These "representatives" in Congress kill me. They are such pompous idiots. A few samples of their intellectual prowess:
They have been screaming at "big business" about using tax dollars for retreats to Phoenix or wherever while the entire democrat group went to Williamsburg, VA for a retreat ... on tax dollars.
They force a big company to not buy a corporate jet because they are using tax dollars. Well, the jet is made in the USA, is serviced in the USA, is piloted in the USA, is inspected in the USA, is landed in the USA with each step of the process involving US citizens who have and need to keep their jobs. So, they have this idea and it may put some jobs in jeopardy (especially at the luxury aircraft company) because the company would use tax dollars to buy this. Tomorrow, they are going to spend billions of tax dollars to put people to work. Why not let the company do that by buying a plane?
The exact same arguement works for the big banks redecorating their offices. Tax money should not be spent to ... hire decorators, millwrights, painters, upholsterers, etc.
These guys even have the nerve to tell folks they misspent the TARP funds when they never put any restrictions on what the funds were to be used for.
Oh - let's not forget they are mad at the Wall street bonuses for last year. Now, they forget that most folks on Wall Street have a low base salary and bonuses are part of their contracts based on the performance of the work they do. Bring in lots of business and you get a big bonus. Now, those making the bonuses spend a lot of that money to buy stuff (ie stimulate the economy). Without the bonuses, they will not spend. Genius. Why are passing the "stimulus" bill again?
The moral of the story is that only Congress knows how to spend money the right way to stimulate the economy.
I bet it won't work.
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2 comments:
I am with you on most of your complaints. I will say this though: why should executives who ran a company bankrupt receive a bonus? Isn't the idea that you reward good work to encourage more good work? I think that rewards should go to those executives who did not bankrupt their company last year. As far as the tarp money goes, congress really dropped the ball there. Fear mongering wins, as usual. I still play Paulsen (Paulson?) the most though, for demanding that that money be given with no qualifications whatsoever. He is another fine example of failure to do one's job effectively. Anyway, my point is that there is plenty of blame to go around, certainly congress deserves some, but I think disappointment with corporate big shots is more than warranted these days as well.
I am not saying the idiots that willingly choose to follow a sound business plan should get rewarded. The Wall Street bonuses are paid to a lot of folks who are not CEO's. Executive compensation for CEO's is set by a governing board. Some companies, those with sound policies, are foregoing bonuses for senior executives and freezing pay. My real anger is with the Congress who were responsible for forced lending to people who should never have had loans, who pompously sit in DC and mete out humiliation to people who at least work at a real job, who don't know a thing about real economics, who cloak their spending programs on whatever pet project in the veil of "stimulus".
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