The Paris News

Sometimes we see things around us that do not make sense, but if it does not directly effect us, we keep our mouth shut and go along. Bank failures are something that we Texans have been proud to say is of little effect here. We are still growing. We’ve got conservative local banks and they are all quite solid. Few of the foreclosures here in our area were from local banks doing local loans on homes.

But who pays the bill for all the banking problems nationwide? Who ultimately pays for HUD’s pushing to put people into homes who could not afford them? Who pays for huge losses when a bank forecloses on a home that was made for 105 percent or more of the original value often to borrowers who could not verify the income they reported in their applications? This stuff doesn’t effect you. Right? NOT!

A local banker just told me about his bank’s premium for FDIC insurance. That’s right, they pay insurance just like you and I pay for homeowners coverage in case our home burns down or is blown away. Well, the banking industry — nationwide — has had the equivalent of a runaway fire — of a big Katrina hurricane, and it will cost you and me big time. That banker said their bank FDIC premium had gone from $12,000 last year to about $200,000 next year. Wow! What a big increase.

But where do they get that money? Answer: Less interest paid to local depositors, less profits paid out to local owners who spend it here in our town.

So, what do you think? Does that bad idea really have no affect on you? Is your silence a wise thing? Besides you are just one person. Could you really have an impact on what goes on in our country? Does your action really count? What is the impact of every bank in our area having to pay out these huge FDIC premiums? Can you see the point?

You better find out really quick before the guys in the ivory towers of Washington D.C. sell us down the river with another bad idea. Be active in your local, state and national government. Be informed and vote in every election. Look beyond the rhetoric of political advertising and research everything that you see around you the government effects.

Do something about it. Vote. Voice your opinion. It’s American to do so.... uniquely American.

Mike Russell

Powderly

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