- Image via Wikipedia
Once staggering like wounded giants, the big financial players have one again stood up straight, their heads in the financial clouds. Part of this is due to the huge infusion of our money. Part of this is due to actual financial recovery. Part is due to…well, whatever it is that makes the economy go.
These giants are doing well-well enough that big bonuses and massive paychecks are being handed out to the top folks. In short, it is almost business as usual for these folks. Of course, nothing really has been fixed and nothing substantial has been changed-so we can expect the problems that occurred before will occur again.
While the giants are doing well (or seem to be doing well), the little people who dwell in their vast shadows are not doing quite so well. One obvious problem is that unemployment keeps increasing as more and more jobs are lost. While there are various reasons for this, one main factor is that small businesses are not doing well. One significant part of this is that small businesses have to really heavily on loans in order to start up, stay in operation and expand. But, the giants who have the money seem loath to part with their gold (except to give it to the CEOs and top folks). So, the little folks stare up the giants and their cries for help go unheeded. Meanwhile, the federal government seems unwilling to provide support to the folks who need it most and where it would do the most good-the small businesses that employ the majority of Americans (or used to).
The stimulus plan did stimulate the big players and their CEOs, but the small folks find themselves joining the ranks of the employed. True, the rate is slowing down. But, of course, once a body has lost enough blood the gusher will slow to a trickle because there is so little blood left. Of course, a better option might be to let the big players fail and thus open the way for new businesses-hopefully ones who will hire more people rather than being the sort of business that hands millions to a CEO while firing people to boost stock value.
So, what should the government do? Should it keep shoveling money into the big players? Well, the big players and their lobbyists surely think so. However, this approach seems to have benefited the folks on Wall Street and left the rest of us holding the bill. So, if the government folks are going to step in again, they should think a bit less about their buddies on Wall Street and think more about the majority of Americans. This can be done by applying pressure to the big players to loan some of that taxpayer money to the taxpayers.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://i0.wp.com/img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png)
Congress apply pressure to corporations, insurance companies, drug companies,AMA? Put pressure on the people who give them their campaign money? They’ll move on to sit on boards and work as consultants for these companies. You haven’t really been expecting a health care bill have you? Between the back room deals designed to save seats that are in danger and back door deals set up to make sure the numbers come out right when the final vote comes I’m shocked our duly elected representatives have time to pat themselves on the back for a screw job well executed.
They do apply some pressure. Part of it is to show the folks back home that they are doing something. Part of it might be the old gangster method-apply a threat and hold out a hand for protection money.
If you help the little guy there is much less opportunity for graft and corruption.
Hence cap-and-trade instead of a straight-up carbon tax.
Sounds like a Hallmark movie. Seriously though, bad human behavior does not often change because they are helped. You all are likening goodness, or vileness to how much money someone makes. The logic here is idiotic. We recently had in this area a homeless man brutally rape and kill a volunteer worker on her way home. Maybe he was a Wallstreet tycoon in disguise.
Sorry about the harshness, it was meant towards the Dr. >:(
I don’t claim that help makes people good. After all, people sometimes repay kindness with evil. Also, I don’t claim that wealth and vice/virtue correlate.
Loaning money is so small a part of the problem. It goes hand in hand with how well the economy is doing. Economic times are uncertain, the high enemployment rate means there is less disposable income to go around. If a small business is failing during a bad economic down turn, why borrow more money? To dig a bigger hole? Cutting taxes is very important too. I would believe this administration was serious about helping small business if they A.)stopped attacking the Chamber of Commerce(the biggest representative of small business) and B.) Give small businesses a tax free period from Federal taxes until things get better. Using lending as an excuse that small business are failing is silly and short sighted. I keep telling you that business is basically on hold until we see about this Health Care Bill, Cap and Trade and how the government is going to get there money. Lending is just water in the pool so you can swim. Taxes are the cement shoes you have to wear.
I recently saw a graphic that compared the recession of the early 80s to the current one. It showed the same periods of time for both and how the jobs suddenly shot through the roof under Reagan, but now continue to plummet. And Reagan did it with astronomical inflation hitting America. The difference between the two recessions was huge.
And the experts are now saying that the longer unemployement stays high, the worse things get, because those people have been out of the workforce so long that it has a geometrical effect on not being able to find another good job.
People in business are very uncertain because they don’t know what they governement’s next answer will be. If people knew it was a conservative’s classic answer, or that things would be done like Reagan did them, we would have already seen a large bounce back.
All of this equals Obama’s dismal ratings: 44% approval. Said it for decades now: The most important thing is the economy and what you *don’t* do to make things worse.
We desperately need a tax revolt. It’s a simple equation. Give us all a long break from taxes and government will finally be out of our hair.