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I Can't Buy This
by James Glaser March 19, 2009 I can't buy what President Obama or the Congress is trying to sell us. Last night, the President was talking at a town hall meeting in California. He was talking about education, saying that people should be able to buy a house, have a job, take a vacation, and send their kids to college. I agree with all of that, but right now we are in a fiscal mess in this country, and that is what I want the President and Congress to work on. Yesterday, Congress was having hearings about the $165 million that AIG Insurance Company gave out in what they call "employee retention bonuses." Not only is that small potatoes, but the Federal reserve sits on the AIG Board of Directors, and they knew all about these bonuses. These bonuses are a red herring. We still don't know what happened to the two trillion dollars of tax payer money that the Fed gave out... they won't tell us. We don't know what AIG did with the $185 billion we gave them, although we do know a big part of that money went to foreign banks, but how much? We don't know. Our government can't keep track of all the money we are giving away. I don't believe what President Obama says, and I don't believe what members of Congress say. The White House and Congress are trying to free up the money supply so that Americans can start spending again. I don't think that is a good idea either. That is what got us into the mess we are in. Some day Washington will have to come to the realization that we can't keep spending. If they don't on their own, they will have to when the rest of the world tells us they will not continue to loan us money. It would be better for us and the world if we figured that out before our national credit card is no longer useable. I want a government that quits talking about a chicken in every pot. I want a government that starts talking straight to us about the mess we are in, and how we are not going to have the money to buy a house or new car or take that vacation or send our kids off to college until we get our fiscal house in order. I want honesty. Barack Obama said in his campaign that he would change Washington and do things a different way. Being honest with us would sure be different and a much needed change. |
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