Henry "Hank" Paulson ... U.S.Treasury Secretary and Chairman of the "Bank of Hank" has a basic motto ... which is ... "A sucker is born every minute". Once again our Treasury Guru is changing lanes with no turn signal in heavy traffic. The spirit "Oversight Committee" is not intervening in any of this ... because ... they are obviously in some "spirit" world ... Why do I say this? ... Because no actual oversight committee even exist's! (at least not in our world!) And now we are taking 9" inches instead of 6! Understand ... if you give these folks an inch ... they will take a mile ... that is the nature of the "game" ... if you think otherwise ... your blind and/ or deluded ... and will lose your ass in the real world. Not one "oversight" position has been filled ... and when they asked for the "bailout" ... the rules were that the White House and Congress will have confirmed an oversight committee and have a report to present ... and all by a deadline date ... which has already long passed!Hank ... you've been "made" brother ... and America ... you've been "had".
What the bottom line here is on this"bite" ... is that was the whole "rush" of passing this bailout ... including Hank getting down on his knee and begging Nancy Pelosi (D-Speaker) ... "Please". The bite was moved quickly all orchestrated by Bush/ Cheney because they feared that because of poll's ... the democrat's might control the House and Senate ... and even the Oval Office ... if they didnt move then ... there could be too many obstacles causing delay's with the suspected new democrat power. Now that they have the blank check ... deposited in the "Bank of Hank" ... and managed to slip out of confirming any oversight personel ... they have until January 20,2009 to do everything they can ... to make sure the money is locked "contractually ' to where they want it to go.
Notice in the last 2 week's or so ... now all kind's of companies are asking for a piece of the pie ... even a group proposed to give a piece to credit card holder's who cant pay off their credit card's! And they were quickly denied ... but I agree there ... as far as I'm concerned ... if you cant pay for all the crap you charged ... too bad. I got almost $30K in debt on card's over 20 years ago ... I didnt ask anyone for squat ... and if I did ... as far as I'm concerned ... when I cant carry my own burden ... I might as well put a gun to my head. I have mixed feeling's about helping the big auto maker's ... I want to definitely give them something ... however ... I want them to realize ... if you want to stay in the game of competition ... start making car's that "compete"! ... fuelwise as well as longevity ... the Japanese make us look like rookies from south of the border! My daughter just bought a brand new fully loaded Honda yesterday, it wasnt cheap, but it was the logical best bet for the buck, not Ford, Chevy, or Pontiac! But the auto industry mean's ... job's ... and is a bedrock industry of American capitalism at it's finest. Another damn thing ... what the hell ever happened to just filing plain ole "bankruptcy"? ... Geeeez ... every weakling from coast to coast want's a damn "bailout"!
In other "economic nightmares" ... Delta and Northwest Airlines just merged ... forming the largest airline in the world ... well ... I'm just slap happy excited ... another mega giant to try to monopolize things more! Letting some of these folks fold and fail (especially mega investment banker's/ manipulator's) or at least file bankruptcy ... tighten's the ship! If an airline fold's ... the damn planes dont like disappear ... or the mechanic's vanish, and other personel ... they roll on to another investor! But at least a merger is better than a handout. The G-20 posse which Bush host's this week ... are already talking universal global market regulation's, and their "host"(Bush) is already sideswiping the call ... if you listen to his clever address yesterday ... saying that old school western capitalism regulatory policies is the only way. Well then listen to what the Hell you preach sir ... and let those who are not up to parr to compete ... FAIL! Did he not also tell the people that the new global market is much different and more complex than the old? Well then that tell's you to let your global constituent's be player's in ground rules! Usually on mega airline merger's ... the prices increase to consumer's because ... well ... less competition. This will be interesting though because of the dollar and less travelled skies ... however ... the future actions of OPEC as far as supply decreases might play a role as well. Cincinnati as well as Memphis from this has their Hub status in jeopardy ... but what they are not reporting ... is many others do as well (mid-size American cities) ... trust me. And consumer's already lost the fight to improve airline service ... across the board!
I am more concerned with the small businesses of America ... that Transmission shop in your neighborhood ... the corner print shop ... the countless small businesses which are the bread and butter of the American workforce ... who employ three quarter's of American's. After all ... they dont "export" job's ... and they are our saviour when we get in a bind. It takes about (well in Texas and most states) $25K to start a small business up ... do we realize how many small business start up's a couple hundred billion can create? think about it. What about the million's of personal retirement investment's, municipal bond's, etc? Should not everyone get a piece of the pie in the actual domestic business sector ... after all ... investment banker's are no different than billionaire bookie's ... who employ a bunch of high fashion flunky hustler's.
This is exactly why Obama is staying out of the G-20 hoopla this week. He say's it's because there is only one President at a time ... but I know what is in the back of his mind on this one ... he dont want to "brush" shoulder's ... because he is about to enter with a fist and proposal's that they will basically "hate" ... and they all see him coming as well ... that is why they have been hustling overtime. Rest assured ... Obama has everyone of their number's! He might not be an experienced politician ... but believe me ... he certainly know's the game! And his attitude already silently frighten's all these player's!
While many were voting for him out of desperation ... or based on race/ ethnicity ... or because they just joined with the popular cult ... I was voting for him because I seen and made this guy from day one ... and I kept silent about him, and what I truely made him as ... which is a smart soft spoken campaigner who realizes ... to effect the game of old in any way ... you must enter the arena like this ... for the pop culture image ... and then become a major part of the system/ game, but at heart ... he's a real warrior. You must get inside to actually take any action.
PS: A woman that has a little neighborhood store read this and thought that my view's about credit card user's are a little harsh. My point is ... that many folk's just over charge without no concern for the outcome ... and "buy" thing's they dont even remotely need or even use much. Then whine about ... "they need help ...". For crying out loud ... why in the Hell do folks whine after they splurge or induldge in this manner? When I was 10's of thousand's in debt 20 years ago ... I didnt whine that the "bank's did it to me", I am the one who done it to myself.
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People are really stupid when it comes to credit cards, I've been there myself & like you I bailed myself out.
ReplyDeleteI don't have much at the moment but it sure feels good to be debt free.
I've witnessed my first real tragedy of this economic crisis. An acquaintance of mine shot herself a few days ago. She was despondent over her financial situation, she couldn't pay her mortgage for one thing, she also had health issues & her insurance was changed to where she couldn't afford the medicine she needed. She'd been talking about killing herself but I figured something would come along to solve her problem. Apparently, she didn't think that was going to happen & realistically I don't know what could of solved her dilemma. I guess she doesn't have to worry about it now, except she did leave behind a 10 year old child, who has to live with it.
I suspect hers is not an isolated case. I wonder if the suicide rate in the US has gone up lately?
Thank you for your visit"C.C.".When you say that"You dont have much at the moment,but it sure feel's good to be debt free..." Doesnt it!? that does feel good!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about your acquaintance,especially the part of leaving behind the 10 year old child.Because it will not leave the mind,but it can be dealt with and it fades some as time passes. It is important that the next elder explains to the child the situation.I have been through this myself,more than once. I dont like it,especially when it is someone dear to me,but I have to realize,there are many thing's I dont like..and the "reality" of the "condition". Maybe the "medicine" was the key factor to motivate this decision.The "money"factor can alway's be dealt with you see.As I have wrote in my earliest post's, this will of coarse rise with the level and effect of the condition. In the near future we will see more group suicide than before as well.I personally have NEVER felt to kill myself...I guess I never been in a position to actually need to consider it. But "well wishes" for your acquaintance's child.
My neighbor is a very sweet lady named Sue...she is a bleeding heart to a degree,and thought I was a lil harsh as I said on credit card holder's. But you see C.C. so much of our misery is brought on by our own action's.We alway's look for these "scapegoat's" to blame thing's on.All I am saying that if folks take the time to act a lil more responsible,some of this misery can be deleted is all.To be even a lil more frank...we sometimes act like little spoiled brat's as well.Some of us have gotten very soft too.Many of us never stop to think either...just how good we have it living in America,even low income folks here dont live too shabby..and many of us are far from going to bed hungry here..I know I certainly dont!
Thank you for you input.
So much is just a matter of perspective. I've been in despair enough before to look at suicide as an option. I felt trapped in a situation & couldn't see my way out for a while. One day it dawned on me that I wasn't trapped, I could just walk away.
ReplyDeleteBut, I have to say that I was responsible for staying in a bad situation as long as I did.