Published: September 26, 2008 07:22 am         

Bailout optimism premature

LOCAL REACTION

By Mark Boshnack
Staff Writer

ONEONTA _ With reports midday Thursday that an agreement for a financial bailout of the banking system was getting closer, the reaction was mixed from people who shared their opinion. Six people discussed the situation outside the Wal-Mart on Oneonta’s Southside.

“Bailing out someone else’s mistake is a mistake on our part,” said Ann Carman, 38, of Otego. She said she works in the fundraising department at Hartwick College.

Why should regular, hardworking families have to come up with what has been estimated at more than $2,000 a person, she asked.

The chief executive officers who make millions of dollars a year should be forced to pay, she added. “Many people in government don’t really understand what was being offered, so how can the average citizen understand the situation?” Carman said.

“I think it’s a necessary evil,” said retiree Barbara Smith, 66, of Morris. “It just seems sad that the credit problems have gotten this far. I hope they know what they are doing.”

She said she doesn’t like to see government involved in such things, but there is going to have to be more regulation of the companies getting rescued.

During the recent upheavals, she doesn’t like to look at her retirement plan, she said. “It will come back,” but she is not sure when.

The government needs to fix the issues surrounding the banking system, said Steve Barrett, 25, of Oneonta, who works for a fire suppression equipment company.

“I believe the government should be putting their foot back in” when it comes to finding solutions to the economic problems facing the country, he said.

After lawmakers tackle banking, they need to look at ways of getting more people back to work, he said. They took such actions during the Depression, he added, and maybe something similar is needed now.

“I think it’s necessary, but it’s a little late,” said Loretta Weaver, 67, of Hamden.

Weaver, a nurse, said she is a supporter of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for president.

McCain identified that there was a problem with government mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae years ago, she said, but neither President Bush nor the Congress wanted to do anything about the issue then.

“ I don’t think it will help much, but they have to do it to restore faith in the economy again,” she said.

Frank MacDonald, 63, of Millville, N.J., said, “My only concern is that taxpayers are going to have to pay for the whole thing.” Even so, he added, “I know we are going to have to trust the people in power to come up with a plan.”

State University College at Oneonta student Sultana Aslamkhan, 20, said, “I feel they should bail them out,” but not to the extent that is being discussed.

“It’s all going to come out of taxes,” she said. She was concerned about the tax impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus the bailout, on her generation. She plans on going to medical school, so she expects to be all right, but said “not everyone will be.”