From an email received last night from a reader in the region, which maybe suggests that the enforced pause of a weekend may have some salutary effect on dealing with this month's financial collapse. The trigger for it, of course, is the proposed $700 billion federal bailout.
I cannot believe this bailout. I cannot believe that the Federal Gov again, is spending money without paying for it - homeland security, Iraq War, prescription drugs, $600 rebates and now this. If there is such a huge financial emergency why doesn't the industry that created the problem come up with a plan to pay for it by a tax on profits; possibly transaction taxes, or other ways I haven't thought of. . . .
I will bet, that if there was a financial tax being levied, the problem might be of less magnitude - yes still huge - but it has always impressed me how an urgent expenditure becomes a little less urgent when the spender is spending their own money.
This industry is the same one that wanted to help privatize social security. Its greed is disgusting. The failure to pay for this is even more disgusting.
An immediate thought here is, what do the taxpayers get out of it, and who exactly gets the money - a mass of money so enormous as to be almost incomprehensible. It's been a rule of thumb here that a sudden, massive increase in spending almost always results in a sudden, massive increase in waste, which in this case could mean lining the pockets of the well connected. Our readers' impulse seems to be: Check this thing out before making such a massive commitment.
And remember that so often it's the con man who insists that you have to buy right now.