This morning Punxsutawney Phil stuck his head out of his hole and saw his shadow predicting another six weeks of winter. But perhaps what he should have been looking for is a foreclosure sign outside his humble abode. Maybe then he could predict how much longer this economic 'winter' is going to last. It certainly doesn't seem like it's going to be over anytime soon. All the promises of a 'bailout' plan for the rest of us, seem so far to be just that...promises. To many people on the hill and on wall street,it seems, are perfectly happy with the status quo. Exxon reported its largest profits in years and bank CEOs are taking home bundles in bonuses. The republicans are dragging there feet on plans suggested by President Obama, and as long as he keeps trying to appease them, I foresee less 'stimulus' coming to us and more going to those who need it the least. John Stewart mentioned a great plan during his interview with Gwen Ifill on Jan. 27th, “Give us the money, but only for consumer debt and mortgages. We'll pay it back to them, make it clean, hit the reset button. We know where it went to. It's a trickle up theory of economics. I don't know why they keep talking about giving it to banks. Give it to us specifically for our consumer debt...and then they'll have money, we'll have no debt and the world will be made of unicorns and rainbows.” Wouldn't that be nice?
Other reading:
“Herbert Hoover Lives,” Frank Rich, New York Times
“How to rescue the bank bailout,” Joseph E. Stiglitz, CNN
1 comment:
It does seem that the only entities getting bail outs are the banks and corporations that stole our money in the first place.
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