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Too Big To Fail
Too Big To Fail? That’s what you get when companies merge. The Government allowed this to happen. When companies merge the FTC and SEC if I am correct have to approve it. The Fair trade Act was written to protect consumers by not allowing monopoly’s to be created which in turn was supposed to protect John Q Public. When large companies gobble up the completion an unfair advantage is given to them which in turn hurts the consumer. Millions of Americans mostly the middle class were hurt due to this recession! It started with big oil increasing their profits by claiming there was an oil shortage every time something happened. Tankers had to be kept in holding patterns since there was no room in the storage tanks for the oil to go. The artificial shortage drove up prices. When this happened people had less to pay bills, When given the choice of putting fuel in a tank to make it to work or paying a credit card people needed fuel, When given the choice of paying for food to feed their families people opted for food over paying for their mortgage payment. When gasoline and heating oil started to take a big bite out of the family budget other bills could not be paid. This is when the economy started to fail. Then the domino effect started. Fuel and electricity drove up prices of consumer goods and services. If there was more competition this would not have happened.
Too Big To Fail? With less money for John Q Public to pay off debt the mega banks started losing money. Since they were Too Big To Fail, Congress gave them the TARP. What did TARP do? It allowed the mega banks to pay out their mega salaries and bonuses for poor management. It allowed the Mega banks to buy out the smaller guys making them even bigger thus making them even Too Much Bigger To Fail. Was not the TARP supposed to open up the credit markets? The rich got richer, the poor got poorer and the middle class became poor! When will the government start following its own laws? When will the government start to see that the middle class should be considered Too Big To Fail? For when the middle class fails then this Once Great Country of Ours will fail!
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Comments
Middle Class Bailout
I wanted to add that there is a Middle Class Bail Out. It's called Welfare! Its the only stimulus plan out there that helps to widen the gap between the rich and the poor. The have and the have nots.
Mark E. Albino Sr.
Sorry, but that makes no sense
Welfare is for the poor, not the middle class. What do you mean it's the "only stimulus plan that helps to widen the gap between the rich and the poor?" The TARP handed nearly a trillion dollars to the rich. The Department of Defense's ridiculously bloated budget shovels money at rich, connected contractors.
How does tossing a few crumbs to the poor "widen the gap between rich and poor?"
When life hands you sh*t, make fertilizer.
Middle Class Bailout
Hello,
My point is that the programs Congress approved did nothing to help the middle class. The TARP went to the rich when it was supposed to help the middle class. The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act and the Community Reinvestment Act did very little to help the middle class and as a matter of fact it further helped the rich and the poor alike with no major impact on the middle class. Please note the numbers bellow! 82.5 billion for welfare alone.
What Does American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Mean?
An act initiated and signed by U.S. President Barack Obama in February, 2009. The act was set into motion as a response to the weak economic state facing the country. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was created to stimulate the economy through individual and corporate tax cuts, leniency in unemployment benefits, increased domestic spending, and increased social welfare funding.
-Social Welfare - $82.5
-Health care - $147.7
-Education - $90.9
-Infrastructure - $80.9
-Energy - $61.3
-Housing - $12.7
-Research - $8.9
-Tax Cuts - $288
-Other investments - $18.1
-Environment - $7.2
My point is there is no real middle class stimulus. There is no help for the middle class. As the middle class loses what they have gained through hard work the only true help the government is willing to give them is welfare and by then it is too late! My point is when the middle class moves to the poor class then and only then do they get their stimulus!
NOW HAS ANY OF THESE PROGRAMS BENEFITED YOU OR YOUR FAMILY?
As for the military yes the wars have cost us but please note that a large part of those monies spent would have to be paid anyway. A soldier, sailor, airman and marine has to be paid no matter where they are stationed. Ships and planes will always have operation costs no matter if they are in a combat area or on a normal patrol, Bombs and ammo are used every day in training and still have to be paid for. There are still normal everyday operation costs that have to be paid war or no war. Yes we have used much more material and lost many good American heroes and maimed many more during the wars but the actual normal operating costs need to be removed to get the real cost of the war which is all the added money spent had there been no wars. In closing you are correct many government contractors are corrupt and our elected officials are just as corrupt! Each has their hand in the cookie jar!
Respectfully, Mark
Mark E. Albino Sr.
Mark
The military budget is more than double the stimulus every single year. We spend more on "defense" than every other country in the world combined, and we're apparently unable to defeat a bunch of goat-herding cavemen for our expenditure.
You realize that every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine in the entire U.S. Armed Forces could be paid $100,000 a year for less than the cost of being in Afghanistan and Iraq? Do the math -- 1.4 million active duty military personnel * $100,000 = $140 billion. It is common among those who want to keep defense budgets bloated to use the flawed argument that you just used -- that the troops need to be paid either way -- but the reality is that the troops get only a tiny portion of the budget. Another reality is that we have blown over a trillion dollars on these wars. That's money that got blown up in Afghanistan instead of used to boost our economy here at home.
I agree with you that the middle class is getting jacked and not getting much help, but you have to look at reality. Look where the money is actually going -- to rich, corrupt defense contractors, not poor welfare recipients.
When life hands you sh*t, make fertilizer.
Military Budget
I see your point and do agree with it somewhat. Military pay is a small part of the budget, Upkeep, maintenance and operating cost are a bigger part. The true cost in the wars is the loss of American lives and second the bombs and bullets. I do not agree 100% with what is going on and how the wars are being ran.
Yes the money spent would better help our economy. Please remember that in the past when we were at war it did boost our economy, When Reagan built the military up it took us out of our last great recession. The difference now is we are arming and feeding our enemies, We are trying to rebuild them. Yes there are corrupt defense contractors just as there are corrupt politicians. Please note that there are added costs to military goods. These costs increase the price and some are warranted while others are not. I can still remember seeing $400 hammers and $800 toilet seats. Yes that is wasteful! Programs like the Sub-safe program are needed and are based on past accidents in the Navy. Critical items need certification traceability and records of custody. These add cost. The same goes for the rest of the Nuclear Navy and in Aerospace.
Research and development is costly and small production runs come at a price. Do we pay to much for our weapon systems? Yes we do! If CEO'S and top management were paid what they were worth some of these costs would come down. Tell me who is worth 20 to 50 million a year to run a company? The money would be better spent paying the work force what they are worth.
The problem is Congress. They have their hands in everyones pockets. The problem is greed and people with large egos.
Mark E. Albino Sr.
welfare
In my state, at least, you have to be making under 1100/mo, or be over 60 or be pregnant or be disabled or blind before you can qualify, and there are strict guidlines regarding the assets you may have. I don't meet any of those requirements. I make too much ON UNEMPLOYMENT to qualify even for food stamps, let alone any other assistance that may be out there.
Welfare is subsistence existing, it's hardly widening any gaps, it exists to keep the very poor afloat. If you're among the "working poor", you're outta luck. Are there people who abuse the welfare system? Of course, but it's small potatoes compared to the government bailouts of the very rich. And THEY got to keep their jobs!
Welfare
My idea of the Middle class bailout is sarcasm and sarcasm only! My point is there is no real program that has helped the middle class. We are all on a sinking ship! Only when we have sunk and lost what we have will we get any help and that is in the form of public assistance. When we get to that point we are now the new poor. When we fall from the middle to the poor class that is when the gap widens. It is all in the numbers. When the middle class size decreases and fewer middle class are becoming wealthy and instead become poor there becomes a larger gap, for example:
Wealthy 20% middle class 40% and poor 40%
VS
Wealthy 20% middle class 20% and poor 60%
Please note that these are hypothetical numbers only and me trying to explain my brand of logic.
Also please note: You can never have worked a day in your life and have many children. You can claim you are a drunk or drug addict and that all of your children have ADD or some type of developmental disability and collect Social Security! You can do this and have never paid a cent into the fund, You can do this and not even be a natural born citizen. The max payout is $3500.00 a month. In Connecticut you can do this and still collect welfare. It is documented and it is wrong!
Mark E. Albino Sr.
Ok
I get your point, that there's no help available to the vanishing middle class, and I agree. As I said in my earlier post, abuse of the system is wrong, I am not condoning it at all. But when you say things like "you can claim ...all your children have ADD or a developmental disability..." well, I'm legal guardian to my brother who is developmentally disabled, and he does get SSI but no welfare. AND I have to have doctors certify each year that his condition has not substantially changed. And, yes, I understand you were going for an example of how the system doesn't work, but it is needed by the people who cannot take care of themselves, like my brother.
The middle class has been under siege for a long time now. I think we can agree on that point. But what do we do to fix it? Seriously, how can we turn this around and get it all back on the right track?
Sorry, if I went off there, one of my buttons got pushed hard.
Welfare
The only thing we can do is vote out of office every career politician. Enact term limits for each and every lever of public office, The framers of this country never intended for this country to have entrenched career politicians.
Ban political action committees and lobbyists. As for you dependent i am surprised he can not get SSI. Maybe he is just the wrong race! A good lawyer can help him. Thank you and good luck!
Mark E. Albino Sr.
Read what I wrote again - I
Read what I wrote again - I said my brother does get SSI, but not welfare. It's kind of offensive that you would bring race into it - by the way, we're white.
You're on thin ice with that comment
I will not tolerate a whiff of racism around here. One more like that and you're outta here.
When life hands you sh*t, make fertilizer.
Sorry, it wasn't my intention
Sorry, it wasn't my intention to be like that at all, if the comment was directed to me.
Not you
Talking to Mark who made the comment to you...
When life hands you sh*t, make fertilizer.