Collapsing yet again, AIG just got another $30 billion of U.S. taxpayer money, its forth bailout since September. It now has a staggering $182 billion of taxpayer funds.
To keep the math simple, dividing $150 billion by 300 million Americans means you and every other person is owed $500. A family of four is owed $2,000. Will we get paid back?
The stock market has so little confidence in AIG, that even after receiving the money its stock price closed at 45 cents a share. The U.S. Treasury and the Fed has so little confidence in them they said saving AIG "will take time and possibly further government support." They didn't say how much more time or money.
In September, when these AIG bailouts began, the government said a collapse of AIG, could endanger the U.S. and global financial system. But they never explained who they rescued by spending all this money nor how that rescue is now secure.
Alternatively, Hank Greenberg the Chairman/ CEO of AIG from 1968 to 2005 said in September the firm would fare better filing for bankruptcy then to receive a government bailout. He and others wanted to raise private capital to save the company. But instead the government rushed in with $85 billion.
Had AIG gone bankrupt in September, and had no viable plan to resurrect itself as is apparent today, the court would have identified its assets and sold them to the highest bidders to pay off its creditors.
Now AIG is on life-support with no clear direction, no acountability for what's happened to the money and seeking easier, cheaper terms for the money they've already received. How can this be? AIG has the leverage because it has already pocketed the $152 billion. Politicians can't afford the embarrassment of having them now go broke.
And catch this: If a bankruptcy liquidation had taken place in September, the assets would have sold for far more than they would today. They are continuing to lose value as the government keeps AIG alive. Currently, the government has no plan as it throws good money after bad.
As if this isn't bizarre enough, it gets stranger. AIG sued the government trying to avoid paying $306-million in taxes, interest and penalties the government claims they owe. And they are using our bailout money to pay their lawyers.
One solution to this strange situation is for the government to deduct the $306-million from the latest $30-billion, and stop the lawyers from running up their bills at our expense.
Meanwhile, as this grab of billions of taxpayer dollars is going on, last weekend the Los Angeles Dodgers announced they would hire more janitors and security guards for the coming baseball season.
Thousands of people arrived to interview for a handfull of seasonal, part-time jobs that will pay about $10 an hour. When asked why, person after person standing in long interview lines spoke of their need for the job to buy food and pay for gas and electricity for their families. This is the real world.
Our system is broken and we need to fix it. Representative government must represent all of the people and not simply those with money who lobby it. Bailing out the rich while families in crisis suffer shows us what a farce our system now is.
But these problems can be solved. What I'm about to propose will seem impossible. But think of what will happen when our economy collapses, as it is starting to do. No matter what, dramatic change is coming:
We need a new Constitutional Convention, one where we devise a system like most democracies use, a parliament in which we can call for a vote of no confidence and replace our representatives. This would also encourage many political parties to participate, rather than the two party monopoly we have now.
And as most other democracies do, elections would be kept brief, perhaps 30-days, rather than our current endless process. This will slash the costs, which will be paid for by the public, not lobbyists. If you think the current system saves us money, look at the cost of lax regulation, bailouts and stimulus plans, as our nation heads for financial collapse.
But for these or changes you propose to happen, you must raise your voice. Silence will bring more of the hypocritical injustice we've gotten because those in power don't reform themselves. Think of AIG and speak for fiscal sanity and for compassion for the fast growing list of people in need.
--------------
Posted with permission from
http://www.saneramblings.com
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
