"Why does Citigroup get a bailout, but auto makers do not?"
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dot.comments/2008/11/citigroup_bailout_blasted.html?hpid=topnews
Christopherjhan, who wrote, "Thank god this government doesn't believe in "spreading the wealth around." I'm terrified of socialism. It feels much better to know that the government will just take my money and give it to the upper 1% without any pretense of caring what I think about."
askgees suggested that "...The Gov. is funded by the tax payers. We can stop the madness. Simply do not file taxes in 2009. The only way to put an end to the mismanagement is to take away their toys (MONEY)"
And debraf66 said "Now that is about the best idea I have heard so far. Instead filing a tax return if you owe money send them a nice polite letter that due the unforseen circumstances of their inability to control they money we place in their hands we have decided to hang onto it until such a time as they are deemed reliable enough to have that control back."
ok4u wrote, "Let them go into chapter 11 like you republicans want the auto industry to go. Get rid of the top management. I bet they have a lot of company jets."
ianalathrop agreed, saying, "It's incredibly fascinating that Congress can whip something like this together overnight, to rescue a banking institution littered with poor choices and inefficiencies, and yet grill the automakers about their practices and failures in their operations."
cleancut77 wrote, "I remember going through a tough time I missed some payments on my credit cards. I was willing to pay but could only muster up the minimum...The debt was not going down much. I called Citibank...I was told nothing could be done... They should face the same bitter pill they dished out to millions of American consumers looking for a break on onerous rates..."
Larryw21 said, "Citigroup should be allowed to fail. Failing that, they should be given a loan at 24 percent interest, which is what they did to a loan agreement I have with them after I was two days - count them, TWO DAYS - late on a payment. The previous interest had been 3.5 percent. I hope Citibank goes crashing into the floor with all aboard."
ghostmoves asked, "And what form of EQUITY do the taxpayers get for this windfall to the Citi stockholders?"
And bjackson1 said, "Didn't Secretary Paulson just last week say that the TARP plan was being changed because buying toxic assets wasn't working? So why are we going to buy the toxic assets of Citigroup?"
nofluer suggested, "Bail it out, stabilize it, then take it apart. If it's too big to be allowed to fail, it's too big to exist and presents a danger to the country."
AKIndependent2 said, "Congress has been fiscally irresponsible too. They write checks to these companies like it is raining money. No more bail outs. If the CEO's made poor business decisions it is not the American TaxPayer that should be bailing them out..."
We'll close with sfmaster. who succinctly summed up what many of our readers wrote in saying, "Citi should be allowed to fail - after all; they're the ones who made those lousy loans."
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