Economic Bail Outs

Unless you have been living in a cave, (Say hi to Bin Laden if you have), you have heard on the news about all of these economic plans to bail out everything from banks to the auto manufacturers. While I agree our economy needs help, simply throwing money at the problem is not the best solution. After much consideration and banging my head on the desk, I have developed the basis for what I consider to be a better plan.

First of all, what exactly is the money going to the banks for? Supposedly it is to help offset the bad debt wracked up by American citizens. If the feds are going to pay that debt, why am I still getting credit card bills? Rather than give them tons of money for nothing, why not simply pay the bills off for the citizens? The banks get their money and the public then has money available to spend and stimulate the economy once again. I would imagine the credit card companies would not like this since they use the bad debt write off to save on their taxes at the end of the year. Who do you think helps cover what they write off? Us. The hard working tax paying American workers. And who do you think is going to in the end pay to cover these bail outs? Yes, that's right, us! So why give them something for nothing? We could use the help.

Next lets look at the auto industry. We are about to throw money at them to keep them afloat. Despite the fact that the cars they make are more expensive and less reliable than those of their foreign competitors. And if we do give these companies the money, who actually benefits from it? Not the plant workers. They are still being laid off. No company is going to give money to a worker that is not producing automobiles. And if they do use it to pay the salaries of workers to keep building these cars, who is going to buy them anyway? The rest of us are too strapped for cash to be able to afford them. I say give them the money but let them give us a car. Take every single licensed American driver and give them a new automobile. It doesn't have to even be this year's model. I would be happy with one of the 1000's of cars they didn't sell last year. This plan would bail out the auto industry and they would be giving us back a product in return. No need to pay back the government for bailout. It was our tax dollars that were used for the bailout to begin with so just consider it our way of buying a car. Anyone that wants a better model than what the bailout would buy, could be given a credit. They should be able to afford the balance after the Feds pay off the credit cards I mentioned above. This method provides jobs to those involved in making and selling the cars. Those workers would then go out and spend the money they earn. Hey look at that! Economic stimulation!

And finally ....Health care. For years the news has been filled with stories about the lack of affordable insurance and that many Americans do not receive the medical help they need as a result. Now listen to other stories about the Medicare system being in trouble. Why not take the people who make too much to qualify for Medicare and too little to afford insurance and allow them to buy into the Medicare system? Medicare is a government run agency. It is non-profit. So the rates should be a lot cheaper than paying an insurance agent who sits behind a mahogany desk and drives a Hummer. I doubt the insurance industry would fight this solution since the only people that benefit are those that are not lucky enough to be their customers anyway.

I realize that there are probably flaws in my logic, but is the current way the government is trying things actually working? Besides, they spend millions on studies and expert analysis. My proposed solution was all of two cents. And even that came out of my own pocket!