an excellent piece on this crisis

The financial industry has been sucking huge sums out of our economy and out of our pockets. They had so much money that they didn't know what to do with it, so they gambled with ever riskier investments. Now there is a huge black hole in the entire banking system and we don't seem to know how deep it is. I agree with Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize winner. We need to start with some of the billions planned for the bailout and instead set up a new federal banking system with sound banks in every state. The federal government wants to free up credit so businesses can get loans- the fed govt doesn't have to wait for private banks to do this. And Federal banks can charge lower rates on loans, on credit cards, and a whole assortment of fees we get socked with. Even while charging lower rates than private banks the feds can make money and put it into Social security or other needed programs. And while we do this we can set responsible systems of regulations and accountability for banks

I have never been so disappointed in this country as I am now. My son is attending school and will receive his BA in the beginning of May 2009. In order for us to get him through since January we have had to pay for everything even though we could not afford it. I have been paying his car payment since he started school and called the bank which is Wells Fargo to see if they could give him a 2 month deferrment on his car loan which I would of been able to use that money to get him through school but they told me he is not eligible because he voluntarily decided to go to school and that has nothing to do with them. So what looks funny about this, all of us are going to pay for all the money that was given to these people and they don't have to do anything to help us. What a joke! Meanwhile I have been paying my son's car payment for the past 2 years while he is going to school and it is always on time. So the moral to the story is you need to be part of the big banks and all the people who are ripping off the american public.

And after they got the money they raised our credit card rates to bail them out. When I called Washington Mutual to see why my card went up 19.9% after it had been 9% for years, the answer was "because we can, read your fine print." I paid on time and paid more than the minimum balance most of the time. As I check my interest rate, I see that others are following. We are in a recession. My husband works on commission. Our income will be going down, and they are taking a bigger bite when we are bailing them out. If ever the US government should take over the banks, it is now or better yet, as someone suggested, start their own banking system so the American people can go to someone they can trust. Or will they be able to trust the government? What a mess!