Do You Feel Better Now, America?

Our economy is falling apart, but rather than take positive action to try and solve the problems that we've basically caused for ourselves, we Americans are demanding that our lawmakers shake their fists and seek retribution. So that's what they've done!

The House has voted overwhelmingly to impose a 90 percent tax on 165 million dollars in bonuses that were received by executives at AIG. Never mind the fact that these bonuses were legally negotiated and agreed upon MONTHS before AIG tanked. Never mind that Congress cleared the way for the bonuses to be handed out before word leaked that they had been given. Never mind the fact that no one in either the Bush or Obama Administrations or in Congress tried to negotiate away these bonuses when they were negotiating with AIG. And never mind the fact that there is a good chance this new law, if it passes, won't hold up in a court of law. Congress is out to get its pound of flesh, and by God, it's going to get it!

Do I condone the fact that these executives are getting their bonuses after basically failing at their jobs? No, of course not! But it's far more important that our lawmakers respect the law of the contract in this country than it is to fall prey to what is essentially an angry mob! All that's missing here are the torches and the rope!

These obnoxious blowhards on Capitol Hill are ranting and raving because they are hearing from constituents who want a piece of flesh - they are reacting out of fear and anger. They are giving voters what they want to hear... and they are trying to give their constituents a small measure of "justice". But this is not justice. It's a power trip.

Congressman Barney Frank is demanding that AIG name names. He wants these executives apraded out in the public square - no doubt so they can be figuratively tarred and feathered. Did anyone see the tar and feather scene in "John Adams"? That's what Congressman Frank is demanding be done here.

Contrary to what cliches you may hear, contracts in America are NOT, in fact, made to be broken. If Congress can do this to the "bad guys", then they can do it to you. What if you have a contract that Congress decides is not in the best interests of America. Will they come after you next?

There are good contracts out there and bad contracts out there. But there hasn't been a contract written yet that hasn't been signed by two parties agreeing on something.

We're talking about far more than 165 million dollars. We're talking about working to fix an economic crisis that's several zeroes larger than that, instead of wasting time getting angry just to make each other feel better.

And more importantly - we're talking about having our lawmakers following well-reasoned and thoughtfully-crafted laws instead of changing it up as they go along on a whim of anger to appease voters.

This time, it's AIG. Who's to say the next time it won't be YOU?

The Inauguration IS On TV, Right?

Maybe it's just a reaction coming from a guy who's had to keep a fairly close eye on his spending in recent months, but when I read this article in this morning's Washington Post, I pretty much wanted to hurl.

It turns out there are a lot of perfectly middle-class people who are willing to go considerably into debt in order to have the opportunity to attend the inauguration... Not just to travel to Washington, DC, but to go all out and do the whole Inaugural ball and rent a limo thing, as though this was some sort of senior prom. The Post article features a woman who is flying here from Oakland with her boyfriend and their three daughters, ages 13, 3 and 1, and is planning to put a minimum of 11,000 dollars on her credit card to do it.

Maya Dillard-Smith tells the Post, "When you say the amount, it sounds crazy, but this is history. I remember my mother taking me to see Nelson Mandela at the Oakland Coliseum, meeting Jesse Jackson and being there when Desmond Tutu came when I was a child. Because of the historic nature of this election, I want my daughters to be there to see this in the environment where it is happening."


That all sounds well and good, but when those things happened, Mom took her daughter down the street, not across the country. I do not want to diminish the significance of Obama's historic inauguration, but to me, this woman's rational for dragging her kids across the country for an event that the two youngest children will not even remember is not only foolish but irresponsible at a time when the nation is in recession.


Dillard-Smith works for the Oakland city government, and her boyfriend owns a small construction company. Those don't sound like the type of careers that will allow them to pay off an 11-thousand dollar credit card debt (and that assumes this is their ONLY credit card debt) in just a month of two. And what happens to their memorable and historic trip if one of the babies comes down with the flu or snow puts a damper on their plans?


Our country is in the shape it's in right now because we, the people, have been foolish enough to trade our good credit for stupid and irresponsible things like 11,000 dollar inauguration vacations. I don't see how anything this family is doing jives in any way with Barack Obama's call for change in America.


Sadly, it smacks of "same old, same old" America. Enjoy your trip.

God Bless Saturday Night Live!

SNL may have its down years, but somehow, in every election year, it manages to become an essential part of the process... Its sendup of the Vice Presidential debate had me reaching for the Kleenex.


And finally, a special treat for Disney fans like me. And what makes this even better is that Anne Hathaway (Mary Poppins) made her Hollywood debut playing alongside Julie Andrews in "The Princess Diaries".


God Bless SNL!

It's Still STILL The Economy, Stupid.

A quick follow up to my original post from this morning.

First - I just discovered that MY member of Congress, newly-elected Rep. Donna Edwards, voted against the bailout package, citing a large number of constituent emails opposing the proposal. Donna (may I call you Donna? Good.) - you have been elected to represent your consitituents, not to simply do their bidding. You know this bailout is needed, and when it comes up again, I hope you will do the right thing and vote for it. You may be elected to your first full term in November, but you should take a look at the bigger picture. If the economy goes in the tank because of the inaction of Congress this year, you're going to be out of a job two years from now.

Second - It's always cool to write an opinion in my blog, and then find someone in the Washington Post write essentially the same thing. Check out Steven Pearlstein's column.

It's Still The Economy, Stupid.

As the battle goes back and forth over our ailing financial system and what Congress should do about it, I have formulated just a few brief thoughts.

1/ Congress is certainly living up to it's approval rating now, isn't it?.

2/ Nancy Pelosi is a bitch.

Yes, I realize that is potentially a sexist remark, but the fact is that no one on the Democratic side - man or woman - has been as partisan and unreasonable as the Speaker of the House. She says on the one hand that she is working in a bipartisan manner to try and find a solution for the crisis, and then with the other, she proceeds to blame the entire crisis on the Bush Administration and her Republican counterparts.

Ms. Speaker - you have plenty of Democratic colleagues who have dirtied their hands in dealings with Wall Street, so your side is certainly culpable in this mess. And by blasting the administration one last time before the vote, you needlessly stoked the flames. If passing this bailout package is the best thing for America, then why did you potentially poison it? Were you more interested in protecting America, or protecting your party? You caused a problem instead of helping to solve one. Oh - and while "supporting" the bailout, you also managed to NOT get the votes of 95 Democrats. That shows a certain lack of leadership within your own party, doesn't it?

3/ The Republicans have to grow a pair - and then they have to grow up.

The biggest reason the vote on the bailout package failed had nothing to do with the "criminals on Wall Street" and everything to do to the November election. Every single member of the House is up for re-election, and they - especially the Republicans - are afraid that a vote in favor of the bailout package will cost them their jobs. Our representatives should be representing us, instead of worrying about keeping their seats. The Republicans are quick to shake their fists and say "we're not going to reward those criminals who ruined Wall Street by handing them more money!" That's all well and good, but it's akin to being angry when you find out you have cancer, and then refusing to undergo chemo just to show the cancer who's boss! Finally - to those Republicans who claim they voted no because of Nancy Pelosi's remarks - it's time to graduate to big boy pants.

4/ President Bush gives a new meaning to the term "lame duck".

Can anyone tell me the last President who had this little amount of power in his final months in office? Even his worst enemies are embarrassed for Bush, I think. He couldn't scrape together a boy scout troop to support him at this point, and I hear his dog hates him, too!

5/ We are all to blame for this.

Look, there's plenty of reason to be pissed at Congress, and pissed at Bush, and pissed at Wall Street... But where was the outrage when the economy was booming, and everyone was able to buy a house, and go on fancy vacations, and spend money like crazy? Before our broken financial system put us in this current mess, it also allowed America to go on an extended binge, and now we're struggling to find the aspirin bottle to soothe our mounting headache. It is human nature to celebrate the good times when times are good. But we need to recognize that, going forward, Americans need to do a better job of paying attention to what's going on in the world. And that means more regulation.


I think it's only a matter of time before the economic bailout package is passed in Congress. If the party leaders can't convince their GOP and Democratic colleagues in the House to change their minds, another day or two of falling stock prices oughta do the trick. Of course, by then, our 401k plans will really be in the toilet, but what the hell! At least we'll have shown Wall Street how ANGRY we are! That'll teach 'em!

Don't Let The Bush White House See This!

They might get some ideas about new ways to solve the U.S. economic crisis! I was tooling around the cable news stations this afternoon, looking for the latest on the negotiations at the White House, when I happened upon a Gary Coleman ad very similar to this one... Have you seen it before?



If you read the small print and do the math, it would cost you a total of $9170.10 to borrow 2,600 dollars! An annual percentage rate of 99.25 percent!

Imagine that! Loan sharks advertising on Cable TV! What a country!