mike wrote:
On Sep 23, 1:20 pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
wrote:

It's not a "bailout" in the traditional sense: it's an investment.

I hope you're being sarcastic. If it is such a great investment,
people would be tripping over themselves to buy up the bad mortgages.
Instead, we have government supremacists forcing the taxpayer to take
on debt at gunpoint, and letting the irresponsible off the hook so
they be irresponsible again, and again, and again.

I'm not being sarcastic. And it's not a good investment.

The ROI is terrible, but, in the end, the government will make a profit.

It's not debt at gunpoint either, it's simply the best of several bad
alternatives. Even if the $700 billion goes down the toilet, that's still
better than several trillion in lost productivity due to a collapse of the
credit market.

When I say collapse of the credit market, I'm talking banks calling due all
loans (car, home, etc.), credit card companies stopping all additional
charges and demanding full payment for outstanding balances, and other dire
consequences.

If a business can't borrow to pay for its Christmas merchandise, it won't
have anything to sell in November and December. If it can't make sales, it
can't make a profit. That's no wages, rent, etc. You may buy a gallon of
milk for cash, but the market bought the milk on credit. Cash transactions
make up an insignificant part of the GDP. The rest is credit.

No credit - or a damaged credit system - no GDP.