750 billion bailout plan

by loosie 24 Replies latest social current

• 

  BurnTheShips

  Who is with me?

  Works for me.

  Just hand it out. It would put an end to any deflationary ideas real fast, that kind of money-pumping would be extremely inflationary.

  Or instead of handing it out, just slash income taxes paid by an equivalent amount.

  Pulling numbers out of my hat here....or they could just nix the personal income tax on anyone earning less than, say 250k for the next 5 years, and say, slash the tax rate for corps and those earning more for the next 5. Or maybe 10. That way people would spend their refunds, investing would look more attractive, and the cash would work its way back in naturally. This is much better than a one-shot "stimulus package" or an outright handout.

  You can't plan long term with a stimulus package, it is a one shot ad hoc affair. One and done. But a long term tax cut is something you could bank on, and plan on. That would bring private capital back into the machine, creating growth. Look what the low rate did for the Irish economy.

  BTS
• 

  ninja

  amero anyone?
• 

  sammielee24

  First off, it was not a bailout. Americans are getting taxed and the money is being given to banks to loan back to them. Then they will pay interest for the privilege of borrowing their own money back! Call it what it is, extortion.
  
  Second thing, the auto companies are not structurally ready for an infusion of funds. Going to collect a handout in a private jet is bad form, and it also shows a failure to change the way they were doing business that let to the failure in the first place. Giving them money will just allow the failed business model to go on a little longer and dig a deeper hole. They need to have fundamental change. They could start by cutting expenses. Management is top heavy, so flatten it. Make the top pay for executives be a certain ratio of the bottom pay grade, like 4:1 or maybe a generous 10:1 and scale all compensation accordingly for management. This should include the value of perks. Then they could start building those models of cars that they developed and shelved that people actually want but were killed because of wrongheaded management. The EV1 electric car comes to mind. There are others. This leads to one more thing. If an assembly worker had screwed up as badly as management had, unions notwithstanding, they would have been fired. Time to clean house of those men who screwed this one up and bring in some fresh talent. Instead of ticks bleeding cash out of giant corporations, have the companies run by people who want to make autos that people want to buy and can afford. Then we can have a meeting in Washington about what to do next. For now, they are just not ready yet to even be worthy to talk to us.

  I see it as a distinct bailout - of Wall Street. It hasn't all gone to the banks - and it hasn't and won't be all accounted for. Paulson made sure that in his proposal, he included the statements that absolved him of any wrongdoing if things go awry...and right now, the money is being spent but nobody is allowed to demand to see who got what or where it went. That's a bailout. That's a scheme!

  Next off - if you watched most of the committee hearings, it becomes obvious that the money was never intended to help any of the smaller banks and nor did many of those banks ask for money. There are big banks who were 'coerced' into taking 25 billion and who then have used that money to buy up 'good banks'..they aren't obligated or mandated to use the money in any specific way to help the taxpayer at all, they are free to use the money as they want to. We are creating more monopolies and in essence creating more and more scenario's of institutions 'too big to fail'. Sound familiar? It seems that Bush and Paulson used the phrase in order to get the money and then create even more earthquakes.

  As for the car companies. The amount they want as a loan amounts to less than 10% of all the bailout $$ the financial sector has already received and given the fact that not one of those Wall Street or financial institutions has had to go cap in hand to beg and grovel and kiss ass for some bucks, you have to ask yourself why? If you are demanding answers for poor management of a car industry that has boots on the ground manual labor and human investment, why on earth wouldn't you demand more answers from the government and it's departments that have allowed their poor management to take down the country and destroy the finances of their own people?

  At this point it all seems pretty suspicious to me. Too much focus on the auto industry when 350 billion remains lost in the wind somewhere and nothing reaches the people we were told it would. Let's start getting answers on all those funds first - sammieswife.
• 

  BurnTheShips

  and nothing reaches the people we were told it would.

  That is the big problem. The money has protected the banks from failure, but lending has not loosened much to consumers and business. Granted, we have been saved from an outright credit freeze--which would have been disastrous--but the money has not reached the larger economy. What should have been a clearly inflationary monetary policy has not actual worked out that way, and we are currently seeing a slightly deflationary environment. However, I think that although the powers that be have been a bit slow on the uptake, they will act with a vengeance to correct this.

  BTS
• 

  yknot

  The only power I have in this thing is by voting out those representatives who supported this corporate welfare.

  They should put that money to small business and education.

  Let the Fat Cats fend for themselves.