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Anonymous
Philip

Do the Math people.

85,000,000,000 divided by 200,000,000 equals 425.

Take in the 30% tax and you end up with a paltry $297.50

So much for your mortgage, your new car or your college tuition.

Having said that all the bailout does is reward bad business practices. Which one of us mere mortals would the government bail out if we did business the same way?

Sep 24, 2008 06:51 AM
#1
Anonymous
Anonymous

What can I say, I used his math, and after checking, you're right, Birk is WRONG. At least it got you thinking.

Sep 24, 2008 07:07 AM
#2
Anonymous
Dave

The fact that people like TJ received mortgages and credit at all explains everything about this crisis.

Sep 24, 2008 11:51 AM
#3
Anonymous
Matt

LOL, the fact that i've been forwarded this email 4 times today cracks me up. 

It's distressing how few people will check the damned math.

And it only got me thinking that you're an idiot for reposting it.  Might as well have said that the plan was to take the $85 billion and burn it as a sacrifice to god and hope that he rains gold on us...

Sep 24, 2008 03:51 PM
#4
Anonymous
Jared W

Yeah, 300 bucks in my pocket ought to be enough for a new home.  Maybe down in Miami.

Nevermind the fact that after AIG is kaput, I couldn't find anyone to lend me the rest.  Plus, I wouldn't be able to insure it.  This guy must be on Obama's Economic Advisory Board.

Sep 25, 2008 03:36 AM
#5
Anonymous
Pim

I thought we just got a $100 billion dividend this spring in the form of tax refund. :)

Sep 25, 2008 03:39 AM
#6
Anonymous
Hey TJ

You're a moron if you can't do simple math. It's people like you that have caused this mess in the first place. $300 isn't going to do much for anyone in this country. It won't even make my car payment for one month let alone pay off my house and allow me to buy a new car.

Sep 25, 2008 05:00 AM
#7
Tony Wangrycht
OneAmerica - Seminole, FL - Seminole, FL

Yes, I was wrong and should have done the math....I'm so sorry.

Sep 25, 2008 05:53 AM
Anonymous
RD

TJ must be a product of the modern, make-the-kids-feel-good-about-themselves education system. Unfortunately, as bad as things are now, they will get a LOT worse without the government intervention. This has been building for 20 years. I hate seeing these greedy investors and the companies that catered to them get a free ride, but the alternative will be much worse.

Sep 25, 2008 05:57 AM
#9
Anonymous
JD

This is correct. He is just using the big business approved accounting methods. You know the same method the mortgage lenders used to approve those loans, and the same math that buyers and sellers used believing the value of the property has raised 300% in two years and will continue climbing. You people and you old school math are so behind the times.

Sep 25, 2008 05:57 AM
#10
Anonymous
Big Dan

It's morons like Jared W. what scare me. He says the Birk must be on Obama's Economic Advisory Board. I can see his point, because the Bush regime has done wonders for our economy. Ooops, my mistake. The economy is in the toilet, unlike it's state 8 years ago. Eigth loooooonnnnnnggggg years ago.

Sep 25, 2008 08:07 AM
#11
Anonymous
Big Dan

Sorry, meant to say "That scare me" not "What scare me."  I must be on Bush's English Advisory Committee.

Sep 25, 2008 08:08 AM
#12
Anonymous
Mik

Why don't they restructure the "Mortgage Backed" stocks.  Can't they do some due dilligence?

It may cost some money, but isn't it better than throwing it all away?  They can consolidate based on loan type, i.e. interest only, ARM, fixed rate, and/or income/debt ratio, i.e. those whose monthly mortgage is <25%, 25-35%, 35-45% or >40% of their mortgage.  Dependent upon the percent of failed mortgages, this should save greater than 70% of the mortgages.  The others can be refinanced with a mortgage assistance program, i.e. give those with bad mortgages a 50 yr government backed, low interest mortgage for primary residences only.  Eventually all of the properties with bad mortgages will be sold and those people will move on to regular mortgages. 

Sep 25, 2008 09:09 AM
#13
Anonymous
CWW

This still points out that every adult is paying about $425 bucks for this bailout.  I could use that money to help pay the mortgage on my house I DIDN'T purchase out of my means.  If I knew this was going to happen, I would have bought a house $300,000 more expensive and let everyone else bail me out.

Sep 25, 2008 09:10 AM
#14
Anonymous
kjo

I also feel pretty burned about living within my means (my kids share share small rooms because I didn't think we REALLY had the money for a 4 br colonial, no matter what the bank and the real estate agent told me).  For the last year, since the price of everything started to skyrocket, we're baely getting by in the smaller cape we settled on.  To top it off, I got forwarded this stupid email from someone in the Real Estate industry.  Figures.  If only I had known I could have bought the 4 br colonial and just paid a $425 "fine for being stupid" I would have done it too.

Sep 25, 2008 03:15 PM
#15
Anonymous
Jake Rothman

It’s amazing to me the amount of misinformation and ignorance abounding from the general public the last couple weeks. The gov’t is not giving AIG $85B. It is making an $85B credit line available to the company as a short term bridge loan. This is at 10% of all money actually borrowed plus 2.5% of any money not borrowed, plus a set-up fee of 2% and warrants for the gov’t to purchase, at its option, 79.9% of the company. The idea is for the company to sell off its pieces in an orderly fashion rather than at fire sale prices. The proceeds from sales would be used to repay the gov’t as quickly as possible as the interest rate is high. Not surprisingly, most of the shareholders of AIG are staunchly against this “help”. In light of the actual facts (people seem to not be bothered by getting the actual facts these days as hysteria is so much easier and more interesting) the Birk’s proposal would have to be modified to the following: The gov’t loans each citizen 18 and older up to $425. There would be no taxes on this as it is a loan, not income. The fee to participate in the program is $8.50 per person up front. The interest rate is 10% of anything borrowed, plus 2.5% of unused line of credit. Finally, this loan is secured by everything you own, and the gov’t gets an option to purchase 79.9% of everything you own at a bargain price in two years. It’s purchase of your entire asset base would not relieve you of any outstanding balance on the loan, and the interest rate would go up to 16% after two years. Personally, I don’t need or want that kind of “help”.

Sep 26, 2008 05:59 AM
#16