Bailout Bad News
Of course, it is coming to pass that nothing but bad news is coming out of the bail-out.
Big bonuses to company leadership sparked a bunch of legislation to try to limit that. Too little, too late, and it still hasn't stopped it from happening. Sure, the money hemorrhaging has slowed in most cases, and even stopped in some, but what justification can be made for giving a bonus to a leader who successfully drove a company to the point of needing a bailout? Never mind the company needed millions or billions to save itself from shutting its doors, they got it by begging, so "mission accomplished"? WTF?
Now the big bail-outs are going to pay off company debts to their debtors overseas. Yeah, sure you can argue that this will keep the doors open, and even help curb worldwide failure, but is there assurance that the cycle of debt at home has been covered FIRST?
I'm all for trickle-down economics; gimme the money, and I'll spend it, and where I spend it will pay people and they'll have money so they can spend it, and so on.
Some call it bubble-up, too. Give the dollars to the little guys, so they can buy things and pay off their debts, then the places where they shop and the debtors they repay will have money to repeat that cycle.
I know it's too late, and that no one with any power reads this, but what should have happened instead of giving all of these companies money directly, is that if they were moving forward with the bail-out, the bailout should have gone to pay off the kinds of debts that have been causing the markets to plummet.
Never mind that the market is all fictitious greed money, and has little bearing on the companies to which it is attached--stock prices plummet on reports that a company's profits will be pennies less than expected. PROFITS ARE LESS THAN EXPECTED! Still making money, but stock plummets, so panic sets in... I've digressed.
I guess that solution runs the risk of being abused as the people would run up their debt, then ask for help, and possibly even spend their bail-out money on something other than properly bailing-out.
Oh, wait...that's what the giant corporations are doing. I guess someone forgot that they're all run by people, too.
I stand by my original statement. I'm changing my stance, however, to JUST SAY NO TO ANY BAIL-OUT.