No sooner had I read of AIG possibly being toast...it did, in fact, happen. Feds are going to gobble it up. 80% ownership for the feds and an 85 billion dollar loan. How kind.
So not that I want to shake the tree of oddities and doom but when does one throw their arms up and say, "Welp, it's been great but this whole FREE MARKET ECONOMY thing is done." Not that I BELIEVE that but the past year, especially these past few days, have certainly been a signal that it's not all it's cracked up to be.
And to make a turn for "are we really having this conversation?" territory.. What American companies actually still remain? GM? Rumor is they're asking for a 50 billion dollar government-backed loan since their stock is in junk status. Not that there is enough liquidity out there for them anyways. So what then? America's one and only company that can break the addiction to oil goes the way of the dodo? I mean, what are we talking about here? Will this country become a nation with a state-controlled economy? By the time this is all cleared I'd wager that more than a good bit of America's private financing institutions will be gov-owned, gov-funded, or in some obligated stance with the government.
So to follow my slippery logic to it's dubious end: Could we be seeing a situation where the US Government owns US Companies and fills these companies not with regular hard-working Americans but overpaid contractors (ZING!) and outsourced talent? Will there be large swaths of the population working to pay taxes on takeover costs of companies the Government now directs - to become profit engines who lay off Americans and hire full working divisions overseas? All the while continuing to squeeze the middle class and profitable tax base until we're left with a depleted middle class, further disillusioned with a government who runs all the financial institutions, has GM on the dole, and spends over 30% of its money on the military industrial complex instead of health care, education, and infrastructure projects?
.... oh wait... that's already happening.
I hate being chicken little but if you asked me 8 years ago... 4 years ago... hell... even TWO years ago if we'd be where we are today (hell, even 10 miles from where we are today) I'd not have believed you. WHY would I? Oh well... I heard McCain invented the Blackberry so there's clearly important debates now to be had. Toodles!
3 comments:
Melissa! It has been too long since I've read your blog and caught up on what's going on with you. You should join facebook... it's my new addiction! I hope to be able to keep up a little better with your life... I LOVE reading your blog and hearing your stories! :)
Oh, this is so true, and so sad. And the stark reality of the situation is that half the country thinks this is fine, just as long as we let 'em keep their guns, and impose their Christian value system on the rest of us. Screw the poor! Oh, wait... our kids are going to be "the poor."
On the upside we have a chance at a sexy forty something year old mother of five as VP. *eye roll*
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