Stopthehousingbailout.com and You

Although a $700 billion housing bailout has been in the works, things quickly came to a head yesterday. Even before that, angry voices could be heard from average citizens who were upset about the housing bailout. They may well be the citizens that are looking for sites like Stop The Housing Bailout (www.stopthehousingbailout.com) a website that offers citizens a chance to let their feelings, their voices, be heard.

Stopthehousingbailout.com reflects feelings and anger heard in Indiana

Recently, my husband and I were asked to encourage people to register and to vote in Indiana. My husband walked door to door as a volunteer in an effort to register more voters and to answer questions from those who might be confused about whether they met voter registration requirements or not. Plenty of people were angry about the housing bailout. Plenty didn't like the idea. They may be the very people that Stop the Housing Bailout is trying to reach. For the record, he was in a primarily Democratic area but we have heard - and read - plenty from concerned citizens on all sides of the political spectrum.

What we heard echoes information found not only at the Stop the Housing Bailout website but in articles about bailout rage, including one from Business Week that reveals that many people across the country (not just in our local area) are posting on blogs, emailing friends and debating the bailout.

What resources can Stop the Housing Bailout provide for you?

Even if you have no interest in stopping a housing bailout, you might want to drop by the site and check it out. As a homeowner and citizen, I've tried to keep up with the housing crisis and the proposed bailout. So I definitely wanted to know how and why people might want to protest about the housing bailout. The site has a number of resources and links for anyone who wants to halt the planned bailout. Links at Stop the Housing Bailout include phone numbers for the Senate switchboard and House switchboard as well as Senate and House phone lists. If people want to organize protests or sign petitions, they will find links for that at the site's main page.

If desired, people can also fax senators, including Sen. Richard Shelby (R), Sen. Harry Reid (D), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) and others.

Stop the Housing Bailout and the issue of fiscal responsibility

One theme repeated time and again at Stopthehousingbailout.com is the issue of fiscal responsibility, as noted by a key question at the site: "Why should responsible Americans be forced to pay for the mistakes of others?" Based on what I've heard from friends on all sides of the political spectrum, many have equally strong concerns about a government bailout. They believe that they are going to have to foot the bill for mistakes made by others in the financial services industries.

The mortgage bailout, government responsibility and individual responsibility

Of course, some people also argue that it isn't up to the banks or other financial services officials to make sure that people make wise decisions about home ownership and mortgages. Some also feel that homeowners should have been more wary, not purchased homes beyond their means or used their homes as piggy banks, counting on them for most of their retirement income.

The information at Stop the Housing Bailout doesn't contradict this point of view (from what I could see). Instead, there is a focus on the types of messages sent by a bailout, ones designed to encourage reckless spending and one that puts the burden of the bailout costs on the typical taxpayer - at a time when there is a perfect storm of economic burdens, including rising gas prices, lower home values and soaring unemployment. With so much economic stress, Stop the Housing Bailout is striking a chord with some, as evidenced by its popularity. It was so popular today that there were times I had trouble getting in to see it.

What people can do after visiting Stop the Housing Bailout's website

Besides contacting politicians, they can protest. They can visit a link at FedUpUSA and protest on October 24th. They can also vote against the bailout, pledge not to contribute to the campaigns of politicians who support the bailout . If they want others to know about Stop The Housing Bailout, they can also purchase special t-shirts with messages that note: Bailout Backlash or Stop the Mortgage Bailout. They can also find out how to get bumper stickers that urge people to Stop the Mortgage Bailout. This information, of course, is most likely to be of interest to those who really want to stop a housing bailout. The fact that the information has grabbed so much interest and buzz says plenty to me about the state of people's emotions right now, in the wake of so much economic turmoil.

Sources
Personal experience
Stop the Housing Bailout website: www.stopthehousingbailout.com/
Bailout Outrage Races Across the Web, Business Week, Sept 25 (Moira Herbst) www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/sep2008/db20080924_430418.htm