Who Is Bailing YOU Out?

Times are tough. More than 500,000 jobs were cut in November. Jobless claims hit a 26-year high. Seven million people owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth. Shall I continue?

The government is bailing out financial institutions and large corporations. $152 billion to AIG. $200 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. $45 billion to Citigroup. Shall I continue?

Americans are struggling to hang onto their jobs, pay their bills and keep their families fed, clothed and sheltered. And while they're watching Corporate America and Wall Street line up to get their fair share of taxpayer funds, it's tempting to ask: Is anyone going to help me with a cash infusion?

Isn't it?

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By Patricio

While on a 24-hour trip to D.C., Emmy award winning Journalist Patricio Espinoza stops by Capitol Hill as the Auto industry bail-out hearings are underway.  $34 billion they want!

The question is: Who is bailing you out?

Is your credit card company cutting you a break? Patricio talks to his credit card company, who just received $3 billion in bailout money.

What would you do with a bailout? Share your stories about the economy on Tokoni.

Comments

[Cranbot]

Nope, no bailout for me. I called my credit card company who raised my rates to 28% (loan shark rates) after some late (no more than 3 days late) payments after my divorce and asked them to work with me, lower my interest so I could continue to pay them. The very nice young lady put me on hold while she talked to the credit counselors. She came back and said sorry, but they want to see 6 months with no late payments. I responded that the only "late" payment in the year 2008 was in January and was one day late because I had to wait for the check from my 401K to clear and that it was a payment for $9,000. She said, no sorry, check back with 6 months of on time payments. I said , let me talk to one of the credit counselors and she replied, sorry you aren't eligible. What? No, you aren't eligible until you have 6 months of on time payments. I told her to tell the credit counselors that they just lost my business as I had an offer to transfer balances to another card at a much lower rate. Didn't care.

And now Citibank who just got a bailout is going to raise interest rates. WTF?