Fixing The Economy

The economy is a scary topic. Everyday the housing market and credit crunch seem to worsen and banks and investment firms continue to fold.

I'm just glad I'm not a lawmaker right now. Trying to figure out the right course of action seems very daunting. The President has proposed a 700 billion dollar emergency relief bill. Congress is in the midst of trying to hatch out the final details to that bill. There's a lot to consider and a lot on the line. We all know something needs to be done but no-one seems to agree on what that is.

Republican lawmakers say the bill creates too much of a burden on taxpayers who in the end are footing the bailout. Democratic lawmakers say there needs to be more legislation preventing this disaster from happening again. It's hard not to agree with both sides.

If the government doesn't step in and help bailout these banks, our country will probably go into financial disaster. Although I understand that, there's still a part of me that wants to see the banks and mortgage lenders punished.

In my opinion criminal charges should be brought against the people who encouraged borrowers to lie on their loan applications. Charges should be filed against the top execs who told lenders to worry about getting a lot of loans instead of worrying about how solid the loans were. Currently the FBI is investigating some of the top banks and corporations for fraud and I'll be very interested to see what investigators find.

The saddest part is watching people who are being financially punished for things other people caused. People who have good credit and bought their homes the right way, now can't sell those homes. The people who have good but not perfect credit now can't buy homes. People who have their retirement plans invested in the stock market are now unsure if their money will even be there in a few years.

I'm not saying hope is lost because history tells us things will turn around. They always do. But now's a good time to really pay attention to what is going on in the economy and with our leaders.

Election time is a little more than a month away. All I can hope for is that people really research the issues and research the candidates. Right now the most important thing is being informed when heading to the polls.