Here's a forwarded chain email I was forwarded earlier today. It suggests instead of the government spending $85 billion to bailout AIG, they should just uh, give it to the American people.
Subject: The Birk Economic Recovery Plan
I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in
a "We Deserve it Dividend".
To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000
bona fide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman
a nd child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a
We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife have $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college - it'll be there
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company
that is cutting back. and of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we're going to re-distribut e wealth let's really do it...instead of
trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being
proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every
adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG.· Liquidate it.
· Sell off its parts.
· Let American General go back to being American General.
· Sell off the real estate.
· Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.
Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion
We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington
DC.
And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because
$25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Kindest personal regards,
Birk
T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic
PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a
laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!
May want to even flood Congress with this message!!!
Okay. So here are my thoughts on this idiocy. The problem isn't who the money is going to but that we're printing money while we don't have the silver and gold to back it up. Every time we do something like this our dollar loses its worth and we dig ourselves even deeper into this hole.
And anyone who wants to pin all of the fault onto AIG and these other companies, think again. People should be smart enough to read the contracts that come with their mortgages and not agree to something they can't pay back. The American people don't spend enough time educating themselves on what simple terms like interest rate or credit are.Therefore if you give a lot of money to either of these entities it's a bad move.
2 comments:
We've been printing more "money" than we have in bullion since at least 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created. But a gold or silver (or mixed) standard only affords a false sense of security. Like today's "money" (mostly binary 1s and 0s floating around in cyberspace than even cold hard cash), gold and silver only have value because people say they do. In that light, we could base the value of our currency on anything -- oil, water, dirt -- that might have value in people's eyes.
In my opinion, a reversion to the gold standard would serve no useful purpose. First, there's probably not enough precious metals in the world (maybe there is, I don't know -- I did say "probably") to account for the current size of our economy -- something like $15.5 trillion. Second, today's financial markets treat national currencies almost exactly the same as precious metals. Gold and silver futures are exchanged on commodities markets (CME, NYMEX) just like currencies are exchanged on international currency markets. So, the very same institutions that verify for us lay people that gold and silver are valuable verify that international currencies are valuable. There seems to be a near universal agreement that currency has value even though its not based on anything other than perception which, in the end, is the very same thing that gives gold and silver value in human eyes.
I do, however, agree with your assessment of the problem. The government, like an irresponsible teenager, is spending more money than it takes in. To fund this deficit spending, the U.S. Treasury prints bonds and sells them on the international currency markets. Buyers in America and all over the world purchase these T-Bills as one of the historically safest investments out there. That's great for very short term fixes but the vast majority of these bond holders are in China, Russia, and Europe -- mostly China (and I mean the Chinese government, not individual Chinese people). There's something like $9 trillion worth of outstanding bonds held by international investors today (i.e. the national debt). If China, for instance, decides to cash them in (rather than trade them), well, there goes our financial system.
So, while the Treasury is hurriedly printing bonds to fund our unprecedented bailouts of losers, it is handing our financial and economic future to potentially hostile characters. Republican, Democrat, or libertarian, they're bad ideas all the way around.
By the way, I agree. That Birk guy is a tool and a moron.
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