For an excellent layman's explanation of what is going and and what needs to be done, go to Dave Ramsey's website www. dave ramsey .com (remove the spaces).
Personally, I don't want the 'bailout' to even happen. Why should the taxpayers that are doing the right thing (staying out of debt, not spending more than we make) have to bail out IDIOT investors that invested in IDIOT banks that gave out IDIOT sub-prime loans for houses to IDIOT borrowers that took out loans that they could not afford to pay once they took out IDIOTIC adjustable rate mortagages? Why should I reward idiots for their behavior, thus not making all of them accountable for their lack of fiscal and economic knowledge?
Not me. Not this little grey duck. Let them go bankrupt. Let them realize that THEY are responsible for the consequences of their stupidity. In my son's 7th grade class, they are 'earning' salaries and able to buy homes, cars, etc. in a model economy. My son watched the kids act just like their parents and borrow left and right, overbuy on homes and cars. My son followed sound economic principles, such as Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. Now, he and two other boys in his class own 94.4% of all the homes, all the utility companies, are 'debt-free', and he is worth $1 billion in their mock economy by using smart, sound money management. He's teaching HIS TEACHERS about money management! And he's only 13!!!
Yes, it will make times tough. But the U.S. economy will recover. The seeds sown by the past are popping up like the weeds they are. All we owe on right now is the house. It's time people learned to live on cash and not their credit limits. And that included the donkeys AND elephants in the Beltway acting like none of this is their fault...
