By Richard Mays/ The Legal Pad
The Sun-Times
Tue Feb 03, 2009, 03:07 PM CST
Heber Springs, Ark. -
... Our country is in a recession that threatens to become a depression. To combat this increasingly-persistent downward spiral in our economy, last Spring President Bush proposed and Congress passed the $400 billion Great Federal Giveaway, where almost every man and woman in the country was given $600 to $800, and was told to go out and spend it to jumpstart the economy. Predictably, that had no lasting effect except on Wal-Mart’s bottom line.
Then last Fall, President Bush and Congress passed the Great Federal Giveaway II that literally gave portions of $700 billion to any financial institution that applied for the money. Much of this was done in secret – as was the practice with the Bush Administration – but we do know that there was absolutely no oversight of how that money was spent. We do know that most of it went, not to assisting homeowners or consumers, but to bonuses for executives, acquiring other banks or brokerages, and other empire-building acquisitions.
So far, Giveaway II has had no observable effect on stimulating the economy. The condition of the country’s major financial institutions continues to deteriorate, and corporations are laying off thousands of employees. Even Starbucks is laying off 7,000 employees and closing 300 stores. Giveaway II appears to have been money wasted – unless you are an executive of a large bank or corporation.
Now one of President Obama’s first acts has been to propose another economic stimulus package that would appropriate $800 billion for economic stimulation. Unlike Bush’s programs, this package offers hope that it may benefit somebody other than banks and large corporations. ...
http://www.thesuntimes.com/opinions/columnists/x1851000854/The-clueless-not-so-loyal-opposition
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