The Stimulus Ewww

I’ve been following along with the stimulus package saga as it moves through our political organizations. At first I was disappointed with Obama (yeah I said it) because all I was hearing was the same words Bush used when he defended the Wall Street bailout late last year.

As a designer of massively complex systems I know it takes a few months at least to get a solid plan in place. Hence I am very puzzled when I hear smart men telling me we need to move fast or all will be lost. This feels like a play on my emotions, not the calm logical persuasion the right choice makes. Of course I want the right thing to happen, but I’m still not sold that the proposed plan is what we need.

So I read more details the stimulus plan and attempt to think for myself.

First I don’t like the focus on new homebuyers. This is mainly because I am not a first time homebuyer. I am a homeowner that needs help. Sure if I did specific work on my house I’ll get something back, but it’s still not as much if I was a 1st time buyer.

Secondly I’m worried about our government over spending in hopes of getting the people to do the same. When Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, “There aren't going to be any boondoggles. This money will be spent correctly, by the book, with no shortcuts,” I had to laugh as the US Government has never misspent funds before.

Thirdly I’m unimpressed with our Presidents arguments for his plan. “I reject that theory,” Mr. Obama said, “and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change”. Umm then why are you hitting the road to sell your idea to those very American people who voted for you? I guess I’m just looking for less of a ‘know-it-all’ leader and more of a guy who looks at all the angles. The people are worried; I am extremely worried, yet a quick fix may be a devil even worse then the old.

I’m not trying to be anti Obama here, that’s not what this is about. I worked at too many start-ups with cowboy directors who were 100% sure that their way was the only way. These were people I liked, guys I admired too, but when they refused to listen & learn from their oppositions even I had a hard time supporting them. And where are these cowboys now? I don’t know because the company folded.

Call me a libertarian, but I am always skeptical of my government trying to swoop in like superman and “save’ me from myself. I’m even more skeptical when my government does this for other people with less personal responsibility instilled them.

The Bailout Duh

I am frustrated with a lot of things. I’m an unemployed, financially conservative feminist who is a raving socially liberal patriot. Just trying to explain that at cocktail parties is frustrating. I’ll do my best to break if down from my point of view.

1. I am a woman, so I think anything that gives me the ability to do whatever I want with my self and belongings is good.
2. I do not spend all my money on crap that the TV seems to think I need. I live within my means for good or worse.
3. My company had massive layoffs because our clients spent poorly.
4. I’m an active member of DAR because I honestly believe we can learn from our history or we are doomed to repeat it. The US is my home and I adore what our forefathers had in mind.
5. I hangout with anybody. I don’t care what you look like. Be preppy, be covered in tattoos, bring your boyfriend and his boyfriend, be a stone hard republican, be a socialist, be a transsexual, be a recovering addict. I don’t care, just bring good stories and don’t steal my stuff.

So with all this in mind, what is really bugging me the most this very moment?

The bailout duh.

I used to work for a consulting company. We where hired by financial companies to help them figure out what their customers wanted. I have an ulcer from all the times I had to argue with upper management over what they wanted to do verse what their actual clients where screaming at them to do. Millions lost is failed projects. MILLIONS! And now I hear these deaf, dumb and bind jerks all got bonuses while I got laid off?

For a minor 200k a year on this project, four people would still be employed. Then I read how a low bonus at Merrill Lynch was 250k! I kind of want to cry. Didn’t these guys post a 1.19billion loss earlier last year?

I think Barney Frank put it simplest when he said “These are people who lost enormous amounts of money, how do you give a bonus to someone for having failed so badly as many of these people did?”

Now I know our President Bush had a plan at the time, aka do what his father did in South America. Last I heard South American countries were all the better for it too, all of them now looking to the US as a path of righteousness in our handling of our finances.

The US was founded on the idea that people were free to make their own choices in the market. This forced companies to think of their customers with respect. The power was in the consumer. Now it all seems a shattered dream.

Take the tale of 2 companies, Wells Fargo & Countrywide. One failed, one did not. One just hoped for the best, the other put thought and effort into how to NOT run the company into the ground. One is getting a bailout, the other not so much. I like to think I know my US Constitution pretty well and I don’t see where it says, “To the failure goes the riches”.

I’m upset & pissed that with fed rates as low as they can get it, government programs to assist mortgage payers & a new president in office I still can’t get help refinancing because I don’t have a job. Instead I have to go drink with the jackasses, the same ones who made the bad financial decisions, because they are the only ones who can afford the drinks now.

Grumble.