AIG bonus controversy

So let me get this straight: a bunch of people gambled untold tons of money on some shaky scheme that I can't really understand, except for that when it all fell in, it nearly destroyed the world economy, and they get multi-million dollar bonuses that were written into their contracts before it all happened. Therefore, they are contractually obligated to receive that money and have to fullfill the obligations of said contract. Well, I don't know about you, but none of this makes any sense to me except to see that it has spurred a massive populist uprising against Wall Street greed. Rarely have people been this angry before and it's grown into a full throated roar. Couple that with the recent Madoff scandal and you can see why people are absolutely fed up to the teeth with these rich traders, bankers and others who have reaped huge financial rewards at our expense. They've caused this recession and now they need to be made to pay for it. Throw 'em in the clink and toss away the key. Their property ought to be confiscated and the value of it ought to be distributed to everyone who lost their life savings in these scandals. Or something. I don't know. It just galls me to no end, knowing that I won't receive much of a pay raise this year and whatever I do receive will disappear in higher health care premiums, as has happened every year for quite a long time now. It seems like the longer I stay at work, the less pay I make because of skyrocketing health care costs, and when I step in the elevator at work en route to the staff room for breaks and lunch, and I see massively obese co-workers who don't seem to be doing anything about their health and what it's costing the rest of us, it really ticks me off when I consider that I have been working out and trying my level best to eat right and do the right thing. So between that and what's going on around the country and around the world.....I just find myself despairing that anything's going to change anytime soon, because I know how bad things are now and how deep of a mess the previous administration left for Obama's administration to clean up. Well, the first thing I'd do is to put into place stiff banking regulations so that nothing like these Ponzi schemes and credit default swaps (whatever those are...some complicated form of legalized gambling, from what it sounds like) ever happens again. Ever. Overhaul the SEC, throw out the bums who allowed this to happen. Whatever it takes. Put new regulatory rules and agencies into place to police our financial system. No more Madoffs, no more AIG's, none of that. Time to enact real change, and the sooner, the better.

WHERE'S MY BAILOUT, HUH?
Imagine if, instead of bailing out big megabanks and billionaires, the government instead decided to give each and every man, woman and child $10,000 in stimulus money. Wouldn't that do a lot to perk up our sagging economy? And wouldn't it, in the end, be far cheaper than spending untold billions bailing out banks that failed us in the first place and screwed up the world economy? It would give a real shot in the arm to our sagging economy. Think of it - people could spend it on, say, a badly needed new car, a down payment on their first home, one year of a college education for those who are already enrolled in a college or university, those nearing retirement could bank it and use it for their retirement savings, people with young children could use it to put away for their children's college education, some of us could use it to pay our debts and therefore free up discretionary spending that we could use to spend on things that would stimulate the economy, some folks could use it to start a small business that would create jobs....think of it, wouldn't that do a lot more to inject money into the economy than trying to shore up sagging banks that made bad business decisions and likely will in the future? Giving us a tiny tax break isn't going to do a whole lot to stimulate the economy. By my reckoning, my $400 annual tax break is going to equal about $30 extra per month, enough maybe for a night out to dinner and a movie, which is what the government is figuring we'll do with that extra cash. As if that's really going to do anything to help the economy! I'm hardly going to use that extra money to go out on the town once a month to dinner and a movie. That money will more than likely end up getting eaten up in higher health care premiums anyway, leaving me solidly in the negative territory for any financial gains to be had this year. For a family, a $1000 annual tax break is going to equal about $83 extra per month for them, but whether you have a larger or a smaller family, that money will hardly amount to a big stimulus for them. It feels as if we're being thrown a bone while billionaires are being given the big megabucks bonuses that they don't need in the first place. It would make more sense to me to give us all $10,000 and let us do with it as we please. It sure would be a cheaper way to jump start the economy and would make a lot more sense than giving people who already have enough money they don't need. So the Obama administration wants to level the playing field? Start by giving those of us who supposedly inhabit the once mighty "middle class" a bailout, and not just some tiny pittance that won't help, either. If Obama is serious about fixing the economy, help the middle class by giving us a real bailout. I guarantee that would turn things around very quickly, and if people are wise, they wouldn't blow the whole wad in one fell swoop. Hopefully, most people would combine spending some of it with saving some of it, thus helping the banks to stay afloat with an infusion of cash. It's a simple solution, and I urge every reader who comes here to write to the President and to your legislators to urge them to do this. We start with one voice at a time, and as the chorus grows, we cannot be ignored. Give us our bailout. And we'll do our part to save the economy.