Bailout Folly

The runaway freight train of Government bailouts is nearing its logical conclusion.  Unfortunately, it will climax before returning to a point of sanity.

Over the last couple of years we witnessed the spectacle of taxpayer funds being used to prop up car companies building cars that the consumer did not want to buy.....or certainly not in sufficient numbers to keep the automakers in the black.

Equally obscene was the bailout of banks who were seemingly incapable of managing money.

Isn't a bank supposed to be good at managing money above all else?  Shouldn't the world's largest car company know how to build a car and make a profit at the same time?

The 'moral hazard' is coming home to roost in a most spectacular fashion as several entire countries are now on the verge of needing bailouts.  In the European Union, the so called PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain) are said to be in dire straits and will soon need bailouts.  Greece is in the worst shape and could default in a matter of weeks if they are not bailed out.

Now here is where the bailouts go from bad policy to downright offensive.  Greece has a mandatory retirement age of 63.  Any bailout of Greece would have to be spearheaded by Germany....mandatory retirement age of 67.  The German people are rightly asking why they are being asked to work to 67 in order to finance retirement for Greeks beginning at age 63.  The argument may oversimplify but is valid.

Some may have forgotten but the bailouts of the banks and GM/Chrysler have a similar problem.  The average assembly line worker at GM earns more and has better health care coverage than the average American by a significant margin.  Bank employees....nuff said.

So the question is this:  If you are a single working mom earning something close to the national average, how do you feel about some of your taxes going to safeguard the jobs of bankers and autoworkers who earn a lot more than you?  If that doesn't make you angry enough, then consider that since the bailouts were funded with  deficit financing, so that your son/daughter will be paying for these bailouts in the future.