Wednesday, September 17th, 2008...10:38 am
Our bailout priorities are askew
The U.S. Treasury took over mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a couple of weeks ago. Now we have the Federal Reserve, that would be us, loaning American International Group (AIG) $85 billion.
Granted the newest bailout will save the jobs of 116,000 people who work for AIG and we the government would have a say in how things are run from here on out. Saving jobs is always a good thing.
But I have a serious problem with what our government considers worthy of a bailout. Saving jobs and investments shouldn’t be the only criterion.
Were I in charge of billions of dollars — which, when I think about it, I am along with all of you — I would look first at bailing out the elderly and disabled who have to choose between medications and meals every month. There should be a more graceful and compassionate way to live out our last days.
I would tap the shoulders of those who have truly struggled unsuccessfully to find work and are on their last unemployment check. When they turned to me with hopelessness in their eyes, I would tell them their government wants to bail them out by giving them job training, a financial cushion to ward off bill collectors, and a reason to exhale. You government, I would say, considers you just as valuable as AIG.
I would take a couple of billion dollars to provide more and better drug rehabilitation centers so that desperate spirals into addiction can be waylaid and stopped. We are our brother’s keeper even when they cause their own problems. Isn’t that what we said to AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
A few billion more could be used to create site-specific programs for failing schools since the general model of education isn’t working in any of them. We need to be better educated and informed to side-step pitfalls.
Those moves are considered small scale, I guess. They wouldn’t prop up the companies and officials on Wall Street or Main Street that looked more at the monetary bottom line and less at the future ramifications of deregulation and greed.
I truly hope we the people hit bottom soon. This free-fall and accompanying uncertainties are hard on our psyches, especially when we don’t have a golden parachute like those blanketing the sun in New York City.
I am a native Kentuckian, and I have worked at the Lexington Herald-Leader for nearly a quarter of a century. I've been a columnist for almost 20 of those years, dispensing my opinions about anything and everything. Born in Owensboro, Ky., I'm old enough to have lived through racial segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, protests against the Vietnam War, and the break-up of the Beatles. That means I am "old school," and my thoughts emanate from that perspective.
5 Comments
September 17th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
We do have a program that pays for medications for the elderly. It was one of the largest spending bills ever. It is called Medicare Part D.
Please educate yourself before you make such comments. We also have Medicaid which pays for medications if you are under certain income/asset limitations.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
What are they (government) suppose to do? Just let thousands of jobs and investments go in the proverbial toilet? I myself hate the fact that these CEOs get to just bail out and take 500 million in stock options with them. These are desperate times and the government is doing only what’s best for the market. Could you imagine what the DOW would have dropped to if the government didn’t take over?
As for government bailing people out of say unemployment; isn’t that what welfare and unemployment benefits are for? How about they help themselves and go seek gainful employment? Not saying there are those who try but people like to work the system. The idea of more government is frightening to me. I think Regan said it but when he said The 9 most frightening words in the english language are I’m from the government and I’m here to help.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Wasn’t the welfae system started to bail these people out. We have spent more money on welfare and job training then the AIG bailout will cost. Also AIG signed over 80% of their assets for collateral and has to pay back the “loan” in 24 months. How much money have we seen paid back from the welfae program? We just keep spending and spending without making the people responsible for their action.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Merlene, once again, your ingorance is on display. This was not a bailout or about the jobs of AIG employees nor investments in AIG. This was about the stability of the global financial system. It is pretty clear you don’t have a clue about the financial markets. Perhaps you should stick to topics where you are better versed like victimology and race baiting.
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Hi Merline,
I am a former Kentuckian from London, KY. who finished Kentucky State University in 1961. I am a living witness as to how blacks were not given an equal opportunity back in the day. I was promised an entry level job at the State Capitol in Frankfort after passing the written exam and completing my internship in the human resource department. As a matter of fact, I was in the first class at KSU (Business Dept.) to complete the internship program. The only job I could get in 1962 was at Eastern State Hospital in Lexington as a nurse’s aide.
I left Kentucky and migrated to Detroit, MI where I had a better opportunity as a teacher and administrator.
I was probable naive “back in the day”, thinking if I got a B S degree in business I thought I would have an equal opportunity. How little did I know. As a matter of fact, there is prejudice today in a subtle way in Michigan.
When I return to Kentucky, the white folks put on an act to make you think blacks are accepted equally. However, I know it is just a show. There are a few whites who are not prejudice but remember they are not in the minority.
When I finished elementary school, I had to go away to Lincoln Institute in Simpsonville, Ky. to get a high school education because my community in London did not have enough blacks to comprise a high school. When I became a senior, they had begun to integrate the schools in Kentucky and I told my dad I wanted to finish high school in London because I had a little job making $.50 per hour after school. Reluctantly, I was permitted to enroll as the first black ever to attend the white schools of London.
I was also the first black to attend Sue Bennett College in London and was told I was the first black to attend any junior college in Kentucky.
The way you see white folks supporting McCain in Kentucky, it is very obvious as to the racial prejudice in that state. As poor as the majority of the residents are in Kentucky, I just don’t get it as to how someone can support another 4 years of George Bush. Michigan is showing much more support for Obama who will hopefully be our next president.
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