Saturday, September 20, 2008

A Reader Dissents on the Bailout

This email articulates a view I have heard from a number of readers in response to the posts and column below ...

It's funny that you say that "we all created this mess together." In fact, I did not. Nor did my wife or any of my siblings. We happen to be true conservatives. Yes, people that only spend money that we have, do not take lines of credit, and do not purchase homes that are beyond our means. My wife and I live in DC with our two young daughters and we are currently renting. We rent because we were unwilling to seek an interest only mortgage on an overpriced home. We have zero credit cards and are paying off our college loans rapidly.
 
Yet, I am supposed to get behind your idea that we all need to get out of this together? I'll tell you what, I'm going to tighten my belt and cut my own spending even more because of what's going to happen to the economy. But I'll be damned if I'm going to get behind paying higher taxes for all of these mistakes made by Congress, the SEC, Wall Street, homeowners, Fannie and Freddie etc. etc.
 
Some of us here in America still behave responsibly with our finances. So, please excuse me if I come off sounding a little angry about your proposal. You sound like the fifth-grade teacher that punishes the whole class when only 1/3 of the students are to blame.

09/20 09:28 AM