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January 26, 2009
I Gotch 'Yer Stimulus Right Here
It's disgusting how pork-bloated this stimulus package is. A couple hundred million for Planned Parenthood. A couple hundred million for people to get digital tv converter boxes. Over 800 billion dollars of complete crap. And of course we're told "it may not be enough." Every Democratic spending wish list of the last 8 years now gets rushed through because we "need to do something."
"Cutting spending" obviously is not "something."
Well, it's not something that the Government can conceive of, mind you; they leave that for us, because soon all of our income will go towards paying interest on these great follies.
Here's a little item that sums things up beautifully: because one can never burn through $45 billion in taxpayer bailout money fast enough, Citigroup is getting a new $50 million dollar jet
Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet - only this time, it's the taxpayers who are getting screwed.Even though the bank's stock is as cheap as a gallon of gas and it's burning through a $45 billion taxpayer-funded rescue, the airhead execs pushed through the purchase of a new Dassault Falcon 7X, according to a source familiar with the deal.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm against these bailouts but if they are going to happen one condition must be that the entire executive management and the entire Boards of Directors of all of these companies have to resign immediately. It is INSANE to give billions of our money to the very same people who got us here.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at January 26, 2009 11:25 AM
Comments
I'm all for the condoms and contraception part of the bail-out. Trojans for everyone!
Posted by: tree hugging sister at January 26, 2009 01:49 PM
"mile-high club"
"condoms and contraception"
There's gotta be a line in there somewhere but I can't quite make the connection.
Posted by: Rob at January 26, 2009 02:30 PM
On the news the other day, one of the network bubbleheads said something like, "Republicans are accusing Democrats of, quote, 'barrelling through' the stimulus bill." Of course I heard this as "pork-barrelling through" instead of "quote, barrelling through" and had to catch myself. No way a network anchor could have been that clever, much less a Congressman. Alas.
On the other hand, I confess to a modicum of sympathy for Congress on this. Most families find that, after they reach a higher salary, it's still hard to save the surplus. The budgets somehow expand to fill the available income. This tendency to use everything is why most financial advice includes a variation of "PAY your savings account as if you were paying a bill - and pay it FIRST."
This still doesn't let these dirty cusses off the hook, but really - these are people who in too many cases don't understand the value of a hard-earned dollar, and these aren't their dollars at all! They don't have to actually sit down and write the checks, nor knock on the doors of the people to raise the money. It's little wonder that the Federal Budget always seems to expand to meet the increases in government revenue, and why they continually redefine luxury items as necessities.
The big difference is, they never cut back when the income goes back down, nor do they repay what they've borrowed from us. And if they can't be trusted with money it's our own fault for not replacing them for people we can trust.
Posted by: nightfly at January 26, 2009 02:43 PM
All I can think of is BOHICA.
Posted by: JeffS at January 26, 2009 03:52 PM
Honestly, I don't see what the problem is for companies getting TARP funds to spend them on things like executive suites or new private jets. If we presume that a company is getting the money in the first place (which I was against), spending it on things like this gets its circulating in the economy just as fast or faster than them lending it out.
Posted by: Dave J at January 26, 2009 07:23 PM
Someone must be reading the Coalition. That jet deal is dead.
Posted by: Rob at January 27, 2009 10:57 AM
BY ANY OTHER NAME, THIS IS DISRESPECT AND ABUSE, OF TAXPAYERS AND SHAREHOLDERS
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http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2009/01/disrespecting-taxpayers-shareholders.html
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The White House and Congress continue with misguided policies, and incompetent distribution of taxpayer money.
Posted by: PacificGatePost at January 27, 2009 10:25 PM