Locals say little guy can’t get lost in bailout shuffle

LYNN – Message to Congress from the Little Guys: Don’t forget us when it comes to spending billions to bail big corporations out of the nation’s economic mess.That is the message residents from Lynn and other communities sent Thursday as they discussed the financial recovery plan taking shape in Washington and tonight’s scheduled debate between presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama.Al Ancrun said the corporate bailout plan must include a mechanism for excusing “bad debt” amassed by consumers, including the thousands of American homeowners caught in the sub-prime mortgage bind.”Everybody’s part of this meltdown. We have to clear the board for everybody and let people start over,” Ancrun said.Maryellen Carlton is tired of scrimping and saving: She wants to know how the presidential candidates plan to get the economy back on course.”Gas is the worst for me. I try to walk instead of drive if it’s a couple of blocks.”Pierre Mazile and Jerry Hartling face personal challenges that eclipse the sputtering economy. Serious illness forced Mazile’s wife to quit the two jobs she works and his fuel costs have skyrocketed with trips back and forth to the hospital.Hartling got laid off from his job as an office machine repairman a month ago. He remains undecided about his choice for president and hopes McCain and Obama debate tonight.”He should be there. We should hear his side of everything.”Peggy Robinson sees the specter of Depression-era austerity rising out of the current economic crisis.”I’m worried about everyday life and how people are going to survive. I don’t want to go back to a ‘Grapes of Wrath’ existence,” she said.Ancrun wants to see Congress craft a bailout plan that wipes out significant debt and bad credit for Americans of all economic stripes so they can borrow again.”But you still will have to have everything in order when you go to apply,” he said.