Pontiac Summit

Archive for the ‘Finance’ Category

WARNING: This is a rant. If you’re an Obama supporter, you may not want to read this post. You have been warned.

President Obama on 60 Minutes:

“I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” program on Sunday.

“They’re still puzzled why is it that people are mad at the banks. Well, let’s see,” he said. “You guys are drawing down $10, $20 million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year that it’s gone through in — in decades, and you guys caused the problem. And we’ve got 10% unemployment.”*

And to think that people made fun of the way President Bush spoke…

Although bankers were a large part of the cause for the financial crisis, they DID NOT cause it by themselves as Obama implies. There’s plenty of blame to go around. The Fed kept rates too low for too long. The banks couldn’t have created all those products and lent so much money without the help of cheap money.

Also, the banks couldn’t have made so many loans without the help of people who stupidly bought more house than they could afford and lied on their applications.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think bankers have any right to take bonuses during a time when their banks are losing money. I don’t care if the bonuses were promised or not. But, at the same time, shouldn’t government officials be taking pay cuts too since the crisis happened under their watch?

There’s PLENTY of blame to go around and Obama’s only showing his ignorance to focus all his attention on ‘fat cat’ bankers. He also must think that Americans are stupid.

End of rant…

Source: Obama Slams ‘Fat Cat’ Bankers – WSJ

Getting out of debt can be a long, drawn out process. If you spent years wrestling with financial problems, the solution will not come to you overnight. It can take months, even years to unravel debt difficulties but it can be done. You have some options to help you get started; let’s take a look at four of them:

Credit Counseling. Credit counseling companies are vying for your business. This can be a good option as you shop around to find the best plan out there, but bad as you learn that many companies will charge exorbitant fees or do work for you that you can do yourself. Some government agencies and nonprofit firms provide credit counseling too. For little or no money you may be able to find a professional who can help you navigate through your debt dilemma.

Debt Consolidation Loan. Replace your high interest credit cards with one, low interest rate credit card. You could also see if a lending institution will give you a debt consolidation loan. However, you may have to pay for an application fee, whereas with a credit card you would not.

Home Refinancing. Even with rising interest rates, refinancing your mortgage may make sense and allow for you to save hundreds of dollars per month on mortgage payments. With the monies saved with a new, lower mortgage payment you could use your savings to pay off your other debt.

Cash Out. Alternately to home refinancing, you may have enough equity in your home to cash out and pay off your debt. Importantly, although credit card debt is not tax deductible, a home equity loan is. Ultimately, you can reduce your debt as well as reduce your tax obligation by cashing out.

You have some viable solutions to help you reduce your debt. Learn all you can about each option and select the plan that is right for you.