Taxpayer-sponsored bailouts bad for kids

Corvallis Gazette-Times LETTERS, January 14, 2009
Who among us does not love our children? Who among us does not invest in our children’s future? We spend time with them helping with their homework. We try to teach them good values and how to make good choices in life. We invest all of our resources in their care and would go to the ends of the Earth to protect them. So why then are we willing to pass on trillions of dollars of debt to them? Why, on one hand, do we make so many investments in their future, while at the same time we are willing to saddle them with huge debt? How can we be so willing to mortgage their futures?

The proposed $1 trillion plus bailout of the banking, auto, and other industries flies in the face of common sense when it comes to preparing our children for the future. I cannot understand why, in a country where so many resources are invested in children, we are so willing to make decisions that will have a huge negative impact on their financial future.

This generation will only repay SOME of the debt incurred by the taxpayer-sponsored bailouts. Our children and grandchildren will be paying back the bulk of that debt.

It is borrowing that got us into this mess. Why do we think that more borrowing is the solution?

The bailout obligates future generations to pay for the mistakes of this generation. Where is the accountability and personal responsibility in that?

Jeff Limón, Corvallis