Let Us Not Forget

The world is focused on the bank failures, and corruption and the incompetence of federal regulatory agencies that were suppose to have been watching out for our best interest. And we the people (government) are busy subsidizing all of these failures. Still, no one that was responsible for this catastrophe has gone to jail. Why is that? Most likely the answer is that those that should be putting folks in jail should be putting themselves there as well - and they are just not going to do that.

Let us also not forget that our Congress on both sides of the isle failed us miserably. So the American people sent a clear message last November that they wanted change - and the results – well, nothing has changed; it’s just business as usual with the exception that the Republicans have decided that they did indeed lose their way over the past eight years and are now engaged in hypocritical finger pointing. I for one have sent many letters to my elected officials over the past couple of years without having the least little impact. Perhaps it's time for them to hear from all of you us in great numbers.

Clearly, the notion that mortgaging our grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s future by giving money to those institutions that failed us in the first place, is a frivolous use of our money. I must confess that I was a proponent of the initial bail efforts of the fall of 08; had the government came clean with the American people about the depth of the problem and that there was really no end in sight then I may not have supported it. Bush then, and Obama now are still telling us that if we had not have taken the actions that we took last fall that we would be in the midst of a great depression. But who does one believe? They all lie and the truth isn't in them.

The total cost of the bail out is projected to be 11.6 trillion dollars that's $11,623,630,000,000.00. That equates to $38,013.00 for every American citizen including every man, woman and child. If the need is to stimulate the economy then it would be far better to put that money directly in the hands of Americans. Even if you limited the distribution to just those that are married and/or are at least 18 years old - the impact would be immediate. There are a lot of ways to manage such distribution. One idea that's being floated is to have a tax holiday for one or two years.

Meaningful stimulation, and I don’t mean a measly $1200, that the oil companies took away from us last year, through direct or indirect distribution to the taxpayers is a basic and simple solution; surely you are asking yourself why it’s not being done? The answer is that political and private bureaucratic institutions across this nation would be out of the equation. We can’t have that; now can we? So Washington is pouring trillions into the coffers of failed banks and companies and the American people are getting what in return? Absolutely nothing except more lay-offs and depleted retirement and savings accounts. So here’s the bottom line – the economy has so deteriorated, as has the confidence of the American people, that it will make no difference whether or not the banks have money to loan, because the consumers either can’t or wont buy anything – this is the day that demand as surely died. Which begs the question – why haven’t prices of everything dropped to match the current state of the economy? Now there’s a question that demands a close scrutiny.

All of that aside for a moment - let us not forget the role that the oil industry has played in our demise. That industry sucked billions of dollars in excessive profits out of the economy over the past three years thereby deepening and hastening this catastrophic failure of the world’s economies. I don't know about you but it infuriates me to see an oil company run a commercial on TV that asks you and I if we are going to partner with them in solving the energy problem that they created and benefited from.

There are things that we should not forget and are so important that perhaps you should write it down on a posted note and put it on your refrigerator. Review the list and add things to it from time to time. My list is extensive and getting longer.