The AIG debacle continues as fellow American citizens put in their opinion on how the situation should be handled.  An astounding 89.2% said that legislation should be passed making the executives give up their big bonuses.

As tempting as it sounds, I am not personally a fan of that course of action.  For one thing, it would lead to a slippery slope cycle that would give an open crack in the door for the government to have their sticky hands in other businesses.  For two, this hole was already dug when the bailout was given.  I assume it was given to AIG without stipulation which means they can do as they see fit.  So I guess for now, we’re just going to have to suck it up.

If I had to vote for a viable solution to this… I vote that our so-called “representatives” take a pay cut for voting in this bailout in the first place.

You can read comments made by readers here:

Angry Americans say…

Despite AIG’s troubles and the 170 billion dollar bailout approved late last year for the struggling insurance corporation, they still manage to pay out $450 million dollars in big bonuses for company executives. Supposedly they were contractually obligated.

Truth be told, I have no problems with companies handing out big bonuses for executives.  That is the beauty of the idea of capitalism is it not?  However, I do have a problem with companies using bailout monies to pay $450 million dollars in bonuses.  We (the tax payers) bailed this company out of shambles only so that they could punch us in the guts and then laugh at us.  Not only that, but their stock has not improved since the bailout and has gotten progressively worse (they lost 61.7 billion in the fourth quarter last year).  So despite the big ol’ check from Uncle Sam, they are still headed toward the proverbial toilet.

So tell me… what company gives out big fat bonuses when it is failing to thrive?

The bottom line is this:   Our government stupidly gave AIG 170 billion dollars of bailout money.  This money was supposed to be used to get the corporation back on its feet.  Instead of being used to save the company and save jobs, the money is being used to save the summer homes of the executives.

This is an issue that the citizens of the United States should have been allowed to vote on because I GUARANTEE if we had been able to vote on this, then those corporate fat cats would not have been approved.  They would have been denied and forced to suck it up and do what most business owners do in hard times…. downsize, reorganize and simply live without.

If we (the average joes of the world) screwed up at work and cost the company money, we would get fired.  Folks at AIG get a million dollars.  If our companies fail to thrive and  fall on hard times, our employers take away our bonuses and other goodies until the company gets back on its feet.  And we are all okay with that because it means we get to keep our jobs.  The folks at AIG take an all expense paid trip to a tropical island somewhere (complete with private jet, luxury hotel, and a limo to go tooling around in).

People… this is why we are in trouble in this country.  This is one reason WHY the American public is so pissed off right now.

My final thoughts:  AIG… go to hell.

You can read the MSN article on the subject here:   OBAMA SEEKING WAYS TO BLOCK AIG BONUSES

Right now, husb and I are on the other end of the stick when it comes to healthcare and health insurance.  Obtaining it through his company would be about $1000 a month out of pocket and we can’t afford to buy our own policy (a policy worth anything for our family of 5 would cost $450 a month).

Because we are on this end of the spectrum, it leaves me wondering if nationalized healthcare is really all that bad?  I am conservative fiscally but definitely a little more liberal when it comes to social issues.   There just seems to be no balance to this issue.  Some people assume that nationalized healthcare equals socialization.  But good health is essential to the survival of our society is it not?  My husband and I pay our taxes (as do many other Americans) and yet there is this assumption that if you are on state-run medical program that you are useless and sucking off of the system.  In my opinion, that’s just not true.  It may be that your company does not offer insurance or if they do, it costs an arm and a leg and is not logically affordable.  So what are you supposed to do?  Plus, to try and pay your bill outright is usually not feasible either as costs of doctor-visits, lab work and hospitalization is outrageous.

Where is the happy-medium in this situation?  I personally would love to hear from anyone who is happy or unhappy with their current insurance situation.  I would especially love to hear from those who live in countries with nationalized medicine.  Do you like it?  If not, why?  If so, why?

I have been frequenting a new favorite blog of mine for a few weeks (thank you Entrecard!) and came across a post today on Health Care. It was good. So good in fact, that I am encouraging all who visit this blog to check it out! Oh and read the comments too! His readers are extremely well-written and knowledgeable! If this doesn’t get your mojo going this morning to want to change things in this country, I don’t know what will…

Read. Write. React.

I’m sure by now most of you have heard of the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG Insurance fiasco.  It’s kind of hard to ignore 700 billion dollars.

You know… I don’t think I have ever felt as “unstable and unsafe” in these times as I did when watching Fox news endlessly on the topic of our government bailing out the two mortgage programs and a huge insurance company.

My first thought was… “Let em’ fall.”  People take risks when they own businesses.  After all, my parents lost a lot over the past 2 years, including their own business.  It was a risk they took and no government program was there to bail them out.  They lost the house, their land and their business.  It was a hard swallow on a very personal level.

However, after looking more into the situation, I realize that there is no choice but to proceed with the “bail out”.  If our government didn’t bail these companies/programs out of the crapper, then our economy would fall even more into the dark abyss. Didn’t a major bank just recently close up shop?

I’m starting to think that we’re headed for a cataclysmic great depression… Y2K style.

Any thoughts?

The great State of Michigan is trying to do their part by extending unemployment benefits an additional 13 weeks to those who lost their jobs and through no fault of their own are still unemployed.

According to Blogging for Michigan “unemployed workers who lost their jobs, exhausted their unemployment benefits from November 2006 to March of 2009 will be eligible to receive the emergency extension.”

Thankfully, in addition to the 162 billion dollars that was approved budget for the war, congress decided to sign an emergency relief fund for the nation’s unemployed. That’s great considering that Michigan’s unemployment rate is actually above the national rate. Still, the problem isn’t only in Michigan… it is all across the United States.

While I happen to think that this is a temporary step in the right direction, it is only that… temporary. I wonder when the geniuses in charge who run our state and federal governments will start to get their act together and come up with a more solid plan to boost the economy. Big economic stimulus packages and extended unemployment (while certainly welcome at this point as people struggle to make ends meet with the rising price of gas and food), only serve as a bandaid that covers up the bigger issue.

In the grand scheme of things, people need jobs. Jobs that pay out more money than minimum wage. Because let’s face it, minimum wage is barely enough to make it on for one person, let alone a family.

This brings me back to the bigger issue of needing jobs. Our jobs are currently being outsourced by large companies whose corporate fat-cats are still rolling in large bonuses around $100,000+. All the while, Joe and Jane average American worker have to go home and explain to their families that they lost their job to a place where the workers are paid astronomically less and not offered benefits.

Meanwhile, mom and pop businesses (the same kind this country was founded on) are struggling just to keep their head above water because they are taxed to death by the state and federal government.

Then comes the issue of the global economy. We have the ability to grow more than enough food to feed the world in the United States. Even if we cannot feed the world, we should be able to at least feed our own, right? Wrong. The government pays farmers not to produce. In addition, we cannot export much of our farm produce because we might step on the exporting toes of another country.

This brings me to my final thoughts:

What is it going to take to keep companies to stay on the homeland? Why are our government officials voting in more tax breaks to larger companies while literally squashing smaller companies with high taxes that are almost impossible to pay? How will the United States fare in this global economy, since that we export next to nothing and import everything. We can only be a consumerist nation for so long. I worry for our future.