Some quick thoughts on the bailout…

So, here we are.

President Bush is frantically trying to garner support for a GIGANTIC bailout bill that will do one thing very well. No, it won’t help us, the consumers. No, it won’t fix the problems that created our current ‘crisis’. What it will do is effectively state ‘capitalism failed’ and shove a socialist, tax-payer funded, smoke and mirrors ‘quick fix’ down our throats.

Here’s a run-down of what the basic bill is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21draftcnd.html

$700 billion dollars (and up to 1.3 trillion) is going to get thrown down the drain. The money will be used to buy assets, from failing companies, in the hopes that one day we’ll see our money back. Investors in those companies stand to lose billions, so they of course are fully behind any measure that keeps them afloat. BUT, they have a big problem with two proposed provisions (and probably more, but these stand out).

One is that they don’t want the government telling their CEO’s how much money they can make. Yep, salary capping is not something they want, who would have thought?

And the other thing they don’t want is any sort of ‘bailout’ to the consumer. They don’t want ‘write-downs’ and interest rate reductions, and bankruptcy protection.

Beggars can’t be choosers! They are going to get a big fat handout, paid for by us- the United States taxpayer. The least they can do is help to make it a win-win. Not a win-lose big!

Should we be angry? Should we be grateful? What should we be???

I have yet to hear a logical explanation for why we NEED to do this. The President acts as if this is the worst thing ever, and if we don’t act, millions of Americans will lose their jobs, their homes, their EVERYTHING. Hate to break it to him, but that’s already happened. And he is just now starting to care.

What WILL happen if we stand up and say ‘NO WAY’, and stop this bailout from occurring? What if we say enough is enough, and let these corporations go under? Is this bailout simply delaying the inevitable? Or is it so necessary we need to implement it by Monday morning?

The banker guys can’t have it both ways. If they want this big fat check, there needs to be provisions that not only prevent the types of abuses that got us here, but also help our middle class- the ones that once again are being asked to shoulder a burden that, in a true capitalist society, they would never be. Investments (yes, even your 401k) are risky. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. The greater the failure, the greater the reward, as well it turns out! Again, who would have thought?

What do we have left? I just don’t get it.

September 24, 2008