why congress said "no" to wall street bail out

CONGRESS RESPONDS TO SAVVY TAXPAYERS AND VOTES "NO BAIL"

Congress Said: Credit will dry up; banks will not make loans to consumers wanting to buy cars and small business owners that want to hire employees and expand.


Savvy Taxpayers Said: (1) I can drive my car a little longer. In the meantime I could save the additional money I would have spent on the new car. When the dust clears I can have a bigger down payment and get a better deal. (2) My business is well managed. I have reserves. So I can defer making a loan by managing accounts receivable better, and reducing waste, providing better customer service, and being more creative or flexible than a company that is judged "too big to fail?".



Congress Said: Millions of people will lose their jobs.


Savvy Taxpayers Said: (1) If credit is less available, won't most job holders respond by making less impulse purchases, shop more at discount stores, prepare more meals at home, drink tap water which is safer than some bottled water, or drink Maxwell House instead of Starbucks coffee? (2) If consumers were to redirect their spending to retailers that gave them better value, wouldn't the sales of these stores rise, while the sales of their less efficient competitors decline? Then at worst one store's reduction in employment could be offset by another store's increase in employment. (I know somebody will say, isn't that what happened with Wal-Mart vs General Motors where $20-30/hr manufacturing jobs were traded for minimum wage jobs?) Yes. But which company was just approved for a $25,000,000,000 government bail out loan? Hint: not Wal-Mart) (3) Haven't many "too big to fail" companies already fired, laid off or "bought out" and early-retired 10's of thousands of people, yet some of them are still in trouble? And they are still not able to compete, yet they want a bail out? (4) Don't you know one or two people at your company who goof off regularly and don't pull their weight. Yet you are busting your assets. Do you mind if these kind of people get axed?



Congress Said: Millions of homeowners have already lost their homes and millions more will suffer that fate if we don't do this $700 thousand million bail out?



Savvy Taxpayers Said: I've heard an estimate that there are 1 1/2 million mortgages in default. Let's assume that number is right and that the Government gave each homeowner a grant of $100,000 to catch up payments, pay down or pay off their mortgage. How much would that cost us taxpayers? $150,000 million. Problem solved and we taxpayers save $550,000 million. Why didn't President Bush and Mr. Paulson make that proposal to Congress? Why hasn't a Congress person brought up that idea? Couldn't the grant be made bigger, say $200,000 per homeowner with a delinquent mortgage? That would cost $300,000 million. We taxpayers would still save $400,000 million. Why wouldn't that be a better idea? Could it be that most of the toxic mortgages are not those on Main Street and
M. L. King Boulevard? Seems that most of the dollars spent may be for mortgage holders working on not just Wall Street, but Commerce Street, 5th Avenue, and Rodeo Drive.


Congress Said: Financial markets will crash and wreck the values of retirement accounts.


Savvy Taxpayers Said: I've withstood steep market declines over the past 20 years. On Black Monday in October 1987 the stock market fell over 20%. By the end of 1987, the index was higher than at the beginning of the year. The DJIA was under 2000 at that time. Today it is over 10,000. If I had stayed out of the stock market I would have missed that 400% increase. Also, I didn't panic and stayed in the market after newly-elected President George W. Bush took the oath of office. During his first three years I lost about 1/3 the value of my portfolio. You remember 9/11 don't you? But the market recovered strongly from that and my retirement account is solid.

Today, you and I witnessed a strong display of taxpayers making our voices heard in Congress and seeing that Congress responded in a manner that indicated that our voices were heard. This is democracy, capitalism and faith at its best.


NOTE: THE DJIA Index closed down today Monday 9/29 at 10,365.45, a drop of 777.68
(-7.0%). This newletter is not intended to give you investment advice. Financial markets rise and fall and can result in losses as well as gains. Please consult your financial advisor.


Please voice your opinion by clicking on Post Options below. Thank you very much.

besides a bail out what else would $700 billion buy?

1. REBATE OF $6,000 TO EACH HOUSEHOLD IN U.S.
($700,000,000,000/115,000,000 HH = $6,086)

2. PAY OFF OR PAY DOWN 7,000,000 MORTGAGES OF $100,000.

3. BUILD MORE THAN 10 WORLD CLASS DOMED FOOTBALL STADIUMS FOR EACH OF THE 50 STATES, INCLUDING ALASKA AND DELAWARE. COST OF EACH STADIUM = $1,000,000,000 (HELLO DALLAS COWBOYS)

4. BUY A $1,000,000 MANSION FOR EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD LIVING IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING GEOGRAPHIC AREAS:

ALASKA (683,000 POPULATION IN 2007)
D.C. (588,292)
NORTH DAKOTA (639,715)
VERMONT (621,254)
WYOMING (522,000)

5. BUILD 22 BRAND NEW SCHOOLS IN EVERY COUNTY (3077) IN THE U.S. ESTIMATED COST OF EACH SCHOOL IS $10,000,000

6. SET UP A COLLEGE FUND OF $ 50,000 EACH FOR 14,000,000 CHILDREN

7. REBATE $100 A WEEK IN GAS MONEY FOR EVERY HOUSEHOLD IN AMERICA FOR ONE YEAR. = $600,000,000,000




For additional information telephone Skip Bennett tollfree at 877-417-6040 or email usgameplannernow@aol.com. Our website is http://www.ltmonline.come/skipbennett

$700,000,000,000 -- another bailout bonus for wall street?

Hi Friends and Family. Hope that you are well today.

Regarding the Proposed $700 billion bail out currently being debated, I urge you to make your voice heard by writing your congress persons. Here are links to the Senate and the House. Our representatives have made it easy for us. http://www.house.gov/ and http://www.senate.gov/
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Also below is a copy of an email I wrote to my congressman. I also sent the letter to my 2 senators.
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Re:Proposed $700 billion bailout for the financial services industry
Dear Cong. Barton. I hope that you are well today.

I urge you to vote not to pass a bail out bill this week or anytime soon. Let's give the bail out money which has already been involuntarily hoisted on our taxpayer backs a chance to work first. Let's not double our bail out bet until we see some documented results from the hundreds of billions already wagered.

Here are my reasons:

1. I think that this is another piece-meal approach. We need a deliberate and full and reasoned, bipartisan long-term solution to this serious threat to our economy. It seems that some of our representatives are willing to spend more time planning their pre-election time off than spending adequate time and effort to develop cost-effective long-term solutions to our Country's economic problems.

2. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is not competent enough to understand the width and depth of our credit crisis. Nor do I think that he can be objective. Mr. Paulson has appeared before Congress and the public several times over the past weeks, each time with his bail out hat in hand. Each time he expressed confidence that his solution was well thought out. Apparently it was not. So Secretary Paulson's big bail out hat now has over $500,000 million dollars in it. And he's back for another $700,000 million. It seems that both Mr. Paulson's number crunching skills and judgement are weak. I believe that if Mr. Paulson performed this way in private industry, he would now have been terminated by his employer. Also, can Mr. Paulson be expected to be objective about an industry from which he retired with a net worth of $500 million?

3. Let the free market economy which has been at work for the past 7 1/2 years be allowed to fix itself. Pres. Bush backed by a Republican controlled Congress ushered in a massive spending, surplus eliminating, tax cutting and loosely regulated style in 2001. Why abandon it now? This style has promoted the core principles of American capitalism --great desire for wealth and prosperity and the creativity and ingenuity to achieve it. Why not allow the Bush philosophy and management style to leave us taxpayers the legacy of not only creating a financial mess but fixing it before he leaves office? That way a new "change" administration of Sen. McCain or Obama will not be shackled with an additional $700,000,000,000 bill that would impede their ability to implement change?

4. No money has been identified to pay for any bail out. No spending cuts and/or tax increases to pay for bail outs have been promised. Thus we taxpayers will face more record-breaking deficits and a national debt which already has lowered the value of the dollar as well and increased interest rates and inflation. Furthermore, this will add tons of debt which may break the economic backs of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

5. Finally, if it is decided to have an economic czar and entrust him with $700,000,000,000 I believe that person ought to be Warren Buffet, not Henry Paulson. Mr. Buffett is honest and highly regarded. Annually there is an auction conducted to spend a couple hours lunching with Mr. Buffett. This year the highest bidder paid over $1,000,000, which Buffett donates to charity. Warren Buffett is an expert in judging, managing and profiting from investment, insurance and credit decisions. As a result he is the world's 2nd richest man. But his personal wealth is not his most cherished prize. I believe that what Mr. Buffett values most is that his phenomenal journey to success has also created thousands of middle class employees and stockholders that are now multimillionaires. The price of one share of Berkshire Hathaway-A stock is currently over $115,000. Unlike most other corporations Buffet has not allowed the firm's stock to be split.

Thank you Congressman Barton for making it easy for me and other constituents to provide comments. I urge you to give my thoughts above your fullest consideration. If you do I think you will agree that you should not vote to pass another bail out bill this week or anytime soon. God Bless you and God Bless America.

was sarah palin's speech wildly received by wall street?

was sarah palin's speech wildly received by wall street? For those of you who may not be familiar with the name, sarah palin is the person john mccain picked as his running mate on the republican ticket for President and VP.

wall street as measured by the dow jones industrial average fell by almost 3%. What this means that if you had a retirement nestegg valued at $500,000, your chicken right now is sitting on a netegg of $485,000.

Why did the stock market go down instead of up the day after a night with such a great speech on such an historic night? The rousing nomination of the first female on the ticket of the Republican party for VP. Simple. It's the economy Stu Pidd. There is a significant drop of jobs in the last 8 years under Bush/Cheney. And today we are facing historically high prices at gas pumps, greatly increased costs of cooling of our homes and higher food prices. Even retirees or employees within a few years of retirement have seen our portfolios drop by 10-15% this year, even for conservative investors. Then there are the wars in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan. These wars, arguably are wars the U.S. started under a cloud of misrepresentations and perhaps lies. These wars have drained our economy to the tune of over $100 thousand million dollars a year. And more than 4,000 live of our couragous man and women have been lost. And so many more have been wounded and many are facing life-long disabilities.

An attractive face and a great speech while stirring many up, still left us with the same old problems. 8 years of pain and suffering and the possibility of more of the same with McCain/Palin for 4 more years.

john and elizabeth are after all, human

John and Elizabeth Edwards, each with strong Biblical names, seemed like the perfect couple. John is handsome, charming, compassionate, accomplished and rich. Seemingly flawless. Elizabeth is beautiful, smart, passionate, courageous. And they seem to be model parents. And both John and Elizabeth come across as caring deeply for the disadvantaged. This is one of the main reasons which they said motivated him to seek the highest office in the world -- presidency of the U. S.

But John sinned. (We all have, haven't we.) He was unfaithful. But John's sin was exposed, very publicly. And it seems especially grievous because he is viewed as a person of high moral standards. Also Elizabeth has incurable cancer. And she helped to cover up John's sin.

There are a lot of things being said. Most of it is unkind and judgemental.

I have something to say, too. 4 things. 1. S(he) who is sinless or faultless, step up and throw the next stone. 2. Hate the sin, but love the sinner. 3. Pray for this family. It is the loving thing to do, even while feeling let down by the Edwards. We all need prayer and forgiveness. 4. Finally, praise God for his boundless, love, grace and forgiveness he richly gives.

Are you doing a good job of planning their futures?

The names of these babies could be Barack, Hillary and John. They are grown up and smart now. But at one time they were babies. Their parents and a supporting cast helped to plan their futures and enable them to become the giant figures they are today.

Whether you are a baby, young adult or near retirement, your future needs to be planned. Whether you are single, married, divorced or the survivor of a wonderful spouse, your future needs to be planned.

That's what we at U. S. Bennett Financial have been doing for 23 years. Helping individuals and families to set goals. Then make tough tradeoffs to establish priorities. Finally, together we develop and implement with you a written Financial Gameplan for both the near term and long term.

This Financial Gameplan can focus on a single issue or concern like, "How do I provide for my loved ones in the event that I die prematurely?" Or your Financial Gameplan can answer the question, "What is the best way to build enough retirement income for the future while maintaining a comfortable lifestyle today?"

If your current assets are substantial you may need a more comprehensive Financial Gameplan. This would include analysis and recommendations for insurance, investments, taxation, education funding, retirement planning, long-term care, as well as wills and estate management, conservation and distribution.

To get started today on developing your Financial Gameplan, here is the contact information for U. S. Bennett Financial:
Telephone: 817-417-6040 (DFW) 877-417-6040 (Nationwide)
web: ltmonline.com/skipbennett
email: usgameplannernow@aol.com


photo: © Monkeybusinessimages Dreamstime.com

HIV Seems To Be A Curse Worse Than Racism

By now most of you have seen or heard about what I'm referring to as the "New Black Plague." It's given name is HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). The negative impact is astonishing! Depending on which set of numbers you read, Black or African Americans (formerly Negro) men and women make up a substantial and disproportionate percentage of all Americans infected with HIV -- perhaps as much as 50%. How can this be true for a minority group that is decreasing in its demographic share of the American landscape. At worse the percentage should be near the AA percentage of the overall population, i.e. 10-12%.

I think that much of the explanation is due to the breakdown of the family unit. When I was growing up in the Jim Crow and racist society of the Deep South in the 50's and 60's, Negroes had at best a difficult time. Segregated everything. Couldn't vote, couldn't come into the front door of many places, couldn't get a white collar job in a major corporation and you better not "talk back" to certain people.

Yet, in spite of these difficulties "out in the world," there was always the family and church to give you encouragement, hope, help and also to "train you up in the way you should go." I think that that type of support system is still there but greatly weakened.

If that system were as strong today as it was a half century ago, I think that our great country would not be facing this New Black Plague - HIV. Let me acknowledge that I'm not living on a deserted island. I recognize that AA and Blacks also are impacted by societal factors. But what American isn't adversely affected at some time by preferences, favoritism and even injustice and, yes, discrimation? This may sound like Republican-speak. But I plan to pull the lever in November for Obama.

Click on the "Comments" link below and let us hear what you think?