Liar, Liar...

At the beginning of the week, Chris Dodd (D- Conn) claimed he didn't know anything about the provisions in the bailout that would allow the AIG Executives their bonuses. Yesterday, Dodd admitted that he not only knew about the provisions, but that he was also the one that put them in the bailout--hence the name "Dodd Amendment." News is now coming out that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner may have also known of the bonuses as far back as Feb 28!

Now, Congress is considering a 90% tax on those bonuses in an attempt to make things right. What hogwash! I'm just as mad as the next guy that AIG received BILLIONS of dollars in bailout money, and then turned around and payed bonuses with it, but a retroactive tax isn't the way to go about fixing this mess. If Congress can do that (and it's questionable just how they could)...they can DANG SURE DO TO YOU TOO, BOYS AND GIRLS!

Oh and just to throw a little more fuel on the fire...care to guess who the two largest campaingn recipients of AIG's generosity were? CHRIS DODD and BARACK OBAMA! Nothing about this whole mess sounds shady to me...(***eyes rolling***)

Bailout?! You've Got to Be Kidding?!

The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Ford Foundation has over $13 BILLION (that's with a "B") in assets. That's right boys and girls, the same group of auto execs that have their hands out are sitting on a pile of cash...but they expect you and I to help them out! Check out the WSJ story here.

Bailout

Bailout my hind-end!!! We should boot EVERY incumbent that voted for that idiotic piece of junk...unless of course you make children's wooden arrows, then you're a happy camper.

Fact: Senators and Congressmen/Women are obviously incapable of doing the "right thing" without being bribed.

Economic Bailout

It's really pretty simple when you think about it:

• I buy a house I CAN AFFORD.
• I make the payments the bank and I have agreed to--I've never missed one.
• I regularly save and plan for the future.
• I pay my bills--including paying off my credit cards each month.
• I don't live above my means.

I'll be the first to admit that I have had some breaks in my life, but no one has handed me anything. I've worked--gone to school--taken on responsibilities at work--and it has paid off. I have been blessed, but that doesn't mean I'm just "lucky" or "more fortunate" (versus "less fortunate") than others.

On the other hand, if you buy more house than you can afford, take out a mortgage for way more than the house is worth, PLUS live on your credit cards because you think you DESERVE a particular lifestyle...and then end up losing your house--no problem! The government, i.e. ME and tens of thousands of other responsible adults will bail you out. We don't mind paying our mortgages AND YOURS, too!

This whole economic crisis thing really ticks me off. And what really burns my butt is that the people that orchestrated this whole mess (bank CEOs, lawmakers, etc) will walk away unscathed. Someone needs to go to jail!!! By the way, I have to pay for that, too!