Bailout Possibilities
So news came out today that President Obama’s new stimulus bailout plan could total $900 billion. Obviously, this number is hard for the average American to process. And this would be in addition to the $700 billion bailout that the Bush administration put through. The frustrating thing is that a lot of these business and corporations are having money thrown at them and often times they come back to the table asking for more. And of course we know that no one can truly keep them accountable for how they spend their money.
We remember the automakers coming from Detroit, feigning frugality by driving in their Hybrids after being scolded for coming in private jets. Then there was the corporation that spoiled their employees with a weekend at an expensive spa here in Southern California.
It all leaves one frustrated at how money (that doesn’t even really exist in the first place) is just being thrown around like candy at a 4 year old’s birthday party. So what else could they do with this ‘play’ money? There are about 138 million taxpayers in the US. If you divided up the $700 billion and the potential $900 billion between them evenly, each taxpayer would receive about $11,594. Imagine how the economy could be surged by each person getting that kind of money? I think its a better plan than throwing it into a money pit even Tom Hanks would run from.
Beth said,
January 28, 2009 at 9:37 am
I just heard on the radio yesterday a guy who just wrote a book all the loopholes that the large corporations and richest individuals take advantage of. It’s crazy! I couldn’t find his name or the book title, but here a related article.. the companies that were bailed out the last time have off shore tax havens.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/16/over-8-in-10-corporations_n_158693.html
If the government made the richest and largest corporations pay taxes (the essentially don’t) we could use that new tax revenue to decrease the tax burden on people who pay income tax.
Dino said,
January 29, 2009 at 11:14 pm
I have little knowledge of economics but i too was surprised by how much money the gov’ was throwing out. I couldn’t help but think: I thought we were in an economic crisis? Then where did all this money come from?