Why “Ordinary People” Oppose the Bailout

Those of us who do not have the great intellectual brainpower to understand the machinations of the financial world are merely using our common sense and intuition to assess the meltdown on Wall Street.

We have had many years of government and corporate praise for stock investments pounded into our head. There are 24/7 media broadcasts that do nothing but discuss money and markets. One bad day on Wall Street is bigger and more tragic than 50 people dying in an Al Queda attack. So naturally, we assume that there is some there there when thinking of the holy ghost of finance.

I don’t know what will happen if the US government refuses to buy the toxic assets of these financial firms. I only know that $700 billion might be used to build schools, finance small businesses, hire cops, teachers and firemen, insure all of us with health insurance, and possibly help pay for the planting of a million trees in Los Angeles. All of these improvements would improve my life a lot more than making sure that someone on Park Avenue in New York does not have trouble selling his $10 million dollar apartment.

If property values fall, yes it hurts me, but how many were hurt when the Fed and banks encouraged an orgy of speculation that made Van Nuys and Pacoima homes worth $600,000 back in 2004?

And what precedent are we creating, as a nation, by allowing risk to always have a safety net underneath it so that the US Treasury can invariably bail out any future enormous failure of judgment?

And how do we know, despite what the “experts” tell us, that we are on our way to a depression unless we underwrite this sickeningly expensive waste of tax dollars? The great economic minds of the nation had not predicted our current dilemma so how do they know we are headed for another Great Depression?

This situation is pitting the victims (anyone not rich or powerful) against the few rich who are demanding that the USA somehow insures not that capital flows, but that the casino of stock speculation continues to thrive.

There is something lowdown, dishonest and crooked about the $700 billion dollar rescue and no amount of intellectual illogic can convince me otherwise.

Abruptly, I was pulled out of Los Angeles on May 9th of this year and spent the whole summer back in NJ and did not return here until August 23rd.

My father is disabled, my mom was taking care of him, and then she fell and broke her hip. I flew back to NJ to assist them in selling their home, and taking care of their needs.

When I came back to LA, the city that defines itself by its driving, had partially redefined itself. No longer was everyone driving and talking on the phone. The new hands-free law had put a (partial) end to it.

And along the speedways of the Valley, on Burbank, Oxnard and Victory, cars ARE driving slower. The drivers are trying to save gasoline, and also because cops are now pulling more speeders over and writing tickets. I was given one, for running a red light, and that $400 experience taught me to watch myself more carefully behind the wheel.

The economic downturn and loss of housing values seems to have emptied out the stores and restaurants. There was abundant courtesy at the Home Depot in North Hollywood yesterday. Everyone was so helpful.

Stores are having sales, and I’ve gotten coupons from Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Lucky Brand. Of course, I can’t afford to buy anything, because I too am looking for work.

You cannot just get into your car anymore and drive around cheaply. Every time I fill up my car, it’s another $50 or $60. I must think about using gas.

And supposedly crime is falling and the murder rate is the lowest it has been since 1967. Chief Bratton is sarcastic in his mockery of those academics who blame poverty for criminality. Bratton credits increased police targeting of gangs for the reduction in death and violence.

Van Nuys looks about the same.