we already know what happens when you give bailouts to the executives running banks and corporations - they give themselves bonuses while laying off thousands. how dare gm urge me to buy american as they prepare to lock-in their bailout money by declaring bankruptcy while laying off yet another 10,000 workers!
we're facing a total systemic collapse, of both our government and our financial system.
we need to take a deep breath and figure out what we're going to do next.
during this break, we must make sure that our citizens have food, shelter, health care, internet access, the necessities of life. okay, maybe tv as well, but definitely no rush limbaugh. (kidding, kidding.)
this is really your moment, and your challenge, i suggest you put the citizens first. doing exactly what bush did* will ruin us all, corporations and citizens alike.
please have a look at dan newman's plan in the washington post. (i'd quadruple his $2,000 debit card idea and plan for more)
you can save the corporations. or you can save the people. please choose wisely.
*explain to me how geithner's plan differs from paulson/bush's? for that matter, can you even explain his plan? his efforts today were shockingly inadequate.
(quoting from the washington post)
A better choice would be something Americans are likely to spend, and without huge logistical headaches: a gift card. By sending every taxpayer a $2,000 debit card, the government stimulates spending directly. The card doesn't get deposited with a bank, a step that greatly reduced the use of last year's rebate checks for new spending, and with a defined expiration time, perhaps a year, the program could help precisely while other programs get underway.
The American Gift Card could bear a picture of Lady Liberty, since it may be used for whatever taxpayers wish: smarter clothes, dinners out, a weekend away, a new heater. And as gift cards tend to be used in person, they are of particular interest to local businesses.
Gift cards have a nationwide redemption rate of 80 percent. If such debit cards were used at the same rate, the cost of the program would be $270 billion, for a greater effect at less cost than the proposed tax breaks.
And such cards allow people to spend where they find it most valuable, obviating debate about where the government "should" spend money. Consumers will choose what things they need most, and, whatever those are, they would be more affordable.
Best of all, the program could be implemented with all speed at the very time we need it most, helping America while the necessary other programs develop.
I would be grateful for such a card, and I imagine that the owners of any of my remaining local restaurants would be as proud to receive such a card as I would be to use it.