UP Ibalon Bicol: bailout

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After the banks, housing sector & the auto industry, a bailout of newspapers?

9/22/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

After the costly bailouts of banks, the housing sector, and the auto industry Barack Obama is considering another bail out---this time, the ailing newspaper industry. Without much help given to ordinary people, the president is likely to think of helping the newspapers, the machinery that helped him get elected.

The media have worked doubly hard, at the expense of its credibility to prop up Obama, hence, in part, the bias that lead to the newspapers' dramatic slide in readership. In the last election, tabloids highly favored the Democrats over the Republicans. Is it incidental then that Sen. Ben Cardin, a democrat of Md has introduced a bill to help these cash-strapped newspapers?

”Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called "Newspaper Revitalization Act," that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin's Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D).”---- The Hill (09/20/09, O’ Brien, M.)

Many readers have shunned away buying newspapers nowadays, causing a precipitous decline in their revenue. The explosion of fast communication in the internet has displaced most tabloid readers.

Even if Obama thinks that newspapers are "critical to the health of our democracy," he is concerned where reports, particularly in political blogs are going. The bailout of tabloids is part of a string of government controls that recently include the redesigning of the student aid fund and the revamp of healthcare.

Frustrated and tired of the bailouts which preferentially favor interest groups and political allies, the idea of helping out newsprints on the edge of bankruptcy only give credence to more government interference over people’s lives in a way that many think bends to socialism.

Newspapers have been instrumental in Obama’s glossed over persona and his coming into power as president. Now an instrument of slick propaganda, newspapers in democratic societies must be detached and separate from the government. They employ less people and do marginal help to shore up the economy. (Photo Credit: Photoburst) =0=

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Labels: bailout, bankruptcy, Barack Obama, bias, media, Newspaper, Totie Mesia

US Debt: runaway spending in Obama’s ambitious recovery plan worries Americans

6/01/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

“President Obama's ambitious plans to cut middle-class taxes, overhaul health care and expand access to college would require massive borrowing over the next decade, leaving the nation mired far deeper in debt than the White House previously estimated...

Tax collections, meanwhile, would lag well behind spending, producing huge annual budget deficits that would force the nation to borrow nearly $9.3 trillion over the next decade -- $2.3 trillion more than the president predicted when he unveiled his budget request just one month ago.” ----Washington Post (05/21/09, Montgomery, L)

To give the public a picture of what is to come, among high-profile company failures, on Monday, June 1, 2009, General Motors (GM,) the world’s largest automaker is poised to file bankruptcy (Chapter 11) in a US court in spite of the earlier bail-out extended by the government.

By placing the governmment stakes on the faltering giant car manufacturing company, the Obama administration is putting huge burden on the tax-payers. There are $20 billion dollars in federal assistance so far given by the Treasury in exchange for about 60% controlling stakes of the company. In addition to the $20 billion dollars, Obama plans to tell the Americans that an additional $30 billion is needed to see GM go through bankruptcy reorganization.

American taxpayers don't know if their money is being used wisely by their leaders. No one knows how the automaker can bring back the business to its old glory. Customers are uncertain, worried, and mad---something that corporate America haven't seen before. There will be more than 1,000 dealerships and plants that will be closed. About 20,000 workers in the car industry will be laid off as a result of the bankruptcy.

According to the U.S. National Debt Clock, the outstanding outstanding public debt as of June 1, 2009 is: $ 11,323,565,316,132.15. With the estimated population of the United States to be 306,284,942, each citizen's debt burden is pegged at about $36,970.69. How can Americans pay these?

The average US citizen may not fully realize that excessive borrowing and spending will likely mortgage the future of the children of the next generation. As cautious citizens have warned, the richest nation on earth may end up dirt poor earlier than predicted. The alarm is met with avoidance and silent dread by those who hear about it, especially those who think that Obama is the answer to their money problems..(Photo credit: Debtfree:Danilov) =0

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Labels: bailout, bankruptcy, Barack Obama, budget, economy, General Motors, GM, money, national economic planners, Totie Mesia, trillion dollars, US debt

AIG’s excessive bonuses of $165 million infuriate Americans

3/18/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

It is if the world has to be reminded that greed is alive in the failing financial institutions bailed out by the US government. After American International Group Inc. (AIG) received its 170 billion rescue package, it has allotted $165 million to pay for company bonuses. This is very infuriating for the ordinary citizens who contribute tax dollars to help prop up the ailing economy.

“Fresh details pushed outrage over AIG ever higher: New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reported that 73 company employees received bonus checks of $1 million or more last Friday. This at a company that was failing so spectacularly that the government felt the need to prop it up with a $170 billion bailout… On Capitol Hill late Tuesday, House Democrats directed three powerful committees to come up with legislation this week to authorize Attorney General Eric Holder to recover massive bonus payments made by companies like the ones paid last week by American International Group Inc." -----Yahoo News/ AP (03/17/09, Kellman, L)

Will the US government recover the bonuses? Who knows?

Republicans blamed the democrats for doing little in preventing this scandalous diversion of money. The giving away of hefty bonuses wasn’t done by AIG alone, but politicians in Washington are feigning outrage. Earlier Merrill Lynch paid $3.6 billion in bonuses to its executives while it negotiated its sale to Bank of America Corp., a big recipient of government bailout.

The rescue packages for ailing businesses and financial institutions which made bad decisions aren’t politically popular. It gives a bad rap on the Obama administration. Innocent people in the street are suffering for the big companies who take advantage of the bail-outs.

A growing number of irate Americans think Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner did little to prevent the giving of excessive bonuses to happen. It is believed that he knows about this bonuses early on. There are those who opine Geithner whose appointment by Obama was questioned because of failing to pay taxes must be fired.

Party supporters of Obama want the return of the bonus money to the government prompting democratic senate majority leader Harry Reid to say recipients will not be allowed to keep the money. Many Americans however are distraught to realize how untrustworthy the deals have been, compromising the taxes they give the government. They can’t fathom how leaders could be so arrogant,, extravagant, and callous to have these massive bonuses at the expense of American taxpayers---at a time when they are saddled by joblessness, loss of savings and pension plans, a slump in housing market, and bankruptcies of businesses and financial institutions. (Photo Credit: drugs crews 2)=0=

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Labels: AIG, American International Group, bailout, Bank of America, bonus, Merrill Lynch, taxation, Timothy Geithner

The promise and uncertainty of the $787 billion stimulus package for the US economy

2/15/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

The economic stimulus package of the Obama administration has finally passed the scrutiny of the US senate. It only needs the signature of the president on Tuesday, February 17, 2008, to make it into law. Lacking bipartisan support, the Democrats in the senate and congress overwhelmingly voted for the $787 billion package touted to bring back the US economy on track. The Republicans and their conservative supporters disagree.

The astronomical dollar tag on US recovery doesn’t assure that it will succeed. Amidst a crisis of confidence, there are Americans who are alarmed. Critics of the legislation doubt whether the plan will deliver on its promises. Without much basis to back their trust, majority of Americans rest their hope on Pres. Barack Obama to fix the economy. Supporters are optimistic, in fact, overly optimistic.

“The legislation, among the costliest ever considered in Congress, provides billions of dollars to aid victims of the recession through unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care, job retraining and more. Tens of billions are ticketed for the states to offset cuts they might otherwise have to make in aid to schools and local governments, and there is more than $48 billion for transportation projects such as road and bridge construction, mass transit and high-speed rail.”--- Yahoo.News/AP (02/14/09, Espo, D)

There is a growing belief that no one buys its way from a recession. It is scary to pump in such huge money which puts taxpayers' money on line. More borrowing and spending won’t easily bring back the trust on Wall Street which reneged on its fiduciary duty. There is doubt on those who warn of worse consequences if the public doesn’t rally behind the stimulus plan that nobody fully understands. Many don't know why the American people are asked to spend for social services of illegal aliens, bail out banks, auto industry, and every ailing business in the country.

Obviously rushed to approve the bill, almost all congressmen (246 vs. 183) and senators (60 vs. 38) didn’t have time to read the legislation which is about a thousand pages long. It is expected the more the public comes to understand the details of the bill, the more people will disapprove. Many are dissatisfied with government officials (the spoiled and extravagant leaders,) from both the Republican and Democratic parties, who negligently brought the people into this economic mess. Those who are hurting wait for the day that the guilty must be held accountable.

There is a cautionary voice out there saying the economic downturn is unlikely to be reversed by this ambitious government rescue plan. Neither will prosperity come by giving away dole-outs to the poor, jacking-up government spending, giving perks to illegal aliens, distributing wealth, and raising the tax burden of workers and entrepreneurs. This seems to be affirmed by Pres. Obama who welcomes the bill’s passage but cautions the whole world that it’s just the start of an economic remedy whose success isn’t assured. There is a big chance that if this money splurge doesn't work, additional funding will be asked for more massive spending.

Instead of the bloated stimulus spending with a budgeted cost of $787 billion to revitalize the US economy, conservatives have proposed a leaner spending. Unlike the democrats who dominate the Capitol Hill, Republicans assert that the recovery rests on tax cuts, smaller government, less interference with private money, and a return to traditional entrepreneurship and business ethics.

Though it’s early to tell what will be the outcome of the changes promised by Obama, there those who are silently angry and fearful. There are tell-tale signs that one can see with trepidation. Americans are used to live in gilded cocoons on productive fields that they can control. Now they are forced to face uncertainty. The big depression that they haven’t experienced with the rest of the world looms real in the horizon. (Photo Credit: Londa Elle; almostnomad; worsebrain)=0=

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Labels: bailout, depression, economy, senate, stimulus package, Toti Mesia, US debt, USA

UP Ibalon Bicol

After the banks, housing sector & the auto industry, a bailout of newspapers?

US Debt: runaway spending in Obama’s ambitious recovery plan worries Americans

AIG’s excessive bonuses of $165 million infuriate Americans

The promise and uncertainty of the $787 billion stimulus package for the US economy

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