Story Comments

THE STIMULUS WILL ELIMINATE THE 2ND CLASS AND INDEBIT THE USA INTO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.IT HAS AREADY ELIMINATED THE "AMERICAN DREAM"!

Government-Provided Economic Security Is an Illusion (2009-02-23)
The various congressional bailouts have been touted as essential to the nation's economic security. So long as the notion of economic security remains vague and abstract, it has wide support. But anyone who examines the details should realize this so-called security threatens our freedom and stability.

See http://www.emarotta.com/article.php?ID=325
for the full article

thanks for your thoughts...to be more effective the housing legislation should include protection from litigation for those persons who are assisting the refinancing/ reducing the loan principal on these mortgages...

also, does the law alow the executive branch or congress / government to be initiating a retroactive changing of valid contracts on mortgage loans that have been sold/or divided and included in a mortgage backed security to other investors???? we used to be a nation of laws..Contracts are the responsibility of the signors ... contract for pensions should not be bargined away either without bankrupcy procedings..seems like we are slipping down a slope we may.. not be able to climb back up.well warm regards to all of you..Tom

everybody can kiss thier ass goodbye thanks to slick willie ( bill clinton)

Don't try to turn this debate into a Republican versus Democrat issue: it is not.

Everybody here, or practically everybody here, knows very well the disasters caused by the Bush Administration. The issue here has nothing to do with the crap that he did; it has to do with the solution pushed forwards by the Obama Administration. Both of them are the two sides of the same coin. The answer to the issue was to either do nothing, or if one was going to do something, to provide a rounded response to the crisis. And, the only solution to this crisis by way of government interference was suggested by a number of economists way back. This solution was to turn the mortgage interest deduction into a refundable credit in the income tax return.

Now, it the reason why this solution would work has to be explained then there is no amount of writing I can do here to make you understanding.

So, according to some of you, the problem is not how we got here, but the attempted solution to the problems we face?

Bush takes office, national debt = appx. 4 trillion.
Bush leaves office, national debt = appx 10 trillion.

Now you folks are complaining about a package intended to avoid a total collapse of the US economy? Get used to it! It will take a mighty big shovel to dig out of the mess created under 8 years of Bush and a republican congress from 1995 through 2006! IF, they do everything right, we might START to see hope in 2011. If not, kiss the American dream goodbye.

I believe you meant to say "common sense" rumrunnerm. Oh the irony.

it's a shame we the people can not throw the morons out and start over with common sence thinking people

What's in it for me? Higher taxes as far as the eye can see. The Bush tax cuts are going to expire so that's a guaranteed increase. And they'll clearly have to tack something on to pay for all this new spending.

For a bunch of people who complained endlessly about spending on the Iraq war, they've spent more than 130% of 5 years of war spending in just one bill.

I lost $12,500.00 Today when the president signed the spending bill. I believe that this is just the beginning. Look for years of down market.

what will Congress do next, I think it is anyone's guess. One thing for sure is what ever they do, it will be WRONG.......take all the bailout money, the stimulus money and give every household (legal status) $40,000 and BINGO, now you got 'stimulus' for the same price tag.

My wife and I will get $26 a week. WOO-HOO! We can't wait to get out there and start spreading that wad of cash around town.

With the Trillions they have already or will spend they could have given every taxpayer a $$ million or so. Now there's stimulus.

Nothing! I see nothing in there for me. Sure there are some very marginal tax benefits that are plain and clear, but they do not have a meaningful positive impact on my financial situation. What I do see in it is a lot of pitfall that my destroy my ability to generate income from working. Ultimately this pitfall may even lead me to lose my house. Will I have to abandon it and let it be foreclose? Will I just sell it at deep discount and lose most of the equity I have built over the years? should I just go ahead and retire as early as possible and start drawing all I can and live real tight? It just seems like the wisest economic decision I can make is to remove myself from the work force and just be content with paying for my basic necesities and forget about the rest.

Let me see, what in this monster?:
1. Tax Credits: I'll take my $13 a week, thank you very much.
2. Jobs: If 3.5M jobs is enough to help turn things around, that's good enough. The package should have been targeted to those areas of the economy that have the most potential of turning around the economy. Not simply to provide any jobs - especially not those that won't give the biggest bang for the buck in turning things around.
3. Homes: It was allowing buyers whose credit records showed that they didn't have the financial wherewithall to own a home (later compounded by other factors) that got us into this mess in the first place. Bad idea.
4. Unemployment Benefits: A necessary part of the package. Sometimes you just have to help people out until their ship comes in.
5. New Cars: I wonder how much the car manufacturers will raise their prices to account for this windfall?
6. Health Care: I don't see the economically stimulating effect of this perk. If they wan...(Read more of this comment)ted to make changes to health care, they should have done that separately from a package where the primary intent was to stimulate the economy.
7. Education: I don't see the economically stimulating effect of this perk. Again, if they wanted to make changes to education funding, they should have done that separately from a package where the primary intent was to stimulate the economy.
=====

One-digit multiplication problems? Forget everything I said above -- we're all hosed.....
(Show less of this comment)

THE STIMULUS AND THE BAILOUTS LEAD THE USA INTO A 3rd WORLD STATE,AND,FROM A DEMOCRACY INTO A SOCIALIST STATE...

The last visual, re college education loans, shows a young woman working out one-digit multiplication problems. Hmmm, I think this is one student who was left behind.