Economy

Planning to Bail? Let’s Make Some Alternate Plans

September 26, 2008
by Celeste Fremon
5 Comments

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Okay, they have a deal. They don’t have a deal. They might have a deal.

So, far, however, what we’ve heard from Congress suggests that, after all the speeches, the “why-I-oughta’s” and the bluster, there have been few substantive changes in Henry Paulson’s I-Hereby-Declare-Myself-Emperor Bailout Plan.

Yet more and more Americans are coming undone at the notion of this trillion dollar give away. (Yes, on paper, Paulson says $700 billion, but with this administration we’ve learned that it’s wiser to round up.)

Our lawmakers will pass something. Count on it. The scare tactics have worked. Nobody wants to be the person who held out and brought on the Great Depression, Part Deux.

So what do you think they should do?

My young, smart pal, Zach Sire, over at Sire Says, has just posted: FOUR THINGS THE GOVERNMENT MUST DO IF IT WANTS MY TRILLION DOLLARS.

Here’s his first condition:

You want my trillion dollars? Here’s what you have to do:

1. Convert all US auto manufacturing plants and start retraining people to only make Hybrid and electric cars. We will not be producing any cars that use gasoline. We’re done, over it. If we’re the “best” workers in the world, we’re surely smart enough to learn a new craft. We will be producing more fuel efficient cars than any other country, which makes sense considering we’re the ones who use the most fuel…but WTF we’re still making Hummers? GAME OVER, time to start something new. I want to see Chevy Hybrids on the streets of Jakarta by 2010.


Be sure to read the rest.


And in an earlier thread, (proving that the left and the right can get along after all) regular WLA commenter, Pokey has some surprisingly similar suggestions:

The FREE Alternative Bailout Plan

Let’s try the GOP FREE Plan and spend the $700 Billion on a massive energy Independence infrastructure program that would jump start the economy, clean our environment and reduce our foreign trade.

(For the details, click here and read his full comment.)

I’ve expressed some of my opinions in my NEW RULES post, with more to come.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Listen: This moment in U.S. history is much too important for us not to have an opinion.

And whatever it is you believe the government should do, CALL YOUR CONGRESS PERSONS and tell them.

We cannot, repeat, cannot sit on the sidelines with this one. Let’s all say it again together: democracy is not a spectator sport.
Okay, I’m off to teach. See you tonight!

In the meantime, plans! We need plans! (And calls.)

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(By the way, the Tom Waits version above of Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime is quite beautiful.)

5 Comments

  • The FREE Alternative Bailout Plan

    Let’s try the GOP FREE Plan (below) and spend the $700 Billion on a massive energy Independence infrastructure program that would jump start the economy, clean our environment and reduce our foreign trade.

    Call your Congressman/Congresswoman

    Instead of the government buying the toxic mortgage securities, banks, financial firms and other investors holding them would pay premiums to the Treasury to finance the insurance coverage.

    Democrats said the idea is unworkable and said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson agreed.

    The GOP plan, said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., is “a mortgage insurance approach that Secretary Paulson said does not work.”

    The idea behind the plan is that the insurance would give investors enough confidence to buy the illiquid securities and establish a market for them.

    Rep Eric Cantor, R-Va., said the plan would be to remove the burden of the bailout from taxpayers and instead place it, over time, on Wall Street.

    “Instead of a purchase scenario where you have the government injecting $700 billion right up front into the markets, what you have here is an insurance plan,” Cantor told reporters. “In order to get this insurance, the banks with these failed assets would have to pay for the government backing, pay for the insurance.”

    The plan emerged after it became clear that House Republicans in large numbers weren’t coming around to the approach favored by Paulson, which is to have the government buy up the troubled securities, hold them and eventually sell them off.

    Under the House conservatives’ plan, institutions holding stronger assets would pay lower premiums for the government backing; higher-risk securities would require higher premiums.

    http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080926/bailout_alternative_preview.html

  • Obama Could Lose – If He Supports Plan (A)

    If McCain comes out tonight in the debate AGAINST the 700 Billion Dollar bailout program and instead supports the GOP alternative Plan – which is FREE to the American people, Obama could easily lose the debate and lose the election.

    This would leave Obama as the big spender and who is aligned with BUSH, who is for bailing out the FAT CATS on Wall-Street.

    Compare the two plans:

    A) 700B PLAN: Overpay Wall Street for mortgage backed bonds so they can then loan us money at high rates so we can buy things that we can’t afford.

    B) FREE PLAN: For a fee, Government guarantees the value of Mortgage Backed bonds, for what we might have paid 700B for them in PLAN A. This gives Wall Street companies a solid basis to more forward and costs the taxpayer NOTHING, and may even make a profit for the taxpayer.

  • Rodger wants to bring back the WPA? I say just bring back Tom Waits and he can croon us through the mire and into a brand New Deal. Thanks for the toonz, Celeste.

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