One of the sties I freqeuent is www.xkcd.com, and I found this cartoon especially interesting.
While I’m in no way agreeing with all the bonuses, I just found it interesting how the media coerces us into seeing something totally different.
– Mr Knowledge
On a side note, Mr. Knowledge is back and willing to continue his posting habits.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090316/NEWS0108/903160337
Finally, Americans are protesting the bailout of failed companies with our tax dollars by politicians .
The old mantra of “too big to fail” is, in itself, a failed concept. Let’s return to when companies lived or died by their own decisions, not the government’s.
So long as politicians are allowed to stay in office and increase their personal value — financial, emotional, or influence — , we can expect our tax dollars to be spent for what is good for the politicians and not for America! Our budget problems are not related to a single position or office, but to a system that promotes people into positions of extreme power and influence. Most of this power and influence is bought and paid for with our tax dollars through ear marks. Even the new $700B bill which the Senate passed has pet projects — wooden arrow, Hollywood producers, rum producers in Puerto Rico. What is going on out there?
When people like Barney Franks and Pelosi are re-elected over and over, they are like a snowball rolling downhill, they gain size and power. Eventually, they develop an avalanche of people whom they owe favors to. Their favorite method of payment for these favors is to make promises with our tax dollars!
We could stop some of this graft by insisting on term limits for EVERY elected office. When every representative is truly “equal” to the others, more of them will vote for what is right for the country and not their personal pocketbook.
Yesterday, I said that I had heard everything when the Brazilian president chided us for not paying for the homes of the poor in the proposed $700B buyout of Wall Street.
Well, I was wrong. Today, I actually heard the biggest lie of them all when the vote failed in the House of Representatives and the Democrats blamed the Republicans! Forget that the Democrats hold a majority and all they needed to pass the measure was a simple majority — that means ONE VOTE! Pelosi, despite her vicious attack speech, could not convince even a majority of her fellow Democrats to vote for the bill!
The Democratic nominee was ready to blame the Republicans, too, despite the fact that all he did was play phone tag in pretending to help pass the measure and, in fact, campaigned all through the debacle. Nor was he prepared to take a stand on the issue. His message was that “something ” had to be done! Well, what something? What was his recommendation? It is a sorry commentary of his actions that he was too busy playing politics to help forward a specific plan.
So, whether we needed that $700B expenditure or not, it is demonstrably false to blame the conservatives because the liberals — Democrats — hold the absolute majority. This time, they can’t blame anyone but themselves!
Now, the Brazilian President is castigating us because the poor are not getting their homes paid for in the $700 billion bailout by Congress!
I am not in favor of the bailout because people. companies, and even foreign countries should understand that they, and they alone, are responsible for their own financial decisions. They are the ones who must weigh the risks and decide how and when to invest.
But, the people who are clamoring for free money also have to realize that any “free” money comes from taxes. High taxes stunt corporate growth. Poor corporate growth means poor dividends which are the lifeblood of many American pension plans.
It is also important to remember that if companies are taxed heavily, they cannot compete nor grow. If they cannot compete, jobs are lost overseas to companies with NO health care plans and NO “care” in any form for their employees….but, the labor is cheap because people are considered to be of no consequence.
If companies are taxed heavily, Americans lose their jobs AND their health care and pension benefits. So, it is unreasonable for anyone to assume that our taxes should cover the cost of homes for the poor!
If the Brazilian president feels so strongly, let him put HIS country’s taxes to work paying for these homes. Otherwise, mind your own business, sir. I’ve not only heard everything, but I’ve heard more than enough!!