A couple of good reports today spurred the stock market early today, but treasury bond sales in the UK and US caused a big dip in the afternoon. Looks like the dollar is going to have to lose some value if we want to keep selling our debt. Inflation anyone?
Well it ended up nearly $100 on the day and we are crawling back to 8k where Bush was during the transition to Obama. Looks like Obama not only is going to catch Bush within 100 days but that we might be climbing again soon if the positive reports keep coming in, especially if we can get some good employment reports.
Cheers and happy humpday!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Where Has Our Money Gone and Who Pays It Back?
So are we giving money to banks or loaning it to them? Are we badmouthing AIG because we want it to fail or do we want to get our investment back? So many pundits from all media sources are all fired up about giving money away, but if you can name someone who has been simply given money directly from one of the new government programs let's meet him.
Wait, there isn't anyone? You mean the banks got loans, and even if they paid big bonuses they still have to pay the loan back or maybe we own the company and we will just sell their stock back after they start doing well again. Does this all need to be done within Obama's first 100 days? No!
You know who is going to pay us back? Anyone who got a loan, anyone who we own, and anyone we get out of poverty so they can pay taxes again. Do you know when our children will become the debtors? When we fail to help these banks become profitable, when we fail ot raise the value of AIG' sock, and when we fail to help the unemployed. Failure will cost our children teriibly.
So maybe we should just work together on the success of our government's plans instead of panning them constantly like the conservatives are doing.
Wait, there isn't anyone? You mean the banks got loans, and even if they paid big bonuses they still have to pay the loan back or maybe we own the company and we will just sell their stock back after they start doing well again. Does this all need to be done within Obama's first 100 days? No!
You know who is going to pay us back? Anyone who got a loan, anyone who we own, and anyone we get out of poverty so they can pay taxes again. Do you know when our children will become the debtors? When we fail to help these banks become profitable, when we fail ot raise the value of AIG' sock, and when we fail to help the unemployed. Failure will cost our children teriibly.
So maybe we should just work together on the success of our government's plans instead of panning them constantly like the conservatives are doing.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Can Companies Spend Money That Isn't TARP Money?
So here is the question. Your company got TARP money. You haven;t paid back your loan. Can your company buy ANYTHING that you can accurately say was not bought with TARP money?
No. Why? Becuase this is an emotional issue and you haven't paid back your loan.
We can't ignore that this is an emotional and thus a VERY political issue. Politicians are on the hook for your repayment.
In the real world I can get a loan for a new car and then go buy myself a new fur coat before I pay the bank back for the car. But the bank, base don my credit score is fairly certain they will get their money back. We aren't so sure about you TARP recipients. You file bankruptcy easier than a Republican pays a male paige for sex. Sorry, threatens them....
No. Why? Becuase this is an emotional issue and you haven't paid back your loan.
We can't ignore that this is an emotional and thus a VERY political issue. Politicians are on the hook for your repayment.
In the real world I can get a loan for a new car and then go buy myself a new fur coat before I pay the bank back for the car. But the bank, base don my credit score is fairly certain they will get their money back. We aren't so sure about you TARP recipients. You file bankruptcy easier than a Republican pays a male paige for sex. Sorry, threatens them....
Did Dodd and Congress Give Companies the Right to Pay Employees Bonuses?
Amazingly ignorant stories abound on conservative tv and radio now telling us that Chriss Dodd allowed, if not caused, AIG to pay bonuses to employees. And all other banks if they choose to do so are "allowed" to pay bonuses because of Dodd.
So let's start with the easy part. You can pay your employees any amount you want above minimum wage without anyone in Congress signing off even under TARP.
Let's get a little bit more in depth. Dodd wrote an amendment that restricted bonus payouts, but it didn't cover this type of bonus. So he didn't allow anything here, he simply didn't block them all. Too bad Republicans can't write amendments too!
Oh wait they did. A Republican and a Democrat wrote an amendment that a congressional committee Dodd was on removed which would have taxed the money ovedr $100,000 at a whopping 35%. Not 35% more than income tax. Just 35%. Since Income tax on $1 million is above 35% it would have effectively done nothing for the big bonuses we are complaining about here.
So the Republican lies continue...
So let's start with the easy part. You can pay your employees any amount you want above minimum wage without anyone in Congress signing off even under TARP.
Let's get a little bit more in depth. Dodd wrote an amendment that restricted bonus payouts, but it didn't cover this type of bonus. So he didn't allow anything here, he simply didn't block them all. Too bad Republicans can't write amendments too!
Oh wait they did. A Republican and a Democrat wrote an amendment that a congressional committee Dodd was on removed which would have taxed the money ovedr $100,000 at a whopping 35%. Not 35% more than income tax. Just 35%. Since Income tax on $1 million is above 35% it would have effectively done nothing for the big bonuses we are complaining about here.
So the Republican lies continue...
Buying Toxic Assets - Stock Market Rising Again
The Treasury Secretary today said that the government with private investment assistance will start buying toxic assets off bank books and the Stock Market responds positively.
Wonderful. Another great policy from the Obama administration to fix the Bush economic collapse and we are getting closer to the market value when Obama took over. Uh oh, who will Conservatives blame when it is back up? I am sure once the market recovers to above the point Obama inherited that a new tool will be used to measure his failures. Any guesses which one?
Oh wait I forgot the conservatives blame Obama for the decline from the point that Obama won the election. So even if you can't affect the market, you are repsonsible for its decline instead of the administration in power. So Obama has to fix some of Bushes decline before the the conservatives have to tell a new lie about how Obama is causing the economic problems. But since unemployment is slowing it is hard to imagine what new like they will choose.
Wonderful. Another great policy from the Obama administration to fix the Bush economic collapse and we are getting closer to the market value when Obama took over. Uh oh, who will Conservatives blame when it is back up? I am sure once the market recovers to above the point Obama inherited that a new tool will be used to measure his failures. Any guesses which one?
Oh wait I forgot the conservatives blame Obama for the decline from the point that Obama won the election. So even if you can't affect the market, you are repsonsible for its decline instead of the administration in power. So Obama has to fix some of Bushes decline before the the conservatives have to tell a new lie about how Obama is causing the economic problems. But since unemployment is slowing it is hard to imagine what new like they will choose.
AIG - How Do We Feel? How Do We Change?
AIG is a hotbutton company these days. Whether you agree or disagree with fixing the economy through stimulization with government LOANS, AIG is going to be at the center of that discussion now. Have we given them too much? Have we required too little? Do we need to act on the anger created by bonus payouts to undeserving executives?
That's a lot to talk about, so let's start with my progressive view. I am a huge fan of the TARP and stimulus packages. I am a fan of government spending on loans and social programs, including welfare, but not of direct payments to individuals. I don't think our kids will need to pay this back if we get people out of poverty, but that is a BIG discussion in and of itself.
We can all agree that government spending has historically been at best inefficient and at worst corrupt, but it is time to give a new administration a chance. And AIG has been a huge recipient of that new spending. And now we hear that some executives received bonuses though they may have been directly responsible for the fall. We are all angry. We don't think it's fair. But should our governement start writing laws to get the money back from a few people through taxation?
No. The Conservatives are right when they speak about keeping government out of direct management of private organizations. Too bad, as usual, they cannot back up their words with action. (See new tax law backed by Republicans) We need to make sure we don't start down a path to writing laws against people we don't like.
We're all mad, we want life to be fair. It isn't. But it's not the job of the government to tell us how companies should be run. It is their job to make sure they are not going to squander our LOANS to them, but they need to do it before they give out the money. Did Geithner fail there? Yes, he probably did. Should he be fired? Simply, no.
That's a lot to talk about, so let's start with my progressive view. I am a huge fan of the TARP and stimulus packages. I am a fan of government spending on loans and social programs, including welfare, but not of direct payments to individuals. I don't think our kids will need to pay this back if we get people out of poverty, but that is a BIG discussion in and of itself.
We can all agree that government spending has historically been at best inefficient and at worst corrupt, but it is time to give a new administration a chance. And AIG has been a huge recipient of that new spending. And now we hear that some executives received bonuses though they may have been directly responsible for the fall. We are all angry. We don't think it's fair. But should our governement start writing laws to get the money back from a few people through taxation?
No. The Conservatives are right when they speak about keeping government out of direct management of private organizations. Too bad, as usual, they cannot back up their words with action. (See new tax law backed by Republicans) We need to make sure we don't start down a path to writing laws against people we don't like.
We're all mad, we want life to be fair. It isn't. But it's not the job of the government to tell us how companies should be run. It is their job to make sure they are not going to squander our LOANS to them, but they need to do it before they give out the money. Did Geithner fail there? Yes, he probably did. Should he be fired? Simply, no.
Welcome to Progressive Pie
Hey this is Scott Schindler. I am starting a progressive blog to discuss recent news issues from an honest and progressive viewpoint. I have formally invited some family and friends to take part in the discussion and to receive automatic notifications when I post new blogs.
For many of you this will be a new way to use the Internet, for many others this is old hat. I hope that you have time to read and comment on my blogs from time to time. I am very excited about verbalizing my current political and civic passion with all of you and I hope you will invite others who are interested as well.
I will be trying to put 3 things in each new blog: the issue, the progressive view, and likely why the conservatives are lying to us again about the issue. These issues can be polarizing, so let's try to not make anything personal amongst friends or family members, but let's try to grow and take responsibility for our family's futures with regard to civic responsibility.
Thank you for taking your time to spend with me. Come to progressivepie.blogspot.com ocasionally to check things out.
For many of you this will be a new way to use the Internet, for many others this is old hat. I hope that you have time to read and comment on my blogs from time to time. I am very excited about verbalizing my current political and civic passion with all of you and I hope you will invite others who are interested as well.
I will be trying to put 3 things in each new blog: the issue, the progressive view, and likely why the conservatives are lying to us again about the issue. These issues can be polarizing, so let's try to not make anything personal amongst friends or family members, but let's try to grow and take responsibility for our family's futures with regard to civic responsibility.
Thank you for taking your time to spend with me. Come to progressivepie.blogspot.com ocasionally to check things out.
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