Thoughts About the Stimulus Package
Here we are, with a “new” stimulus package. I am afraid that pumping non-existant money into an already failing system is just wrong. We are all just so hung up on our stuff, that the thought of giving it up scares us silly. The truth is when the fountain was overflowing, we all drank, and now that there is a crunch we ALL need to cut back to the bare essentials. I find it amuzing, not really, that our government is cutting back funding for education while our local power company just paid $250,000 in a small town to put a new shelter in a local park. Do they not get it? No, truly none of us gets it, because if we did we would just ride this economic crisis out allowing those who are living above their means to have to cut back. Instead, what is happening is the big “power” company’s in this country are saying, not us, we shouldn’t have to cut back, however, all that they are really doing is putting the burden on us to carry them, and that just isn’t right.
It is a time for consequences and for those who have been living within their means, it should be okay. Sure, I think that the government should help out those working folks who are facing unemployment because of this madness, however, everyone else and their bonuses and oversized homes, need to just take a good hard look at themselves and how they are living above their means, and they need to change. As long as we continue to provide them with the money that they don’t have to feel the pinch, then we are just feeding their dilusions and that is what got us here in the first place.
Car Company Bail Out…A Necessity?
There has been a lot of press given lately to the fact that the major auto manufacturers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are asking for a 34 Billion dollar bailout for their companies. As are many average Americans, I sit and wonder why it is the average American’s are struggling but the big companies can get help, and we sit completely helpless, waiting and hoping for things to turn around.
Unfortunately, I have learned that the main reasons that these bailouts are necessary is to save the overall economy of the country. I did see that with the banking and credit industry, however it didn’t make as much sense to me when it came to the auto industry. Sure, I could see that it was going to put the people in the auto industry out of work, which obviously would cause great economic hardship, especially in areas of the country like Michigan who rely on the auto industry to support most of the other businesses in the communities, however, I was really unaware of the ripple effect that the destruction of this industry would have across the country. The fact that I didn’t consider and really was completely unaware of, was the fact that the US auto manufacturers are the biggest purchasers of American-made steel, aluminum, iron, copper, electronics and plastics. The decline of the American auto companies is one of, if not the most important, areas where our economy is struggling.
Expert financial analysts predict that allowing the US Auto Industry to fold would be one of the biggest hits to this country’s financial state that has ever occurred. They feel that in order to keep the economy even remotely stable it is going to take a bail out of significant proportions of the US auto manufacturer’s.
Obama Economic Stimulus, Will It Work?
Most American’s are thinking that with a National Debt of over 10 Trillion dollars why is this guy already spending this much money when he hasn’t even taken office yet. Well, on some level, we all are aware that spending is actually what keeps the economy going, but let’s face it, we also know that we need our money right now, and most people are not running around spending all that they have. So why does Obama think that his stimulus package will work when Bush’s didn’t.
The answer to that is both complex and simple. When Bush set out to stimulate the economy, he did so by sending checks to individuals and families. Great in theory, however most American’s who were already struggling used those checks to pay bills or stashed it away for a rainy day. Therefore, we did not all run out and shop for new items and that in turn did not do for the economy what Bush had hoped.
In Obama’s plan, which does include checks to the American public, it however does not rely on them to be the stimulus. It is offering a much more comprehensive and multi faceted approach to stimulating the economy which includes sizable tax deductions for businesses for each new employee they hire on. This will help create jobs, which in the long term seems like it will have a bigger impact on people’s spending. After all, you can’t be out spending if you don’t have a job at which you can earn some money.
If you look over the plan you will in fact see that Obama’s plan will help stimulate the economy which will not only help the individuals but also the businesses and the unemployment rate. Overall, this plan is cheap compared to how much Bush has spent on bail outs in the last three months. At least the Obama plan stands a chance.