The Times West Virginian

Local News

October 2, 2008

Would there be rush to help ordinary Americans?

Some see federal rescue plan as a ‘necessary evil’

By Bill Byrd

FAIRMONT — If the shoe were on the other foot, President Bush and Congress wouldn’t be rushing to bail out Main Street firms and ordinary Americans, say some Marion County residents.

That was one of the dominant responses in a man-on-the-street survey Wednesday to the administration’s plan to spend $700 billion in taxpayer funds to buy troubled mortgage-related bonds and securities.

“I think it’s going to be a necessary evil, though,” said Rachel Riffee, 24, of Rivesville.

A speech pathology student at Fairmont State University, Riffee works at the Hoops Cafe on Locust Avenue. “I also think it could have been prevented if there had been more regulation of loan officers and investment firms.”

Jessica Caputo, one of Riffee’s friends, said she hasn’t been closely following the national debate on the issue. But she knows that the economic outlook for her generation isn’t bright right now.

A respiratory therapy student at FSU, Caputo said it will be hard to find a job in her specialty when she completes her associate degree.

“As far as health care in general goes, there will always be a job somewhere,” for her and her fellow therapists, said Caputo, also 24 and a Rivesville resident.

“Just maybe not around here,” she said. She and her classmates will compete for jobs at local hospitals, she said. Those who can’t land positions will have to move out-of-state.

Sheryl Screen, 48, is one of millions of Americans who are holding down two jobs to pay the bills. The Grant Town resident and her husband, Brian, 44, own the Downtown Pizza & Subs Restaurant on Adams Street, right across from the Marion County Courthouse.

While Brian runs the restaurant with three part-time helpers, Sheryl works a shift as a dietary manager at the John Manchin Sr. Health Care Center on the East Side. She then comes in to help at the restaurant.

“I think they needed to do something a long time ago,” as the housing boom grew into a bubble in recent years, she said.

“I’m not sure that using public money is the right thing, especially when these chief executive officers were getting millions and millions of dollars and living a great lifestyle. Meanwhile, the rest of us had to dig for our pennies,” Screen said.

“But something definitely has to be done,” she said to ensure that small businesses have access to credit for payroll and other operating expenses.

She and her husband are proud of their business, one which they have nurtured for seven years.

“As it is, we haven’t had any problems, and really, West Virginia hasn’t had any problems yet. But the credit problem will trickle down this way and it will really hurt the little people,” she said.

“Somebody needs to be accountable, and it doesn’t need to be the little people, as it always is in the end.”

Raymond McIntire, 71, of Worthington was one of the early-afternoon shoppers at the Wal-Mart SuperStore in White Hall.

“They shouldn’t have loaned the money to people who couldn’t afford it in the first place,” said McIntire of those in the finance and banking sectors who pushed “no documentation” and other subprime mortgage loans.

A retired maintenance specialist who worked at several local mines, McIntire said he rolled over his retirement 401-K fund years ago. Citing the cost of gas, food and housing, he said he feels bad for younger generations.

James Shuman, also 71, of Mannington and another retired miner, said he’s doing OK, “so far.”

“They definitely have to do something,” he said of Congress.

Morgan Fouse, 37, of Idamay said from what he’s heard and seen on the news that “it sounds to me like we’re bailing out high corporate types.”

Fouse is a driver and warehouse employee for a local mining supply company.

“It’s sad that they let one or two investment firms get so large that when they got in trouble and failed, we have to use public funds to bail them out.”

At a Bellview gas station, Ed Pill, 51, of Fairmont, said he doesn’t like the retirement bonuses that some investment firm presidents have collected.

“They’re walking away with millions,” said the automotive technician at a local car dealership.

“If you and I had a business and it failed, the government wouldn’t bail us out.”

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.

Text Only
Local News
  • BOE votes against hiring administrative assistant

    The Marion County Board of Education voted against hiring Andrew Neptune as an administrative assistant during its meeting Monday.

    February 6, 2012

  • Dave Sago Different every day

    Dave Sago is the utility manager for the City of Fairmont. He and his wife Sandy will have been married 40 years in June. They have one son, Justin, living in Pittsburgh, and one granddaughter, Sydney, a sophomore at Fairmont Senior High School.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • ‘Gift of Love’ food drive enters final week

    Last week, Times West Virginian editor John Veasey put out the call for food donations for the paper’s Gift of Love food drive.

    February 6, 2012

  • Fafsa--DS.jpg More than a handout: VIDEO

    For the majority of students, college wouldn’t be possible without financial aid.
    Officials at Fairmont State University, Pierpont Community & Technical College and West Virginia University said more than half the students at their institutions receive some type of financial aid.

    February 5, 2012 1 Photo

  • Investigation of fatal fire ongoing

    At 9:30 p.m. Friday, Mannington firefighters were called out to a fire on Fairview Street that would burn until the early morning and claim the lives of a Mannington couple while a neighborhood looked on helplessly.
    Lyndell and Gladys Harvey, who were in their 70s according to officials’ estimates, perished in the flames. An investigation is ongoing to discover the cause of the fire.

    February 5, 2012

  • College Goal Sunday caps Financial Aid Week

    When it comes to financial aid, students and parents have a lot of questions, and experts across the state are coming together to make sure everyone gets the information they need.
    This week is Financial Aid Week across the nation. Each participating college and university is doing different activities, but the week ends with College Goal Sunday.

    February 5, 2012

  • Lifelong Learners has variety of classes

    It’s never too late to learn something new.
    The Lifelong Learners of Pierpont Community & Technical College/Fairmont State University is offering people 50 and over a whole mini-college of diverse topics ranging from needle arts to the Civil War to evolution and more.

    February 5, 2012

  • Double Fatal Mannington -ts.jpg Mannington couple dies in fire: VIDEO

    A fire late Friday night claimed the lives of a Mannington couple.
    According to officials on scene, the fire began at a residence on Fairview Street, just off Mannington’s Main Street, around 9:30 p.m.

    February 4, 2012 1 Photo

  • Sheila Chipps--DS.jpg Love and charity

    At Our Father’s Breadbasket, a food pantry run by New Life Ministries, Eldora United Methodist Church, Boothsville United Methodist Church and Everson Baptist, to name a few, visitors have the opportunity to pick and choose monthly from the available food to build a box of love and charity.

    February 4, 2012 1 Photo

  • Jayenne principal recommended for new position

    Listed as an item on the agenda for the board’s Monday, Feb. 6, meeting is a recommendation by Superintendent of Schools Gary Price for Neptune, who is currently principal at Jayenne Elementary School, to be reassigned to the position of administrative assistant for the Central Office.

    February 4, 2012