Gail's Blog

FISCAL FOLLIES-Our Congressional Farce

Of course, the debt ceiling will be raised.  The rest is pure theater.  We will see the next few weeks filled with button- popping statements,

Abundant and Generous

lots of rhetoric and slurs and shouts about putting us more into debt-blah, blah, blah.  The bottom line is always the place to look.  Without raising the debt ceiling, Americans truly would experience a worse recession, millions would not be paid and the world would look at us as a scary place to invest.  There should be no discussion on this issue.

Alas, Congress members will want their 15 seconds of fame and glory and say how dire will be the situation if we don’t raise the ceiling.  Please, do not be alarmed by the rants, untruthful group emails and rumors.  Be an “informed” citizen and learn what would happen to us if it is not raised.  Let’s move on, raise the debt ceiling, and then take care of the more serious issues facing our citizenry, jobs, access to loans and houses under water and the general malaise of the economy.  Remember, the general public looks favorably at only 1 out of 7 members of Congress.  A sorry group!  We put them there and still we let them use our dime to promote themselves and keep their jobs.

Do you remember back in 2008 when we let the Congress bail out the banks (with little or no requirements on their part to use the money)?  At the same time we allowed Congress to bail out a company called AIG–remember them?  We were told they were too big to fail and, since Uncle Sam doesn’t know how to say no, loaned them $182 billion.  Last week Maurice Greenberg, the former chief from 1968 to 2005, tried to persuade AIG to join his own suit claiming the government had imposed unfair stipulations on its loan that had worked against the shareholders.  How about that for gall?  Mr. Greenberg fails to mention that if it had not been for the bailout, all his shareholders’ investments would have been wiped out.  No good deed will go unpunished-or so it has been told.  Fortunately, there were enough screams and howls at AIG if they even considered a lawsuit against the American taxpaper, there might be hell to pay.

Nevertheless, Mr. Greenberg is a force to be reckoned with.  Nothing would surprise me if a class action suit from other recepients of the bailout monies isn’t in the works for the requirements to pay the monies back to the taxpayer or relieve them of payment.  A sorry lot but that is what can happen when the taxpayer money is given out by Congress without strict oversight of repayment and favorable terms for the people.

We, the people need to unite ourselves as we have more in common than not.  We love to rant over guns, birthcontrol, gay marriage and prayer in schools.  When it all comes down to a fire in your house, a flood in your town, a death of your child, a terminal illness, a loss of job, homelessness or despair, you will not care if the person who rescues you from your burning home, your flooded town, gives you a job, supplies you with housing, feeds you when starving is either a gun advocate or not, gay or straight, is pro life or pro choice, is an atheist or Evangelical, you will not care, you will be grateful, thankful and will never ask them any of those questions.  Now how do we help Congress to act accordingly?  Remember, when you get to vote again, be informed.  Find out about the person, their life experience, their connections and who is behind them.  Too many of our Congress members have little real life experience in business or life.  They are poorly educated and lack “street smarts”.  They usually do have vested interests behind them.  Be informed and keep increasing that quality.  We are the ones who will change this system.  It will not come from Congress–stop looking there!

 


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