With this downturn in the economy, you might not be buying as many things as you would ordinarily. Some parts of this country are currently experiencing what is called a recession. You may not be in the market to be spending lots of money lately. But, according to Congress, that is the very reason this country is in the crapper. You know, in times past during hard economic times, some businesses may have had to lay off some workers or even close its doors.
But, now that we have elected The One, all that will change. We no longer have to worry about those silly and frustrating economic swings.
One day after General Motors announced that it is rapidly running out of money, congressional leaders called on Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to add the car companies to the expanding list of industries eligible for government assistance under Treasury's $700 billion economic rescue program.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a letter today to Paulson asking that he "review the feasibility . . . of providing temporary assistance to the automobile industry during the current financial crisis." [Ed: thought the crisis was over now that the $700b package was approved and Obama has been elected Prez??]
The letter notes that Congress granted Paulson broad discretion to use the bailout money to "restore financial market stability. A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market security," the letter continues, as well as to "the overall health of our economy, and the livelihood of the automobile sector's workforce."
Congress recently voted to fund a $25 billion low-interest loan package to help the car companies produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, but that money has been hung up by red tape. Obama and other Democrats have offered another $25 billion in loans,...
In their letter to Paulson, Reid and Pelosi wrote that the record low auto sales reported yesterday "only reaffirm the need for urgent action."
If Treasury does decide to include the auto industry in its rescue program, they wrote, the chief executives of the car companies should be subject to the same "limits on executive compensation" as any other participant in the program, and should be required to give the government equity stakes in their firms "to provide taxayers a return on their investment upon the industry's recovery."
In a way, pumping government money into the economy sounds like a good fix, but in the long term it's a bad idea. I think it would be safer in the long run to just let the market rebound on its own.
But what do I care? I can't wait for some of that Obama cash! Woohoo!