Bail Out

I'm sick to my stomach over this bail out crap. I try really hard to avoid political statements especially on this blog. But I gotta say, from what I can tell about all of this, a lot of Americans borrowed money against their houses, couldn't afford it and now they're going to get help from the government to keep from losing their homes. The banks are partially at fault for this for loaning the money in the first place. But where does this leave the rest of us? There have been times in my life where I put things on credit, couldn't afford them then suffered the consequences. Where are these consequences now? What happens to those of us who carry very little (if any) credit card debt, deny ourselves certain 'extras' in order to pay our bills on time and in full-and generally don't purchase things we think we may have trouble paying for? What happens to us? I'll tell you. Right now, the interest rates on home loans are extremely low. One would think this would be a prime time to purchase a home. Yet, the banks won't loan any money out because they're too busy refinancing people who owe more on their homes than what they're worth. That's what happens. I can't purchase a home, but my tax dollars will help rectify someone else's poor damn choices. What happens if I can no longer afford my car payment? I lose the car-that's what happens. It sucks, but it's life. What happened to the financial discipline of the old days? Remember when no one bought anything they couldn't afford? "You give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime". I know people in my family who have NO discipline when it comes to money. Give them $100.00 and they a) won't have $100.00 by the end of the week and b) damn sure won't have $100.00 worth of anything to show for it. That didn't used to be my problem. Now apparently everybody's problems are mine. I'm not sure I want this responsibility. Hell, I've got a bunch of kids for whom I'm responsible. Am I supposed to raise yours too? I have to balance my own checkbook, am I supposed to reconcile your statement too? I don't think so, but then again, I could have missed something along the way.