Republican Fudge-it

A budget without numbers...that is only one of the many issues with the alternative budget released by the Republican party this past week. Upon reading the budget (yes I actually read it...with difficulty), we discover that, like many pundits have been saying, there is nothing new in the 19 pages of crap-ola. One phrase that kept popping up in the beginning of the very thin document is the following "Republicans seek to ensure that the federal budget cannot grow faster than families' ability to pay the bill." Interestingly enough, the Republicans offer no feasible plan to battle what they see as the injustice being done to the American taxpayer. They simply promise to undo what the Democrats have done in terms of spending. This brings me back to the notable absence of numbers.Though there is a nifty little graph showing the expansion of government spending over the last nine years and the projected spending for the next ten years, the lovely GOPPers have conveniently forgotten to include numbers that would back up and enhance their rather vague proposals. The biggest problem with this document is that though it describes certain positions that the GOPPers have been spouting for the last four to five months , there is absolutely no foundation from which to build on these ideas, if they can be called ideas. From my point-of-view, these proposals are only meant to boost the Republican image with everyday Americans. They are simply a way to make it seem as though the GOPPers are actually taking into account the needs of us regulars when actually they are more interested in those higher up. The only actual number to be found (that doesn't bash Democrats) promises higher tax breaks to the upper class. This one glimmer of sanity that barely makes this a "budget" goes against the pro-regular American stance that GOPPers have been taking lately.
The full Republican budget is to be released on April 1st, this for me is the last time our dear GOPPers have to redeem themselves. Hopefully this time around it will all make sense. I doubt it but hope remains.

Too Big To Fail?

Since the beginning of the current economic crisis, we have been told repeatedly that there are certain companies that are "too big to fail." What exactly this means is a bit elusive.As far as I can tell, the companies that have fallen under this category have proven to be those who have deliberately exposed themselves to the world of "toxic assets" and outrageous risks. They have grown over the last decade through risky business gambles and unorthodox banking and investing practices. These companies include the infamous AIG, who's instability has risked the money of many investors and the global economy in general. Just how these companies became so big and, until recently, so powerful is a deceivingly simple answer. Deregulation,promoted by the past two administrations (yes Clinton does get some of the blame), has allowed the greedy executives of these top companies to expand their businesses through unscrupulous deals that have left customers in the dark as to what is actually going on in the financial sector. These executives, particularly those in the banking industry, knowingly passed on so-called "toxic assets" to other companies which now have to deal with the consequences of these throughly unbelievable actions. So to summarize, the companies that are now getting taxpayer relief because they are "too big to fail" are at least partially responsible for the current status of the American and global economy. Why is any business too big to face the consequences of their actions is absolutely inconceivable to me. Though I understand that if all were to fall at once the world might face an irreversible tailspin, I sincerely hope that these companies including their top executives will face some kind of accountablity for their actions.

The Party of "No"

The new and improved Republican party? Or is it? The Republican party,as it now presents itself, has taken a turn for the worst. A party that was once regarded as an upstanding part of political life in Washington and America in general, has sunk to the level of bitter losers. The only thing Republicans have left is the power to oppose the plans proposed by the new administration, and they have used this power quite liberally (no pun intended). This strong (and at times absurd) opposition to the Democratic government has earned the Republicans the moniker, The Party of "No."
This new found title is more than sarcastic prodding but is in fact the truth. The Republicans have so often lodged complaints against the Democratic party in the last few months since the election, that the Grand Ole Party (GOP) has been reduced to the Grand Ole Party-Poopers (the GOPPers). It is time for the GOPPers to realize that continuously saying "no" and offering no plausible solutions to the American people is the surest way to become political laughingstock. Whoops it seems they have already secured a spot in the Political Laughingstock Hall of Fame. If the GOPPers have any hope of regaining their former glory they must learn to regain the trust of the American people without seemingly selling their souls and their common sense in the process.The way to redemption does not have to be the way to "a dusty death." Learn from prior mistakes and move to avoid them in the future. Unfortunately, the GOPPers have not as yet learned this lesson.How long they will take to do so remains to be seen.

Annoyed at Stupid People

So why exactly do you pay people for work they haven't done yet?
This is the question I choose to explore in my first blog. This question is of course a direct result of the current scandal involving AIG and their bonuses totaling about $165 million. These bonuses were lined up for these people from before the financial crisis and before they did any of the work they were supposedly getting paid for. And it comes as no small surprise that the previous administration (the Bushies) approved the bonuses after AIG received a taxpayer funded bailout. Why did the previous president see it fit to approve such extravagant "private funding" when the American people (and China) were funding the same institution very, very publicly?
To me the most amusing part of this whole mess is the fact that Republicans are blaming President Obama and his administration for both AIG and general economic crisis. Ummm, news flash boys and girls...this is a direct result of the deregulation encouraged and introduced while you were in power. Your buddies are the ones that left the current government to deal with the mess that they created. And while some may say that I am spouting the leftist propaganda, I must say I AGREE because the so-called "propaganda" of the Democratic party happens to be the truth.Do not blame someone else for the problems you created.Do not point out the speck in another's eye while you have a log sticking out of your own (sound familiar?).
So I return to my original question, why are we paying people for work they had, at the time, not yet completed? Even past this point, there remains the fact that the work was absolutely terrible and responsible for the downfall of a company and the economy. If someone can answer this question I would be grateful.