Community lenders still safe and secure amid crisis
$700 billion. It’s an almost incomprehensible number. Let’s attempt to put $700 billion into perspective. It is $140 billion more than has been spent on the Iraq war since the invasion. It could pay for 2,000 McDonalds apple pies for every single American. It is more than $100 for every person in the world. If written out: $700,000,000,000. Congress recently approved the ‘‘Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," a bailout of $700 billion to mend troubles of large Wall Street financial institutions and investment firms – leaving the country teetering on the brink of recession. The Act allows the government to purchase up to $700 billion in bad mortgages and other loans from various financial institutions. While the failure of the large institutions is cause for concern, the problems are not mirrored in local financial institutions, assures Union State Bank President Chuck Stroup. "Our customers may be watching the news and reading the papers and naturally, they worry about their own banks. We understand their concern, but want to reassure our customers that they need not worry about the stability of their bank and the safety of their money." The nation’s financial problems focus around a loose use of the term "banking," Stroup noted, as there is a significant difference between community banks and large financial institutions. There were several practices, he continued, that led to the nation’s current financial fiasco.
