Now, just to keep everyone up to speed. Last week the Big Three Automakers went to Washington D.C. asking for $25 billion to get their companies through the ‘economic crisis’. Instead of help they got spanked on CSPAN and sent back to Detroit to redo their homework. They are required to present a compressive plan for recovery to Congress by Dec. 2nd before anyone will consider giving them any money. Then over the weekend Citigroup (a fine financial institution) got approved for another $20 billion hand out (on top of their previous $40) PLUS the government is guaranteeing over $300 billion in assets. No questions. No public spanking.
Anyone else think this is odd? Apparently Rachel Maddow (Cable news Superhero) does. And she is much more articulate than I am.
“The tale of two Bailouts”
Rachel Maddow on MSNBC is my new favorite. She’s funny, witty, and just sarcastic enough to hold my attention.
However, to prove I am not getting ALL my news from late night cable here is an article in the Economist about Hank Paulson and Friends latest attempts to stop the sky from falling. These guys are handing out money faster than the Federal Reserve can print it. And that is exactly what they are doing. Printing money. Now I’m not an expert, but doesn’t just printing more money make it all worth a little bit less? I can’t help but remember reading about bread lines in the Soviet Union before it fell of people showing up with a bushel basket of rubles to buy one loaf of bread. But that couldn’t happen here in America… right?
Need a little more info about the scope of this bailout? Here is a great link to some numbers that really put how much we have spent into perspective. Worth checking out.
I do have a question for myself though… why do I keep following all this depressing news?
You know why people watch car racing? To see an accident.
You know why people watch hockey? To see a fight.
You know why I keep watching the economic news? To see a disaster.
I can have no more hope to effect the economy than I do to prevent a car crash or a hockey smack down. It is out of my hands. The next year or so is going to be a mess so I’m popping a big bowl of popcorn and sitting back to watch the show. I just hope this isn’t one of those Art House films where everyone dies in the end…
