The majority of Americans are of the opinion that the current bailout, now estimated at almost two trillion dollars, has done nothing to ease the mortgage crisis or help the average citizen. In fact, several economists have labeled the current bailout as transferring America's wealth to the wealthy, while the average American goes deeper into debt, millions are losing their homes to foreclosure, and the ranks of the poor are growing each and every day. While our corporations are coming to the Congress with their hats in hand, the average citizen is being ignored and driven into the depths of poverty--and our worthless Congress still gives taxpayer money to the rich while destroying America's economy and standard of living.
We are told, over and over again, that our banks are failing because of lower housing prices and the huge number of foreclosures; we are also told that our dependence on foreign oil is causing the United States to rely on foreign powers to sustain our economy, some of which are NOT friends of the United States--and there's no realistic end in sight. I say it's propaganda and pure, unadulterated Bullsh*t - and I can prove it!
The United States has already spent almost two trillion dollars on a bailout that isn't working. One Thousand Billion Dollars equals one trillion dollars, therefore, ONE-HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS IS ONLY FIVE PERCENT OF TWO TRILLION DOLLARS! Let that minuscule amount, as compared to a two-trillion dollars settle in your minds for a while, and then remember that the approximate population of the United States is a little over three-hundred million people, and if we break that down into households, based on an average size of three people per household, that equates to approximately one-hundred million households. I'm not sure of what the single rate in the United States is, however, for the sake of this estimate, let's add another five to twenty million individuals that are over the age of eighteen who live on their own (That figure could be much higher, I'm not sure...), and that includes the disabled and seniors. (For those who live in rest homes, assisted living centers and prisons will not be considered--as they do not qualify for the bailout I'm proposing.)
Stay with me for a while, as this gets complicated. Have Congress set-up a non-profit organization that deposits five-hundred thousand dollars per household and $200,000 per individual in non-interest bearing accounts--and this money WILL NOT be invested in stocks, bonds, or any type of speculative accounts. In order to keep our banks and financial system healthy, calculate the remainder of payments on all existing mortgages for families that earn less than $300,000.00 per year, and the "trust fund" would make payments on those mortgages until the economy recovers, re-finance the loans at 15 years, and raise the interest rates from 6% to 8 %--not the over-inflated variable mortgage rates that caused this crisis--and pay the banks on a monthly basis.
These will not be "open-accounts." The money will be used exclusively for mortgage payments, purchasing new homes (To be financed for 10-15 years instead of thirty.), hybrid cars, and for those who are below the poverty level, food and clothing until they can find jobs. Funds will also be available for home improvements that help to turn standard houses into environmentally friendly homes, solar panels for hot water, better insulation, energy efficient florescent light bulbs, energy efficient appliances and the wide array of new technology that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
In addition, mandate that at least 80% of these funds are spent on AMERICAN MADE PRODUCTS! (This will help to revitalize America's manufacturing sector.) Also, require an instant freeze on housing prices so the money is well spent and the wealthy speculators who have been wrecking havoc on our economy do not profit from this bailout. All of the above purchases above $1,000.00 should be financed , again to help the financial sector remain healthy and grow. Those who participate in this program will not be able to quit their jobs, and those who do not have jobs will be required to find one--and with President-Elect Obama's pledge to create 2.5 million new jobs, that shouldn't be an issue. In addition, corporations should be taxed --not with less tax as the Bush administration rammed-down our throats, but a fair tax that places them on equal footing with the rest of America.
People would have to stay employed to pay their home owner's insurance, auto insurance, utilities and food--and they could afford to purchase the health insurance that has been promised to America at reasonable rates. This bailout also pays for itself; food stamp usage would drop by 70 to 80% (if not more), the burden on our medical system would lessen, current Medicare recipients could afford higher premiums, and realistically, taxes could be raised to help pay for the ineffective bailout that has already failed. It is absurd that we expect to pull-out from this financial crisis without raising taxes to pay off our debts.
I propose that "households" have $500,000 dollars credited to their individual accounts, and individuals receive $200,000.00. Remember, these funds can only be accessed as they are needed to instantly halt the mortgage crisis, provide housing to families that are struggling to survive, and just as importantly, revitalize America's auto industry by forcing them to manufacture hybrids, not the gas guzzlers that are destroying the environment and making the oil companies and their shareholders wealthy at the expense of the middle-class and poor--who are the one's who are taking it on the chin while our government is spending absurd amounts of money on a financial crisis that was designed to transfer America's wealth to the top 1% of our population. Furthermore, by financing items over $1,000.00, we guarantee that banks and other lending institutions also make profits, thus propping-up our banking system the old fashioned way--by loaning money at reasonable rates with a guarantee they will be paid.
Call me crazy if you like, but current estimates are that the current financial bailout, which isn't working, is now at almost two trillion dollars, and the only people it has benefited has been the wealthy and corporations. Even if my estimates run two times as high, America's struggling middle-class and poor should deserve 5% of that amount, and this would jump-start the economy in a way that reduces our dependence on foreign oil, helps to bring back America's manufacturing sector, saves the automobile industry and will raise the standard of living back to where it was before our government and corporations decided to plunder and rape America.
William Cormier
NOTE: They are many more "details to this plan, however, if you analyze the plan with an open mind, it benefits the economy as a whole, not just the "carpetbaggers" who ultimately have run this nation into the ground. The people deserve a real bailout, not a token three or four hundred dollars. Unlike the so-called bailout of the Bush administration, this money would go directly into the American economy instead of into the pockets of those who are responsible for the financial crisis we now face.
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