Bailouts: What Will They Do For You?

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers – it’s all adding up to become one of the most historical financial times America has ever witnessed.

The Bush Administration has proposed a whopper of a plan – a nearly $700 billion injection of cash straight to the source of pain – the banking industry. The bulk of the money is earmarked to buy the debts of battered banks.

So what do these bailouts do for you and me? The overall hope is that this bailout/bandage for the financial industry will begin to put the housing industry back on the right track. Not doing anything could make things worse.

If the government chose not to step in, things could get even worse. Right to where it will start to hurt taxpayers individually, instead of big insurance companies. It could begin to affect retirement funds (your 401K), more banks could fail, along with the loss of many American jobs.

We’d love to hear your opinion on all these bailouts. Do you think "Big Brother" was right to step in, or will it hurt us all in the long run? Sound off by clicking the comment link below and telling us what you think.