Bail-out: make the fiscally responsible pay for irresponsible behaviors

I’m so frustrated.

No matter how much we save, how responsible we are about our finances (no debt except mortgage), and how disciplined we are with our monies (limit spending, because we can only increase income in so many ways), we can’t seem to get ahead.

Meanwhile, those who drive his Hummer and her BMW, ride their jetski and ATV, live in their million dollar (or more) loan-money mansion, and spend Xmas at their winter cottage in Switzerland, are now getting my tax-dollars to pay for their excesses.

I’m not asking for a hand-out.  I’m not asking for a Hummer or a jetski or a mansion or a Swiss cottage.  I just want a simple home in an area with a better school district.  A school district my hard-earned tax-dollar was supposed to pay for.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for what we have.  We have some savings, a little bit of equity in our house, and we have our pride, dignity, and integrity intact.  With some luck, we may even be able to ride out this recession relatively unscathed.

I don’t understand, however, why I have to pay for other people’s excesses.  I don’t understand why no matter how responsible our family is, and how much that school-district property has dropped in price, it’s still out of our reach.

How I wish, all those millions and billions and trillions that our government is spending to bail out blatantly irresponsible behavior are instead spent on those who have been living within our means, who have been working and saving toward that dream of a better life, who don’t owe back-taxes or are behind in our mortgage payments.

Even if we take the smaller amount of $700 billion, and assume that every single American has been responsible enough to qualify for a chunk of those billions, it’s still $700B / 250M = $2,800 per head.  If we assume $1 trillion total bail-out budget and only 50% Americans have been living within their means and saving responsibly, then we have $1T / 125M = $8,000 per head.

At the above rate my family would qualify for 4 x $8K = $32K.  We could’ve added that to the equity we now have in our current house, to the money we’ve saved for a downpayment for that school-district house, or simply to pay for another year of two of private schooling which we now pay.

Middle-class is usually screwed as it is.  We’re not poor enough for much of the breaks and aids available, and not rich enough to easily afford expenses such as health coverage, summer vacations, and private tuition.

I take this bail-out as a personal insult to those of us who have been “behaving” ourselves financially.  What version of free market is this if we end up having to pay $700B for it?

If I sound like I’m whining, forgive me.  I’m just frustrated and exasperated.

Tags: bail-out, excessive lifestyle, financial injustice, fiscal conservatism