Can I Get An Economist's Assessment?

Somebody please explain to me why all of these businesses and multinational corporations are failing? They're either getting gov't cheddar once, twice and sometimes three times even. Or they're filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection. You know thanks to our lawmakers working against our interests we can't even file for personal bankruptcy except in the rarest of circumstances. I figure if AIG can get $150B why can't we get to write off credit card bills, medical expenses and student loans and wipe the slate clean? Fair is fair right?

Shall we run down the list - and know this is hardly definitive:

1.  Banks (what is it, 5 and counting?)

2.  AIG

3.  GM with Chrysler soon to follow?

4.  DHL

5.  Mervyn's

6.  Circuit City

7.  Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Countrywide

8. - 100.  There's many smaller companies and I could spend the next 3 hours adding those!

Remember when Tower Records went under? That seems like such a long time ago and was a sign of things to come. Since banks are the permanent pet project for the gov't - even so far as getting a whopping tax break on top of the "loan", er gift, I'd really like to know what we're gonna get? An extension of unemployment benefits? Confederate bills? Wow, how frackin' generous! 

How is it that these companies were allowed to operate with impunity and then go to the gov't using taxpayer money (minus most wealthy people and corporations since they get to wiggle out of paying the bulk of their fair percentage) to bail them out when they prove they don't know jack s*it!? I mean let's take the automobile industry for example. They were building giant gas-guzzling tank size cars because their immediate profits went into overdrive despite all indication they should've been focusing on smaller fuel-efficient ones. Now they're almost bankrupt and they deserve to be bailed out with loans they'll never pay back? We're supposed to trust their judgement? WHY!?

Of course when "Main Street" is hurting MLK Blvd. is suffering the aftermath of a tsunami - not that anyone seems to notice except those that have to 'live' and barely survive there. It's 70 days until the Obama Inauguration but we can't wait until then for a viable and equitable economic plan. We of course have no guarantee of one even after that and really have to be informed citizens with a coordinated effort to slap some sense into these 'experts'. 

Do I need a PhD in economics to understand this or are we citizenry being forced to endure the biggest snow job in recent history? Why not let it all fall apart and pull a Darwin? Whoever survives gets to go on and we bring back or start new companies that are run in the USofA and hire USofA? Where are the penalties to those that circumvent laws by exploiting dirt cheap foreign labor? We know the wine and meat manufacturers are gross violators amongst many. Yes, I know about Sarbanes-Oxley which is thought to help businesses here set up shop abroad but I'll raise you a Gramm-Leach-Bliley which effectively gave the banks carte blanche to do whatever the hell they wanted. 

So, I don't want to put my sourpuss face on after my last post about seeing the silver lining, but these things are pretty serious. Any progress the next President wants to kick start is going to be that much more difficult with Shrub handing out pieces of the gov't like party favors to all those on his 'friends and family' plan. Remember Bush threatened Congress and the Senate with martial law if they didn't sign their names in blood and agree to the bailout and rename it a "Rescue" package. 

Here's Paul Krugman discussing the initial plan with Rachel Maddow. 

Last night's show on the latest developments.

photo source