Friday, February 27, 2009
Politicians are much like car salesmen. They both will tell you anything you want to hear in order to get your money. It really doesn’t matter that they rely on heavy bullshit to make their case. The ends to them definitely justify any means. And once they sucker you into the deal, you’re nobody to them. (Until, of course, the next time they need your approval on something). In defense of car salesmen around the country, I believe that they’re actually much more honest than politicians.
The latest Stimulus Package is a great example of this. With the economy in the tank, Democratic politicians saw a golden opportunity to pull the wool over America’s eyes (Hey, I know both parties are guilty of this. But it’s mainly the Dems in this case!) . They disguised the Stimulus Package as a catalyst that would jump start one of the worst recessions most American’s have ever experienced. It sounds good. But little did we know…….
For years, conventional wisdom told us to live within our means and save money our future. This sounded like a good idea and many people, like myself, lived this way. We controlled our frivolous spending and we put as much money into our 401k's (or other retirement funds) as we could afford. We had the security of knowing that there would be a large chunk of money growing as we approached retirement. Although we lived our lives responsibly, we foolishly trusted the government to behave the same way.
Many businesses, banks and individuals did NOT choose to do the responsible thing. They made foolish decisions and and lived life the was no tomorrow. They borrowed, spent and didn't save a dime. Eventually, the well ran dry. Businesses started reporting record losses and were on the verge of bankruptcy. Banks were loaning money to people who clearly couldn't afford to pay it back. And individuals continued to borrow, spend and rack up debt that they had no way of climbing out of.
Although there was plenty of blame to go around, the government had a large hand in all of this. ESPECIALLY in the mortgage meltdown. But the same government that oversaw the current financial crisis is now asking us to trust them to get us out of it. As Ronald Reagan once said, "The most frightening thing you'll ever hear is, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
Well, now the government is here to "help".........
Uncle Sam is now going against conventional wisdom by trying to borrow and spend his way out of this mess. Yeah, yeah, I know what's you're thinking. Didn't the government get us into this mess by doing this very thing? Of course, they did. But they've got a plan this time. And our new President is oozing with hope. And they need us to trust then to do the right thing. Hey, I know they've been wrong many times before, but they say this time is different.
The printing presses are open and the new money is on it's way to a location near you. Although it's value is rapidly diminishing, the government still says to go out and spend. After all, it will stimulate the economy! It doesn't matter that this will only give an artificial boost to the economy. Dammit, we can spend our way out of this mess! Sure it will only be temporary, but it will at least keep us afloat until our shift is over. By the time the debt comes due, our grandchildren will have to deal with it. Hey, after all, irresponsibility got us into this mess. By God, let's let irresponsibility get us out of it!
Maybe there are some legitimate pieces to Obama's recent package. But there’s also a hell of a lot of wasteful spending. This thing is loaded with more pork than a redneck family reunion. Take note of where some of the money is going:
• $150 million will be spent on honey bee insurance (Yes, I'm serious.)
• $650 million for digital TV conversion coupons (And what part of the economy will this stimulate??)
• $13.9 BILLION on Pell Grants (I'm not totally opposed to this, but this is very bad timing.)
• $400 million on STD prevention (To be fair, this was finally axed due to heavy opposition by the Republicans. I guess Congress woke up and figured it was cheaper to tell people to buy condoms than to waste $400 million dollars!)
• $5.5 BILLION to redesign and furnish the Homeland Security Headquarters (Yep, that's certainly going to generate revenue!)
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and drug abuse reduction (I say let the Indians continue to smoke their peace pipes!)
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees (This was likely slipped in as an added bonus to reward the failing US auto makers)
• $30 million to preserve the wetlands (isn't this a swamp??) and the habitat of the endangered Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse in the SF Bay area (this is one of Nancy Pelosi's "pet" projects)
These are just a few things. There’s billions of more tax payer’s dollars being wasted on these pet projects. In a time of economic crisis, this is NOT the time to be going out on a pork barrel spending spree. The Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. What they’ve done is basically borrowed money to get us out of debt. Are we to believe that this $800 billion won’t have to be paid back? All I can say is best of luck to our future generations. God knows they’re going to need it!
And the worst part for people like myself, is that we have been penalized for doing the right thing all of these years. We have watched out retirement funds lose 50% (or more!) of their value. Anything that was in the common market is probably worthless by now. We are going to get no help with our mortgages, because after all, WE WERE RESPONSIBLE!!!
Considering the average length of a recession is eighteen months, I have to wonder what would have happened if the government did absolutely nothing. The government certain has a history of messing things up. And the American taxpayer is the one always left holding the bag. Winston Churchill once said, “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
And that's exactly what we appear to be doing......
KW
The latest Stimulus Package is a great example of this. With the economy in the tank, Democratic politicians saw a golden opportunity to pull the wool over America’s eyes (Hey, I know both parties are guilty of this. But it’s mainly the Dems in this case!) . They disguised the Stimulus Package as a catalyst that would jump start one of the worst recessions most American’s have ever experienced. It sounds good. But little did we know…….
For years, conventional wisdom told us to live within our means and save money our future. This sounded like a good idea and many people, like myself, lived this way. We controlled our frivolous spending and we put as much money into our 401k's (or other retirement funds) as we could afford. We had the security of knowing that there would be a large chunk of money growing as we approached retirement. Although we lived our lives responsibly, we foolishly trusted the government to behave the same way.
Many businesses, banks and individuals did NOT choose to do the responsible thing. They made foolish decisions and and lived life the was no tomorrow. They borrowed, spent and didn't save a dime. Eventually, the well ran dry. Businesses started reporting record losses and were on the verge of bankruptcy. Banks were loaning money to people who clearly couldn't afford to pay it back. And individuals continued to borrow, spend and rack up debt that they had no way of climbing out of.
Although there was plenty of blame to go around, the government had a large hand in all of this. ESPECIALLY in the mortgage meltdown. But the same government that oversaw the current financial crisis is now asking us to trust them to get us out of it. As Ronald Reagan once said, "The most frightening thing you'll ever hear is, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
Well, now the government is here to "help".........
Uncle Sam is now going against conventional wisdom by trying to borrow and spend his way out of this mess. Yeah, yeah, I know what's you're thinking. Didn't the government get us into this mess by doing this very thing? Of course, they did. But they've got a plan this time. And our new President is oozing with hope. And they need us to trust then to do the right thing. Hey, I know they've been wrong many times before, but they say this time is different.
The printing presses are open and the new money is on it's way to a location near you. Although it's value is rapidly diminishing, the government still says to go out and spend. After all, it will stimulate the economy! It doesn't matter that this will only give an artificial boost to the economy. Dammit, we can spend our way out of this mess! Sure it will only be temporary, but it will at least keep us afloat until our shift is over. By the time the debt comes due, our grandchildren will have to deal with it. Hey, after all, irresponsibility got us into this mess. By God, let's let irresponsibility get us out of it!
Maybe there are some legitimate pieces to Obama's recent package. But there’s also a hell of a lot of wasteful spending. This thing is loaded with more pork than a redneck family reunion. Take note of where some of the money is going:
• $150 million will be spent on honey bee insurance (Yes, I'm serious.)
• $650 million for digital TV conversion coupons (And what part of the economy will this stimulate??)
• $13.9 BILLION on Pell Grants (I'm not totally opposed to this, but this is very bad timing.)
• $400 million on STD prevention (To be fair, this was finally axed due to heavy opposition by the Republicans. I guess Congress woke up and figured it was cheaper to tell people to buy condoms than to waste $400 million dollars!)
• $5.5 BILLION to redesign and furnish the Homeland Security Headquarters (Yep, that's certainly going to generate revenue!)
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and drug abuse reduction (I say let the Indians continue to smoke their peace pipes!)
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees (This was likely slipped in as an added bonus to reward the failing US auto makers)
• $30 million to preserve the wetlands (isn't this a swamp??) and the habitat of the endangered Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse in the SF Bay area (this is one of Nancy Pelosi's "pet" projects)
These are just a few things. There’s billions of more tax payer’s dollars being wasted on these pet projects. In a time of economic crisis, this is NOT the time to be going out on a pork barrel spending spree. The Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. What they’ve done is basically borrowed money to get us out of debt. Are we to believe that this $800 billion won’t have to be paid back? All I can say is best of luck to our future generations. God knows they’re going to need it!
And the worst part for people like myself, is that we have been penalized for doing the right thing all of these years. We have watched out retirement funds lose 50% (or more!) of their value. Anything that was in the common market is probably worthless by now. We are going to get no help with our mortgages, because after all, WE WERE RESPONSIBLE!!!
Considering the average length of a recession is eighteen months, I have to wonder what would have happened if the government did absolutely nothing. The government certain has a history of messing things up. And the American taxpayer is the one always left holding the bag. Winston Churchill once said, “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
And that's exactly what we appear to be doing......
KW
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