Friday 26 September 2008

Ever Get The Feeling You're Being Cheated?

Because i haven't yet figured out a foolproof way to fiddle my tax returns, like many of you, i have the heartwarming honour of paying a percentage of my salary to the Government each year to do with as they wish. This could be education, health, feathering their own nests or fiddling their John Lewis expenses account with my hard earned but we don't have a say and have to leave it up to them to decide where to direct it.
If i woke up to hear that my Government was shelling out $700 billion fund to bail out private companies, an amount that would push the total pledged to combat the crisis to $1.8 trillion, i would break my new years resolution to stop swearing before breakfast.
It is figures that would make anybodies mind boggle and this latest $700b amounts to $2300 per US citizen so unless you have a knowledge of how the financial system works, the incomprehensible financial jargon just bounces off our ears but every US citizen should be bristling with indignation that their Government has seen fit to use their tax dollars for this.
The language of the money men may blind us to what is actually going on, which is that the working American is being asked to pay for irresponsible management of huge privately owned companies. In other words a massive handout.
Saving the neck of companies that were mismanaged by already absurdly wealthy guys would come well towards the bottom of my list if i was looking to hand out $1.8 trillion. Even after the payout, the problem will still be there for the average American facing rising prices, job insecurity and the threat of losing their homes.
If the Government had used the $1.8 trillion to hand every US citizen $15,000 to spend, it would have stimulated the economy and everyone would have got something out of it.
If they had chosen to spend $1.8 trillion to part-pay the mortgages of the worst hit, the financial institutions would have still got their money, the crisis would be solved, the housing market invigorated and millions of citizens would of got something out of the deal.
As it stands, they get nothing except a debt they will be saddled with for decades and higher inflation or taxes to pay for it. The winners are a bunch of incompetent bankers who will get much richer and will in turn turf you out of your home if you manage your finances anything like the way that they have been running there's. Ever get the feeling you're being cheated?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greed has a negative effect on most humans, Lucy. Mega-greed, which capitalism is built upon, really brings out the worst. That's why America is such a basket case.

Instead of trying to prop America up so that corruption can reign again, the world should let it sink into bankruptcy. Then we could get on with setting up a more fair world where everyone shares in its resources not just a handful!

Nog said...

Damn! Would you ask my Congressman and my Senators to cut spending for me?

Seriously though, it is quite unfortunate when the political entrepreneurs win out over the people and the market entrepreneurs. What this bailout does is interfere with the natural processes of the free economic order such that the government "levels the playing field" in order to save political entrepreneurs from getting competed out of the market.

Once again, government connections trump wise and foresightful business strategies.

-Nog

Anonymous said...

Perhaps it's time for intelligent people to admit that the unregulated, capitalist 'market' economy is a gigantic, unmitigated, world-destroying failure, Nog.

Anonymous said...

Ever get the feeling you're being cheated?

During these difficult economic times? Every damn day!

Aaron said...

Lucy...we agree!!

Aaron said...

(mostly)

Falling on a bruise said...

Seems that the House of Representatives agree with both of us also effay.