILL EXISTS.  No, it means you cannot go on dream vacations with your kids, or get a newer used car, but you have people looking out for your basic needs.  I really am sorry, but there are indeed principaled people who WILL feed your kids.

3.  Sometimes it takes some very dark experiences to hammer lessons through our heads.  Some lessons that make us MUCH better people can only be learned through pain.  Like learning to brush your teeth so you do not have to get fillings.  Well, we OD'd on pop and now we have to have our teeth pulled...yup, it is going to hurt like hell and my retirement is probably vaporized.  But it will not cost my 3 kids their ENTIRE lives.  I would rather work 10 more years than saddle my kids with a LIFETIME of overbearing debt.

4.  As for China and S.A., right.  Communists and Principalities will weather this crisis BETTER than we will...based on???

For the cost of rising prices, utilities and monopolistic-style business will just have to be re-regulated.  Too many of them have turned into money making enterprises instead of public services that break even.

acccording to the latest snap polls, a majority, albeit slight, think todays result was bad news.   When the market tanks another 7-10% tomorrow you can bet your sweet bippy that number who think this is a bad result will rise.

Thankfully, a majority of Dems voted for the deal so the onus really is going to fall on the GOP.

I do not think it is too far fetched to say that if something isnt passed somewhat quickly, we are likely to see UAL or GM or Ford or all three go under soon.  

The few banks that still have money are not going to lend any out, especially not to companies that are currently unprofitable.

Maybe it is a good thing to happen now.  Let us get through 3-5 years of a horrible economy, I am talking much worse than 1981-82 recession, so that we can grow again.

Heck, I am still in my 30s so I can take a really cynical view and say that maybe it will be a good thing if the market tanks and drops 90%.  That would be pretty good news for me becuase I get 25+ years to invest in cheap stock so that it will be good for my retirement.   Of course it will not be so good for someone who is 60-something.   Oh well, they are all going to vote for McCain anyway so shy should I care.

Coke?  Coffee?  Beer?  Something stronger?  It's OK - it's been a rough day.

Have a seat.  Yeah, use my recliner if you want...you look like you need it more than I do.

OK, now....

In 1987, only a couple of years out of college, I watched what little investments I had saved simply vaporize.  I was so scared I bought two hundred pounds of grain that same afternoon and my then wife bought a hand-operated mill for it.  The market dropped over 20% before it was over, and we didn't know what tomorrow would bring.

In 1996, for personal reasons I won't go into, my ex-wife was given about 80% of all our financial assets as a result of our divorce.  And I found shortly thereafter that I had to fight for majority custody of my then 2 1/2 year old daughter for her sake, or watch her fall into a very bad trap that would warp her life irrevocably.  That battle cost a few bucks, and  it lasted until 2000.  It wasn't a cheap battle - by its end, the success I achieved was severely tempered by being net negative value financially.

There was a point, in the midst of the second event, when I finally realized that fear will make you its slave if you allow it to do so.  And so, at some point, you must make peace with your fear, to surmount it, or it will devour you.  I sorta knew it in 1987, but it hammered itself very deeply into my psyche around 1997, when things were at their worst for myself and my daughter.

I also realized, viscerally, that what you stand for could cost you more than you're prepared for, and that when the time comes to decide, you'd better be ready to live with the consequences of sticking hard by what you believe in.  I could have taken the easy way out and not have fought for my daughter's welfare, for her soul, essentially.  But that would have meant saying a lot of what made up what I believe in was essentially a sham, and it would mean that my immediate welfare was more important to me than my daughter's long-term welfare.

There are going to be tough economic times ahead.  Most of you reading this knew it was so when times were relatively fat and we could take advantage of it in our own small ways.  We knew these days were borrowed and couldn't last.

Now, it comes down to three things.

First, can you surmount your fear?  If not, you will fall prey to the same slavery that led us to the war in Iraq, the loss of most of the Bill of Rights, the validation of torture in our nation's, and effectively, in yours and my name.  Because there are people who will take advantage of your fear, as sure as we're both sitting here.  And they will do whatever it takes to bend you to your will, if they see you owned by your fear.

Second, who is going to pay what portion to clean up this mess, and how many false starts do you want to deal with?  The folks over at Naked Capitalism (link below) show that those who created most of this mess were expecting us to do most of the heavy lifting, most of the suffering, once again.  How hard are you willing to fight, and yes, how much are you willing to suffer, to ensure that everyone pays their fair share?  (And yes, you and I will have to pay for some portion of this mess.)  Because we're dealing with folks who rarely are left holding the bag, and they literally do not comprehend that they could lose it all.

Third, are you willing to stick to your hardcore principles when the going gets rough?  My family matters to me, but if I can't stand for what I believe in, what makes me me, then I am of no value to my family.  This isn't about narcissism or selfishness.  I've done what I had to, to ensure the bills were paid, that my daughter had her essentials, but I was able to do it while maintaining who I was.  It meant less money, but self-worth has value for me.

We will have some form of a bailout.  The question is, how hard will you fight for one that's fair to  you and yours and the rest of us who are all in this together?  

You don't have to do this alone... we can do this together.  But you have to not succumb to your fear, and you have to realize that it won't be easy no matter what the outcome.

But together, we can achieve wonders.

Great post Natasha.  It's a relief that enough of our Congress had the guts to stand up to the fear mongering by our Treasury secretary trying to rush us into a bad bailout plan.  It is these scare tactics which are causing the markets to crater.

Dave
Just Say No to the Bailout Plan

My 60 year old nurse practitioner mom called me yesterday almost in tears because she had lost so much money that she had saved for retirement. Now she doesn't know when she will retire. But I told her to buck up cause we really taught everyone a lesson. Screw your money and retirement, mom. It's the principle that matters. And we sure showed 'em!

No, just kidding. I didn't say that. I'm sick of some of us on the far, far left who really truly believe that we can be taught lessons in this country. How about the folks in 2000 who thought by voting Nader they'd be teaching us a lesson about having more than 2 stinking parties! Look where that got us? 8 years of the worst pres in history and we still don't have a 3 party system. I know folks who wanted Bush to win in 04 cause then the country would learn and swing far left. Nope. We're neck and neck with McCain right now. And it's like the PUMAs who want to lose this election and women to lose reproductive rights to teach us a lesson about our faulty primary system.

It's like standing in front of a car that runs a stoplight and letting it hit you. Sure, the car driver will get in trouble and will learn they can't just run stoplights whenever they want. But your ass just got hit by a car.