Off The Cuff

Bailout Moving Forward?

Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me? on Oct 01 2008

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Once again, it seems that the lawmakers in this country are hammering out a possible bailout of the several companies that are on the edge of death. It would seem that they suddenly got the picture of what would happen if they decided not to do a bailout. Personally, I find it sad and rather disconcerting to know that the only thing that moves congress to do something is with an “in crisis” sort of message.

Frankly, this has been coming for a long time. If you have paid any attention to the news in the last several years, this was bound to happen. However, the bailout is going to an extreme that our country should not have had to endure. There is absolutely no excuse for what has come about concerning all these problems. Granted, no one can predict or deal with the devastation of a hurricane or tornado in any way other than after the fact. And our country has had it’s share of disasters recently as in the last several years.

But, the financial crisis, the housing market, credit cards, gas prices, goods and services prices are all things that were foreseen and should have been having people take actions to avoid. Financial crisis…we knew we were vulnerable when Sept. 11th happened even if we did not know about it before that. Why did companies continue to work in the same manner afterwards? How about this question that has been burning for a few days now…..How is it that so many CEOs were unaware of the conditions that made it ripe for this huge fall? I may live in Podunk in the woods but they are sitting in the financial capitol of the world with their fingers on the pulse. Were they ALL (at the same time) so greedy that they were willing to look the other way while their company went down in flames while grabbing their own little pittances of several BILLIONS of dollars? Check the amounts that each CEO received or is receiving while the bailout is being hammered out.

Housing market: That one was a disaster waiting to happen, wasn’t it. Greedy lenders giving such awesome terms to people without really stressing that it could all blow up in their faces if the economy went south and interest rates went up. As I understand the loan, the home owner paid a small payment (compared to the end payments) at first but when rates were recalculated every month or so, the payment started to go up and up and up. The person paying the note suddenly is getting much higher mortgage payments to pay out. Where in all that’s common sense is this right or even sensible to do? Look, I admit that I have not bought a house or land in a while. But, even I have the sense to stay away from something that weird.

Credit cards: Accident waiting to happen. Companies were going after the college kids offering them a free credit card to use as they like never telling them what the fees really are. The kids not knowing all this spend, spend, spend. Then the card companies are shocked to find out that the kid can’t pay. In come the collection agencies going after Mom and Pop too. And then there are those who just cannot keep their card in their pockets. They must buy something. Yet, their income does not allow for that little extra purchase. People who have credit cards are in debt up to their eyeballs and then some. Some folks are in over their heads. Who in this country did not see this coming?? People are overextended. Period. And hey, they aren’t alone. Our government is overextended too. What an example for us little guys.

Gas prices: I should say here…don’t get me started but I already am so here goes. In the 1970s, when we had a manufactured gas shortage, we did nothing. I just looked it up. OPEC was at the bottom of that little deal when they flexed their muscles a time or two. We learned nothing from that. And now, we are at the mercy of those same types of people who are once again flexing their muscles. Our gas prices have fallen a bit. A BIT. It is still an obscene number that we have to pay for gasoline that powers our ever increasingly expensive autos, trucks and RVs. See, they know we cannot live without gas anymore. Our nation is gas hungry. We use it to go on picnics and travel to Disney World and other vacations. They know that we cannot live without our entertainment. And they are using it against us. HELLO!!!!!!

Goods and services prices: Easy one. If gas prices go up; food, goods and services that use gas are going to go up.

This was all predicted stuff. I could have sat here in Podunk and told you this was going to happen. Yes, you can tell me all about hindsight. I can tell you I knew it would happen. Our country is heading on a slippery downward slope and there is not much that can stop it. It is unlikely that this bailout is going to have a very long lasting effect even if they do pass it. However, without the bailout, I suspect the slide will be much faster.

I want to mention one other thing. You can think of me as part of the tinfoil hat crowd if you want to but the truth is that I believe that in all this, someone is orchestrating much of what is going on. That’s all I’m going to say but why don’t you take a minute and think about all the things that have happened since September 11th, 2001. Think about those things and look at the whole thing with new eyes. Disasters happen but at least one of them, New Orleans, did not have to be what it was. The rest of these things are man made. Do we have a country full of Gomer Pyles who do not have a clue about business while they sit in the CEO chair or is there another reason that all these companies are having hard times at the same time? And that’s it for now.

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