Okay its not THE Pond - as some call the ocean. And it is not just A Pond - as in smaller than a lake. It is a lake! I enjoy living on it and spending time on my back porch listening to music, gazing at the lake and pondering.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Bailout...Failout...Wailout

When I created and began writing this blog early this year I never intended to write on political topics. It was to be a humorous look at my life on the pond. But I never in my life would have seen the events of this fall...

BAILOUT
What?! I was amazed at how quickly the government moved to craft the $700 billion bailout. I was against it and was honestly disappointed that John McCain was for it. Don't misunderstand me. You put more than six zeros behind a number and I can get overwhelmed so I am not a financial genius. But I do firmly believe that it is NOT the business of government to be in the business of business.

When Chrysler was bailed out in the 1980s I was too busy with trying to take care of my young family to pay too much attention but that might have set a bad precedent.

9/11/2001 created a national emergency that caused us to help out the airline industry. This was a special occasion it would seem.

Now, in recent days, the Treasury Secretary has changed the rules. The $700 billion will no longer be used to buy the bad mortgages but to buy stock in banks.

Now our congress is getting ready to rescue GM, Ford and Chrysler again. Now we know why the Unions spent $400 million on the Obama campaign.

I am furious with my government over this.

FAILOUT
For businesses that run out of money there is an option called bankruptcy. When all efforts to keep a company running fail this is the only option. I had to go this route with my company in the 1990s when I failed.

When the fraud of WorldCom surfaced in 2002 and the company failed the government did not save the company. That bailout would have been a bargain. Bernie Ebbers failure was only $60 billion. Why, that is petty cash compared to the banking industry. And no CEO, accountant, or government oversight person has been charged with any crime in this . Bernie meanwhile sits in jail for the failure of WorldCom. He needs company.

If the government would have bailed out WorldCom I could have cashed my stock options and paid for my house as I had expected to do and not had the mortgage I am burdened with.

I have learned this fall that my predicament is the government's fault and they need to bail me out. Maybe I should stop making my mortgage payments?

WAILOUT
I am wailing because this has to stop. I am notifying my congressman and senator that I expect them to vote NO on any further expenditures to save businesses. We must let free enterprise work. Let the consumer choose what products and services we believe to be worth buying. Let the market take care of itself.

Our forefathers came to America to get government out of their business. They must be turning over in their graves.

AMERICA, WAKE UP!!

6 comments:

Dennis said...

I agree! And if all the congressman were actually sent to jail for their crimes ..... DC would look like a ghost town.

Katherine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katherine said...

Hey Robb,

I found this quote in a news article on MSN.

"Still, powerful senators like Richard Shelby, R-Ala., appear willing to let the U.S. automakers collapse."

It is basically suggesting that the government's JOB is to bail out businesses. Like these senators are "letting" automakers fail. Maybe if businesses had more honest CEOs and did not pay them millions of dollars, then all the shareholders and public at large would not be suffering. I agree with you. Government should not be getting into business. We're just on a slippery slope to government running our lives. NO THANKS!

Anonymous said...

There will be no end to the bailouts once they start. What about all the small business's that are suffering too. All we have to look forwards to under the new administration is more taxes to pay for the bailouts of the big boys. IT IS A WORLD GONE WILD!!

Jim said...

I have mixed feelings about our current problems and the governments involvement. My conflict mostly has to do with not wanting innocent people to suffer over the bad decisions, and potential corruption which has brought our economy to this cliff. Chrysler's bailout worked (for awhile). The airlines did not work at all. We might all suffer if we let these massive companies fail NOW. At this point let's not punish the innocent. However, if companies come to the government for money; I think the directors should be fired, and major reorganization should take place. I agree with you, that those responsible should be punished. I disagree that bankruptcy is the solution right now, in this current situation. I also know it is a very slippery slope...time will tell.

Jim said...

Speaking of the slippery slope; did you hear about Mr. Como in NY sending a subpoena to Bank of America for disclosure on executive pay? Isn't that private information? Not since BOA took money from the TARP! What really is unjust is that BOA did not need money from TARP, they have no sub prime loans. They did not do them! They were forced by the Treasury to take the money because it would be"good for America"...remember that? What a Pandora's box of political, and legal issues we have created. This, I am sure is just the beginning.