So Angry...
Fri., September 26, 10:48 AM
I am angry, so angry I’m not sure I can explain it. I knew it was going to happen, and I kept saying so; but the financial wizards of Wall Street and the country’s lenders knew better. And… oh shhhhhhhh!
Around twenty years ago I worked for a company that had serious financial problems. Everyone who worked there, both management and support staff, was asked if we were willing to work for a month without pay, in the hope that after the month they would be able to pay us. The alternative would be a temporary layoff. As one who was emotionally connected to the place — I never learn, y’know — I chose to stay. Others left, many of them permanently, thus cutting expenses substantially.
Eventually they straightened out their affairs enough to pay us, including our salaries for the month we had worked without pay. That is, they paid the support staff. I have reason to believe that several people in higher management took a loss.
No bailout. Not even a short-term loan. Basically, the “loan” came from the employees, particularly those who were making high salaries. (People at my level were not going to be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.) My point is that those responsible for overspending, or bad management, or whatever it was, were the ones who had to pay for it.
Like so many other people, I paid my mortgage on time; actually, I paid it off several years early. I don’t carry a credit card debt; to me, cards are simply a convenience, and I pay the whole thing every month. For fifty years I paid my taxes on time every year. (And I continue to be offended by ads from lawyers who can save “thousands” for those in arrears.) Despite whatever I thought, it seems that any moron could waste my hard-earned money on some hare-brained scheme.
How does a government pay billions of dollars to save a banking system when it can’t afford health care for its citizens? Maybe, just maybe, we might have had enough money for our needs if we weren’t spending it fighting someone else’s war.
I have talked at length about greed and how it will lead to a greater gap between the haves and the have-nots. How about getting all those people with million-dollar bonuses and multi-million-dollar retirement packages to contribute to the “buyout”? Please don’t give me words about the evils of communism. Use your brains to realize that, if you don’t share what you have now, you will have nothing later.
Do you think there will be a debate tonight? At first I thought not, but I like to think things through (mad as it makes me). [Ahem; the radio just reported that Mr. Mgoo is planning to attend after all. That’s the man who said the economy is strong because it’s based on the American worker; he evidently is not aware of how many of those workers are currently without jobs.] I figure that someone who is not prepared to debate, who might be somewhat frightened about the process, will still show up to demonstrate how brave he is.
I don’t doubt the bravery. I just don’t think it’s sufficient. George Custer was brave too.
Oh, yeah, one more thing. There was an item on the news this morning that maybe the GDP was inaccurate, that first-quarter growth was not as good as was first reported. Really?
Robin Hood, according to “Speed Bump”.
Succinct, no?
